In 1995, as he neared retirement after nearly a quarter-century as Duke’s police chief, Paul J. Dumas received the University Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Service.
It is one of the university’s highest honors. Then-Duke President Nannerl Keohane presented it to him and she spoke in part about “his particular commitment to ensuring fair and equitable treatment for minorities and women” — a commitment, she said at the time, that could be seen not only in the workplace he manages, “but in his efforts to see that Duke protects the safety and dignity of all who work and study here.”
A Maine native, Dumas served three years in the Army before attending Michigan Technological University and the University of Alabama, where he studied sociology.
Dumas served four decades in law enforcement, as an Army first lieutenant; a detective in Montgomery, Ala; and as a chief deputy U.S. marshal whose tasks included the protection of civil rights advocates including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He was police director at the University of Georgia prior to coming to Duke in 1971, where he set to work upgrading the security, safety and traffic operations. The office got a new name — Public Safety — and under his watch, Duke hosted dignitaries like Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, all without incident.
Notably, Dumas also oversaw the security around raucous but contained celebrations following the 1991 and 1992 national championships by the men’s basketball team.
Dumas died in 2001.
