James H. Sills Jr. Scholarship
honors former faculty member

A $250,000 James H. Sills Jr. Scholarship Fund has been established at the University of Delaware by Wilmington business and corporate groups and friends of James H. Sills Jr. to recognize his service to the city of Wilmington and the state of Delaware, his outstanding contributions as a public and community leader and his advocacy for the public and community service role of University faculty, staff and students, according to Dan Rich, College of Human Services Education and Public Policy (CHEP) dean.

A stipend award will be given annually to a graduate student in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy in CHEP who will work with faculty and staff on the research and public service programs of the Center for Community Development and Family Policy. Recipients will have strong academic records and a commitment to public service and community development. Preference will be given to residents of Wilmington.

From 1972 to 1997, Sills was a member of the UD faculty. He also was one of the creators, and the founding director, of the Urban Agent Program, now the Center for Community Development and Family Policy.

"My first encounter with Jim Sills came shortly after he joined the faculty of what is now the University's School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy," Rich said. "It was very clear to those of us who worked with Jim that he had a passion for public service.

"He led the University in efforts to better understand the needs, issues and opportunities facing the people of the city of Wilmington. His personal commitment and dedication influenced the work of his faculty colleagues, and it especially influenced generations of graduate students in their career paths and in their lives. For many of our students, and particularly for many of our African-American students, Jim Sills was and is their inspiration and role model: the source of their own passion for public service."

Sills was elected as the 53rd mayor of the city of Wilmington–the first African American to hold this office–in 1992, and he was re-elected in 1996. His career has spanned a variety of administrative responsibilities, including leadership positions with Family Court of Delaware, Peoples Settlement Association, the Association of Greater Wilmington Neighborhoods and the Washington Legislative Office of the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers.

A former state representative, he also served as Wilmington's first black elected city councilman-at-large, as president of the Wilmington NAACP, as vice president of the New Castle County School Board and as president of the Christina School District.

During his first term as mayor, Sills was on leave from the University. After his reelection in 1997, he retired from the University. In recognition of his many years of distinguished service to the University and upon the recommendation of the faculty of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, in 1998 he was appointed to emeritus faculty status.

Although his public service responsibilities left little time for other pursuits, Sills has always served as senior adviser to the Center for Community Development and Family Policy that he helped to establish.

"My colleagues and I hope that Jim will now be more available to work with the center and also available to share what he has learned in his 36 years of public service with the students in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy," Rich said. "And I hope next year that he'll teach a course on the challenges of urban revitalization, using Wilmington as the focal point. I know that's the theme of an important book project Jim will pursue that will document and evaluate the development of Wilmington over the past four decades."