Spotlight on HBCUs and Distinguished Alumni
Dr. Eugene M. DeLoatch The Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. School of Engineering Morgan State University Name Title Company
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Top Supporters of HBCUs
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USBE&IT Deans 2011 USBE&IT Conference Edition 2011 www.blackengineer.com www.blackengineer.com
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YA : E B The RIENCE e m EXP1EHall ofeFeas 201 Induct
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Profiles in Innovation
People and Events............... XX
New engineering dean for North Carolina A&T University...NAFEO’s Blacks in Higher Education summit...Top brass in new senior posts.
One On One.......................... XX Department of Energy’s William Brinkman talks about his role and the DOE’s relationship with HBCUs.
Education
On Campus........................... XX
Lance Collins’s journey to his current post as the Joseph Silbert dean of Cornell University’s College of Engineering began in the summer of 1976.
Book Review..... XX Melvin G. Williams Sr. and Melvin G. Williams Jr. have quite a story to tell. Their distinguished careers will give you plenty to talk about.
Spotlight on HBCUs Distinguished Alumni........... XX
These alumni have demonstrated unique talents since their college days and now are achieving phenomenal success in the workplace.
Diversity
Top Supporters of HBCUs..... XX
Who are the top supporters of historically black college and university engineering schools? A ninth annual UBE&ITs survey reveals all. Name Title
TS Vo l u m e 3 5 N u m b e r 2
BEST PRACTICES For Success
New Presidents, New Ideas, New Energy.............................XX A look at the rise of three new CEOs at schools with a long history of success in producing top performers in science and technology.
Science Spectrum.
Titans of Science.................................XX
What if you’re young, gifted and black, with interests in STEM, but do not enjoy an enlightened upbringing as Freeman Hrabowski?
Career Outlook............................XX A bumper section filled with an overview of sponsors of the 25th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM Conference, 2011 Hall of Fame Inductees, plus photos of the total BEYA Experience.
Overview of BEYA Sponsors...............XX More than a 100 employers supporting the rise of young professionals into technical careers.
Hall of Fame Inductees................. XX Honoring 16 BEYA/WOC/CCG award winners.
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US Black Engineer & Information Technology (ISSN 1088-3444) is a publication devoted to engineering, science, and technology and to promoting opportunities in those fields for black Americans. The editors invite submissions directed toward the goals of US Black Engineer & Information Technology. In particular, we wish to present ideas and current events concerning science and technology, and personality profiles of successful blacks in these fields and related business pursuits. Fully developed articles may be sent for consideration, but queries are encouraged. US Black Engineer & Information Technology invites letters to the editor about any topics important to our readership. Articles and letters should be sent to: US Black Engineer & Information Technology, Editorial Department, 729 E Pratt St., 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. No manuscript will be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. US Black Engineer & Information Technology cannot be responsible for unsolicited art or editorial material. This publication is bulk-mailed to 150 colleges and universities nationwide. Subscriptions are $26/year. Please write to US Black Engineer & Information Technology, Subscriptions, 729 E. Pratt St., 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. Copyright (c) 2011 by Career Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
USBE&IT I WINTER 2011 3
PUBLISHER’S PAGE Response to ‘WSJ’ article, ‘Black Colleges Need a New Mission . . .’
J
ason Riley’s article, “Black Colleges Need a New Mission. Once an essential response to racism, they are now academically inferior,” is an echo chamber for views we’ve rebutted time and time again. For years, Riley’s spurious conclusions in the Wall Street Journal article have been the refrain of ‘ivory tower’ researchers and university administrators at traditionally white colleges in state higher education systems. And the refrain has gone like this: Since historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are vestiges of discrimination, they no longer have viable roles; we’re doing a better job with black students than HBCUs with lower graduation rates; since we in traditionally white educational programs are under pressure to support diversity, closing HBCUs or merging them into our campuses would solve that problem. Examine such claims up close, however, and the picture looks entirely different. Historically black colleges and universities remain the only institutions willing to accept many of the poorest black students from underserved schools. Not only are HBCUs more willing to consider students with GPAs that make them less attractive to so-called mainstream schools, they also are more affordable. And the idea that traditionally white institutions do better at educating black students falls apart when you look at these two facts ignored by Riley: HBCU graduates are more likely to pursue postgraduate study; over the quarter of century that Career Communications Group and the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities have hosted BEYA, majority of the top performers marching across the winner’s stage have been HBCU graduates. Those corporate go-getters like Rod Adkins and Art Johnson certainly were not held back by having completed their education at HBCUs, and their employers were not held back from hiring them, appreciating their contributions and promoting them. Undoubtedly, black colleges are expanding. Howard pursued aggressive building activity during the H. Patrick Swygert years, as did Morgan State under the estimable Dr. Earl Richardson. Hampton’s steady growth, and the crop of new engineering schools at Virginia State, Norfolk State, Alabama A&M and Jackson State also are proof that the need for HBCUs is still extant, their achievements unassailable, and their graduates continue to march on into the bright blue future. Their students’ SAT scores would get them into many traditionally white institutions they eschewed. But as the National Institute of Medicine pointed out in its report on blacks in the sciences, and as a recent Bayer study showed, blacks enter “mainstream” institutions with the same inclination to pursue STEM careers as whites, but then get dissuaded by faculty and administrators. That just doesn’t happen at HBCUs. So enough of Riley’s balderdash. We’ve rebutted it time and time again. At the end of the day, black colleges are not going to dry up and blow away. The full version of this article was first published in September 2010.http://diversitygps.com/ response-to-wsj-article-black-colleges-need-a-new-mission-once-an-essent-p136-103.htm
Tyrone D. Taborn Publisher and Editorial Director
4 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
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People and Events
by Michael A. Fletcher mfletcher@ccgmag.com
New eNgiNeeriNg DeaN for North CaroliNa a&t State UNiverSity A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. has appointed Robin N. Coger, Ph.D. as dean of the College of Engineering, effective July 1st. Dr. Coger replaces Winser Alexander, who served as interim dean. Coger served as founding director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering Systems at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She was also professor of the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department within the William States Lee College of Engineering. Additionally, she assisted with the establishment of the interdisciplinary doctorate program in biology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and served as a founding faculty member. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Coger’s research has focused on solving design and performance problems related to tissue-engineered organs˜with special emphasis on the development and safe storage of liver replacement devices. Her research has resulted in publications in the areas of liver tissue engineering and cryopreservation, plus two patent applications. She was recognized for her research with the prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career award.Coger is a fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, and holds a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, all in mechanical engineering. Dr. Coger completed her postdoctoral research training at Harvard Medical School.
RetiRed nucleaR submaRineR appointed to one of the most poweRful positions in the u.s. depaRtment of eneRgy Melvin G. Williams Jr. took up the post of associate deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in February 2011. He reports directly to the secretary of energy and deputy secretary and is responsible for driving organizational improvements and assuring they are implemented throughout the DOE. In addition, he serves as the point of contact for the DOE Offices of Human Capital Management, Chief Information Officer, Economic Impact and Diversity, Management, Health, Safety & Security, and Hearings & Appeals. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in mathematics in 1978, he began a 32-year career in the navy. His distinguished service as a nuclear trained submariner includes four command opportunities as commander of U.S. Second Fleet Melvin G. Williams Jr (130 ships and over 90,000 sailors and marines), commander of Submarine Group Nine (12 submarines and over 4,000 sailors), commander of Submarine Squadron Four (6 submarines and crews), and commanding officer of USS Nebraska - a strategic ballistic missile submarine. Other key assignments included deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Forces, director of Global Operations at U.S. Strategic Command, chief of staff for the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group during initial combat operations that followed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil, and executive officer on USS Louisville during initial combat operations in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. Williams holds a Master of Science degree in engineering from Catholic University, and he also attended Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has various military awards and his civic recognitions include the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Professional Achievement, a National Society of Black Engineers award for Lifetime Achievement in Government, and the Thurgood Marshall award for Service and Leadership. www.blackengineer.com
USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 7
PROFILES IN INNOVATION
People and events continues new senioR post foR decoRated coast guaRd officeR The White House announced April that Chief Usher Rear Admiral Stephen W. Rochon will leave the White House to become the principal executive for strategic integration at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The CBP is one of the largest components of the Department of Homeland Security. Admiral Rochon is the eighth person and first ever African American to serve as director of the president’s executive residence and “Chief Usher.” President George W. Bush appointed Admiral Rochon to the position in February 2007 and President Barack Obama asked him to continue when he took office in January 2009. Adm. Rochon led a team of executive residence employees in executing major events from state visits and presidential press conferences, to the annual Easter Egg Roll and East Room events, while preserving the most historic house in America. In his new role at CBP, he will work on a wide range of integrated efforts to enhance border security, as well as to facilitate the flow of legitimate trade and travel across our nation’s borders. He will assist in ensuring that CBP’s resources and activities are aligned with measurable outcomes of improved homeland security. In 1970, he enlisted in the Coast Guard and was quickly promoted up the enlisted and officer ranks where he developed an extensive background in personnel management, strategic planning, and effective interagency coordination. As the Coast Guard’s commander of the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic, Admiral Rochon was responsible for naval and civil engineering, financial management, personnel, legal, civil rights, electronic systems support, and contingency planning across 40 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. A New Orleans native, he served as the Coast
Admiral Stephen W. Rochon
Guard’s director of personnel management in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricanes, providing support for Coast Guard personnel and their families, and ensuring they had housing and new job assignments. He helped rebuild and preserve the historic significance of three turn-of-the-century homes in New Orleans following the 2005 hurricanes. Admiral Rochon graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
Nafeo 37th aNNUal CoNfereNCe oN BlaCkS iN higher eDUCatioN The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) held its 37th annual conference April in Washington, D.C., with some meetings scheduled in Maryland. This year’s Blacks in Higher Education summit had as its theme, “HBCUs & PBIs: Fostering Access & Success; Fueling Innovation & Competitiveness.” NAFEO is a national organization representing 106 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and about 20 newer, predominantly black institutions. Its purpose is to help black colleges compete for federal dollars in order to strengthen their infrastructure, add graduate programs, support development of medical and law schools, support Ph.D. programs and, overall, enhance the operating environment of HBCUs and other African-American institutions. NAFEO represents roughly one hundred and fifty colleges and universities in 35 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands; 500,000 students, fifty thousand faculty, and five million alumni. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed an executive order renewing the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. At the event held February 26, 2011, the president spoke about the importance of the nation’s HBCUs, which serve more than 300,000 students. 8 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
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PROFILES IN INNOVATION We celebrate the men and women who are reinventing and reenergizing STEM, business, and government.
One on One
by Michael A. Fletcher mfletcher@ccgmag.com
reNowNeD PhySiCiSt william f. BriNkmaN
William F. Brinkman
A
s head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, renowned physicist William F. Brinkman is an important player in the nation’s quest to achieve energy security. The office, which controls more than $6 billion a year in funding, is the nation’s largest single supporter of basic physical science research. Overall, it provides more than 40 percent of total funding in this crucial area. Brinkman also manages 10 national laboratories, which form a foundation for the nation’s scientific research, and also oversees the department’s education programs. In taking the helm of the Office of Science, Brinkman has said one of his top goals is to better integrate science discovery and innovation, allowing the country to harness scientific breakthroughs in ways that provide not only lasting lifestyle and environmental benefits, but also economic benefits. That is no easy task. In the recent past, federally funded research has helped www.blackengineer.com
surmount barriers in fields such as solar energy production, only to see most large scale manufacturing set up outside the country. “I think we have to figure out what is wrong,” Brinkman told lawmakers at his 2009 confirmation hearing, “and I don’t think it’s just labor. I think it is a more complicated story than that. [We have to] get that straightened out so that the smallbusiness people in this game can have a chance to do things in the U.S.” The Obama administration has set a goal of 80 percent of the nation’s energy produced by clean energy sources within 25 years. It is a challenging goal, but the outline of the basic science is essentially in view, experts say. The biggest hurdle to reaching that goal is finding ways to reduce the cost of the clean energy technology. That means researchers have to come up with changes in how plants and microbes are transformed into biofuels, and in how solar energy is produced and integrated into the nation’s electricity grid. “We have lots of solutions, but they are not price competitive,” Brinkman told a conference at the University of California Santa Barbara earlier this year. The Department of Energy is working to reduce solar costs through its SunShot program, which aims to make solar energy economically competitive with fossil fuels. The department also is promoting cheaper biofuels—which currently are dependent on federal subsidies—and batteries. A Missouri native, Brinkman came to the Department of Energy with long experience in managing scientific research in government, academia and the private sector. After earning a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Missouri, he spent a year as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University before joining the staff of Bell Labs in 1966, beginning a decades-long tenure. In 1984, he left Bell Labs to serve as vice president of Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, then operated by AT&T. There, he was in charge of expansion of its USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 9
Profiles in Innovation
One on One continues computer science efforts. Brinkman returned to Bell Labs in 1987 as executive director of its physics research division. In 1993, he became physical sciences research vice president and in January 2000 he became vice president of research. He retired from Bell Labs, then part of Lucent Technologies, in September 2001. Brinkman was president of the American Physical Society in 2002, and he has served on numerous national committees, including chairing the National Academy of Sciences’ Physics Survey. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He was a recipient of the 1994 George E. Pake Prize. Brinkman served as senior research physicist at Princeton University before President Obama tapped him to head the Office of Science. US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine recently asked Brinkman about his role at the Department of Energy and the department’s relationship with historically black colleges and universities. The exchange follows here:
vironmental Protection Agency—provides internship opportunities at DOE Headquarters, field sites, national laboratories and EPA facilities. Over the last three years, the program has grown from 38 to 75 interns, and in 2010, 40 students representing 17 HBCUs participated in the program. Seven HBCUs are participating in DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program, which provides a variety of parties the opportunity to participate in DOE contracts and subcontracts opportunities.
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USBE: What are some of the things the Department of Energy is doing to get more underrepresented minorities into science and technology fields? Brinkman: Secretary Steven Chu recognizes that supporting science and innovation is essential to America’s economic growth and global competitiveness. He also understands the important role that historically black colleges and universities play in developing and maintaining a more diverse science and engineering workforce. President Obama’s FY 2011 budget includes more than $285 million for HBCU programs in the federal government. The department supports a wide range of those programs and activities, including research and development, student education and recruitment. In FY 2010, DOE funding to HBCUs totaled almost $30 million. The Department’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity also works to ensure that more underrepresented minorities will have the opportunity to pursue careers in science and engineering fields. For instance: The Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership and Program—in partnership with the En10 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
USBE: Why is that important for the country? Brinkman: It’s important that we develop and maintain a more diverse science and engineering workforce, because a diversity of people, with a diversity of backgrounds, helps assure a diversity of ideas. That in turn will spur discovery in basic science and innovation. USBE: What does the department do to support historically black colleges and universities? Brinkman: In addition to the activities outlined above, DOE has a proud history of supporting activities at HBCUs including Alcorn State University, Clark Atlanta University, Fort Valley State University, Howard University, Langston University, Norfolk State University, Xavier University, and many others. USBE: Do historically black colleges and universities continue to play a special role in STEM education, even now in the 21st Century? Brinkman: HBCUs certainly play a special role in STEM education, and in DOE’s efforts to strengthen our nation in green technology and jobs. HBCUs play an essential role in broadening participation in STEM education. USBE: Do they offer lessons that could be instructive to other college and universities? Brinkman: One of the great things that HBCUs can teach is the importance of bringing the full potential of students to bear on our country’s most pressing problems. You just never know who will bring the next breakthrough. There’s so much that students at HBCUs can offer the science and technology community, and I hope we’ll see more and more of them active in STEM fields in the future.
