27 minute read
Brigadier General Crumbly Lives his Boyhood Dreams in the Skies
BRIGADIER GENERAL CRUMBLY
LIVES HIS BOYHOOD DREAMS IN THE SKIES
BY [ Megan TRUSDELL ]
Crumbly with his combat aircrew and infantry security detachment during Operation Allied Force in Albania in 1999.
When Konata Ato “Deuce” Crumbly (Class of ‘96) grew up in Fort Valley, Georgia, he was more than 100 miles from the nearest major airport. DC 10s and Boeing 747s were seen in books or on television. Military planes, however, were common going in and out of Robins Air Force Base.
Besides the sight of cargo planes like the workhorse C-130, a yearning to fly was inspired by a peek into an airliner’s cockpit on a flight to Hawaii when he was 3 years old and fueled by books on the Tuskegee Airmen from the Thomas Public Library.
“I was just fascinated by airplanes,” Crumbly says. “Quite frankly, some people want to be actors and singers. Me, I wanted to fly airplanes. It was a natural affinity that I had.”
He became a pilot, flying Black Hawk helicopters, and reached brigadier general after tours of duty during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq. He is currently the director of the joint staff for the Georgia National Guard.
High praise from the highest altitude
The U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gave Crumbly a shoutout during his 2021 FAMU commencement address, using Crumbly’s military career to illustrate the importance of working as part of a team.
“In 2003, although I didn’t know it at the time, we were actually part of the same team,” Austin said. “I was an assistant division commander for the 3rd Infantry Division, helping lead my unit into Iraq on the ground, and, little did I know at the time, that then-Army Capt. Crumbly was helping us in the skies above.
“Capt. Crumbly is now Gen. Crumbly, and I know first-hand that you don’t become a general in the United States military unless you’re willing to work as part of a team.”
A desire to take it higher, on a mission to do it his way
Driven to sprout wings, the young Crumbly traded work in Fort Valley at the local airport for flying lessons. Even joining the Army – where the glamour assignments often include tanks and artillery – did not deter him, nor did a 10-percent acceptance rate into its aviation brigade.
Crumbly had an unlikely path to the Army’s upper echelon. He was a college campus brat. His father, Isaac Crumbly, Ph.D., is the associate vice president for careers and collaborative programs at Fort Valley State University (Georgia). His mother was an English professor at the university. Despite his connection to Fort Valley State, it was a football game that led him to Tallahassee and Florida A&M University (FAMU).
When he was a high-school freshman, he attended the Tennessee State vs. FAMU game at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. It was life-changing, he recalled.
“The stadium was absolutely packed, filled with Black people. I was like, ‘This is awesome. We can fill up a stadium with 50,000 people. Everyone’s enjoying themselves.’ It was something about the attitude that did something to me. I was like, ‘I think I am going to go to FAM now.’ ”
Crumbly was awarded a full Army ROTC scholarship at FAMU, where he majored in history and geography. His first year he stayed in Paddyfoote, “the worst dorm on campus,” he recalls fondly. “It was built for single occupancy. They ended up putting two people in there. We couldn’t get out of the bed at the same time because the room was so small.”
It was the “Humphries Era” (named for the late Frederick Humphries, Ph.D., the eighth president at FAMU).
“There was an overall, ‘Hey, you’re representing FAMU, so you have to represent excellence,” he says. “That stuck with me.”
Crumbly in the cockpit during combat missions over Southwest Asia.
Lt. Col Robert Smith, a career infantry officer, was in charge of his ROTC detachment.
“He was very demanding of us,” Crumbly recalls. “Physical training three times a week, training two to three weekends a month to prepare for Advanced Camp, Land Navigation with only a map, compass, pencil, and straight edge.”
While Army is not traditionally a pipeline for aspiring aviators, he didn’t let that discourage him. He knew he would be competing with West Point graduates for a spot in Army aviation.
“I was like, ‘Hey I’m going to give it a shot. If I tell myself no, I’ll never get there.’”
He was selected for Army flight school in Fort Rucker, Alabama, and graduated in 1998. While his original goal was to fly fixed wing aircraft, 90 percent of Army aviation is helicopters.
He fell in love with the Black Hawk, the Army’s primary medium-lift utility transport, evacuation, and air-assault aircraft, made famous in the 2001 movie “Black Hawk Down,” that told the story of the American soldiers who died in Somalia in 1993 during that country’s civil war.
