Richard DeCosmo, an education advocate and president emeritus at Delaware County Community College, died Jan. 12 at 88, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Under his leadership, the community college “became even more visible, accessible, and comprehensive as well as increasingly recognized for its contributions to Delaware County,” DCCC officials said.

He believed education should be available to anyone who sought it and he fought for low-cost college courses for high school graduates as well as continuing education for working adults, job training programs, and community outreach.

 “That’s what I wanted to do when I came here,” he said in 2003, “to really fulfill and serve the needs of the community.”

Dr. DeCosmo, formerly of Media, was the community college’s second president from 1980 until his retirement in 2003. The school saw massive growth during his time there. Despite fluctuations in funding, enrollment rose and programs and degrees added.

Course credit agreements were made with high schools and technical schools and satellite locations opened in Exton, West Goshen, West Chester, West Grove, Phoenixville, Downingtown, and elsewhere in the 1990s.

He oversaw construction of a 37,000-square-foot addition to the Academic Building that included a technology wing.

Read more about the life of Richard DeCosmo in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Get a history of Delaware County Community College in this 50th-anniversary video from six years ago.