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USBE: Your office controls billions of dollars in grants that support basic physical science research, grants that were boosted substantially by the stimulus bill. How do HBCUs fare in that process? Brinkman: HBCUs benefited significantly from the stimulus bill. To take just one example, using funds from the bill, the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity provided $250,000 to support the Atlanta University Center Sustainable Campus Community Initiative.
nating. It’s tremendously exciting to be part of all the discoveries and innovations that are shaping our world. It is also a misconception that scientists are less competitive than say, athletes. Researchers are intense competitors—they want their research to be the best, to be published before anyone else. I see the same thing each year at our National Science Bowl. The students who come are true competitors. They want to be the very best and they work as hard as they can to become the best.
Am, ipsandaerume volorerum sa volorruptati doluptaepre prest exceped earcia et ea in net est incit plita verene dolupta tusanditas moit eum rerias velliquo.
USBE: What advice would you offer parents with little science or technology background who want to help their children build interest and knowledge in STEM? Brinkman: It’s important for parents to foster an interest in science and technology in their children. But the first step is to foster an interest in education, whatever the subject. Neither of my parents had a background in science or technology, but they always emphasized education. They always pushed hard on the idea that we should go to college.
USBE: What is the biggest misconception students — and parents, for that matter — have about science and technology education? Brinkman: One of the biggest misconceptions about science education is that it’s uninteresting. Part of the reason I enjoy science so much is that it is so interesting. We’re constantly learning new things about the world, and we have incredible tools with which to understand it. Science is complex and fasci-
USBE: What attracted you to science as a young person? Brinkman: Growing up, I was pretty good at physics and math—I always had fun with them. In grade school and high school, we had to do word problems, and I just loved to do them. USBE: Why did you want to be director of the Office of Science? Brinkman: I’m grateful for the chance to be part of the Office of Science. Its impact has been disproportionate to its size and public visibility in our most fundamental understanding of the physical world, as well as our nation’s security, prosperity and quality of life. Perhaps never has our nation had more need for the solutions that science can supply. And never have the tools of scientific discovery been so powerful, and the possibilities of discovery so manifold. That’s why I’m so thankful to be leading this office.
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EDUCATION
On Campus
by Matthew Montague mmontague@ccgmag.com
HOw NEw DEAN LANCE COLLINS FOUND HIS wAY TO CORNELL
T
he journey has brought him here, to a comfortable modern office overlooking an Ivy League campus in Ithaca, N.Y. It’s the dean’s office at one of the top 10 engineering schools in the world. Lance Collins took the post as the Joseph Silbert Dean of Cornell University’s College of Engineering this past fall, but his trip to this place began in the summer of 1976, in an engineering lab on the beautiful campus of Lafayette College, northeast of Bethlehem, Penn. There, the rising senior from Westbury, N.Y., ran programs on a mainframe computer, built structures from Popsicle sticks, and discovered that he was an engineer. “I was a good math and science student,” Collins said, “but I had no idea what an engineer did until I participated in the Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE) program. We spent two weeks at Lafayette during the summer before my senior year in high school. I thought I was headed towards chemistry and physics – I was in the chemistry club – but this experience showed me how engineers can impact society.” Running a rudimentary lunar landing game, using actual parameters of gravity and fuel to simulate bringing the lander in safely, gave Collins an appreciation for the engineering disciplines and rechanneled his intellectual energies toward acquiring a top-notch education so he could solve similar problems in the real world. It wasn’t entirely foreign turf for Collins. His older brothers had paved the way into the top tier of schools by attending Yale, while his mother reinforced his aspirations through a no-nonsense regimen of “sit down and study” and “there are no excuses because you can do www.blackengineer.com
it.” Collins applied to the top engineering schools—Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology—and was accepted to all. However, these positive motivations had to compete with negativity from some who could not believe in a student like Lance. “There were people I talked to who basically said, ‘Aren’t you reaching a little too high …’,” Lance Collins Dean, Joseph Silbert College of Engineering leaving Collins’ race hanging Cornell University in the air, unsaid. “But I had already been accepted into earning a doctorate and making research Princeton.” my career even while I was in high Still, Collins’ first year at Princeton school.” tested his confidence. “My freshman year After graduating from Princeton with was almost a disaster. There were students a Bachelor of Science degree in chemifrom elite high schools who were far cal engineering, Collins made his way ahead of me in subjects like calculus and to a master’s in engineering, and then an physics. I was getting B’s and C’s and I engineering doctorate at the University wasn’t used to that. I had to gain a lot of of Pennsylvania. “I was keen on getting maturity and I had to ask for help to learn to the highest level,” he said. “It was the how to study and how to prepare for expermanence of the achievement that drove ams. I had to learn how to succeed in this me. My mother told me that knowledge is new and demanding environment.” power, and no one can take it away.” Collins said his belief in his ability While in graduate school, Collins had never wavered and when his class entered the good fortune of landing a Cooperative its sophomore year, the playing field Research Fellowship at Bell Laboratories. suddenly was leveled. “It was a fantastic It was a chance to work in a dynamic, relief,” he said. “because the material was creative environment that has come to be new to all of us.” regarded as the engineering equivalent And it was in chemistry class that a of the Harlem Renaissance for African light went on. American engineers. “I had great preparation for chem“You were surrounded by people istry in high school,” he said. “Our club who looked like you, who had similar was run by my first mentor, Sol Medoff. stories,” he said. “There were busloads We studied biochemistry, and learned how of people heading off to internships. the body worked. Those were some really Everyone was outstanding. There were advanced topics for high school students. students from MIT, from Berkeley. It was He made me dream big and think about USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 13
EDUCATION
On Campus continues so impressive. It changed my landscape. I didn’t feel like there was a ceiling over me anymore.” Collins also had an inspirational half hour with the legendary Walter Lincoln Hawkins, a pioneering African-American scientist at Bell in the 1940s. “Link set a new baseline for what can be achieved,” Collins said. The next milestone in Collins’ journey was a post-doctoral research position at Los Alamos National Lab. “It was like being a kid in a candy shop. There were famous people everywhere and the environment was very open-door.” Collins studied combustion, how turbulence influenced flame propagation, a continuation of his doctoral work. There are large-density changes within a flame, Collins said. “A gas is heavy before it is burned and light afterward. The turbulence interacts with these density jumps. We had the idea that we could analyze these interactions conceptually by considering the related problem of a turbulent suspension of particles.” What Collins calls a multiphase flow. This was nearly virgin territory, and it inspired the chemical engineer to study the behavior of particles in a gas. “Jerry Erpenbeck was a pioneer in analyzing the structure of liquids and we thought we could translate that work into understanding how particles behave in a turbulent gas. Jerry spent three days showing me how to do it, and it translated into a career.” His next stop was an 11-year hitch at The Pennsylvania State University, where he began to publish the results of his studies. His 1997 study of droplet breakup in turbulence was named the best paper by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In 2002, Collins joined the Cornell faculty and in 2005 he was named the S.C. Thomas Sze director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Stints as the director of graduate studies for aerospace engineering and on the university’s Strategic Plan Advisory Council brought him forward to the deanship. Today, Collins oversees the academic and administrative work involved in educating more than 3,000 undergraduate and 1,400 graduate engineering students at Cornell. He is aided by 240 faculty, 250 non-professorial academics, and a staff of 225. His day begins at 4 a.m. “I get up early and do e-mail triage,” he said. “It’s also a good time to work on my research and write papers. I am in the office by 8 a.m.” Then begins a busy day of “gaining information” through meetings with academics and staff. Collins works with the college’s directors and chairs to oversee the school’s curriculum, to manage project teams, and to provide the ‘Dean’s opinion’ on budgets and space. Two days a week, he steps out at 5 p.m. to stay in shape in spinning classes; other days, he is 14 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
at the office until about 6 p.m. before heading home to his wife Sousan Collins and their 10-year-old daughter Ashley. The biggest surprise for the new dean? “I find that I enjoy traveling to talk to the alumni,” he said. “I learn a lot and their input has crafted my vision for the school. I talk to people who graduated 50 years ago and to people who graduated five years ago, and their stories of their time at Cornell and since give me a sense of what is valuable here. They tell me about the rigorous discipline and the problem-solving skills they learned as undergraduates that helped them in their careers. They sing the praises of our interdisciplinary efforts that gave them a background in business and entrepreneurship, and I’ve learned how no two of their career paths look alike, especially among the younger people.” That input has shaped Collins’ ideas about where the College of Engineering and Cornell are going. “Cornell is in the process of re-imagining itself as a university,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-hundred-years kind of thing, and it is great to have a seat at the table with the provost and the other deans for that process. “In the Engineering School, we are reflecting that change by becoming more diverse, collaborative, nimble, and entrepreneurial. When you bring people together from different cultures and disciplines, you get a creative friction. You knock people out of their comfort zones, and that’s what makes things happen. And that flexibility will take us to some of the biggest opportunities and challenges of tomorrow.”
Mentors Mentors loom large in Lance Collins’ career. He credits his achievements to a series of advisors who helped him move forward at each step in his life. “I knew I hit paydirt when I met someone who had a lot of knowledge I needed and who was willing to spend the time to teach it to me.” Sol Medoff – Medoff was the head of Collins’ chemistry club in high school. He treated Collins as an adult and taught him advanced biochemistry. As an adult, Collins journeyed to Ajijic, Mexico, to seek out Medoff and to thank him for his influence on his life. Stuart Churchill – Collins’ advisor at the University of Pennsylvania, remains a close friend to this day. Collins recently attended Churchill’s 90th birthday. Frank Harlow – Collins’ advisor at Los Alamos helped advance his understanding of turbulent flow phenomena, opening the door to Collins’ life work.
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Book Review
by M.V. Greene mgreene@ccgmag.com
father, SoN Chart CoUrSe throUgh Navy
Melvin G. Williams Sr. and Melvin G. Williams Jr. have quite a story to tell. For the father and son, that is what a combined career of nearly 60 years as U.S. Navy sailors will do. Distinguished careers taking on assignments that included submarines, aircraft carriers, surface ships and fleets will give you plenty to talk about. The elder Williams served from 1951 to 1978, his final duty as command master chief. The son served from 1978 to 2010, his final duty as vice admiral and commander, U.S. Second Fleet. They tell a remarkable story of their service to the nation in Navigating the Seven Seas: Leadership Lessons of the First African American Father and Son to Serve at the Top in the U.S. Navy, published in February 2011 by the Naval Institute Press. As the title suggests, the story of Melvin G. Williams Sr. and Melvin G. Williams Jr. is one of leadership, precedent and determination; but, the memoir takes you further into their ideas and perspectives, traversing subjects like family, history, motivation, discrimination and, of course, their beloved navy. The Williamses tell their story through their own words, actions and deeds but, most importantly, via personal guiding principles they call the www.blackengineer.com
“Seven Cs.” They define the Seven Cs as “Character, Competence, Courage, Commitment, Caring, Communicating, Community.” The Seven Cs are what got them through their service and served as a beacon for their lives. They break down each of the Seven Cs to offer readers insight into how adherence to these principles—whether for military service or not—can position one for leadership. For instance, taking a tenet from each one of them, character equates to humility, competence to judgment, courage to selflessness, commitment to teamwork, caring to faith, communicating to listening, and community to assimilating. Each “C” represents a chapter in the book, beginning with character. “We believe that an individual’s character— personal values in terms of doing things right, the way mistakes are handled,” they write, “and individual differences that define who we are—–is the foundation of leadership.” What is nice about their autobiographical sketch is they bring readers
through their thoughts on each of the Seven Cs. As if on a sojourn, the Williamses take the time to explain their personal chronologies in words, ideas, opinions and photographs. Their “back-and-forth” method of telling the story in their own voices to characterize their experiences also lends to the book’s appeal. Particularly poignant is how the elder Williams explains how some harsh lessons in post-World War II America made him stronger and more determined to succeed. “As a young sailor in the 1950s,” he explains in the book, “I discovered that the steward’s rating had limited opportunity for advancement for those who served within it—particularly minorities. It was difficult to watch sailors in other ratings come into the Navy after me but advance first. … Nevertheless, I maintained a positive attitude and was determined to advance.” Williams Jr. graduated with a degree in mathematics from the Naval Academy the year his father retired. Now associate deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, he recounts throughout the book lessons learned from his father and others about being a navy man. “My father and I have a commitment to the defense of freedom through service in the Navy,” he writes. “This has been the case of nearly 60 consecutive years of active duty service. It has been by choice.” The younger Williams is a Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) winner and ardent supporter of the work of historically black colleges & universities to develop minority engineers and scientists. Humility, according to the Williamses, is one of the characteristics of character. That is fitting because in their own humble manner, they note that the bottom line to Navigating the Seven Seas simply is to serve as a resource to those at any age interested in leadership. USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 17
EDUCATION
editors@ccgmag.com
Spotlight on
David Dickerson
David Rougely
hbCuS Distinguished Alumni
Charles Phillips
A
merican companies know the value of a top-notch education—employees who make meaningful contributions
Marcus Shute
Marcus Shute Novella Bridges
to organizations’ bottom lines. They bring with them the ability to turn challenging situations into opportunities in
order to accomplish the unimaginable. They are leaders unafraid to take on projects rift with uncertainties and questionable outcomes. They are the core of their industry’s future. Oscar Barton
Companies such as Ford Motor Co., Cisco, PepsiCo and General Dynamics have come to rely on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as a resource for promising workers who are not only talented, analytical and creative but who also have track records of performing at exceptionally high levels. These businesses know that colleges and universities such as Tuskegee, Morgan State,
Samuel Truesdale
Sherri Carter
North Carolina A&T, Howard and Hampton produce leaders who are not afraid to tackle the most demanding and difficult tasks. The following alumni of HBCUs have demonstrated their unique talents since their college days and now are achieving phenomenal success in the workplace.
