By Kenneth Mullinax/ASU
A noted alumna of the University and an acclaimed retired member of the Alabama State Legislature has passed. The Honorable Senator Priscilla P. Dunn, a native of Birmingham, died on September 17. She was 80 years old.
Senator Dunn received her Bachelor of Science degree from Alabama State University in 1966 and was a longtime educator and school principal in Jefferson County, Alabama. In the school system, she was known for her kindness and generosity to her students by often personally paying for school supplies that many underprivileged boys and girls could not afford. Her record in the Alabama State Legislature was also acclaimed during her 24-year career, when she represented Jefferson County in both the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate.
ASU President, Dr. Quinton T. Ross, Jr., who served in the Alabama State Senate with Dunn before becoming the 15th President of The Alabama State University, shared that she was an extraordinary person.
"I am saddened to hear about the transition of my dear friend and former State Senate colleague,” President Ross said. “I learned a great deal from Mrs. Dunn while serving in the legislature. She was a quiet spirit with a mighty heart for others. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Dunn family."
A Democrat, Senator Dunn was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from 1998 to 2009 and then won a seat representing District 19 of the Alabama State Senate, serving from 2009-2022.
State Senate Minority Leader and ASU alumnus, Bobby D. Singleton (Class of 1984), is a native of Greensboro, Alabama, and represents Senate District 24. He remembers Dunn fondly for her compassionate, yet powerful advocacy of issues relating to both education and the rights of women.
"She was sorely missed when she retired and now even more so since she has passed on to her heavenly reward," Senator Singleton said by phone. "She was always well-respected in the Senate and was famous for her leadership in the area of women's reproductive rights and education issues for students from kindergarten through the 12th grade in our public schools. She was a great friend to me, was respected on both sides of the aisle, and was more importantly, a friend to all the people of Alabama, regardless of their political affiliation."
Senator Dunn is survived by her husband, Grover Dunn and her daughter, Karen Dunn Burks, who serves as Jefferson County's circuit clerk. Her funeral will be held on September 21 at Bessemer's Shady Grove Baptist Church.