SEPTEMBER ~ 2010
A CAMPUS ECHO PUBLICATION
ECHO SPECIAL
let’s meet
some of our best teachers Myers
Jolly
Chemistry
Health
Warm, sweet teacher with a love for the natural world
Instructor puts theory into public health practice
BY ASHLEY ROQUE
BY ASHLEY GRIFFIN
ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR
ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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tep into the office of John Myers and you’ll see 40 years of lesson plans, assignments, tests and research piled in towers around a small jar of Hershey’s Kisses. Bring up his name in a discussion and faces light up. Students will talk about the warmth and sweetness of this big Southern man. “There is no other teacher like him,” said biology senior Audrey Barber. Stefanie Cooper, pharmaceutical science junior, said, “He’s so patient and willing to help — you are never
alk into the 3 p.m. public health policy class and you will see a group of students excited to learn about the upcoming blood drive. See the smiling faces from students and hear the occasional joke from associate professor David Jolly — and you’ll soon be able to see why this is a recipe for teaching success. “He gave me the chance to have a hands-on experience in public health,” said Lovemore Masakadza, a former public policy graduate student who worked with Jolly on a campus tobacco cessation campaign. “He made me fall in love
n See MYERS Page 4
n See JOLLY Page 4
JOHN MEYERS , C HEMISTRY DAVID JOLLY, PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION GLORIA DREW , S OCIOLOGY MINNIE FORTE -B ROWN , E NGLISH & M ASS COMMUNICATION JOSHUA NADEL, HISTORY BAIYINA MUHAMMAD, HISTORY
“Teaching is leaving a vestige of one’s self in the development of another.” EUGENE P. B ERTIN S
“Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.” ALBERT EINSTEIN S
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. DR. H AIM GINOTT S
“The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.” JOHN LUBBOCK S
“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.” COLLEEN WILCOX S
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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
SOC CIOLOGY
Brooklyn’s finest makes her mark teaching in the South
BY CHRIS HESS ECHO STAFF REPORTER
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rom Brooklyn to North Carolina, from Durham Tech to Butner Prison, Gloria Drew has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with her students. “She’s just cool. I was on crutches and she was always helping me,” said Ashley Griffin, mass communication senior. “She’s from Brooklyn and she wears her pride like a badge.” Drew, a native of Brooklyn, moved to North Carolina as a teenager. The move to the South was a culture shock. “I cried every day for months when I moved down here,” she said. “My father, a graduate of N.C. Central Class of 1933, he wanted me to go to school here.” Drew graduated from NCCU in 1963 with a major in English and Spanish. “I wanted to be an interpreter,” said Drew. But her first job out of college was in Hendersonville with the Management Development Corporation, where she helped unemployed people seek vocational training. She then took on a position with Durham Technical Community College where she was program director of continuing education. While working at the community college she earned
“I always try to bring a lot of humor to class, and I explain to students the importance of embracing the college life.” GLORIA DREW her master’s degree in sociology at NCCU. Drew said her interest in sociology was sparked by the 1964 stabbing of Kitty Genovese in New York, in view of several neighbors. The case led to research into the phenomena of “bystander apathy.” Soon Drew found herself teaching at the N.C. Butner Federal Correctional Complex. “It was quite an interesting experience working in the prison,” said Drew. “I had to wear a body alarm in case anything happened.” Drew said she taught some not-so-typical students. “There was a priest in there convicted of murder. “He could repeat verbatim the entire reading.” Arsonists, thieves, robbers and other criminals attended her classes. Who better to handle such a group than someone who specializes in the study of societal and group behavior. Teaching in prison had its dicey moments. After one prisoner became hostile toward Drew, another prisoner told her, “Ms. Drew if anybody both-
Sociology instructor Gloria Drew, an avid Eagle football fan, has taught at NCCU for 25 years. CHRIS HESS/Echo Staff Photographer
ers you again, you let me know and I’ll take care of it.” Drew has taught at NCCU as an adjunct professor for over 25 years. Mass communication sophomore Crystal Cotton, who took Drew’s introduction to sociology course, recalls Drew’s supportive approach to teaching. “She makes sure that everyone understands the
concepts of sociology and how it affects us individually and on a more global scale,” said Cotton. “I always try to treat people how they want to be treated,” said Drew. “It is important to keep in mind that we are products of the socialization process and life experiences.” But Drew doesn’t just teach her students, she also
encourages them to enjoy their time in college. “These are going to be the best years of your life,” she said. “I always try to bring a lot of humor to class, and I explain to students the importance of embracing the college life.” If we really are the product of our life experiences and socialization, Gloria
Drew is certainly an interesting product. Not only is she a professor at N.C. Central, but she was a student here. So were her father, daughter and granddaughter. “I’m kind of overwhelmed by this,” Drew said about being selected for this insert. “It makes me want to work even harder. This is truly an honor.”