18 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
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hbCus Distinguished Alumni
AlABAMA A&M UNiveRSiTy School of engineering & Technology location: Normal, Alabama degrees: BS: Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Technology, Computer Science, Industrial Technology and Construction Management ME: Engineering and Industrial Technology MS: Computer Science Dean: Dr. Trent Montgomery
website: http://www.aamu.edu/set/
David Dickerson
Zedric Teague
Unit Manager, Allstate
Senior Scientist, ITT
David Dickerson started with the company in 2005 as a supervisor. Dickerson earned multiple bachelor’s degrees from Alabama A&M University in engineering (information technology), graphic design and communication, and business management.
Zedric Teague is a senior staff image scientist at ITT Space Systems Division, where he has worked for 13 years. He previously worked at Eastman Kodak. He received a bachelor’s degree in applied physics in 1992 and a master’s degree in optical physics in 1996 from Alabama A&M University.
FlORiDA A&M UNiveRSiTy Florida State University College of engineering location: Tallahassee degrees: BS: Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering MS: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering PhD: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering website: http://eng.fsu.edu/ Dean: Dr. John Collier (Interim)
Alfred Green
Keith Rutledge
Product Design Engineer, Ford Motor Co.
Quality Engineer, Johnson Controls Automotive
As a product design engineer at Ford Motor Co. for the past 11 years, Alfred Green is involved with product design and support for commercial truck programs. He interfaces with a large number of exhaust component suppliers and also manages information and data methods responsible for new products. Green graduated from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. In 2007, he received a master’s degree in product development from the University of Detroit Mercy. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt, qualified in the approach strategy to implement quality processes and business improvements through the use of statistical and other analytic tools. Green is also a blogger and entrepreneur, serving as owner of BKAEG Industries Inc., which handles depressed properties, and BKAEG Technologies Inc., a consulting business involved with creative personal computing and networking.
Recently Keith Rutledge had been in a contracting position as a lead quality engineer with Johnson Controls Automotive, a company for which he worked as a sales engineer just after graduating from college. In between those jobs, Rutledge worked for three years as a supplier quality engineer at Panasonic Automotive Systems, where he was a technical problem solver for domestic and global manufacturing facilities. Prior to his time at Panasonic, he was a product design engineer at General Motors. Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University is where Rutledge earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1997 before receiving his Master of Science in business administration from the University of Phoenix in 2009.
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USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 19
Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
HAMPTON UNiveRSiTy School of engineering & Technology location: Hampton, Virginia degrees: BS: Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering. website: http://set.hamptonu.edu/
Dean: Dr. Eric J. Sheppard
James Smalls
Al Carter
Systems Engineer, SAIC
Director, Fannie Mae
James Smalls supervises three flight engineers who are responsible for vehicles that deliver supplies to the space station. Before joining SAIC, Smalls was a desktop regulatory project engineer at Dell Computer Corp. Smalls has been recognized for his accomplishments with multiple awards, including the 2010 Outstanding Young Engineer in Aerospace award from the National Society of Black Engineers. He graduated from Hampton University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1999, and he’s working toward a master’s in business administration (technology management) from the University of Houston.
Al Carter knows his way about a bank. During a career that has spanned two-plus decades, Carter has worked as a project manager or consultant for such financial giants as Wachovia, Bank of America, First Union and Royal Bank of Canada. He is currently director of Fannie Mae, a position he has held for nearly five years. Previously, he was vice president of SunTrust. Carter received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Hampton University in 1986. He also went on to study systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tonya Perkinson Engineering Project Manager, Verizon Business
During the past 19 years, Tonya Perkinson has applied her engineering skills to jobs at Verizon Business, Lockheed Martin and USi. She is currently engineering project manager at Verizon Business. Perkinson graduated from Hampton University with a Bachelor of Science in computer science in 1992.
HOWARD UNiveRSiTy College of engineering, Architecture & Computer Sciences location: Washington, District of Columbia BS: Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Systems and Computer Science. ME: Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical MS: Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering/Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering/Atmospheric Sciences. PhD: Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering/Atmospheric Sciences, Electrical Engineering/Materials Science Dean: Dr. James Johnson
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Cheryl Bruins-Rozier Manufacturing Business Office Dir., Ford Motor Co.
As manufacturing business office director for Ford North America at Ford Motor Co., Cheryl Bruins-Rozier is responsible for business development and strategy activity. While she has been in this position only since November 2010, she has spent her entire career—nearly 25 years—at Ford. Bruins-Rozier received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University in 1986 and her master’s in system engineering from the University of Michigan in 1993. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
website: http://www.howard.edu/ceacs/
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Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
James Baker
Norman Carter
Program Manager, Windows Remote Desktop Services, Microsoft
Engineering Manager, Pfizer
Two years after graduating from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in computer-based management information systems in 1995, James Baker began a job at Microsoft that turned into a career. He is now program manager of Windows Remote Desktop Services. He lists delving into technical details of software projects as one of his areas of expertise. Before joining Microsoft, Baker was a senior system designer at Cigna. He also worked at his alma mater as webmaster/LAN administrator.
In the position that Norman Carter has held as engineering manager at Pfizer for nearly six years, he has launched several major initiatives, including a solvent recovery system and a computerized maintenance management system. Carter also as worked as a senior project engineer at Tyco. He was technology leader at Procter & Gamble for 14 years. His 25 years of experience can best be summarized as developing and optimizing complex, high-speed manufacturing systems and pharmaceutical processes. Carter earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1985 from Howard University and a master’s in construction management in 2003 from Southern Polytechnic State University.
JACKSON STATe UNiveRSiTy College of Science, engineering, & Technology location: Jackson, Mississippi degrees: BS: Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Telecommunications Engineering. MS: Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geological Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering. Dean: Dr. Mark G. Hardy
website: http://www.jsums.edu/cset/
Daphne Barnes
Malcolm Jackson
Novella N. Bridges, Ph.D.
Engineering Program Manager, Hewlett-Packard
Asst. Administrator & CIO, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Training Manager, PNNL
For the past 12 years, Daphne Barnes has held the position of program manager at Hewlett-Packard. Before that, she was an electrical hardware engineer at the same company for nearly four years. Barnes received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Jackson State University in 1992 and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering three years later from Mississippi State University. In 2003, she earned a Master of Business Administration degree in electronic business. In 2003, she earned a Master of Business Administra-
vernon Ross Jr. Dir., Talent & Org. Capability, Lockheed Martin
In a career that has spanned more than a decade at Lockheed Martin, Vernon Ross Jr. has worn an array of hats. He is currently director of talent & organization capability but has worked in numerous areas at Lockheed Martin, including corporate, defense, information systems and global solutions, and maritime systems and sensors. Ross attended Jackson State University and received a Doctorate of Education from Wilmington College in 2005.
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Malcolm Jackson has been steadfast about building a career for himself during the past 31 years. He is currently assistant administrator and CIO at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a position he has held for nearly the past year. However, Jackson served as CIO of Cigna for nearly two years and director of information technology at Monsanto for six years. He also worked at Searle, Quaker Oats and General Dynamics. He began is career in 1980 as an engineer at Shell Oil. Jackson graduated from Jackson State University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree.
Steven Clark Asst. Manager, Toyota North America
Steven Clark is an assistant manager of Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, where he has worked for more than 15 years. He is a certified manufacturing engineer. Before joining Toyota, Clark was a senior manufacturing engineer at Herman Miller for six years. He attended Jackson State University from 1981 to 1986.
Novella Bridges is a 1994 chemistry graduate of Jackson State University. Since earning her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Louisiana State University in 2000, Bridges has been employed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She is a training manager for the Radiation Portal Monitoring Project, and her specific expertise is in radio chemistry separations and the development of novel catalytic systems used for bio-based products. She has worked on projects involving reduction of diesel emissions in vehicles, locomotives and light-weight trucks; on the production of hydrogen for fuel cells and other advanced energy systems, and the development of radiolabeled composites as therapeutic agents for cancer treatments. She was named a “Rising Star” by US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine, and is a recipient of several honors and awards which include a GEM fellowship, and an ACS Regional Industrial Innovation award (Radiogels). USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 21
Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
MORGAN STATe UNiveRSiTy The Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. School of engineering location: baltimore, maryland degrees: BS: Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial, Manufacturing and Information Engineering, Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Studies MS: Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Studies ME: Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial Manufacturing Information Engineering
Dean: Dr. Eugene M. DeLoatch
PhD: Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial Manufacturing Information Engineering website: http://www.soe.morgan.edu/
Andre Theobalds
Charneta Samms
Quadre Washington
Stephanie eldridge
Systems Engineer, Rockwell Collins
Industrial Engineer, Army Research Lab
Network Manager, Verizon
Vice President, JPMorgan
Quadre Washington joined Verizon Communications in 2009 as a network engineer. Today, network manager is his job title. Washington has been a member of Black Professional Men for 14 years. He is a 1999 graduate of Morgan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical/computer engineering. He earned a master degree’s in telecommunications management from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2005
Stephanie Eldridge has more than 15 years’ experience managing a diverse range of customer-driven solutions for companies within the banking, telecommunications, manufacturing, academic and not-for-profit fields. She is currently vice president-program manager at JPMorgan. Previously, she was manager of infrastructure planning and assurance at the University of Pennsylvania, senior program manager at Booz Allen Hamilton and a senior information engineer at Ciena Corp. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Morgan State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Baltimore.
As a systems engineer at Rockwell Collins for the past five years, Andre Theobalds has been involved in a number of projects, including development of a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) for use in business regional commercial aircraft systems. TAWS warns pilots of potential terrain collision by highlighting the terrain map and commanding audio alerts. Theobalds, who graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2004 and from Morgan State University with a master’s in mechanical in 2006, also worked as a graduate assistant at Morgan State.
Charneta Simms is 14year veteran with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. As an industrial engineer, she is a leader in human factors engineering and cites analysis, concept development, counseling, functional, government, instruction and interpretation among her areas of expertise. She leads the tools development team. Samms has served as manager and chair of the Region 2 Alumni Extension Conference for the National Society of Black Engineers. She received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Morgan State University in 1996 and a master’s degree in industrial and system engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute
NORFOlK STATe UNiveRSiTy Department of engineering location: Norfolk, Virginia degrees: BS: Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, Optical Engineering MS: Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, Optical Engineering website: http://sst.nsu.edu/
Dean: Dr. Sandra J. DeLoatch
22 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
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hbCus Distinguished Alumni
NORTH CAROliNA A&T STATe UNiveRSiTy Civil, Architectural, Agricultural, environmental, and Geomatics engineering Program location: Greensboro, North Carolina degrees: BS: Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Bioengineering, Architectural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geomatics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Interdisciplinary General Engineering, Mechanical Engineering MS: Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Civil Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Nanoengineering, Mechanical Engineering PhD: Computational Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Nanoengineering, Mechanical Engineering Dean: Dr. Robin Coger
website: http://www.eng.ncat.edu/
Akilah Smallwood
Chandra Curtis Ph.D.
Tabeier Hamilton
William Johnson
Channels System Engineer, Cisco
Assoc. Dir., Office of Naval Research
Industry Manager, Innovation, PepsiCo
Senior Manager, Ingersoll Rand
As associate director of the Office of Naval Research, Chandra Curtis is involved in distributed and mobile computing sciences. Her primary duties include establishing and maintaining connections between academic and industrial research and development institutions abroad, and the U.S. Naval Research Enterprises. Prior to this position, which she has been holding for the past three years, Curtis was a visiting professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She co-led the engineering and science exchange program. It was at North Carolina A&T that Curtis received her master’s degree in1998 and doctorate in 2004, both in electrical engineering. She was a recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award in 2005.
In nearly a decade at PepisCo, Tabeier Hamilton has moved between engineering and innovation. She currently serves as the beverage company’s industry manager innovation, a position she has held for just over a year. Previously, she was a senior engineer at the company for more than seven years. Hamilton has been bestowed with the Harvey C. Russell Inclusion award and the PCNA (Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association) Women of Color Making an Impact award. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University in 1995. Hamilton also received a master’s in business administration certificate in e-commerce strategy from the University of Witwatersrand.in 2002.
Akilah Smallwood hasn’t let grass grow beneath her feet since earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University in 2005 and 2007, respectively. For a year she was an adjunct instructor at her alma mater before taking a position at Cisco as an associate systems engineer. After a year, she became technical projects engineer and then channels systems engineer, her current position. Smallwood’s specialties are CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional), CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate) and CCDP (Cisco Certified Design Professional), as well as routing and switching and borderless networks architecture.
Ulysses Walls iii, Geophysical Workflow Advisor Royal Dutch Shell
Walls received both a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and Master of Science in computer engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. While attending NCA&T, he was a teaching assistant and he led seven courses during three semesters. He was also a Consortium for North Carolina Alliance to Create Opportunity Through Education Fellow while pursuing his master’s degree. He demonstrated leadership and a strong work ethic throughout his education as a Scholar student and www.blackengineer.com
William Johnson brought his considerable experience to Ingersoll Rand four years ago. He’s the company’s senior manager of global operations programs. Prior, he spent nearly eight years at Ford, where he held an array of positions, including quality manager, and supervisor of final assembly engineering. In his current position, he spearheaded development, planning and implementation of Lean Six Sigma initiatives related to new product development and supply chain management. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1992 from North Carolina A&T State University. He also earned a master’s in industrial engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology and a MBA in general management from the University of North Carolina.
through his involvement in National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Ulysses volunteered his time as a mentor for the rising engineering master’s student. While at Royal Dutch Shell, he has taken on the responsibility of mentoring some of the new additions to the RDS family as well as summer interns. Prior to this employment, he interned at the Air Force Research Lab.
USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 23
Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
PRAiRie vieW A&M UNiveRSiTy Roy G. Perry College of engineering location: Prairie View, Texas degrees: BS: Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Industrial Technology, Mechanical Engineering MS: Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental engineering, Computer Science, Computer Information System, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering PhD: Electrical Engineering Dean: Dr. Kendall T. Harris
website: http://www.pvamu.edu/engr
Greg Rogeness
Micah Thomas
Craig Coleman
Marcus Newson
Commanding Officer, USS Cheyenne
Engineer-Technologist, GE Oil & Gas
Global Sourcing Assoc., Eli Lilly
Senior Consultant, Deloitte & Touche
For more than three decades, Greg Rogeness has been committed to the U.S. Armed Forces. He currently is commanding officer of the USS Cheyenne, a position he has held for a year and a half. Before that, Rogeness was engineering manager/engineer for the navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program for 29 years. He has also held a number of other submarine force positions and was an adjunct professor of naval science at Iowa State University. Rogeness graduated from Prairie View University with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1991 and from Iowa State University with a master’s in education in 1998. He attended the Armed Forces Staff College in 2006.
