NATCHEZ — A Natchez native who served as the first African American deputy director at the National Institute of Mental Health and taught at Yale University died Sunday.

Rhetaugh Etheldra Graves Dumas, 78, worked as a substitute teacher and nurse in Natchez.

She went on to become the first African American woman to serve as dean at the University of Michigan and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, among other achievements.

Sister-in-law Claudia Dumas, a Natchez native herself, said Dumas was more than just her achievements.

“She had a career that stretched far beyond the norm,” Claudia Dumas said. “She was also a very good friend and a loving sister-in-law.”

Dumas lived in Natchez until she left to join the faculty at Yale. She eventually moved to Michigan, near Claudia.

“We always had family gatherings at her home in Ann Arbor and our home in Ypsilanti, Mich.,” she said.

Dumas wasn’t an all-serious academic, though, she said. She was fun to be around.

“We all loved her. She was a most outstanding lady. We had lots of fun and parties together with friends and family.”

Along with her academic contributions, “she was always extending a helping hand to others,” Claudia Dumas said. “She will be missed dearly.”

Dumas died in Houston, Texas, Saturday at the age of 78.

Dumas’ funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at West Funeral Home.