During his tenure as an Army aviation officer, he participated in NATO’s intervention of Yugoslavia during Operation Allied Force in 1999 and the initial invasion of Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Crumbly returned from the war at the end of 2003. By that time, he had been in the Army for eight years and had moved four times. He had married his highschool sweetheart; the couple became the parents of twin girls and a baby boy.
He was assigned to a reserve unit who sent him to Oklahoma for his fixed-wing qualification and joined the more “family-friendly” Georgia Air National Guard as a pilot for the E-8C Joint STARS, essentially a surveillance, ground control and battle management platform modified from a Boeing 707, out of Robins Air Force Base. He was deployed eight times.
In his current position, he is responsible for all domestic operations for the Georgia National Guard – both Army and air. While it’s a non-flying position and his hands are “dry,” he is three pay grades higher than where he ever thought he would be.
“The advice I give people is ‘Just do good at your current job,’” he says. “Doing good at your current job usually translates into a better job.”
Larry Rivers, Ph.D., distinguished professor of history at FAMU, says Crumbly was one of his best students, noting that his research papers won several awards. “He was a hard-working young man who didn’t settle for average grades,” he says. “He came to FAMU prepared to work, serious-minded and a young man whom I knew from the very beginning would do something great in his life.”
Crumbly flying formation in the UH-60 Black Hawk in Albania during Operation ALLIED FORCE in 1999.
RIGHT Family photo in the snow. BELOW Crumbly meeting former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young in 2021 BELOW RIGHT Christmas family photo. With twin daughters Morgan (in red), & Carina. Wife LaTisha, and son Noah.
The E-8C JSTARS on the tarmac at Robins AFB.
HAPPENING On theHill BY [ Andrew J. SKERRITT ]
FAMU Paddyfote Complex Demolished
Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) Paddyfote Complex, home to generations of students, has been demolished. The area where the buildings once stood is covered by well-mown grass.
Demolition began in June soon after protective fencing was erected around the complex and sidewalks were closed along Wahnish Way near Gamble Street. Mad Dog Construction was contracted to complete the $915,763 demolition project. By early September, the final walls of the complex fell in a cloud of dust. The move is part of the University’s long-term plan to replace aging and outdated residence halls.
“The older facilities are more expensive to maintain and renovate and are not Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant,” said William E. Hudson, Jr., Ph.D., vice president of Student Affairs. “Today’s students want modern facilities.”
The administration is working a new master plan for the Board of Trustees’ approval. That plan includes new residence halls, which reflects the University’s efforts to remain competitive in recruiting top students.
“If we are serious about marching toward the top 100, we have to attract the types of students who are college ready and can graduate in four years,” Hudson said.
Built in 1967, Paddyfote initially housed male students in double rooms. The expanded facility then housed female students in two buildings and male students in two buildings. In its last configuration, the four-building complex housed 232 female students in single rooms.
Other aging on-campus housing facilities, Diamond, McGuinn, Cropper and Wheatley halls were demolished in 2019. Truth Hall, which was built in 1958, is targeted to be torn down, but that project has been delayed as a result of a lawsuit filed to block the demolition.
In recent years, the University built Polkinghorne Village and renovated and modernized Sampson Hall and Young Hall. In 2020, the University opened FAMU Towers, a 700-bed complex on the southeast of the campus. That project was funded under the HBCU Capital Finance program. More than $100 million of that loan was forgiven as part of a massive federal COVID-19 relief package.
In anticipation of the demolition, the University offered student desks, mattresses, dressers, beds, sofas, and other furnishings to local nonprofits. Alumni and students who have lived in the residence hall were encouraged to share their Paddyfote photos and memories on social media using the #FAMUFoteSoldiers, and #FAMUPaddyfoteMemories hashtags.
The FAMU Paddyforte Complex
School of the Environment Rattler Moji Buoy Provides RealTime Data of Water Conditions in Apalachee Bay
A team of Florida A&M University (FAMU) School of the Environment faculty, staff and students boarded a 24-foot Carolina skiff at Spring Creek Marina in Wakulla County, on a Friday morning in March.
The team was headed out to Apalachee Bay to perform maintenance on the Rattler Moji, a solar-powered water sensing buoy that monitors water quality around the clock. Data from the buoy is beamed around the clock to the School of the Environment’s Core Lab and is accessible to researchers and students on their cell phones in real-time.