Since graduating from Prairie View A&M University in 2007, Micah Thomas has been moving steadily across several platforms in engineering. For four years he held several positions at Lockheed Martin, most recently as a mechanical engineer on the analysis integration team. He is currently at General Electric Oil & Gas as an engineer/ technologist, a position he has held since January of 2011. While at Lockheed Martin, Thomas received several recognitions, including a Spot award. He earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 2007 and a master’s in business administration in 2011, both from Prairie View.
David J. Rougely,
24 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
Engineer, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
A native of Galveston Island, Texas, David Rougely earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at Prairie View A&M University and an AS degree from Houston Community College, where he was a National Science Foundation student scholar. In the Bureau of Reclamation, the largest wholesaler of water in
For the past 11 years, Craig Coleman has held positions with Eli Lilly and Company. Six years as a project engineer as well as a packaging and process engineer. Since 2006, he has served as global sourcing associate consultant responsible for the construction and professional services supporting the Global Facilities Delivery department for Ireland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Coleman, who started his professional career in 1991 as a project engineer with Pitometer & Associates, has achieved OSHA 10-hour General Industry certification. In 1997, he was part of FritoLay’s Manufacturing Team of the Year. Coleman graduated from Prairie View A&M with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1990.
Marcus Newson is a senior consultant with Deloitte & Touche. His specialties include process improvement, project leadership, software development and systems integration. Prior to joining Deloitte & Touche in December 2010, Newson was a senior software engineer and contract engineer at LexisNexis, where he worked for four years. He has also held positions as a systems engineer and senior systems engineer at Corning Inc. Newson holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Prairie View A&M and a Master of Business Administration degree in information systems from Georgia State University.
America and second largest producer of hydroelectric power in western United States, Rougely’s responsibilities center in the area of power plant automation which includes computer-based power plant control & monitoring, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems development, and optimization techniques to improve power plant efficiency. He also has power plant field experience providing engineering support to power plant personnel & contractors as well as performing project management throughout the bureau’s eastern Colorado area facilities and communication sites. www.blackengineer.com
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hbCus Distinguished Alumni
SOUTHeRN UNiveRSiTy AND A&M COlleGe College of engineering location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana degrees: BS: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electronics Engineering Technology, Chemical Engineering
Dean: Dr. Habib P. Mohamadian
ME: Environmental Engineering, Electronic Materials and Processing Engineering, Telecommunications and Computer Network Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Thermal Science and Engineering website: http://www.engr.subr.edu/coe/index.asp
Daryl Green
lael Clark
Project Manager, U.S. Department of Energy
Project Engineer, Pratt & Whitney
Before Daryl Green had turned 30, he had managed more than 400 projects, estimated at $100 million dollars, for the U.S, Department of Energy. Now in his 22nd year with the agency, Green is a project manager whose experience includes project management, research and development, technology development, technology transfer, robotics, characterization, and waste management, as well as deactivation and decommission projects. He is a 1989 graduate of Southern University and A&M College, with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, who completed his doctorate in strategic leadership in 2009 at Regent University. Green is also the founder and president of an international consulting firm that focuses on building long-term strategies and crisis management solutions. He is the author of several books and hundreds of articles on decision-making and leadership.
Since graduating from Southern University & A&M College in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Lael Clark has put her talents to work for aircraft engineer manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. She started as a project engineer and now serves in project management and design engineering.
Sandra Johnson Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM
Commitment to education and her career are evident in Sandra Johnson’s completion of three degrees in 10 years and her long tenure in corporate America. Johnson has been with IBM for 23 years, currently in the position as senior technical staff member. She started her educational achievements at Southern University and A&M College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1982.
TeNNeSSee STATe UNiveRSiTy College of engineering, Technology & Computer science location: Nashville, Tennessee degrees: BS: Aeronautical and Industrial Technology, Architectural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering MS: Computer and Information Systems Engineering ME: Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering PhD: Computer and Information Systems Engineering Dean: Dr. S. Keith Hargrove
www.blackengineer.com
website: http://www.tnstate.edu/engineering/
USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 25
Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
Ryan McDaniel
Marcus W. Shute, P.e., Ph.D.
Manufacturing Program Manager, Nissan
CEO, Shute Enterprises, Inc.
Growing up in Nashville, Ryan McDaniel was very familiar with the rich tradition of Tennessee State University. “My career aspirations were always to be an engineer and TSU offered me opportunity to fulfill those goals,” he said. Upon graduation with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering cum laude in 2002, he joined General Motors in Bowling Green, Ky. His career with GM had spanned throughout his college years (1997-2002), including two summer internships at their facilities in Mississippi and Michigan. During his time at Bowling Green, following college, he worked as a first-line manufacturing supervisor in paint and chassis plants, with responsibility for process improvements, product quality, and management of his group. He also served as chair of the Professional Manager’s Network, an employee resource group consisting of first-line supervisors. In 2005, he joined Nissan North America as a process engineer within the Trim and Chassis assembly plant. There, he validated design changes through assembly and testing procedures and also worked on the development teams for Nissan’s Altima and Maxima models. In the fall of 2008, he was promoted to his current position. As manufacturing program manager, he is responsible for model launches of the Altima and Maxima for the Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss., manufacturing facilities. His role also included the tracking and reporting of milestone events in the development cycle of new model programs. In a dual role, he also works within Nissan’s Industrial Strategy group, which looks at the car manufacturer as a global unit and makes recommendations on where to build future models based on projections of plant capacity and total delivered cost. “My work at GM and Nissan has been rewarding,” he said, “and my education at Tennessee State University has (made) all things possible in my career.” He is a member of the Pi Tau Sigma mechanical engineering national honor society.
Marcus Shute attended Tennessee State University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was the first student to graduate with an overall cumulative grade-point average of 4.00 out of 4.00. He earned the S.M. degree in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA; Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering also from Georgia Tech. After years of association with AT&T Bell Labs during his matriculation, Shute joined the Light guide Fiber Department as a technical staff member in 1986. Since then, he actively has participated in research and developmental activities in optical communications, wireless communications, and telecommunications. He is experienced in leading cross-functional R&D groups to transition technology innovations from laboratory prototypes to products in compressed timeframes. During his tenure at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, he obtained several patents. He is widely published in optical fiber communications, wireless communications, optical fiber amplifiers, planar waveguide technology, polarization phenomena, electronic materials, and pipeline initiatives related to increasing minority participation in STEM. During his career, Shute has served as a distinguished member of technical staff at Bell Labs, AT&T and Lucent Technologies; vice president of engineering and vice president of advanced technologies at Luxcore Networks Inc., an optical networking systems start-up company; CEO of Shute Enterprises Inc., a consulting firm; president and chair of Nile Valle Investment Group Inc., a real estate investment company; co-founder and director of Aspire 2B Inc., an educational non-profit, and as vice president for research and sponsored programs and professor in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science at Tennessee State University where he was responsible for managing and leading the research enterprise at the University. Shute won the 1994 Black Engineer of the Year Award for the Most Promising Engineer, the 1999 National Society of Black Engineer Golden Torch for Engineering Excellence, the 2005 National Technical Association Technical Achiever of the Year – Engineering award, and a 2006 Golden Torch award.
Terrence Southern Project Engineer, Frito-Lay North America
Terrence Southern received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Tennessee State University. Prior to joining Frito-Lay, he was a manufacturing engineer for General Motors, where he led the project planning, application research and development, programming and installing of the robotic and dispense systems needed to manufacture the GM Chevy Volt. As a project engineer for Frito-Lay North America, the convenient foods unit of PepsiCo, he is responsible for researching, developing and piloting equipment and system solutions to increase efficiencies along the company’s packaging supply chain. He has won numerous awards for service to industry and community, including the Engineering Society of Detroit’s Excellence in Leadership award (2009), and the US FIRST Lego League Michigan Adult Mentor award (2008). He was named a BEYA ModernDay Technology Leader in 2007. Two years ago, he coached the Detroit-based Burton International School’s “RoboKatz” robotics team to second place at the RoboFest World Championships. He is a member of the Robotics Industries Association and National Society of Black Engineers.
26 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
www.blackengineer.com
Spotlight on Samuel l. Truesdale,
Snr. Advanced Manufacturing Engineer,
Rolls-Royce
Samuel Truesdale captained both his high school football and track teams, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, before receiving an academic scholarship from Tennessee State University. As an undergraduate student he was an active member of the Robotics Club, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Pi Tau Sigma, a mechanical engineering honors society. He successfully completed the Cooperative Education Program at Rolls-Royce Corporation in Indianapolis, and became the company’s first National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
Science Inc. (GEM) Fellow. During his fellowship, he selected a project that delivered improvements to a critical aerospace component and he completed a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a thesis option from Purdue University. Upon graduation, he was offered a full-time position at Rolls-Royce as a senior advanced manufacturing engineer. In 2005, he was selected as a Black Engineer of the Year Modern-Day Technology Leader / GEM Student Leadership Award recipient and in the following year was named one of the top 30 Under 30: Young Leaders for 2006 by Ebony magazine. He has since completed a two-year secondment in the United Kingdom as an ambassador representing the company’s American engineering and technology operations. He continues to mentor historically black college and university interactions.
TUSKeGee UNiveRSiTy College of engineering, Technology & Computer science location: Nashville, Tennessee degrees: BS: Aerospace Science Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics PhD: Materials Science & Engineering website: http://www.tuskegee.edu/academics/colleges/ceps.aspx Dean: Dr. Legand L. Burge, Jr.
Dwayne Simpson
Charlene Wright
Bruce Johnson
Principal Program Manager, Rockwell Collins
Evaluation Engineer, General Electric
Project Director, Lubrizol
Dwayne Simpson has more than 15 years’ experience managing programs and projects, transforming organizations and winning business in the aviation, aerospace and defense industries. Simpson is principal program manager at Rockwell Collins, where he has worked since 2006. Previously, he was with Northrop Grumman Corp. as manager of business development. Simpson graduated from Tuskegee with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1981. He received his master’s in business administration from Walden University in 2009.
As an evaluation engineer at General Electric, Charlene Wright facilitates assembly, instrumentation and test requirements for several engine builds. Wright has been with General Electric since 2005, when she went through the company’s Edison Engineering Development Program (EEDP). She is the 2007 recipient of EEDP’s TechFest Innovation Award. Wright received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tuskegee University in 2005 and a master’s in business administration in 2010.
As project director at The Lubrizol Corp., Bruce Johnson is responsible for providing leadership for the design-build, commissioning and start-up activities for a lubricant additive facility to be built in Zhuhai, China. Johnson has been with Lubrizol for 10 years. He previously served as engineering manager. For six years, he was engineering/technical manager for NOLTEX. Johnson attended Tuskegee University from 1984 to 1989.
UNiveRSiTy OF THe DiSTRiCT OF COlUMBiA School of engineering & Applied Sciences location: Washington, District of Columbia degrees: BS: Computer Science and Information Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil and Mechanical Engineering MS: Computer Science and Information Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil and Mechanical Engineering Dean: Dr. Ben O. Latigo
www.blackengineer.com
website: http://www.udc.edu/academics/soe/
USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 27
Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
viRGiNiA STATe UNiveRSiTy School of engineering, Science, & Technology location: Petersburg, Virginia degrees: BS: Engineering Technology, Computer Engineering, Industrial and Logistics Technology, Manufacturing Engineering website: http://engrtech.vsu.edu/engineeringhome.html
Dean: Dr. Pamela Leigh-Mack
the following alumni of hbcus have demonstrated their unique talents since their college days and now are achieving phenomenal success in the workplace. ALABAMA A&M
Akin Ajilore
Director of Supply Chain/ Division Quality Director Caterpillar Inc.
Tolu Akinyosoye Technology Analyst Goldman Sachs
Madinah Allen
Capital Project Manager ConAgra Foods
Patrick Anderson TPM Specialist Nestle USA
PatrickAnderson TPM Specialist Nestle USA
Vere Archibald
Couting Technology Center, HEUR Group Leader Dow Chemical Company
Anthony Artis
Plant Manager Ford Motor Company
David Asiamah R&D Scientist General Mills
FLORiDA A&M UNiVERSiTY
Jay Ballard
Manager, Vendor Management Clearwire
Daphne Barnes
Engineering Program Manager Hewlett Packard
Robert Beharie Electrical Engineer AKF Engineers
Torrance Benberry
Plant Engineering Supervisor UPS 28 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
Felicia Benton-Johnson Director of Diversity & K-12/ College of Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology
Jason Bernier
Cedric Burns
Manager Xerox Corporation
Monte Burrow
Technology Analyst Goldman Sachs
Lean Manager-North America Supply SWAT Diageo
Kristine Berry
Arthur Burson
SW Test Specialist Research in Motion
Arthur Billingsley
Director of Strategic Planning Computer Sciences Corporation
Walter Bishop
Mechanical Engineer NAVSEA Warfare Center Corona Division
CJ Bland
President and CEO Minority Professional Network
DeWuan Booker
Lieutenant Commander U.S. Navy
VP, Global Engineering Services Merck & Co. Inc
Carolyn Caldwell
Chief Executive Officer Centerpoint Medical Center/HCA
Eddie Caldwell Director Proctor & Gamble
Jaron Cherry
Manufacturing and Engineering Manager ACS
Steven Clark
Assistant Manager Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America
Lael Clark
Project Mgmt/Design Eng Pratt & Whitney
Angelo Coleman
Senior Systems Engineer NASA/STS
Craig Coleman
HOWARD UNiVERSiTY
Global Sourcing Associate Consultant Eli Lily
Lee Callaway
Wil Cooksey
Director, Global Marketing Baxter
Vice Chair of the Foundation Board Tennessee State University
Al Carter
Desmond Curry
Manufacturing Engineer Jacobs Engineering
HAMPTON UNiVERSiTY
Director, Automated Underwriting Distribution Services Fannie Mae
Kenneth Brendt
Sherri Carter
Associate Director Office of Naval Research Global
Software Engineer, Alcatel North America
Novella Bridges
Project Manager Pacific Northwest National Lab
Maurice Brown
Senior Merchandise Planner Hugo Boss
Cheryl Bruins-Rozier
Manufacturing Bus. Office Dir. Ford Motor Company
Sidney Bryson, Ph.D DMTS Systems Architect Alcatel-Lucent
Six Sigma Black Belt/Business Operations Associate Eli Lilly and Company
Earnest Carter
Regional Service Manager Harris RF Communications
Chandra Curtis, Ph.D
Ericka Darks
Project Manager, Global Baby Care Engineering Procter & Gamble
Dimitri Dauphin
Norman Carter
Engineering Manager Pfizer
Material Handling & Packaging Engineer Detroit Diesel
Gary Chambers
Tamecia Davis
Engineering Project Manager Comcast
Manager, Network Switch Ops AT&T
Nedra Davis Loretta Cheeks, Ph.D
Principal Engineer General Dynamics Corporation
Project Manager PBS & J
Tuere Davis
Systems Engineer Raytheon Company www.blackengineer.com
Spotlight on Ernest Davis
Training & eLearning Content Developer Technosoft Corporation
Dorian Davis
Human Factors Engineer Ford Motor Company
Barriet DeBose
787 In-Flight Entertainment/ Product Development The Boeing Company
David Dickerson
Unit Manager Allstate Insurance Company
David Dixon
Architect Microsoft Corporation
Doris Duncan
Regional Facilities Manager Darden Restaurants JACKSON STATE UNiVERSiTY
Steven M. Clark Sr. CMfgE
Durone Glymph
Nuclear Principal Engineer Florida Power & Light
James Goldsberry
Consultant Program Manager EMC
Kristin Gordon
Mechanical Engineer Monsanto
Ephraim Gorham , PMP Senior Data Analyst Bank of America
Daryl Green, DSL
Program Manager U.S. Department of Energy
Alfred Green
Product Design Engineer Ford Motor Company MORGAN STATE UNiVERSiTY
Katrina Hale
Manufacturing Product Manager 3M
Assistant. Manager, Supplier Commodity Engineering Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America
Grover Hall
Kerron Duncan, Ph.D
Industry Manager, Innovation PepsiCo
Power System Architect Northrop Grumman Corporation
Arlington Duncan Financial Analyst FMC Technologies
HR Business Partner Williams Company
Tabeier Hamilton
Kalonji Harris VP - CATE
Messaging & Mobile - Engineering Citi Group
Kristy Harris
Senior Civil Engineer STV Inc.