FORTE-BROWN ~ ENGLISH
Speech instructor plays critical role in Durham public schools as chair of the school board BY DAVID FITTS ECHO ONLINE EDITOR
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hen students and faculty at N.C. C e n t r a l University hear about one of their professors taking a big stand for education both on campus and in Durham, one person comes to mind: Minnie ForteBrown, chair of the Durham Public School Board and coordinator of speech communication in the English and mass communications department at NCCU. Forte-Brown, a Durham native, knew she wanted to be a teacher like her mother, Minnie T. Forte, who received a Ph.D. in education from N.C. College at Durham in 1960, one of the first people to do so. Forte taught elementary education at Saint Augustine’s College and Fayetteville State University. “She was my first teacher and the best teacher I ever had,” said Forte-Brown. “The best person to learn from was in front of me, I didn’t have to go far.” Forte-Brown said her mother changed the lives of the children she interacted with. “I wanted to model her and be like her, which included being impactful in changing the lives of so many children like she did,” said Forte-Brown. “I have people that my mother taught tell me how they were impacted by her skill and sensitivity as a teacher. I had to be like my mother ... I had to be the best.” Forte-Brown went to Morgan State College in the fall of 1967 majoring in speech and English. After two years, she transferred to Saint Augustine’s College and graduated in 1972 magna cum-laude. She taught at Walbrook Senior High School, a com-
munications high school in Baltimore. Afterward she earned her master’s degree in education, specializing in speech pathology and audiology, from NCCU and began teaching at the University in 1975. Forte-Brown said she wants to make sure that her students are learning but at the same time are comfortable with her and their classmates. “My theory on teaching is
“I have people that my mother taught tell me how they were impacted by her skill and sensitivity as a teacher. I had to be like my mother ... I had to be the best.” MINNIE FORTE-BROWN that you have to always make lessons relevant, which means that students have to know what it means to their lives,” she said. “If it’s meaningful, if it’s
something that’s useable then they will be attentive.” This is something that her grandson Michael Johnson, sports management junior, said she does well.
“Her teaching style is unique. She finds ways to relate to her students in order to get inside their minds so she can relate to them on their level,” he said. “My Nana listens to the music and watches the shows that her students watch so she can relate to them.” Forte-Brown’s students agree with her grandson. “I never found myself becoming bored in Mrs.
Minnie Forte in her office on the 3rd floor of the Farrison-N Newton Communications Building. DAVID FITTS/Echo Staff Photographer
Forte’s classes ... her level of energy made me excited to come to class,” said Tamara Edwards, English senior. Forte-Brown has earned the admiration of faculty members as well. “Minnie is very expressive, innovative and fun,” said English instructor Alfredia Collins. “She’s able to reach the students taking them from where they are to where they need to be.” Forte-Brown said that younger faculty need to learn not to distance themselves from students, adding that understanding and compassion are critical to the teaching mission. Forte-Brown’s teaching mission is not just limited to her work at NCCU. She was first elected to the Durham Public School Board in 2004, re-elected in 2008, and now serves as its chair. “I got involved because I’m a product of Durham Public Schools,” she said. She said one of her important tasks at the board was to improve communication between the board and Durham’s citizens. “I thought that I could bring some communication strategies that would allow them to be more effective and focus on the purpose of the school board which is writing governance designed to improve student achievement,” she said. According to her grandson Forte-Brown “hates it when a young person does not get an education ... this is one of the reasons why she is involved.” Forte-Brown said she plans on teaching “until they kick me out” or until she feels that she’s staying past her effectiveness. “I want my students to always learn from me,” she said. “There’s passion in what I do.”
