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Thu, 06.03.1937

Michael Collins, Administrator born

Michael Collins

*Michael Collins was born on this date in 1937.  He was a Black educator and administrator. 

Brother Michael Collins was the working-class son of Jacob Collins and Georgina Green, In north Minneapolis.  He finished DelaSalle high school in 1955 and earned degrees in music and education at St. Mary's University of Minnesota.  It was at St. Mary's he joined the teaching order of Christian Brothers. He returned to teach at his old high school in 1959 and later served as an educator and administrator at Shanley High School in Fargo, St. Mary's College High School in Berkeley, Calif., and Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul.

He earned a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco in 1990.  Collins served on the board of directors for the National Catholic Education Association and as chair of the Minnesota Independent Schools Forum and the Council on Black Minnesotans. Collins became president of DeLaSalle High School in 1991. During Collins' tenure, enrollment doubled, benefactors contributed more than $25 million, and the percentage of DeLaSalle graduates to go on to college rose to 96 percent. 

Michael Collins died on January 8, 2012, as a result of complications related to lung cancer. Collins was first diagnosed with the disease less than a month ago. He was 74. 

Reference:

The Catholic Spirit.com

Legacy.com

Image, Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit.

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