| Harold Delaney | |
| Birth Date: | 1919 |
| Birth Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |
| Death Place: | Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Death Cause: | Homicide |
| Education: | Howard University |
| Spouse: | Geraldine Delaney |
| Order: | 7th |
| Office: | President of Manhattanville College |
| Term Start: | 1975 |
| Term End: | 1985 |
| Successor: | Barbara Knowles Debs |
Harold Delaney (1919 – August 2, 1994) was a researcher, scholar, educator and collegiate administrative leader in the field of chemistry, known for his work on the Manhattan Project and atomic bomb.[1] [2] [3] Delaney was one of the few African American chemists to work on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago.
Harold Delaney was born in Philadelphia in 1919. Delaney graduated from Howard University three times and completed three degrees of higher education there: Bachelors of Science in 1941, Masters of Science in chemistry in 1943, and PhD in chemistry in 1958 in which he was one of the first at his school to graduate with a doctorate in this field. His doctoral advisor at Howard was Robert Percy Barnes, who had been the first African American person to receive a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University.[4]
From 1943 to 1945, Delaney worked on the Manhattan Project for the atomic bomb during World War II, and for many of his later career years he worked at colleges and universities in educator and administrative roles. From 1945 to 1948 Delaney was an educator at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University, and then during 1948–1961 he taught chemistry and also served as the Chemistry Department chair and dean at Morgan State University. In 1972 he ended his role as acting vice chancellor for university colleges at State University of New York, the college where he was also Associate Dean.
From 1971 to 1974, Delaney was the University of North Carolina's Vice President. Delaney served two years of presidency at Manhattanville College, which was founded by the Sacred Heart and transitioned from being religious to independent, in 1974 and 1975. Before retiring in 1987 Delaney held the position of Vice President Emeritus for about 10 years at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
In Delaney's later years of his career he was interim president of several universities for about one year each, including Chicago State University, Frostburg State University, and Bowie State University before retiring from Bowie State in 1993. Along with holding many leadership positions at the university level, Delaney was a member of the American Chemical Society and on the board of the Washington Center.
Delaney was born in Philadelphia in 1919 and died in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, on August 2, 1994, at the age of 74. Delaney was married to his wife Geraldine Delaney for 48 years before they both died in their house from homicide by beating, her at age 71. The criminal suspect who committed the murder is thought to be Geraldine Delaney's nephew and there is a police warrant in the death. In their early years, the couple lived in both Silver Spring, Maryland and Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. Delaney's wife, Geraldine Delaney, was born in North Carolina and worked as a special education teacher from 1953 to 1968, and was educated at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.