Posted Friday, July 6, 2018 12:02 am

Jerry Dollar is a fixture at Bevill State Community College.

Most days you can catch him walking through the Wade Math and Science building, where he’s taught chemistry, science, and math since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. It’s not hard to pick him out of the crowd – he’s the one walking the hall in a perfectly tailored suit with a tie.

That image may become more rare now. Dollar’s official retirement date was June 1, but he’s working to wrap up some loose ends, so the college doesn’t have to pay someone else to do that work. He doesn’t have any hobbies because he’s dedicated his life to his work. He said he could work part-time for the college in the future and he may decide to do that.



The U.S. Tax code is not as thick as his resume. He graduated with a bachelor of science in chemistry and math at Florence State University in January 1959. He earned his master of arts in teaching in chemistry at Alabama College . He did additional graduate work at Birmingham-Southern College and the University of Alabama.

With all the honors and accolades to his credit, one might think that Dollar was born into an affluent family, but he was born in Dora and his family was poor. His dad, Lynn, was a coal miner and his mother, Effie Mae, was a housewife. Neither of his parents finished high school. Dollar was valedictorian of the Dora High School Class of 1954.



Area coal mining was a cyclical business in those years. At one time, his parents ran a small café in Dora.



Mack James owned H.C. James Lumber Co. in Dora. One day he came into the cafe for lunch. He asked Dollar where he was going to college.

“I told him I wanted to go to college, but that I needed a job to pay for school,” Dollar said.

The next day James stopped by the café and told Dollar to come by his lumber yard.

“He said he had a job that I might be able to help him with,” he remembered.

When Dollar went to the lumber yard, James tossed him a shovel. There was a low-boy truck full of sand in the lumber yard. He told Dollar to shovel the sand into the sand bin. After that first day, James gave him a job, which helped him get into college at Florence State in 1955.



At Florence State, he went into chemistry and math, graduating with a double major. He’d thought about going into engineering, but he had relatives in the Sheffield area and decided not to transfer to an engineering college. In retrospect, Dollar believes the decision to stay was probably a mistake. This was confirmed later in his career when he had to apply chemistry to his work.



While enrolled at Florence, Dollar entered the Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC.) At that time, young men were compelled to do the basic for two years, but he chose to do the additional two years. He gave this a lot of thought during his early college days.



During those first years at Florence, he came home and worked for James at the lumber yard on weekends and during the summer. When he graduated from Florence State in January, he was sworn in as a second lieutenant. Dollar had to leave for basic officer’s training in June.

That meant that Dollar had five months before reporting for duty. He decided to check with the Walker County Board of Education and ask if there were openings. They had an opportunity at Curry Elementary School.

“I taught the rowdy bunch of kids for those five months,” he said.



After returning from the six months of officer training, he became affiliated with the reserve unit in Jasper. It was there he met Dr. David Rowland, who hired Dollar a few years later. Meanwhile, he got a job teaching at Sumiton and later for McNeil High School in Bessemer. Not having a teaching certificate limited his opportunities at that time.

Dollar interviewed at Southern Research in Birmingham for an opening there. He didn’t have experience as a chemist, but he must have done well in the interview because he landed the job. His service in the military was most likely an asset as well.



The Southern Research job gave Dollar a chance to meet one of his life goals. His family grew up in an old house built in the 1920s.

“It had 12-foot ceilings and a potbelly stove for heat,” Dollar remembered. But in 1964, he built them a new three-bedroom air-conditioned house with baths. His work at H.C. Lumber provided him with a knowledge of homebuilding.

“I built the house to the length of the lumber. That way, there was very little waste,” he said. He later built them a bigger house in Graysville.



Dollar met Linda Carmichael and her 2-year-old son Luke later in his life. His mother was dying with cancer, but she got to attend his wedding. At 40, he started on a new phase of his life.



“When my parents died, I had nothing to say that I wish I’d done,” Dollar said.



After a year at Southern Research, Rowland called and asked if he’d consider teaching at Walker College. Dollar felt that leaving Southern Research so soon would cast him in an unfavorable light. He declined Rowland’s offer but told him that if a position came open later, to let him know. In January of 1965, he got another call from Rowland. This time he took a teaching position with Walker College that would start in the fall.



This gave Dollar enough time to complete the advanced ROTC training at Fort Seal in Oklahoma early in 1965. He resigned his position at Southern Research and headed to Fort Seal for 20 weeks of training. Dollar graduated at the top of his class.

“This little ol’ boy from Alabama did pretty good,” he remembered thinking.



Dollar came to Walker College during a time of growth. Once the college built the dormitories, he became the dean of students. During those early years, he asked and received permission from Rowland for a one-year leave of absence. He wanted to attend the Army War College, which is the equivalent of a master’s degree in strategic studies.



A while later, the Army vice chief of staff contacted Dollar and asked if he would consider going on active duty with the Army to help author the officer’s professional development program. When Dollar asked Roland about the leave of absence, the college president agreed. Rowland was an Army officer as well, and he understood Dollar’s Army career path.

After completing this two years of active duty, he became the Commandant, U.S. Army Reserve Forces School in Huntsville. After 30 years of service, he retired with the rank of colonel from the Army Reserves.



Walker College evolved over the years. It was UAB Walker College for a time before becoming Bevill State Community College. During Dollars tenure, he held many positions, but he continued teaching chemistry.



While at Southern Research, the company worked developing polymers and other high-tech components for use in the space program. Dollar realized the education he received earlier in his education did not prepare him for his work at Southern Research. He understood the concepts but applying those concepts in developing cutting-edge technology was a challenge. His on-the-job training was a significant factor in how he approached teaching when he came to Walker College. He evaluated exams from Duke and other major colleges to make sure his lesson plans covered those topics. He wanted to prepare his students for advanced professions.



Looking back over his life and accomplishments, Dollar has had a positive impact on the lives of many students, many of which moved on to professional fields. He’s taught 28 doctors, 18 dentists, 40 pharmacists, and many students that went on to earn advanced degrees. The ream of letters of recommendation in his file laud not only his teaching skills but also work as an advisor.



Dollar talked with pride about the accomplishments of his son, Luke Dollar, who attended Duke University, where he received his undergraduate degree, as well as M.S and Ph.D. degrees. He is currently a professor and chair of the Biology Department at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. Dollar has two grandchildren, Zachery Danger and Hannah Rey Lynn Dollar.



Luke does work in Madagascar each summer helping to build schools and teach the people about the impact of deforestation on the environment.



Dollar attended the ceremony when Luke was recognized as an Emerging Explorer for the National Geographic Society. Luke said in his acceptance speech that his dad was the reason he was where he was today. It was one of the proudest moments in Dollar’s life.





