College of Education Mourns Passing of Clearinghouse Founder
Dr. Clayton A. Morgan, longtime resident of Stillwater, died Wednesday, April 6, 2005.
He was born March 16, 1917, in Jones County, Miss., to Aquilla and Elenor Hinton Morgan. He received his bachelor’s degree from Millsaps College and his doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1941-1945. While he was stationed in New Jersey, he met Eleanor Frances Hoving, his lifetime love, whom he married in 1950. He served as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the Texas Rehabilitation Commission in Corpus Christi, Texas, from 1952-1958. In 1958, he was asked to develop a vocational rehabilitation counselor training program at Oklahoma State University; subsequently he served as professor of psychology and coordinator of the vocational rehabilitation counselor education program at OSU from 1958-1984. He was a long time member of First United Methodist Church in Stillwater and thoroughly loved his Fidelis class.
He was known nationally for his leadership and contributions to the field of rehabilitation counseling. He was selected to receive a special commemorative medallion celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Program, was recipient of the Presidential Citation for Distinguished Rehabilitation Service by the National Rehabilitation Association and was featured presenter at the Helen Keller Centennial Congress in Boston. He was also the recipient of the first Distinguished Career Service Award given by the National Council on Rehabilitation Education. He served for many years on the Oklahoma Governor’s Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped and was invited multiple times to participate in a similar White House Committee. For nearly 30 years, he was actively involved in the internationally known Creative Education Foundation of Buffalo, N.Y., where he was the recipient of the Distinguished Leader Award. He also developed the National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials, an international service for the location, development and dissemination of rehabilitation training materials. He served in 34 states and territories in various roles as a consultant, speaker and resource person in areas relating to vocational rehabilitation. He was the author of numerous professional publications as well. The Clayton A. Morgan Excellence Award was established at the Oklahoma State University Foundation by graduates of the Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program, colleagues and friends. He was selected as a 2005 OSU College of Education Hall of Fame recipient.
He will perhaps be best remembered by his friends and family for his keen sense of humor, compassion, encouragement, dedication to creative problem solving and his vision. He was a noted mentor whose inspirational words were matched by his actions.
He is survived by his daughter, Jane Morgan Bost and her husband, David, of Round Rock, Texas; one son, Clayton A. Morgan Jr. and his wife, Rhonda, of Tulsa; grandchildren, Christopher David Bost, Morgan Jane Bost, Grant Clayton Morgan and Julia Lynn Morgan; brothers, Kenneth Chapple Morgan of College Station, Texas; Arthur Morgan and his wife, Betty, of Baton Rouge, La. and Rayford Morgan of Ellisville, Miss. and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorials donations may be made to Clayton A. Morgan Excellence Scholarship Award by contacting Dr. Brenda Solomon, 329 Willard, Stillwater, OK 74078, 744-7188.
Condolences may be e-mailed the family at http://www.strodefh.com