Sr. Financial Consultant-Investor Relations Dell
Edward Eusery
Jelani Hartsfield
Tiffany Dupree
Assoc. Dir., Lean Manufacturing Novartis Consumer Health
Assistant VP, Business Systems Wells Fargo
Marvin Evans
Calvin Hill
Client Executive Fujitsu
Senior Field Service Engineer Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
Shay Fani
Shenitha Holley
Quality Engineering Consultant Johnson Controls Inc.
Senior Mechanical Engineer Hamilton Sundstrand
Herman Forrest
Amili Holmes
Monica James,Ph.D. Colloid/Rheology Research Engineer The Lubrizol Corporation
Preston James, ii
Regoinal Sales Manager-Federal, Enterprise Solutions Dell
Jem Pagan Title Company
Kenya Savage
Cyber Technologies Booz Allen Hamilton
Tom Gilmore, Ph.D
Monica Jackson
Lead Engineer The MITRE Corporation
www.blackengineer.com
Project Engineer for Gas Engineering and Design PECO
Manager-Edison Engineering Development Program General Electric
Carlton Mangum Programmer Walmart
ignatius Manu, Ph.D.
Project Manager ExxonMobil
Victor Jennings
Taurus McClain
Engineering/Manufacturing Intern General Electric Aviation
Portfolio Optimization and Strategy Accenture Employer??
Sandra Johnson , Ph.D
Ryan McDaniel
Senior Technical Staff Member IBM Corporation
Bruce Johnson
Project Director The Lubrizol Corporation
William Johnson
Senior Manager, Global Operations Ingersoll Rand
Ken Johnson
Category Manager, Global Real Estate & Facilities ExxonMobil
Jeff Johnson
Deployment Manager L-3 Stratis
Bob Jones
Dir., Enterprise Mgmt Engineering MetLife
Kevin Jones
Environmental Health & Safety Engineer Ethicon
Diana Jones Ritter
Anthony Junior
Project Manager U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Nolita Lewis
Applications/Electrical Engineer GE Energy
Adrian isles, Ph.D
Daimia Jackson
Systems Engineer Johns Hopkins University
Alexandria McBride
Domou Francois Djidji
Early Warning Reporting U.S. Department of Transportation
Leah Lewis
Simara James
Analog Bus. Marketing Manager Texas Instruments
David Freeman
Strategic Staffing Leader GE Healthcare
Director R&D Cost Innovation Kellogg Company
Prog. Manager,Windows Division Microsoft Corporation
Software Engineer Google
Angela Knight
NORTH CAROLiNA A&T STATE UNiVERSiTY
Managing Director NYS Metropolitan Transporation Authority
Manager Software Engineering EMC
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
Director, HBCU/MI Programs Department of the Navy
Frederick Keeton
VP, External Affairs, and CDO Harrah’s Entertainment
Vivian Kirkland Program Manager Chrysler Group LLC
Engineer Nissan North America
Bryant Mckoy
Senior Vehicle Engineer UTC Sikorsky Aircraft
Clyde McNeil
Manager Price Waterhouse Cooper
Frederick McPherson 787 Program Manager Hamilton Sundstrand
Sheena Miller, Ph.D
Sr. Software Systems Engineer Barrios Technology
Verett Mims
Assistant Treasurer The Boeing Company
Darryl Mitchell, PMP
Senior Engineering Consultant L-3 Communications
Michael Moore
VP, IT Solutions Architect BB&T PRAiRiE ViEW A&M UNiVERSiTY
Charles Mwangi
Process Engineer Nissan North America
Nader Nasseh
SVP, Core-Data Development Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Marcus Newson Senior Consultant Deloitte & Touche
USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 29
Spotlight on
hbCus Distinguished Alumni
Corbin Normab
Vernon Ross , Jr.,EdD
C.W. Spears
Jennifer Watson
Shale Olagbegi
David Rougely
Arthur Spencer , Jr.
TUSKEGEE UNiVERSiTY
Adaora Onyia
John Ruffin
Tanya Spencer
Vallerie Parrish-Porter
Cythenia Russell, CPA
System Engineer NAVSEA
Associate Engineer/Software MasterCard Engineering Program Manager Hewlett Packard Senior Vice President Magellan Associates
Tyechia Paul IT Instructor DLA Piper, LLP
Manuel Peace
Senior Staff Analysis Engineer General Motors Corporation
Tonya Perkinson
Engineering Project Manager Verizon Prairie
Charles Phillips
Global Demand Planner DuPont Prairie
Ericka Phillips Fisher
Cyber Security Talent Mngmt Lead Lockheed Martin Corporation Electrical Engineer U.S. Department of the Interior Senior Analyst FedEx Services
Keith Rutledge, PMP
Sonya Stewart
Lead Quality Engineer (Contract) Johnson Controls Automotive
Marketing Analyst - Chemicals Georgia-Pacific LLC
Renette Richard
Chemicals Marketing Analyst Georgia-Pacific, LLC SOUTHERN UNiVERSiTY
Jay W. Prestage
Business Planning Manager, Global HVAC/Powertrain Cooling/ Thermal SMT General Motors
Nigel Richardson, Ph.D
Dir., Structural/Therm Engineering CD-adapco
Lesia Riddick
NA Flow Business Analyst Proctor & Gamble
Raquel Robinson
Cherish Samuels
Tony Tate
Project Manager McDonald’s Corporation Director of Product Engineering Medtronic
Kenya Savage
Network Security Engineer Apex Systems
Andre Theobalds Systems Engineer Rockwell Collins
Dondi West
Senior Cyber Staff Officer Tasc
Cedric White Quality Engineer U.S. Navy
Geoffrey Williams
Home Care and Pine-Sol Production Planner The Clorox Company
Jay Williams
Principal Staff Researcher Motorola
Kevin Williams
Systems Engineer United Space Alliance
Craig Willis
Senior Application Technical Specialist Aetna, Inc.
Marcus Shute, Ph.D
Phylicia Trottman
Carol Wooden
VP Research Clark Atlanta University
Engineering PDP-Project Engineer Abbott Laboratories
Dwayne Simpson
David Truesdale
Darrell Woods
Principal Program Manager Rockwell Collins
Continuous Improvement Engineer Kraft Foods
James Smalls
Samuel Truesdale
Charlene Wright
Operations Lead SAIC
Akilah Smallwood
Channels System Engineer Cisco
Zecie Smith
Senior Principal Quality Engineer Baxter Healthcare
Carl Smith
Support Escalation Manager Microsoft Corporation
Benjamin Smith
Senior Manufacturing Engineer II Hawker Beechcraft
Ryan McDaniel
30 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
James Tenney
Professor and Chairman U.S.Naval Academy
Danyelle Woodard
Teri Robinson, Ph.D
Commander - USS Cheyenne U.S. Navy
Technical Solution Manager IBM Global Services
Oscar Barton, Jr., Ph.D
Micah Thomas
TENNESSEE STATE UNiVERSiTY
Gary Rogeness
Systems Enginnering Manager Raytheon Company
Chief Product Program Analyst Ford Motor Company
Project Leader/Six Sigma Black Belt, Global Purchasing Caterpillar Inc.
Senior Lead Systems Engineer General Dynamics Corporation Chair of National Science Outreach Ntl. Society of Black Physicists
Vice President Lockheed Martin Corporation
Gaynelle Swann
Industrial Engineer U.S. Army Research Laboratory
Marie Scantlebury
Renette Richard
Senior Associate Booz Allen Hamilton
Charneta Samms
Brigette Philpot
ISD Senior Manager Walmart
Project Engineer & Senior Design Engineering Specialist Triumph Aerostructures
Marva Spencer-Frazier
Information Management and Cyber Security Professional Booz Allen Hamilton
Derrick Reaves
Lead Systems Engineering URS Corporation
Director, Global Internal Audit Services Walmart
Business Analyst United Space Alliance
Innovation Program Manager The Coca Cola Company
Certified Six Sigma Blackbelt Ford Motor Company
Manufacturing Program Manager Nissan North America
Terrence Southern Project Engineer Frito Lay
Engineer/Technologist General Electric Oil and Gas
Site Chief of Capability Development & Business Improvement Rolls-Royce
Julius Turner
Technical Service Engineer Nalco Chemical Company
Kimberly Vaughn
Information Technology Manager Allstate Insurance Company
Safety Manager Polo Ralph Lauren
VP Staff Executive Raytheon Company SW Engineering Manager Intel Corporation Evaluation Engineer General Electric
Lance Wyndon
Manufacturing Engineer Jacobs Technology/GeoControl Systems
Angela Younger
Senior Clinical Scientist MedImmune
Lamar Wade
Human Resources Site Leader Dell
Ulysses Walls, iii
Geophysical Workflow Advisor Shell Oil Company
Teresa Washington, Ph.D Toxicologist U.S. EPA
Quadre Washington Network Engineer Verizon
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TOP SuP
2011
DIVERSITY
editors@ccgmag.com
W
ho are the top supporters of historically black college and university engineering schools? A ninth annual survey by US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine has found that 62 companies and 44 not-for-profit/government agencies are considered most
supportive of the engineering programs at HBCUs. Participants in the annual survey included members of the corporate-academic alliance, Advancing Minorities’ Interest in Engineering (AMIE), and the deans of the ABET-accredited, historically black college and university engineering programs at:
abet-accredited hbcu engineering programs • • • • •
Alabama A&M University Florida A&M University Hampton University Howard University Jackson State University
• • • • •
Morgan State University Norfolk State University North Carolina A&T State Uni. Prairie View A&M University Southern University and A&M
The survey asked respondents to list 10 corporate and government sponsors they feel contribute the most to their school’s institutional missions. AMIE was asked what organizations—private and public sector/not for profit—provide the most support to black engineering schools. In completing the annual survey, the institutions considered the following factors: support for infrastructure modernization and enhancement, research and mentorship projects, participation on advisory councils, faculty development opportunities, scholarships, student projects, stipends, co-ops, and career opportunities. 34 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
• Tennessee State University • Tuskegee University • Virginia State University
To go beyond the simple facts of the survey, the deans were asked what kinds of support they receive, whether this support is growing or shrinking and why, and what kinds of support they most need in the future. Employers who support HBCUs clearly see a need for their support, and they believe they get a lot in return: The 2011 Top Supporters of Historically Black Colleges and Universities survey reveals that the number of top supporters has increased. Part of the reason might stem from President Barack Obama’s focus on supporting HBCUs and the national need for www.blackengineer.com
porters of hbcus more technical talent. Recently, Obama said the government will increase its funding for HBCUs by $100 million in the fiscal year 2011 budget. He also pointed to the nearly $400 million in federal Pell Grants, many of which go to students attending black institutions. “The survival of HBCUs is vital, the president said, to the goal of making America a world leader in college graduates by 2020,” said Tyrone D. Taborn, editorial director of USBE&IT magazine and chairman and CEO of the magazine’s publisher, Career Communications Group (CCG). “We’re not only doing this because these schools are a gateway to a better future for African Americans; we’re doing it because their success is vital to a better future for all Americans. People want to work for an employer committed to their community. Black students and professionals want to know more about what these organizations are doing for their colleges. “The bright side of the job market is that technical talent currents to be critical to employers,” Taborn said. “HBCUs clearly are a source for highly skilled technical employees. President Obama is helping employers rediscover these great institutions. These schools continue to graduate nearly 33 percent of all black engineers.” Educational administrators from HBCUs listed 106 employers as Top Supporters. The ranking reflects the perception the deans and AMIE have of the total level of support HBCU engineering schools receive. The survey also shows employers support increasing for black engineering schools.
www.blackengineer.com
AMIE Board Members Dallas Delaney Dir. of Supply Chain Program, Global Pharm. Operations Abbott Laboratories
Amanda Goodson Director, Information Technology Raytheon Missile Systems Raytheon Company
Reginald McGregor Manager of Employee Development Rolls-Royce Corporation
Dr. Dianne Chong Director, Material & Process Technology Comm. Airplanes Boeing
Alternate for Amanda Goodson David Sullivan Principal Cost Est. Engineer Raytheon Company
Doris Poma Diversity Officer, HR The Metropolitan District Commission
Alternate for Dianne Chong Oliver S. Leslie Supplier Diversity Programs Boeing
Hulas King Director, Global Strategic Partnerships Siemens
Darryl Stokes VP, Engineering & Standards Constellation Energy
Malika Hobbs (AMIE Secretary-Treasurer) National Nuclear Security Admin. Office of Outreach and Diversity U.S. Department of Energy
Victor Gavin, SES Executive Director, Program Executive Office-Littoral Mine Warfare, Naval Sea Systems Command
Anthony A. Oshiotse Associate Director, Human Resources, Science & Technology Corning, Inc. Julius Lassiter Director, National Operations, Metro Markets Johnson Controls Michael Gordon (AMIE Chairman) VP, Engineering & Technology Lockheed Martin Alternate for Michael Gordon Derek McGowan Campus Relations Manager Lockheed Martin Adiele Nwankwo SVP, Director of Strategic Initiatives Parsons Brinckerhoff Alternate for Adiele Nwankwo Tracy Bessilieu Vice President, Engagement Director
Tyrone Taborn Publisher, Chairman and CEO, Career Communications Group, Inc. Linda Sowell Director of Diversity Gilbane Building Company Jim Gilbane Principal Theodore D. Caldwell Director, Diversity Programs Office College of Engineering Michigan State University James Dalton, P.E.., SES Chief Engineering and Construction, Headquarters U.S. Army Corps of Engineerss
Jimmy D. Smith DAWDF Program Manager Naval Sea Systems Command Larry Wilkerson Dir. of Engineering, Site Lead Naval Air Systems Command Audeen W. Fentimen, Ph.D. Associate Dean of Engineering College of Engineering Purdue University Malcolm Fullere Harley Davidson Linda Wilson VP, Diversity & Inclusion Malcolm Pirnie Co. Stanley Tucker CEO Meridian Management Group
Wilbert V. Paynes South Atlantic Division Chief, Planning and Policy Community of Practice
USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 35
2011 Top 25 Contibutors
CORPORATiONS
• Norfolk Southern
• NACME
• 3M
• Northrop Grumman Corporation
• NASA
• Abbott Laboratories • Accenture • Allstate • Altria Group, Inc.