Dean Victor Ibeanusi, Ph.D., said the buoy, which measures key water quality parameters - salinity, conductivity, pH, temperature, nitrate and algae levels, is a vital coastal marine research tool.
“The best way to determine the impact of climate change is the checking water quality,” he said. “Water quality is the nexus between energy and food production. We conduct research so we can provide sustainable solutions.”
Climate change continues to impact these coastal communities requiring research that monitors the water quality of these coastal requiems, especially at the Gulf Coast. FAMU is home to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded Center for Marine and Coastal Systems. Aquaculture is critical to resolving the world’s food insecurity and projected future food shortages.
The recent excursion was to clean barnacles from the base of the Rattler Moji and replace one of the measuring probes. To get to Apalachee Bay, the skiff motored through Spring Creek, the world’s largest spring head, which produces 1.2 billion gallons of water daily. At the helm was Rob Olin, owner of Estuary Oysters, who partners with the School of the Environment. The buoy floats in waist deep water within a stone’s throw of the floating cages that are part of Olin’s 7.5-acre oyster ranch in Apalachee Bay.
Oysters need brackish water – a certain mixture of salt water and freshwater - to thrive. Too much freshwater or too much saltwater kills the popular shellfish.
“We lost 80 percent of our crop last September because of too much freshwater,” Olin said. Fortunately, Rattler Moji had been installed shortly before. “Thank God for this buoy because it measured the salinity level which I was able to take back to the federal farm agency for crop insurance.”
“Because of your research and our partnership,” Olin told Ibeanusi and the students, “we’ve been able to better educate the farm agency about what they need to cover and why regarding this new industry.”
Apalachicola Bay, once home to one of the most lucrative seafood industries in America, has been closed to traditional oyster harvesting. Olin and other oyster ranchers are part of a fledgling aquaculture industry that grows oysters from seeds and sells mature oysters to restaurants and kitchen tables. The partnership with Estuary Oysters allows Dean Ibeanusi and faculty members to help FAMU students to see the connection between what they learn in the classroom and what happens outdoors.
Jordan Roberts, a graduating senior environmental science student from Tallahassee, was part of the team that launched the buoy last September.
“Six months later, the buoy is still thriving, still standing and then we have students now able to be hands on, help us clean it and to just ensure that data just keeps coming in real time,” said Roberts, who thinks more students would get excited about the environment if they had these kinds of opportunities to treat the outdoors like a classroom.
“This is something that students would definitely be really excited about as it pertains to environmental science because it’s hands on; it’s fun; you get to go out on the water; you get to experience oysters; you can get experiences with wildlife in real time.”
FAMU Second HBCU Named Adobe Creative Campus
Students, faculty, staff have access to more than 20 Adobe apps
Florida A&M University students, faculty and staff have full access to Adobe Creative Cloud as the University has been named an Adobe Creative Campus.
As part of the collaboration, the entire community has access to all Adobe Creative Cloud apps and services across all their desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets. Ensuring that users can hone their digital fluency skills anywhere and anytime. As part of the agreement, the FAMU community also has access to Adobe Stock, which includes more than 200 million royalty-free images.
“As an Adobe Creative Campus, FAMU joins a select group of colleges and universities actively advancing digital literacy skills throughout our curricula. This initiative gives our students a competitive edge in the modern workplace,” said FAMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maurice Edington, Ph.D.
The collaboration kicked off last fall. FAMU is the second Historically Black College and University (HBCU), after Winston Salem University, to be named an Adobe Creative Campus. FAMU is the second State University System campus, after University of South Florida, to receive the designation.
“Adobe and Florida A&M University are committed to providing students of all majors with the tools that are foundational to building their creative skill sets and ultimately, becoming digitally literate,” said Sebastian Distefano, director of Strategic Development for Adobe. “Greater access to Adobe Creative Cloud enables FAMU to expand its innovative teaching practices and seamlessly nurture creative problem solving among students to ensure that they are prepared both inside and outside of the classroom.”
As a member of the Adobe Creative Campus program, FAMU will have access to: ■ Adobe Creative Campus branding to identify as an Adobe partner committed to digital literacy. ■ Peer-to-peer collaboration with other members at Adobe Creative Campus collaboration events. ■ Support for driving student adoption in the classroom. ■ Thought leadership opportunities within the global higher education community.
