Former vice president of academic affairs Shott dies

Dr. Hugh I. Shott II, former longtime vice president of academic affairs and dean of the University of North Georgia (UNG), has died at age 93.

Shott died Jan. 22 after a short illness, just 12 days after his wife Betty Dalton-Shott, '73, died after a short illness. His first wife, Gloria Shott, died in the 1980s. The performing arts center on UNG's Dahlonega Campus is named for Gloria Shott.

Shott served at then-North Georgia College from 1966 to 1988.

Michael Hyams, who served as vice president for student affairs and dean of students for 28 years at North Georgia, said Shott was the first person he met at the university, and Shott served as a mentor during Hyams' early years at the university. Hyams appreciated his friend's wisdom and ability to bring people together.

"Always quick with a smile and a kind word, regardless of job pressures, Dean Shott brought dignity and compassion to the most difficult job of chief academic officer," Hyams said at a gathering to honor Shott upon his retirement in 1988.

In addition to his work as dean and vice president for academic affairs, Shott taught English.

"A scholar with unlimited patience, Dr. Shott often taught classes in freshman composition, sharing some of the class load of the English faculty and making more classes available for new students," Hyams said.

Shott established trusts to endow scholarships in the names of both of his wives and one for a faculty chair in the English Department. The Gloria Shott Fine Arts Scholarship is available to entering or current students in fine arts and the Betty Dalton-Shott Scholarship is for education majors during their student teaching internship. The Hugh I. Shott II Chair in English is designed to attract high-quality faculty prospects.

A Bluefield, West Virginia, native, Shott lived in Gainesville, Georgia, most recently. He was a graduate of Concord College and West Virginia University, and had a master's degree from the University of Virginia and a doctoral degree from the University of Denver.

"He was hard-nosed when he had to be," wrote William Pittman Roberts in his book "Georgia's Best Kept Secret: A History of North Georgia College."  "And he stood up for what was right and best for NGC."