Recognizing the top 25 companies and government agencies considered most supportive of historically black engineering schools by the deans of these institutions.
• BAE Systems
1. The Boeing Company 2. Lockheed Martin Corporation 3. Raytheon Company 4. Northrop Grumman Corporation 5. National Science Foundation 6. U.S Department of Energy 7. Xerox 8. NAVSEA 9. General Motors Company 10. IBM 11. Air Force Research Laboratory 12. NASA 13. National Security Agency 14. NAVAIR 15. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 16. Exxon Mobil 17. General Electric 18. HP 19. Army Material Command 20. Army Research Office 21. Central Intelligence Agency 22. Office of Naval Research 23. U.S. Department of Defense 24. U.S Department of Education 25. U.S. Navy
• Corning Incorporated
36 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
TOP SUPPORTeRS OF HBCU eNGiNeeRiNG PROGRAMS
• BP America • The Boeing Company • Caterpillar • Chevron • Chrysler Group LLC
• Nucor Steel
• National Academy of Engineering
• Parsons Brinckerhoff
• National Institute of Health
• Proctor & Gamble
• National Nuclear Security Administration
• Purdue University • Raytheon Company • Rockwell Automation • Rolls Royce • Shell Chemical • Siemens
• National Science Foundation • National Security Agency • NAVAIR • NAVSEA
• State Farm
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Texas Instruments
• Office of Naval Research
• Dominion Power
• Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Duke Energy Foundation
• UPS
• Entergy • Exxon Mobil
• United Technologies Corporation
• Florida Power & Light Company
• Verizon • Volkswagen
• Ford Motor Company
• Walmart
• General Electric
• Xerox Corporation
• U.S. Army Materiel Command
• General Motors Company
• Zeltech
• U.S. Coast Guard
• Constellation Energy • Cummins, Inc.
• Gilbane Building Company • Halliburton • Harley Davidson • Hewlett Packard • IBM
GOVERNMENT/ NON-PROFiT • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
• Intel
• Air Force Research Laboratory
• John Deere Company
• Army Research Office
• Johnson & Johnson
• Army Test and Evaluation Command
• Johnson Controls • L-3 Communications • Lockheed Martin Corporation • Malcolm Pirnie • Marathon Oil • Merck & Co., Inc. • Meridian Management Group • The Metropolitan District Commission • Microsoft
• Central Intelligence Agency • CERDEC • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency • GEM • The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
• Riversville Foundation • State of North Carolina • U.S. Air Force • U.S. Army • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• U.S. Department of Agriculture • U.S. Department of Commerce • U.S. Department of Defense • U.S. Department of Education • U.S. Department of Energy • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services • U.S. Department of Homeland Security • U.S. Department of State • U.S. Department of Transportation • U.S. Marines • U.S. Naval Academy
• Louisiana Board of Regents
• U.S. Navy
• Louisiana Department of Transportation
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• The MITRE Corporation
• Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund
• Moog Inc.
• Missile Defense Agency
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BEst Practices for Success
[ New Presidents ]
[ New Ideas ] [ New Energy ] Push HBCUs to the Forefront
W
by Garland L. Thompson
hat a difference a few months makes. A little while ago, the Wall Street Journal published a column excoriating black colleges, making unsupportable claims about majority-white institutions being better for black students than HBCUs. Turned out the Journal was citing decades-old and highly questionable claims
by researchers who knew little about how historically black colleges universities really work. Or what they actually do.
A look today at the rise of three new Chief Executives at schools with a long history of success in producing top-tier performers in science and technology—Howard University, Tuskegee University and Morgan State University—presents a radically different picture of the state of affairs on HBCU campuses. Let’s start with Dr. Sidney Ribeau, the sixth African American to take the helm as president of Howard University. Dr. Ribeau, who did not himself attend an HBCU—he went to Wayne State in his native Detroit, and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois nevertheless left Bowling Green University to come to Howard:
40 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
www.blackengineer.com
[ Answering a Call ]
Sidney Ribeau President, Howard University
M
y family and I came to Howard because it was an answer to a call,” Dr. Ribeau said in his inaugural address. “It was not for a job, a title or to be president. I was a president at a wonderful university for 13 years where we achieved a great deal. . . . It was a call that I first heard from a former president of Morehouse College, Benjamin Mays. A call of a legendary leader who said ignorance, fear and discrimination in all of its forms can be challenged by an HBCU. . . . “Today, students have a choice to attend any college and university in this country, and in record numbers, they are choosing Howard University,” Dr. Ribeau said, but in his view, “Never have historically black colleges and universities—indeed this historically black university—been more critical or more rel-
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evant.” Among other accomplishments, Dr. Ribeau reported that • Howard produces more African American doctorates than any college or university in the United States, according to the National Opinion Research Center. • The National Science Foundation found that Howard has produced the highest number of African-American bachelor’s degree graduates who went on to earn doctoral degrees in engineering and science. • In the year of Dr. Ribeau’s inauguration, Howard produced three Fulbright Scholars and welcomed a junior-college transfer who won $30,000 in scholarships. That list could go on and on, not only for Howard University, but for many other historically black colleges and universities. http:// www.howard.edu. USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 41
[ Morgan Reaches Outward ]
Dr. David Wilson
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President, Morgan State University
organ State University’s new president, Dr. David Wilson, is bubbling with excitement over a new NASA grant to expand Morgan’s capabilities
in Earth Science research including the installation of a NASA-supplied supercomputer. 42 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
“We will have as part of the Morgan faculty a number of NASA scientists [from the Goddard Spaceflight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland],” Dr. Wilson said in an interview. “That will bring in some incredible expertise.” Morgan State, like Tuskegee, also is looking to expand its civil engineering programs, Dr. Wilson said. “We have an enormous opportunity to develop out existing construction management program into a Master of Science-level program,” he said. “That will respond to a need in this country. When you look at the need to renew our nation’s infrastructure, there will be a tremendous need for people to oversee the massive construction projects” going on and envisioned for environmental cleanups, replacement of bridges and highways, upgrading the rail system, ports and aviation facilities, Dr. Wilson said. “And when you look at today’s population shifts, it’s clear that we can’t get the new personnel from the same groups and the same places we got them in the past.” The labor pool, in other words, must necessarily include vastly larger numbers of highly educated, skilled practitioners from the communities of color. In Dr. Wilson’s view, Morgan State, which saw its student population reach record numbers—7,800 students, at last count—needs to grow even larger. For in addition to the new NASA-funded Earth Sciences programs, Morgan State has joined a coalition of institutions led by Penn State University to establish a $129-million, federally funded National Energy Hub, on the grounds of the Philadelphia Naval Yard, now being developed as a major industrial park. Morgan will have researchers and grad students working in one of the buildings looking at energy efficiency and ways to retrofit existing houses, industrial and office buildings with cleaner and “greener” electrical and mechanical systems. There’s more: Dr. Wilson doesn’t see any reason why Morgan State cannot become the lead institution in the state of Maryland’s own initiative to develop a local energy hub. “Over the next ten years,” Dr. Wilson said, “we are not going to be anyone’s ‘Sleeping Giant.’ We as a nation cannot get back to Number One in science and technology without Morgan’s participation.” Write in the names of any of the other 106 other historically black colleges and universities bursting with talent and ideas, and you’ll get a big “Amen” to that. http://www.morgan.edu.
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[ Tuskegee Moves Ahead ]
Gilbert L. Rochon President, Tuskegee University
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uskegee moves ahead but Tuskegee University’s Dr. Gilbert L. Rochon is less interested in talking about the school’s past accomplishments than in looking forward to the future. Dr. Rochon wants to bring aircraft pilot training back to the home of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, in the fall of 2012, with plans to bring back and honor surviving members of the famous World War II fighter pilots’ unit. And that’s not all—in a telephone interview, Dr. Rochon ran through an impressive list of new initiatives, including a proposal for new, graduate-level programs in civil engineering, in construction management and “Geomatic” site monitoring, and more new programs in earth science using Global Information System data and cutting-edge use of aerial and satellite photos to measure and track phenomena including meterological forces, using a ground station established under a NATO Science for Peace grant. Dr. Rochon also said the data from this ground station, and another already established in Morocco, will be used for epidemiological tracking, as part of a cooperative program with Dillard University in New Orleans.
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New Eyes on Health Disparities Another Tuskegee initiative will be establishment of a national center studying health disparities in underserved populations, and still another new program will examine issues of environmental justice having to do with the siting of pollutionproducing industrial facilities too near minority communities. The university recently signed an agreement with the Curtis Robinson Institute for supported research on prostate cancer, using tissue samples gathered through robotic machine surgery, Dr. Rochon said. Still another new program will use the skills of a specialist in the use of AM and FM radio signaling to develop an automapping system Tuskegee’s 5,000-acre, 120-building campus. The idea here is to develop what Dr. Rochon calls “intelligent planning” for the siting of facilities, development of plans for emergency evacuations, and minimizing the campus’ environmental “footprint.” The program also will include investigations of forested areas on campus, looking at soil types, species differentiation and biodiversity among plant and animal populations, and it will affect the siting of pipelines and wiring for electrical power, communications and data transmission, among other things. http://www.tuskegee.edu. USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 43
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Titans of Science
by M.V. Greene mgreene@ccgmag.com
PRODIgY HRABOwSkI TAkES STOCkINg STEM PIPELINE TO HEART
Freeman A. Hrabowski, iii
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reeman A. Hrabowski III made it up from Birmingham, Ala., as a math prodigy to ascend to the presidency of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, one of the nation’s red-hot institutions for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Hrabowski is strident in his view that the nation must build up its capacity in STEM, especially among the growing demographic of American minority students. To do otherwise, Hrabowski will tell you, will continue this country’s competitive mismatch with the rest of the world in the natural sciences and engineering in academia and the work force. UMBC president since May 1992, www.blackengineer.com
Hrabowski has spent a career doing what he can personally and professionally to stock the nation’s STEM pipeline. He takes the effort to heart through both policy and grassroots efforts, and says it is a battle America cannot lose. For his unending approach, Hrabowski was awarded the 2011 TIAACREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence for his role in increasing the representation of minority students in STEM education, named for the former president at the University of Notre Dame. The honor builds on Hrabowski’s 2009 recognition by Time magazine as one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents. As a STEM wunderkind himself,
Hrabowski was grounded in math and science growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, his parents making it an integral part of his upbringing. Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Hrabowski was 19 when he earned his bachelor’s degree with highest honors in mathematics from Hampton (Va.) Institute. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his master’s of arts degree in mathematics, and then, at age 24, his Ph.D. in higher education administration/statistics. “I had great parents,” Hrabowski said. Both of them loved math. That made me different. I was just very fortunate to have fine Christian parents who were in education. We were just solving math problems all the time,” Hrabowski says. But what if you’re a young person with interests in STEM who does not enjoy such an enlightened upbringing? What if your parents lack the same perspective as Hrabowski’s parents? Hrabowski said sometimes it just comes down to showing interest in your children—without being an expert or even be formally educated. You can be an hourly worker scuffling to make ends meet for your family, but when your children show a propensity for STEM at a young age, at least show interest and that just might be enough, he said. “The parent doesn’t have to be able to solve the math problem. The parent just needs to know what questions to ask, such as, ‘Show me where you took notes today in class. Show me what the homework assignment is. Now show me your work in solving those problems,’” said Hrabowski, author of Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds. Both books are from Oxford University Press and that focus on parenting and improving the academic success of African American males and females in science. “We have to teach children to be USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 45
Science Spectrum
Titans of Science continued
curious,” he said. “It’s something about asking good questions that can lead to increasing success.” While those are personal things families can do to nurture STEM interest in their children, Hrabowski also is aiming for larger policy and institutional changes along with innovation in the way STEM subject matter is taught and presented in education. He bemoans the fact that only 20 percent of underrepresented minority freshmen who major in science and engineering graduate in those majors; but, he notes that the same numbers for white and Asian American students also are relatively low at 33 percent and 42 percent, respectively. “Large numbers of students begin in science and engineering with an interest in becoming doctors and engineers and they are not successful,” he said. “It shocks people to learn that only 33 percent of whites who begin in science and engineering actually graduate in those fields.” The most troubling result of this, Hrabowski says, is that America will have difficulty filling key positions in critical defense and intelligence industries. Foreign-born STEM students are flooding U.S. graduates schools, but many of them are not able work in defense and intelligence because they cannot gain security clearances and, subsequently, they tend to go back to their native countries to work. “We need more people from this country who are going to be living here and working here to be prepared in science and engineering,” Hrabowski said. “That’s where our challenge is.” Hrabowski does believe that federal and state government officials and congressional leaders are beginning to understand the gravity of the problem and are targeting resources to improve STEM education, such as increasing the numbers of math and science teachers in primary schools and increasing teacher training. Hrabowski recently chaired a toplevel National Academies committee 46 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
that offered strategies for increasing the number of minority scientists and engineers. Recommendations in the panel’s September 2010 report, “Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads,” mirror many of the approaches already being used at UMBC through school’s acclaimed Meyerhoff Scholars Program. The program emphasizes innovation in teaching, especially during the freshman undergraduate year, and includes the use of collaboration and technology to spark learning. “The emphasis must be on teaching students how to collaborate, how to be more proactive in the learning process, how to have faculty members serving more as facilitators rather than simply trying to give students knowledge, how to emphasize teaching students how to think rather than simply than teaching them to solve a problem,” Hrabowski said. The National Academies report culls the best practices of majority institutions like UMBC, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions in urging, among recommendations, that higher education institutions create programs that provide minority students in STEM with strong financial, academic and social support. The report, which builds on a 2005 National Academies publication, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” on STEM education, estimates financial support of about $150 million annually is needed today and is expected to grow to $600 million annually (QUERY: BY WHAT YEAR IS THE $600 MILLION ANNUALLY EXPECTED?) as more students are included and complete their degrees. Hrabowski’s report sets a goal of increasing the percentage of all people with undergraduate degrees in science from 6 percent today to 10 percent and calls for the country to double quickly the number of minority students with STEM degrees from about 80,000 to 160,000.
