Neal Bond Flemming
1910 - 2009
Fleming earned a BA degree in 1933 and a B.D. degree in 1936 from Emory University. He married Mary Louise Dunn in 1939 and they moved to Boston where he earned his PhD from Boston University. He also did post-doctoral work at Columbia, Harvard, and Yale Universities. Fleming returned to Oxford in 1966 to serve as dean, a position he held for ten years. During that time, he worked successfully to improve the relationship between Oxford College and Emory University and led a decade of growth on the campus, adding a new library, an athletic field, and renovating the student center. Fleming also established the Oxford Board of Counselors in 1971, a group of alumni and friends of the college that helps to interpret the programs and objectives of the college, assists in fundraising for priority projects, and helps guide the college by sharing ideas concerning resources development. Fleming also convinced the Board of Trustees to establish the first “full professorships” at Oxford College.
Throughout his life, Fleming was a leader in education and served in many community organizations. He was the chairman of the selection committee for the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation, the Newton County Clean and Community Commission, and the Newton County Mental Health Association. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Newton County Chamber of Commerce.
Deeply committed to his community, Fleming also helped found and served as president of the Oxford Historical Shrine Society, presided over the Newton County Historical Society, and was president of the Covington Kiwanis Club. He was instrumental in raising funds for the restoration of one of Oxford’s most cherished landmarks, Old Church and led the successful effort to have Oxford designated as a shrine of the United Methodist Church. A tree was planted in his honor at Old Church as part of the Georgia Forestry Service’s Millennium Grove Project. The tree was planted just inside the stone wall that curves around the front yard of the church, not far from an old elm tree that dates back to the 1870s.
Throughout his life, Fleming was a leader in education and served in many community organizations. He was the chairman of the selection committee for the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation, the Newton County Clean and Community Commission, and the Newton County Mental Health Association. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Newton County Chamber of Commerce.
Deeply committed to his community, Fleming also helped found and served as president of the Oxford Historical Shrine Society, presided over the Newton County Historical Society, and was president of the Covington Kiwanis Club. He was instrumental in raising funds for the restoration of one of Oxford’s most cherished landmarks, Old Church and led the successful effort to have Oxford designated as a shrine of the United Methodist Church. A tree was planted in his honor at Old Church as part of the Georgia Forestry Service’s Millennium Grove Project. The tree was planted just inside the stone wall that curves around the front yard of the church, not far from an old elm tree that dates back to the 1870s.