Malcolm Graham Vinzant Jr., a founding faculty member of what is now the Community College of Baltimore County at Catonsville and who later rehabilitated houses and owned a popular Cross Street Market cheese stall, died Thursday from complications of a stroke at a Winter Park, Fla., assisted-living facility.
The Federal Hill resident was 78.
Mr. Vinzant, the son of a federal government worker and a homemaker, was born in Laredo, Texas, and moved to Catonsville shortly after his birth.
He was a graduate of Catonsville High School and earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1951 from Springfield College in Springfield, Mass., and a master's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.
"I feel that a person who goes into the field of education and youth work should approach his impending task with his objectives aimed toward developing the child's total personality, rather than limiting himself, and the child to an isolated aspect of life ... and the realization that each person dealt with is an individual with personalized needs and interests," Mr. Vinzant wrote as an undergraduate of what was to become his life's work .
Except for two years when he served in the Coast Guard, Mr. Vinzant taught at McDonogh School from 1951 to 1956.
From 1956 to 1961, he was a counselor at Sudbrook Junior High School, where he developed and implemented a guidance program.
In 1961, he joined what was then the fledgling Catonsville Community College as a college counselor and two years later, was promoted to dean of students by Dr. Oliver H. Laine, then college president.
Mr. Vinzant's development of student services such as child care, health services, advisement, student mentoring, career development, staff diversity and special services for the physically handicapped at the college drew national attention.
In 1982, Mr. Vinzant was named director of the college's occupational training center, which assisted thousands of displaced workers and unemployed adults with career skills and finding jobs.
During his last decade at Catonsville, he served as the first director of corporate and foundation relations.Mr. Vinzant was also adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University where he taught graduate level courses in education.
"Throughout all his years of college service, Graham continued to provide advice and counsel to students and staff alike. Literally thousands of students and many, many staff benefited from his guidance," read a printed tribute at his 1992 retirement.