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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
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TORY NADEL ~ HIST
History professor draws on his travels to give global perspective to students BY CARLTON KOONCE ECHO STAFF REPORTER
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ver wonder who or what affected your professors? Why they decided to teach? What drives them to want their students to succeed? Professors will shape the future of their students, but their personal stories aren’t always told. Joshua Nadel, an assistant professor of history, has a few stories to tell. Now entering his fourth year at N.C. Central University, Nadel is also associate director of NCCU’s global studies program. He is a sophisticated man molded from an early age to train tomorrow’s global leaders. His students say he is a persuasive teacher. He describes himself as a “scholar-activist and a scholarscholar.” “He’s knowledgeable and influential,” said Tawana Brooks, a Spanish senior who has taken three of his classes. “What he teaches reflects not just African or Spanish or American history. It’s more than that. It’s us,” she said, adding that having such a young professor is a good thing. “He can relate.” “He is a great teacher. He cares a lot about us doing well in our classes,” says Summer McLaughlin, elementary education junior. “He always encourages us to get involved in activities to apply what we’ve learned.” Nadel’s exposure to global society began at birth. His grandfather went to South America in the 1920s to start a business selling baking soda. It was there that his grandparents had a daughter. “My mom was born in Argentina to American parents,” Nadel said. “I’ve always felt tied to Latin America and a part of it.” His family was close to Chilean exiles while he was growing up in New Jersey. “I understood at that age that they couldn’t go home but I didn’t
“Most Americans in the Caribbean don’t know about day-today life there. Haiti is amazing. Although it’s really poor, the people are wonderful and will give you the shirts off their backs, even though that may be all they have.” JOSHUA NADEL know why,” he said. “Their situation got me interested in Latin American history because it was unfair.” During this time Nadel’s idea of history and social justice came together. He fell in love with the subject and read literature most people don’t read until college. At Tufts University in Massachusetts Nadel became interested in Caribbean history after taking a course in African theatre. He said the play Monsieur Toussaint influenced him to study about Haiti. The play, written by Edouard Glissant in 1961, was inspired by the life of Toussaint Louverture, a.k.a. “the black Napoleon.” Louverture was a self-educated slave who led the revolt against the French army and won independence for Haiti. “Haiti was the second independent country in the hemisphere,” he said. “I had never heard of the Haitian revolution until then and I wanted to know more about it.” Nadel said Gerald Gill, an energetic, passionate and intelligent professor at Tufts University, influenced him to become a professor. After college, Nadel worked for two years as a research associate with the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, examining Haitian prison conditions and police abuse, training and organization. Nadel said he felt he was making a contribution to Haitian society while doing his research. He is now fluent in Haitian Creole, a blend of 18th-century French, African languages, Spanish and English. “Most Americans in the Caribbean don’t know about day-today life there,” he said. “Haiti is amazing. Although it’s really poor,
the people are wonderful and will give you the shirts off their backs, even though that may be all they have.” Nadel said the January earthquake hit him hard. “It’s hard not to be pessimistic about Haiti,” said Nadel. “People pledge money but a lot of it is never delivered. If they don’t bring in Haitians and Haitian grassroots helping to make plans in the reconstruction then it’s going to fail.” The professor said that although he’s not hopeful about international plans for the country, he does have faith in the people. “Haitians work hard to get by and have survived a lot,” he said. “That gives me hope.” Nadel also conducted humanitarian work in Kosovo following the violence that erupted there in the 1990s when Yugoslavian Serbians violently displaced about one million Kosovo Albanians. Nadel spent more than a year in Kosovo, visiting damaged villages in the war-torn country to create emergency shelters to house people. He also negotiated with donors and aid workers to help rebuild Kosovo’s infrastructure. “It was a dangerous environment,” Nadel said. “There was a disconnection and a lot of unavoidable tension between the Albanians and Serbs. It was so much that it leeched into everyone. There was a lot of hatred and raw feelings and that affected you in some way or form.” Nadel said life was tough in Kosovo. There was no heat or electricity for 10 days at a time and in winter the snow would blow into the buildings. Even driving around the country was harrowing.
