William Paterson Renames Preakness Hall For Late Professor Emerita Barbara Moll Grant

WAYNE, NJ — Preakness Hall on the campus of William Paterson University will have a new name as the college will honor a late professor emerita.

University officials announced the renaming of the academic building for the late Barbara Moll Grant, an alumna of the university who also rose to the level of professor emerita in her post-graduate years.

The decision was officially announced at a ceremony last week after Grant's estate gifted the university a total of $5 million, which will benefit an "endowed scholarship fund that will support numerous students in multiple disciplines across the University," officials said.

"Dr. Grant was a committed educator, a respected scholar, an accomplished author, and a leader in this campus community. She cared deeply about the students of William Paterson, when she was teaching them and throughout her life," said President Richard Helldobler at the event.

He continued:

"Given the range and depth of Dr. Grant’s many contributions to William Paterson – as alumna, professor, and benefactor – her name and memory are sure to live on across this campus that she loved so much. I am pleased that – with the naming of Barbara Moll Grant Hall – it will do so right here in the heart of campus, for all to see."

The building, to be known as Barbara Moll Grant Hall, was completely renovated in 2017 as part of a long-term plan that saw the modernization of the University’s facilities in the academic core of the campus, officials said.

At 58,000-square-feet, the building houses four state-of-the-art kinesiology laboratories, 14 smart classrooms, a 90-seat auditorium, numerous small and large group study rooms, the Writing Center, and faculty offices for the Department of English and Department of Philosophy.

Grant, who died in 2019 and was a long-time resident of Wyckoff, New Jersey, earned a degree in 1954 from what was then the Paterson State Teachers College. She went on to earn a master’s degree in reading education from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and a doctorate in reading education from Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York.

She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Glen Rock, where she taught for nine years.

In 1963, she joined the faculty at her alma mater as a reading instructor in what later became the College of Education at William Paterson.

During her tenure at the University, she coauthored two books with her sister, Dorothy Grant Hennings. She was the founding member of the Pi Lambda Theta honor society chapter at William Paterson and held a leadership role in the organization for many years, speaking at national conventions as a representative of the William Paterson chapter.

Upon her retirement from William Paterson in 1998, Grant was awarded the title of professor emerita.

Grant continued to be closely involved with the University until her death in 2019. She served for many years as a member of the Hobart Manor Revitalization Committee, and attended many events on campus.

Her philanthropy began in 1980 with a gift to the annual fund, and she later established the Barbara M. Grant Scholarship in 2005 to provide support for a student in the College of Education.

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