The Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) mourns the recent loss of Roy Flores, former Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center (ECC) director, and Lois Price Spratlen (pictured), ’76, School of Nursing professor emerita and former longtime University ombudsman.
Flores passed away on March 12 at the age of 69. He worked a total of 40 years as a higher education administrator and was the first director of the Kelly ECC when the center originated in 1972. Following his four-year tenure at UW, Flores was the assistant director for the State Board for Community College Education (1974-1984) and vice president for student development services at North Seattle Community College (1984-2009). He was active on community boards including the Seattle Urban League, National Community Advisory Board for Community Education and the Washington Learns Higher Education Advisory Task Force for Washington state governor Christine Gregoire. Flores received his bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in adult education from Seattle University. His full obituary is available on the Seattle Times web site.
Spratlen, a nursing professor at the UW for 30 years and longtime advocate for diversity, passed away on March 30, at the age of 81. She was the first female ombudsman at the UW, serving in that position from 1988-2009. Spratlen was also the ombudsman for sexual harassment from 1982-2009 and was named 1998 Ombud of the Year by the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds. She was an active member of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization and established the group’s endowed scholarship fund to support people of African heritage who pursue education and careers in nursing. Spratlen chaired the King County Board of Ethics and was a member of the UW Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP). She authored the book “African American Registered Nurses in Seattle: The Struggle for Opportunity and Success.” Spratlen was inducted into the Washington State Nurses Foundation Hall of Fame in 2006. She received the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award presented by UW Health Sciences and UW Medicine in recognition of her leadership in diversity. She was also a 2005 recipient of MAP’s Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Alumni Award. Spratlen received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Hampton University (1954), a master’s degree in community mental health from UCLA (1972) and a Ph.D. in urban planning from the UW (1976). She and her husband Thad Spratlen, UW professor emeritus of marketing, are UW laureate donors, having given $1 million to the University.