History professor Joshua Nadel gives students a global perspective on history. CARLTON KOONCE/Echo Staff Photographer
"We were driving in the mountains one day after the rain and drove over a washed-out mine lying in the middle of the road." Nevertheless, Nadel said he is glad he went to Kosovo. "It lets you realize how much we take for granted,” he said. “I could leave … but these people couldn't." In 2007 Nadel earned his doctorate from UNC-Chapel Hill Latin American and Caribbean studies. He wrote his dissertation, which examined cultural adapta-
tion in the emerging transnational setting, while listening to "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince." He's now a big fan of Stereolab. Nadel, a soccer fan, is working on a book that examines the effect soccer has had on urbanization, immigration and nationalization. Nadel and his wife Eva Canoutas, who works with a nonprofit specializing in family planning, maternal-child health and HIV/AIDS prevention, have two children, Sofia, 5, and Rafael, 3.
TORY MUHAMMAD ~HIST
Professor uses history to explore the meaning of the black experience in America “I hope to challenge students and to help them grow because we should be constantly evolving and improving ourselves as human beings.”
BY ASHLEY ROQUE ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR
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any people spend their entire lives without ever challenging what it to be black in
means America. But if you sit in any class taught by Baiyina Muhammad, you won’t leave without questioning the world and defining your place in it. “Dr. Muhammad has changed my view on history and society in so many ways,” said David Thompson, history senior. “She is truly a remarkable professor because she challenges us to look within ourselves to find the answer to the problems in today’s world,” Thompson said. “Even though I am an African American male taking a women’s history class, I feel like the way she related the material completely changed my view on the struggles that women face and the accomplishments that they have made throughout history,” he said. Alumna Vanessa Jackson called Muhammad one of her favorite instructors. “She is not a professor who allows her students to just float by without gaining some wisdom,” Jackson said. A graduate of Bennett College, N.C. Central University and Morgan State University, Muhammad raises her students' social awareness by helping them to learn how race, class and gender affect the lives of people. Growing up in Paterson, N.J., Muhammad’s passion for history began on a school trip to London. “I was struck by the presence of black people and how similar my experience was to
BAIYINA MUHAMMAD
Baiyina Muhammad teaches the Black Experience at NCCU. CARLTON KOONCE/Echo Staff Photographer
theirs,” said Muhammad. However, it wasn’t until she went to Bennett College as an undergraduate that anthropology professor Patrick Idoye ignited her interest in the African diaspora. He helped Muhammad to
truly see the common experience that Africans all over the world share. “I thought, ‘whatever he does, I want to do that,’” Muhammad recalled. One of the marks of good professors is that they practice what they preach in and
outside the classroom. At NCCU, Muhammad has spearheaded a woman’s history conference for the past two years called “Black Women and Identity, Religion, and Community.” At the conference students present their own his-
torical research on many issues facing black women: leadership, politics, religion, family, community, identity and sexuality. “Dr. Muhammad has an exceptional way of creatively drawing out the immense potential lying dormant within us,” said Justine McNair, sociology senior. “Alongside the history, she brings in articles about contemporary issues that help us to engage our world and society more effectively,” said McNair. In addition to her work at NCCU, Muhammad taught a history course at the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, which is predominantly white. The course was centered on the black experience. “All my life, my mother did community work in prisons,” said Muhammad. “So when I saw the opportunity to teach at the correctional facility, I saw it as a way to connect to the community the way my mother did.” Muhammad challenged a lot of her white students' preconceived notions and stereotypes about African Americans. She said one inmate told her that the class taught her to realize that she was indeed, “tooled for success.” She had grown to see how success doesn’t just happen, that one must think and plan to do well. In April 2009 Muhammad received an award for Exemplary Teaching and Mentoring in the College of
Liberal Arts and in May 2010 she received the Excellence in Teaching Award from NCCU. In September, Muhammad received the Unsung Leaders Award from the NCCU Women’s Center. Muhammad said she feels successful when she can raise her students' awareness. Her courses, which range from the black experience to the history of women at the graduate level, Muhammad seeks to show how today connects with the past. “I hope to challenge students and to help them grow because we should be constantly evolving and improving ourselves as human beings,” she said. Muhammad also keeps busy conducting research and working in the community. She has published a variety of essays on black businesses with a focus on the black press. She is a member of the Inclusion Advisory Board for Durham Parks and Recreation, where she advocates for better programs and activities for people with special needs. She also is a member of the Durham Chapter of the Autism Society, working with other parents on policy issues and school board decisions concerning student with special needs. Muhammad is the mother of four boys and is married to Dwayne Brandon, a professor in NCCU’s psychology department.
