Herman F. Bostick, Ph.D. ‘49

Dr. Herman Franklin Bostick was an English major graduate from Morehouse College (class of 1949) where he also was active with the Spanish Club, Le Cercie Francais, Atlanta-Spelman Chorus, YMCA, and Morehouse College Glee Club. He is renowned in the Morehouse alumni ranks for having founded the Morehouse Torchbearers -- comprised of alumni committed to financially supporting the college.

He enjoyed a lengthy career in higher educational leadership having served as professor/administrator at Grambling State, Fort Valley State, Texas Southern, Howard Universities, and Morehouse College. He served as Foreign Language Coordinator for Georgia State Department of Education where he guided the racial integration of foreign language teachers in the public schools and colleges. Dr. Bostick also held earned degrees from Atlanta University; University of Paris, La Sorbonne; The Ohio State University; and Virginia Theological Seminary whereby he received an honorary degree.

Dr. Herman F. Bostick conceived the idea for the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) while serving as the Georgia Department of Education Foreign Language Consultant. In the fall of 1964, working with Dr. Louis J. Chatagnier of Emory University, the purpose and organization of SCOLT began to emerge, and on February 4-6, 1965, the first SCOLT Conference was held in Atlanta. SCOLT became incorporated in the fall of 1967. On the tenth anniversary of SCOLT, Dr. Bostick received a proclamation from the Mayor of Atlanta, the Honorable Maynard Jackson, recognizing SCOLT’s progress. In 1997 Kathy White, SCOLT Chair, presented Dr. Bostick with the SCOLT Founders Award, created to recognize those who had contributed significantly over time to the mission of SCOLT.

Dr. Herman F. Bostick, as the originator of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching, served as its first Executive Secretary, from 1964-1970, and as SCOLT Executive Director from 1970-1974. He is also the namesake of SCOLT's "Bostick Award." During this same period he founded the Foreign Language Association of Georgia (FLAG) and served as its first president. Always the enthusiastic spokesperson for language education and professionalism, Dr. Bostick had been an active member of several other national and regional language organizations.