Donald J. Slowinski, the former president of the Community College of Baltimore County – Essex, died of multiple organ failure Feb. 19 at Stella Maris Hospice. The former Towson resident was 89.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in Irvington, he was the son of Julius Slowinski, a printing firm owner, and Nora Majewski Slowinski, who ran the family home. While a student at Irvington High School, the younger Mr. Slowinski met his future wife, Val Jean Sytko.
He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Rutgers University in 1957 and 1963. His doctoral dissertation, completed at George Washington University, focused on the role of students as change agents within higher education.
“Donald believed strongly in the power of education to transform lives,” said his granddaughter Elizabeth C. Lewis.
He began teaching English at Highland Park High School in Highland, New Jersey, and soon became assistant admissions director at Rutgers. He moved to Maryland in 1963 as director of admissions at what is now Towson University.
“He was bigger than life. He was a faith-filled man,” said his daughter Donna Jean Pamfilis. “He loved good food and a good laugh. He had a strong moral compass. He was an an early riser and a hard worker. He was a gifted public speaker and would write his talks in the pre-dawn hours.”
He later moved to what was then called Essex Community College and became associate dean of instruction and dean of students.
“Donald was a man of the people. His door was always open,” said F. Scott Black, a friend and CCBC faculty member. “He was polite and a friend to everyone.”
In 1990, Mr. Slowinski was named the college’s president, a post he held until 1996. He then received president emeritus status.
On March 24, 2010, in recognition of Mr. Slowinski’s dedication to higher education in the state of Maryland, then-Gov. Martin O’Malley proclaimed that day as a day of tribute to him.
Mr. Slowinski was a participant in the first class of the Leadership Maryland professional development program and went on to serve on its board.
After moving to Towson’s Campus Hills neighborhood in 1963, he became an active member of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Parish and was a past parish council president and lector. He was also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Survivors include two sons, Donald J. Slowinski Jr., of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and James B. Slowinski, of Greenville, North Carolina; three daughters, Donna Jean Pamfilis of Wilmington, North Carolina, Mary E. Dorsey, of Midlothian, Virginia, and Patricia A. Curran, of Stevensville; 13 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. His wife, Val Jean Sytko Slowinski, a Community College of Baltimore County-Essex speech professor, died in 2014. A son, Christopher G. Slowinski, died in 2017.
A funeral Mass was held Feb. 22 at Immaculate Conception Church.
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