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MYERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 afraid of going up to him and asking him a question. “Dr. Myers is willing to work with you to help you understand and he always finds some creative way to relay the information to everyday life.” Born and raised in Jefferson City, Tenn., Myers grew up with a father who taught chemistry at CarsonNewman College. When his father was asked to begin a chemistry program at another school, Myers helped him out and caught the bug. After graduating from Carson-Newman College with a B.A. in mathematics and a B.S. in chemistry, Myers went to the University of Florida and earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry. After Florida, Myers continued his post-doctoral research in organic chemistry at Michigan State University before coming to NCCU. For years, Myers worked as a professor; he was chair of the chemistry department from 1991-97. After Myers stepped down, Wendell Wilkerson, one of Myers’s former graduate students and the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, became chair. “I have always admired his easygoing and approachable style as a teacher,” said Wilkerson. “It’s important for our students to have a teacher like Myers.” Since 2003, Myers has been the editor of the University Undergraduate Research Journal. As editor, Myers oversees
“What I am most proud of are the students who have achieved and done well in research ... I want to help students to see not just the trees. I want them to see the whole forest.” JOHN MYERS the research of a variety of topics from how atoms behave in certain chemicals to the thematic concerns of literature by William Butler Yeats. Myers also is a member of the Executive Committee of the N.C. Consortium on Undergraduate Research and chair of the N.C. section of the American Chemical Society. He has served as coorganizer of the N.C. Fall Conference and the Sixth National Conference of the Council on Undergraduate Research. “He is always doing something to help us out with our research,” said Cooper. “He is willing to sit down with you and make the information plain.” “There is no chapter in my chemistry book that is too difficult for him to explain,” said Barber. “He always finds a way to relate the information for us so that it’s easy to explain.” Myers’s big heart comes out in the community through summer programs. He is chair of S.E.E.D.s, a science program that provides a summer gardening experience for economical-
Myers cheers up the chemical lab while students conduct experiments. CHRIS HESS/Echo Staff Photographer
ly disadvantaged students. He directs Summer Ventures, a free summer program for high school juniors and seniors. The students live at NCCU and conduct lab experiments while learning mathematical skills. It is no wonder that Myers received NCCU’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006 and the Exemplary Mentoring and Teaching Award from the College of Liberal Arts in 2007.