UMBC Meyerhoff Scholar in Select Company NASA Goddard engineer Kamili Jackson is overjoyed to be in some select Kamili Jackson will forever be a Meyerhoff Scholar from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering in 1997 and 1998, respectively, before completing her Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 2002. That puts Jackson in an exclusive club of minority students who received extraordinary academic assistance in their quest to become engineers. Today, Jackson works as a product assurance engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The Meyerhoff program was co-founded in 1988 by current UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III and philanthropists Robert and Jane Meyerhoff. The program accepts highachieving students committed to pursuing advanced degrees and research careers in science and engineering, and advancing minorities in these fields. Jackson, 36, is among more than 1,000 students who have gone through the program with 700 alumni working across the nation and 300 others currently in graduate and professional programs. This gives UMBC the distinction as the top producer among predominantly white institutions for preparing African Americans who went on to complete doctorates in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Coming to UMBC from Chopticon High School in St. Mary’s County, MD, Jackson could count on one hand the number of black students with interests in those four fields. Jackson credits the Meyerhoff www.blackengineer.com
initiative with giving her the opportunity — and scholarship resources — to pursue her dream to become a professional engineer. She is one of 81 Ph.D.s the program has produced and recalls as an aspiring college student the Meyerhoff’s “selection weekend” for giving her a new perspective about opportunities in STEM fields. “There were just really smart black kids there,” she said. “I was always used to being the one (African American in her high school STEM classes). It was just an amazing kind of atmosphere. It was intimidating, but at the same time it was like so invigorating. I had just never been in a place where you had so many people who were like me and who just were interested in doing well and achieving and were interested in math and science.” Hrabowski says the Meyerhoff program was designed to remove some of the attitudes about STEM education and give those like Jackson a fighting chance.
“Too often in America, in all kinds of institutions, we who are already in math and science will send the message without realizing it to a student that I’ve got mine and you got to get yours,” Hrabowski said. “That’s not right the attitude. We have to be saying we are here to learn together. I am here to support you. We want you to learn to support each other as students, and it is possible for all of you to succeed.” If there is a legacy, Jackson wants minority students to know they can achieve accomplishments in math and science as she has. Jackson works personally with young students to help build up the next generation. “We need to let them know that this stuff (engineering) is cool,” she said. “This stuff is interesting. Engineering spans everything we do, when we wake up in the morning until we go to sleep at night. We build spacecraft (at Goddard). What is not cool about that?”
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USBE&IT I SPRING 2011 47
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Career OUTLOOK An in-depth look at a cutting-edge industry within STEM. We tell you where the jobs are, why you want them, and, most importantly, how you get them.
2011 CAREER OUTLOOK STORIES
Inside: Overview of the BEYA 100 Employers Career Fair Hall of Fame Inductees BEYA Photo Essay
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USBE&IT I I SPRING SPRING2011 2011 49 49 USBE&IT
CAREER OUTLOOK
BEYA’S TOP by Lango Deen, ldeen@ccgmag.com with additional reporting by Garland Thompson
I
t’s been 25 years of inspiration,” Ted Childs, a retired diversity executive at IBM Corporation, said at the 25th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards in the nation’s capital. The Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA), produced by Career Communications Group showcases professional talent in science, technology, engineering and math and provides students with pathways to lucrative technical careers. Over the past two decades, BEYA has put technical minds together with employers such as IBM Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton, Raytheon Company, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, NASA, the National Security Agency and the U.S. Navy Recruiting Command to promote job opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The theme of the 2011 BEYA STEM Conference was “Listen, Learn, Lead.” Throughout the three-day event, students and professionals presented panel discussions and events focusing on career development, diversity and science, technology, engineering and math education. More than 100 companies and organizations supporting the rise of new graduates into technical careers were on display at the BEYA Job Fair, one of several recruitment, recognition and retention events held at the conference. 50 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
BEYA’s top award, the 2011 Black Engineer of the Year, was presented to Lloyd Howell, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton. Twenty other category award winners were also recognized for innovation, career advancement and diversity programs. In Howell’s acceptance speech, he said he felt honored to be selected as the 25th Black Engineer of the Year. “I wake up everyday excited to make a difference,” he said. Howell serves as volunteer assistant coach for DC Heat, a youth basketball team. On behalf of Booz Allen Hamilton, he has supported the United Negro College Fund and Lincoln University. His involvement with UNCF is not unusual in this community. BEYA has a history of persuading employers to recognize the strength of engineering departments at historically black colleges and universities. Tuskegee University Engineering Dean Legand Burge said BEYA brings close involvement of corporate officers with HBCU deans and students. The HBCU Engineering Dean’s Roundtable has fostered cooperation between hiring officers and even a new industry-academic partnership: AMIE (Advancing Minorities Interest in Engineering). Scholarships, internships, donation of laboratory equipment and loans of professionals for faculty positions have all come out of the connection. www.blackengineer.com
BeyA 2011 Sponsors • Lockheed Martin Corporation • The Boeing Company • General Dynamics Corporation • General Motors • The MITRE Corporation • Naval Air Systems • Northrop Grumman Corporation • The Raytheon Company • Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. • U.S. Air Force • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • U.S. Army ROTC • U.S. Navy • Aerotek • Booz Allen Hamilton • Constellation Energy • Harris Corporation • BAE Systems • IBM Corporation • NAVSEA
• U.S. Coast Guard • Office of Naval Research • 3M Company • Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory • ITT Corporation • Exelon • Merck & Co., Inc. • Missile Defense Agency • NAVFAC • AMIE • Defense Information Systems Agency • NASA Glenn Research Center • National Security Agency • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory • SRI International • SPAWAR • T-Mobile
SUPPORTERS BEYA is the brainchild of Career Communications Group CEO Tyrone Taborn, who also publishes a number of diversity titles including US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine. “Tyrone’s vision is inextricably linked to democracy and America’s economic system, and our responsibility to it is realized not just for black America, Hispanic America or Native America but for America,” Ted Childs said. BEYA’s first event was held February 1987 at Morgan State University in Baltimore. “The timing of the event was not accidental,” said Eugene M. DeLoatch, veteran dean of the School of Engineering at Morgan State and longtime chairman of the Council of Engineering Deans of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “It was planned to coincide with observance of National Engineers Week and to serve historically as a fitting tribute to those close to Black History Month.” Bill Granville was a high-ranking oil executive when he attended BEYA in 1987. He filed a positive report with Mobil. Mobil’s CEO, seeing that diversity and inclusion made business sense, wrote a letter to other Fortune 500 CEOS, telling them he had discovered a talent development program he thought they should support. The rest, as they say, is history. Top defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation, has www.blackengineer.com
co-hosted BEYA for more than a decade, and corporate attendance reaches to the executive levels of management. “You see these major corporations get excited – Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing – these major players and their CEOs,” said David Steward, founder and chairman of St. Louis-based Worldwide Technology Inc. “And they are there to recognize the significant contributions these African-American engineers and leaders not only make to business, but to society.” In the mid-1980s, when BEYA was initiated, black representation among the nation’s 1.6 million engineers was only two percent – 32,000 men and women. By the turn of the millennium, many baby boomers were heading towards retirement and there was a need for younger professionals to take their place in the workforce. “Demand for qualified STEM professionals has grown considerably in the past 25 years, and it will only continue to expand,” said Tyrone Taborn. “Our advancements come from intrepid engineers and technologists, from business executives bold enough to take chances.” And BEYA has become an important hub for these intrepid engineers and bold executives to connect with one another. “It’s exciting to be around,” Steward said. “It’s contagious.” A version of this article first appeared in the St Louis American newspaper.
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2011 bEYA Career fair
Scenes from the BEYA 2011 Career Fair 52 USBE&IT I SPRING 2011
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Scenes from the BEYA 2011 Career Fair
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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
CAREER OUTLOOK
MASTER CHiEF EVELYN “VONN” P. BANKS NAVSEA
NORMA CLAYTON The Boeing Company
ViCE ADMiRAL WALTER J. DAViS, JR., (RET.)
RHONDA D. HOLT Turner Broad casting System
ELLiOTT LYONS Leggett & Platt Inc.
ViNCENT LYONS Leggett & Platt Inc.
iRENE HERNANDEZ ROBERTS IBM Corporation
D. SANGEETA The Nielsen Company
CANDi CASTLEBERRY-SiNGLETON UPMC
BELiNDA WATKiNS FedEx Services, FedEx Corp.
MELViN G. WiLLiAMS, JR. Department of Energy
GEN. JOHNNiE WiLSON, (RET.) President & CEO, JWil LLC
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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
2011 HAll OF
FAME
LiNDA GOODEN Lockheed Martin Corporation
Lango Deen ldeen@ccgmag.com
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ach year, as part of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM Conference and the Women of Color STEM Conference, we recognize the accomplishments and potential of some of the
CANDACE MATTHEWS Amway
nation’s most successful professionals. Career Communications Group’s hall of fame honors this renowned group of men and women—the faces of noteworthy achievement to American employers, the U.S. economy, and to the advancement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Not so long ago they were all students, still planning their careers and
THELMA B. THOMPSON, PH.D. University of Maryland Eastern Shore
looking to the future. Now, they’ve earned a global reputation for excellence in career challenges working in many different industries and for U.S. government agencies; as well as serving as stellar role models. They are proven leaders of America’s productive, more diverse and technology-driven world. Read on and be inspired by 16 stars who have led the way and gone
WOODROW WHiTLOW, JR., PH.D. NASA John H. Glenn Research Center
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beyond the ordinary.
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2005 Women Of Color Distinguished Achiever MASTER CHiEF EVELYN “VONN” P. BANKS Master Chief, NAVSEA Command Master Chief (Air Warfare/Surface Warfare)
2009 Technologist of the Year NORMA CLAYTON Vice President, Learning, Training, and Development, The Boeing Company
Most recently, Master Chief Banks served as the command master chief at the U.S. Naval Academy. On taking up her appointment in July 2007 she told a military publication that the “role of any Master Chief is to serve Sailors, Marines and their families.” Master Chief Banks led improvements in quality-oflife and quality-of-service programs at Annapolis until her current assignment to the Naval Sea Systems Command in June of 2010. NAVSEA engineers, build and support America’s fleet of ships and combat systems. In Master Chief Banks’ first billet as command master chief at the Navy Support Facility, she accomplished milestones in leadership for the command. She served aboard 5 ships as command master chief as well as chief of Naval Operations-Directed Command Master Chief at the U.S. Navy Recruiting Command. A graduate of both the Air Force Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy and the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, Master Chief Banks enlisted in the U.S. Navy on January 28, 1984 and then went on to the operational fleet. She earned an AA in general studies management and a Bachelor of Science in business management from University of Phoenix. She is also a graduate of the National Defense University’s Keystone Senior Enlisted course.
Norma Clayton counts among the nation’s top technology leaders. Mentoring makes up a large part of her success. That star quality earned her a Professional Achievement in Industry BEYA at the 14th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference. Almost a decade later, the first woman to be a senior manufacturing executive in Boeing Aircraft and Missile Systems is still making waves. She has been described as Boeing’s lead mentor, designing training and development programs focused on ensuring 160,000 employees have the requisite skills to perform their jobs. Prior to this assignment, she led the company’s Global Sourcing Initiative, an enterprise-wide initiative launched in 2006 to increase growth and productivity. She also held a number of leadership roles within Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems, including vice president of supplier management and procurement, and vice president and general manager of the Maintenance and Modification Centers. Ms Clayton holds a master’s degree in business management from Webster University, a bachelor’s degree in industrial administration from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and is pursuing a Ph.D. She is currently a board member of a number of organizations, including FOCUS St. Louis®, the St. Louis Academy of Science, Tuskegee University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the American Society of Training and Development.
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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
1992 BEYA President’s Award ViCE ADMiRAL WALTER J. DAViS, JR., USN (RET.)
In US Black Engineer magazine’s Careers issue of 1989, Walter Davis made a memorable portrait in leadership as the new commandant of the Naval District in Washington DC. For someone who had never planned on a navy career he had come a long way, wrote Grady Wells. VADM Davis—a fighter pilot and test pilot, the Class Desk engineer during development of the F-14— had excelled at the kinds of assignments that lead to the highest levels of the navy. He flew combat tours in Vietnam and accumulated over 3,500 flight hours and more than 800 carrier landings. His shore duty assignments included navy engineer for the F-14 aircraft and naval warfare IT architect. As the commandant of Naval District Washington, he held one of the most visible assignments overseeing building and housing maintenance, running the transportation pool, vehicle maintenance, administering facilities and bases, and holding letter-perfect navy ceremonies. From his office in the Washington Navy Yard, he also presided over a number of community service operations, including a program that bused area school children to the Pentagon once a week to study with naval officers. While he was studying for his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and enrolled in the Naval ROTC program as part of his compulsory service training, he travelled to Pensacola, Florida, one summer and he got a chance to go up in some navy airplanes. The experience helped him decide that naval aviation was something he’d like to try. After he graduated, he received his commission and went on to fly F-4 fighters.
2006 Black Engineer of the Year LiNDA GOODEN Executive Vice President, Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS), Lockheed Martin Corporation
Linda Gooden leads 40,000 technology professionals in Lockheed’s Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS). They provide IT solutions, systems and services to support civil, defense, intelligence and other government customers. Established in 2007, IS&GS generated more than $12 billion in sales in 2009. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, IS&GS operates in 46 U.S. states and about 60 countries around the world. Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Gooden was executive vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Information Technology & Global Services business area, and before that she was president of Lockheed Martin Information Technology—a unit she grew over a decade to become a multibillion dollar business. She was vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Software Support Services unit from 1994. Ms. Gooden received her degree in computer technology from Youngstown State University and completed post-baccalaureate studies at San Diego State University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Maryland University College. In 2010 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Morgan State University, and in 2005 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from the University of Maryland University College in recognition of her service to the community and higher education. She supports a good number of professional, academic, and civic organizations, and serves on executive boards of organizations such as the Eisenhower Fellowships Board of Trustees, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the University Systems of Maryland Board of Regents.
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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
2007 WOC President’s Award RHONDA D. HOLT Senior Vice President, Digital Media Technologies & Media Asset Management , Turner Broad casting System
1989 BEYA Promotion of Engineering Education ELLiOTT LYONS Vice President, Leggett & Platt Inc.
ViNCENT LYONS Vice President, Leggett & Platt Inc.
