Paul Dumas Dies at Age 67

A memorial service will be held in Duke Chapel at 4 p.m. Monday (March 12) for Paul J. Dumas, former director of police at Duke. Dumas, police director at the university for nearly a quarter century and winner of the University Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Service, one of Duke's highest honors, died at home Friday following a lengthy illness. He was 67. Dumas' law enforcement career spanned four decades. Among his accomplishments, he served as an Army first lieutenant; as a detective in Montgomery, Ala.; and as a chief deputy U.S. marshal charged with protecting civil rights workers, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., at one time. Duke Police Chief Clarence Birkhead, who was recruited by Dumas, referred to his former boss as "a mentor, adviser and close friend." "Outside of my immediate family, he was one of my biggest supporters," Birkhead said. "He encouraged me to pursue higher education, additional law enforcement training and even to apply for positions I didn't think I was ready for at the time." Born in Lisbon Falls, Maine, Dumas graduated from Lisbon High School in 1951. He served three years in the Army before attending Michigan Tech and the University of Alabama, where his studies concentrated on sociology. Dumas began working in law enforcement in Montgomery in 1960. He started as a patrolman with the police department and quickly rose through the ranks of the force. By 1964, he was a detective sergeant assigned to monitor the activities of the Ku Klux Klan as well as other groups bent on undermining the rule of law in the racially troubled city. Continuing his professional development, Dumas attended the FBI National Academy in Washington, D.C., in 1966 and graduated first in his class. One year later, he traveled north to serve as a special agent for the Pennsylvania state attorney general's office, but returned to Montgomery in 1968 to accept the post of chief deputy U.S. marshal for Alabama's middle district. Two years later, Dumas' experience at the municipal, state and federal levels led to his selection as police director at the University of Georgia. Hired by Duke in 1971, Dumas immediately initiated an upgrade of the existing traffic, security and safety office. Under his leadership, campus law enforcement got a new name - Public Safety - and a new identity as a branch of the university's business administration. Numerous dignitaries visited Duke under Dumas' watch, including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. The appearances went smoothly, and university administrators routinely credited Dumas for implementing top-notch security measures. In addition, Dumas oversaw a substantial increase in the number of women and minorities working in his department and made certain deserving individuals advanced among the ranks, said Charles Nordan, Duke's assistant police chief. "He was a man of fairness and integrity," said Nordan, who worked with Dumas for 22 years. "He gave people opportunities they may not have had otherwise. He genuinely did his best to help people succeed." Toward the end of his career, Dumas managed the university's handling of the men's basketball team's back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992. While the celebrations were not without incidents, the security measures were generally deemed successful. At other universities, the revelry resulted in riots and community vandalism; at Duke, the raucous bashes were contained on the university's West Campus. One year prior to his retirement in 1995, Dumas was awarded the University Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Service. In presenting the medal, President Nannerl O. Keohane praised Dumas, a familiar face at Duke ball games and university functions, for "his particular commitment to ensuring fair and equitable treatment for minorities and women" - a commitment, she said at the time, that could be seen not only in the workplace he manages, "but in his efforts to see that Duke protects the safety and dignity of all who work and study here." Dumas is survived by his wife, Ann; three daughters - Jeanne Dumas of Durham, Catherine Miller of Mebane and Teresa Bryant of Raleigh; and four grandchildren - Allison Dumas of Durham, Eli Miller of Mebane, Brianna Bryant and Sam Carlisle, both of Raleigh. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Crime Stoppers program of any community.