“He makes learning organic chemistry fun and he is always making us laugh,” said Cooper. Myers’s low tenor voice singing old country songs sweetens up the stale environment of a chemical lab. “Sometimes he’ll start singing in at the end of class or to tie up some point in his lectures,” said Barber. Like a proud father, Myers will brag about the accomplishments and success of his students, many of whom have gone on to enjoy
JOLLY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “When a student comes and tells me they like my class or I inspired them to change some things, that is going to keep me going.” DAVID JOLLY
with the field. Dr. Jolly is a good man. He is a good person ... “Above all he has the best interest of students at heart.” According to Masakadza, Jolly was the key to his landing a job with the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch of Mecklenburg County Health Department. Jolly has been teaching public health classes at N.C. Central University for 12 years and is now chair of the department of public health. “Before coming to NCCU I never worked anywhere for more than five years,” said Jolly. After graduating from Princeton University with a degree in sociology and from Tufts University with a master’s degree in elementary education, Jolly taught for six years in public and private elementary schools. “I just always knew no matter what, I wanted to teach,” he said. He earned his master’s of science in public health. With that degree in hand he conducted research in adolescent vehicle fatalities from drinking and driving in North Carolina. In 1993 he earned his Ph.D. from the UNC-CH School of Public Health with a dissertation that examined the sexual practices of men who frequent
David Jolly in a light moment during a public health education class. Morgan Crutchfield/Echo Staff Photographer
gay bars in North Carolina. After getting the degree he held a number of positions as a consultant and
director for agencies addressing HIV/AIDS issues. This included three
years as coordinator of the N.C. AIDS Training Network, one year with the N.C. AIDS Control Branch,
successful chemistry careers. “What I am most proud of are the students who have achieved and done well in research,” he said. Some of his success stories included Karla Mark, whose research was recently published in the Journal of Neurochemistry. Another former student, Isaiah Hill, works for Georgia Pacific — a global leader in building products — where he develops modular building materials.
Myers said he loves teaching chemistry because he wants to help students understand the natural world and how small things are part of a bigger picture. “I want to help students to see not just the trees,” he said. “I want them to see the whole forest.” Myers and his wife Mary have been married for more than 37 years. They have five children and three grandchildren.
and four years as the Hotlines Project Director for the Center for Disease Control. In this position he managed services of the National AIDS Hotline, the National STD Hotline and the National Immunization Hotline. From 1998-2000 he prepared a report for N.C. General Assembly which examined the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. In 1999, Jolly approached former dean Ted Parrish about teaching at NCCU. “‘I’m really interested in teaching here,’” I told him. I wanted to teach at NCCU because it was right in my backyard,” said Jolly. “I applied to Duke too, but I did not want to be another cog in the Duke machine.” Since then Jolly has taught courses on personal health, aging, principles of school health and the foundations of public health. Jolly, who grew up in Bridgeport, Conn., said his teachers had a major influence on him growing up. “I was inspired by them. I had a few English teachers in junior high school and high school that were excellent and compelling people. They really knew their stuff,” he said. Today, many of Jolly’s students would say the same thing about him, describing him as dedicated, honest and empathetic. “Dr. Jolly is a wonderful teacher and person,” said mass communication senior Aaron Saunders. “He can blend his life experience with course material to make the class very interesting.” Jolly said he strives to promote discussion in class. “I try to make the lectures relate to the material, to current issues and issues in students’ lives,” he said. “I always tell my students it’s your health, your well being.” Jolly said his approach
to public health was largely influenced by Dan Beauchamp, author of a seminal article titled “Public Health as Social Justice.” The article maintains that the “fundamental attention in public health policy ... should not be directed toward a search for new technology, but rather toward breaking existing ethical and political barriers to minimizing death and disability.” Jolly said this means that public health policy should be “working for equal distribution of all the resources that people need to live a healthy life.” Jolly said he always stresses to students that they are responsible for creating change in the world. “I want my students to learn and to get involved in changing policy,” he said. Jolly put this approach into action when he and public administration professor Patricia Wigfall teamed up in 2006 to create a program, “Combatting Tobacco Use at NCCU.” In the program students advocated to encourage compliance with NCCU smoking policies and to prohibit smoking within 20 feet from building entrances. The students presented their results to NCCU’s Board of Trustees. Jolly is currently principal investigator of a project funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research. The project examines ways that communities can support and deliver emerging HIV prevention technologies. In the final analysis, for Jolly, public health is an ethical enterprise, an enterprise that must be explored actively in the classroom. “When a student comes and tells me they like my class or I inspired them to change some things, that is going to keep me going,” he said.