Rhonda Holt has been recognized as a leader in hardware and software product development throughout her outstanding career. She was winner of both the 2007 Women of Color in Technology President’s award and the 2002 Black Engineer of the Year Award for Professional Achievement. Also, Ms. Holt was named as one of the 100 Most Important Blacks in Technology by USBE&IT magazine in 2009. After graduating from the University of Florida in 1986, she worked for IBM and over a decade progressed from associate programmer to senior programmer manager. She then went on to Sun Microsystems, where she was vice president, storage systems engineering, then vice president of grid computing operations. At Dell, she was vice president of systems management software development. She has had oversight for delivery of Turner’s web-based products, inluding website development, deployment, and operations for Turner’s new media business in news, sports and entertainment. As vice president, infrastructure, she oversaw operations of all Turner Digital media properties, including CNN.com, NASCAR.com, PGATour,com, CartoonNetwork.com and NBA.com. She is a member of the IT Senior Management Forum, National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications, and Women in Cable Telecommunications. In 2008, she established the Rhonda D. Holt Endowment for Academic Excellence at University of Florida. This fund offers scholarships to freshman engineering students in the STEPUP Program at the College of Engineering and fellowships to graduate students—with a preference for those who went through the STEPUP Program and who participate in the Florida Institute for Development of Engineering Faculty. Ms. Holt earned a bachelor’s degree. in computer and information science in 1986 from the University of Florida.
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Southern University mechanical engineering alumni Elliott and Vincent Lyons believe two heads are better than one. So ran a line in US Black Engineer magazine’s 1989 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference issue. Recent honors graduates of Southern, as valedictorian and salutatorian, they both shared the 1989 Black Engineer of the Year Award for the Promotion of Engineering Education They’d served as officers of several student organizations and were the first undergraduates at Southern University’s College of Engineering to teach a class. They also acted as coordinators of the computer lab for students who needed additional time, tutored high school students at a local church in Baton Rouge, and in the spring of 1988, seniors Elliott and Vincent had taught the recitation part of engineering mechanics after students went to the head of department and asked for the twins to teach the class. The twin
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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
brothers probably put in as many hours tutoring their class mates as they did studying for themselves. Elliott and Vincent worked three summers at General Motors and then started full employment with the car maker in January 1989. More than two decades later, the brothers were on the cover of USBE&IT magazine. In the Garland Thompson story, we learned how “two consummate career climbers got to the C-Rank level” in corporate America. After moving on from GM, the brothers tried various postings with progressive responsibility at Lear Corporation, United Technologies Corporation, Visteon Corp., Maytag, and Navistar International. In 2006, as Thompson tells us, while returning home from a business trip, Elliott spotted the Leggett & Platt ad for a new executive, and history was made for him, his brother Vincent, and the 150-year old American components and furniture supplier. The Southwest Missouri company that invented the coil-spring mattress and box spring brought on board its first-ever African American corporate officers. A week prior to Vincent’s arrival, his brother Elliott signed on as the company’s first president of the Commercial Vehicle Products group, which accounts for about 4 percent of Leggett & Platt’s sales. Vincent signed on
corporate vice president of Engineering and Technology. He has profit and loss responsibility for a $200 million unit that designs and manufactures equipment for the bedding and leisure entertainment business. His group has operations in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Italy, China, and Mexico, and serves on the board of directors of Spuhl AG in Wittenbach, Switzerland. Leggett & Platt’s CEO said it was almost a no-brainier to hire both of the Lyons twins. “What I saw was two talented, high-performing executives, and I consider them two of the best hires I ever made.” Looking back over their record of growth, performance and management skills that moved entire organizations, it’s not hard to see why such a big decision after a century of no minority access at the highest levels could look so easy today, Thompson observed. While Leggett & Platt. may not be a familiar name to you, chances are you sleep on a bed made with Leggett components - box spring, innerspring, fiber comfort layers; relax in a recliner that has an L&P motion mechanism powering it. Leggett & Platt is one of the world’s largest manufactures of pulled-steel wire and its products are used literally everywhere.
2004 Women of Color Business Person of the Year CANDACE MATTHEWS Chief Marketing Officer, Amway
Candace Matthews leads Amway’s global marketing strategy. She heads a team focusing on category marketing (including beauty, wellness and homecare), the Amway brand, and consumer and market insights, as well as corporate citizenship and corporate communications. Ms. Matthews joined Amway in 2007. She previously served as president of SoftSheen-Carson, Consumer Products Division of L’OREAL USA, and also held positions as vice president, New Product and Package Innovation, and managing director, Non-Cola Brands, with the Coca-Cola Company. In addition, she held senior marketing positions at the CIBA Vision Corporation; Bausch + Lomb, Oral Care Division; Procter & Gamble, Cosmetics & Fragrance Division; and General Mills, where she began her marketing career. Ms. Matthews is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, and currently serves on the boards of Cosmetic Executive Women, Fifth Third Bank - Western Michigan, and Figure Skating in Harlem. She is a past member of the board of trustees at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and previously served on the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. Ms Matthews received a bachelor of science degree in metallurgical engineering and administrative and management science from Carnegie Mellon University. She also earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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2008 Technologist of the Year iRENE HERNANDEZ ROBERTS Program Director & Master Inventor, IBM Corporation
2005 Women Of Color Career Achievement D. SANGEETA Chief Business Process Development Officer, The Nielsen Company
D. Sangeeta is chief business process improvement officer for The Nielsen Company. Nielsen provides clients the most complete understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Appointed in March 2008, Ms. Sangeeta is responsible for driving operational excellence to ensure alignment of processes, products and technologies with all client needs. With nearly 34,000 employees in 100+ countries around the world, Nielsen offers a diverse range of career opportunities. Sangeeta previously held management roles in General Electric’s global research division followed by years at GE Aviation in a variety of commercial roles. During her 14 years at General Electric, she received 26 patents for her research, some of which are implemented across GE businesses. Prior to GE, Sangeeta spent years with Battelle, the world’s largest, independent research and development organization working to advance scientific discovery and application. At Battelle, Sangeeta marketed to and conducted research
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The Technologist of the Year is the most prestigious Women of Color STEM Conference award and is given on a discretionary basis to the individual who best represents the event across all of the award categories. Irene Hernandez Roberts was selected by a panel of professionals and leaders in science, engineering and technology as an outstanding contributor to her field. She works closely with independent software vendors to help partners integrate IBM products and technologies into their business. Ms. Hernandez Roberts leads a team of over 100 IT architects with a budget of $15 million. She is also responsible for IBM’s Virtual Innovation Center, which is the entry point for all technical resources to help partners build skills and expertise, develop and enable their applications, and nurture partners. She has been with IBM for almost 30 years and provides mentoring within IBM as well as outside of the company. Ms. Hernandez Roberts is active in integrating the IBM Academic Initiative program through the Computing Alliance for Hispanic Serving Institutions and the Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities (HACU). She is also the program manager for IBM’s global Hispanic DNG, HispaNet, and is responsible for managing the day-to-day activities. She is a member of the advisory committee for the Austin IBM Hispanic in Partnership DNG, Latinas in Computing, and is a lifetime member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE).
and development for global industrial customers such as Motorola, Gillette, Libby Owens Ford, and Matsushita. She also received two patents for her research work. Sangeeta received a Masters in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a Ph.D. in Materials from University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. She is the winner of the 2005 Women of Color Career Achievement award.
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2004 Women Of Color Community Service
2007 Most Important Blacks in Technology Honoree
CANDi CASTLEBERRY-SiNGLETON
President, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
THELMA B. THOMPSON, PH.D.
Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, UPMC
Candi Castleberry-Singleton is responsible for developing UPMC’s inclusion strategy, as well as over seeing progress toward goals involving 50,000 employees. In 2008, she launched the Center for Inclusion in Health Care. She has an exceptional record of coaching senior executives and partnering with y business process owners and community leaders to build sustainable inclusion practices for the workplace, marketplace, and workforce. Her successful initiatives have been implemented at Motorola, where she was vice president of Global Inclusion and Diversity, and at Sun Microsystems, where she led the Global Inclusion Center of Expertise.An experienced strategist, Ms. Singleton created The Integrated Inclusion Model TM, a systems integration model that helps companies to transition from compliance-driven processes led by human resources to activities that shift responsibility for achieving an inclusive culture to every employee. The model is featured in Crossing the Divide: Intergroup Leadership in a World of Difference (Harvard Business School Press, August 2009). She received an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from UC Berkeley, and graduated from the Stanford University Human Resources Executive Program. She has received numerous sales, customer satisfaction and diversity leadership awards. Recently she was named one of the top 25 Influential Black Women by The Network Journal and a “Woman of Humility” by Point Park University in Pittsburgh. In 2009, she was recognized by Diversity MBA magazine as a Top 50 under 50 Executive Leader.
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Dr. Thompson has held her current role since 2002. She has taught at all levels of education (elementary to graduate) since beginning her career in 1960. In the 1970’s, she taught English and literature at Howard University, the City University of New York, and Bowie State University. Dr. Thompson began her 11year service to the University of District of Columbia in 1979 working as director of Freshman English, assistant chairperson in the Department of English, and, ultimately associate dean and professor in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. From 1990-1998, Dr. Thompson was dean of the School of Arts & Letters at Norfolk State University. She later served as the vice president for Academic Affairs at Norfolk State from 1998-2002 before becoming president of University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The Modem Language Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, Phi Beta Kappa and the African-American Writers’ Guild are among her many professional associations. Dr. Thompson also has served as co-chair of a Southern Association of Schools and Colleges leadership task force for redesigning the accreditation guidelines for a number of southern institutions. Dr. Thompson has been the recipient of several scholastic honors and awards, including: election to Phi Beta Kappa, and a special award from the University of the District of Columbia for promoting understanding between peoples of different cultures.She earned a diploma in teacher education from Bethlehem Teachers College in her native Jamaica and her Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) in 1970, a Master of Arts degree in English in 1972, and her Doctoral degree in English literature in 1978, all at Howard University.
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2004 Women Of Color Special Recognition Honoree BELiNDA WATKiNS Vice President, IT of Network Computing for FedEx Services, FedEx Corp.
Belinda Watkins has responsibility for network computing and information technology operations at FedEx Corp. Her organization designs and engineers communications-based solutions in support of projects and user requirements for Fed -Ex Express, Ground, and Office. Ms. Watkins rejoined Federal Express in May of 2003 after five years of service with Sara Lee Corporation where she served as vice president, Infrastructure Support, for Sara Lee Foods, a $3 billion plus division of Sara Lee Corp. Prior to serving as VP, Infrastructure Support, She served as vice president and CIO for Jimmy Dean Foods— joining as vice president and CIO in April of 1998 after 6 years with FedEx. She joined FedEx in 1992 as a technical advisor in the International Network Engineering department and progressed from manager of Desktop Engineering to managing director of Network Integration. Her career includes holding the following positions: college telecommunications instructor, and high school and community college mathematics instructor. During her career, she has also worked for companies such as First Tennessee Bank, Bell South and AT&T. She now develops and designs programs that support the operations of the FedEx Corp. Ms. Watkins holds degrees from Millsaps College, Mississippi College and Christian Brothers University (CBU). She serves as a member of CBU’s Engineering Advisory Board.
1995 BEYA Professional Achievement MELViN G. WiLLiAMS, JR. Associate Deputy Secretary, Department of Energy
Melvin G. Williams Jr. is a key leader for the Department of Energy’s management and operational excellence. He reports directly to the secretary of energy and the deputy secretary, drives improvements in mission execution and assures that they are implemented. In addition, he serves as the secretary’s office point of contact for the Offices of Human Capital Management, Chief Information Officer, Economic Impact and Diversity, Management; Health, Safety & Security,and Hearings & Appeals. He helps to ensure that these organizations are effectively interfacing with the mission offices. A nuclear trained submariner, he served in the U.S. Navy for thirty-two years as a commissioned officer and one year as an enlisted sailor. His extensive operational assignments included four command opportunities, including commander of U.S. Second Fleet (130 ships and over 90,000 sailors and marines), commander of Submarine Group Nine (12 submarines and over 4,000 sailors), commander of Submarine Squadron Four (6 submarines and crews), and commanding officer of USS Nebraska - an OHIO class Strategic Ballistic Missile submarine. Other key operational assignments included deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Forces, and director of Global Operations at U.S. Strategic Command. Mr. Williams is a 1978 graduate with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy (Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics), holds a Master of Science degree in engineering from Catholic University, and attended Harvard’s JFK School of Government (National and International Security). He has various military awards and his civic recognitions include Black Engineer of the Year Award for Professional Achievement.
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1999 Black Engineer of the Year Dean’s Award GEN. JOHNNiE WiLSON, (RET.) President & CEO, JWil LLC
General Johnnie Wilson is a retired United States Army four star general who served as commanding general, United States Army Materiel. Gen. Wilson entered the army in August 1961 as an enlisted soldier, attaining the rank of staff sergeant before attending Officer Candidate School (OCS). On completion of OCS in 1967, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. His military education includes completion of the Ordnance Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. General Wilson commanded three times at the company level, followed by command of a supply and services company in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and B Company 123rd Maintenance Battalion with the 1st Armored Division in Europe. He served at every level of command, including as the deputy commanding general, 21st TAACOM, the army’s largest and most diverse logistics unit. Based on his wide experience with leading soldiers, he was selected to command the Ordnance Center and School responsible for the training and professional development of thousands of soldiers, NCOs and officers every year. Following this successful assignment, he took responsibility for resource and personnel management of a workforce with over 80,000 military and civilian members.
2007 Scientist of the Year WOODROW WHiTLOW, JR., PH.D. Associate Administrator for Mission Support, NASA Headquarters
Dr. Whitlow was the winner in the government category for the 1989 Black Engineer of the Year Awards. In 2007, he was presented with the Scientist of the Year award at the Minorities in Research Science Conference annual “Emerald Honors Gala,” held in Baltimore, Maryland. The Scientist of the Year award represents a recognition of merit, broad effect on people in many disciplines, and value to society as a whole. A rocket scientist and CEO of one of the largest federal information technology agencies, Dr. Whitlow’s career experience cuts across a variety of NASA programs. He has served as director of critical technologies in the Office of Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters, deputy director of the aeronautics program, chief of the Structures Division at NASA’s Langley Research Center, and director of research and technology at NASA Glenn, where he returned as center director in 2005. Under his leadership from September 2003 to December 2005, his workforce at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center was the primary group responsible for preparing the Space Shuttle system for its return to flight. As NASA Glenn’s director of research and technology, the center won more awards than all the NASA centers combined. As NASA Glenn’s director of research and technology, the center won more awards than all the NASA centers combined. The first African American recipient of the Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, he joined the US space program in 1979 as a research scientist at Langley Research Center. He has written nearly 40 technical papers, most in the areas of unsteady transonic flow and aero elasticity.
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