New Faces, NEW PLACES
KELLY McMURRAY
FAMU ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF KELLY MCMURRAY AS AVP FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING, ANALYSIS AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Kelly McMurray, Ph.D., serves as associate vice president for Strategic Planning, Analysis and Institutional Effectiveness, filling the role vacated by Beverly Barrington, who retired this spring. McMurray comes to FAMU from Albany State University, where she served as vice president for Institutional Effectiveness since 2019.
Before joining Albany State, McMurray worked at the College of Southern Maryland as associate vice president for planning, institutional effectiveness, and research. She also worked at Gordon College, in Barnesville, Georgia, and Morehouse College in Atlanta.
McMurray earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Clark Atlanta University before completing a master’s in applied mathematics from North Carolina A&T State University, then she earned her Ph.D. in educational policy studies, with a concentration in research, measurement, and statistics at Georgia State University, Atlanta in 2010. She began work on June 14, 2021.
ROBERT SENIORS
FAMU NAMES ROBERT SENIORS CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER/ AVP INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
Robert T. Seniors now serves as chief information officer (CIO)/associate vice president Information Technology Services (AVP ITS). In his new role, Seniors, who had served previously as CIO, will report directly to President Robinson.
A computer science graduate of FAMU, Seniors first joined the University in 1997 as a coordinator of technology in the then-School of General Studies. The following year, he moved to the Office of University Planning and Analysis as a specialist of computer systems control. After a stint as director of technology, Seniors was promoted to vice president for Information Technology and CIO in 2007.
Since 2011, Seniors has served as the associate director for Instructional Technology, where he helps facilitate the academic technological needs of faculty, staff and students. In that position, Seniors played a key role in helping the University rapidly transition to 100 percent remote instruction at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic during spring break 2020. The task included ensuring faculty, students and staff had the technology, training and 24-7 support to successfully move to remote learning.
Seniors said he wants to continue to “provide the highest level of services to the FAMUly, specifically to our students, faculty, staff and alumni.”
FAMU NAMES MIRA LOWE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
Florida A&M University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maurice Edington, Ph.D., has announced Mira Lowe as the next dean of the School of Journalism & Graphic Communication (SJGC).
Lowe took the helm on October 22, 2021. Professor Bettye Grable, Ph.D., had served as interim SJGC dean since March 2020.
Lowe, a veteran journalist and editor, has been assistant dean for student experiences at the University of Florida (UF) College of Journalism and Communications (CJC) since 2019. She has been director of the CJC Innovation News Center, one of the largest student-powered newsrooms in the country, since 2017. A master’s degree graduate of Columbia University, Lowe has been an adjunct journalism instructor and guest lecturer on digital storytelling, communications and career preparation at several colleges and universities around the country.
Before entering academia, Lowe enjoyed a successful career as a professional journalist. She was an editor at CNN Digital in Atlanta for five years after leaving her post as an editor-in-chief of JET Magazine. She also held a senior managerial role at Ebony Magazine after working at Newsday in New York for 18 years.
Lowe is president of the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS), a nonprofit organization serving women in journalism, from 2019 to 2021, and she has also been active in the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The New York native earned a bachelor’s degree in radio and television at Brooklyn College.
MIRA LOWE
ASHLEY DAVIS NAMED FAMU’S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR
Ashley H. Davis joined Florida A&M University as emergency management director in October 2021. In his 15-year emergency management career, Davis has responded to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, oil spills, wildfires, and pandemics. Before joining FAMU, he was bureau chief of response for the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Davis’ approach is shaped by his personal as well as professional experience. In 2004, he was operating a yacht club in Pensacola, Florida, when Hurricane Ivan, a category three storm, destroyed his home and livelihood.
In the ensuing months, Davis relocated to Tallahassee, where he pursued undergraduate and graduate degrees in Emergency Management and Homeland Security at Florida State University. He worked two stints with FDEM, which bookend three years with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Emergency Management Team. During his career, Davis has responded to or deployed to more than 62 events, including 35 major federally declared disasters that have directly impacted Florida or the nation.
ASHLEY DAVIS
BILL MEANS
NEW CAREER CENTER DIRECTOR
Bill H. Means, Ed.D., was announced as the new director of the Career and Professional Development Center in May 2021.
Before coming to FAMU, Means served as director of career services at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va. Means has also worked in career services at Delaware State University Dover, Del., Livingstone College, Salisbury, N.C., Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C., Queens University of Charlotte, and Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C..
The Concord, N.C., native earned his bachelor’s degree at Tennessee State University, a master’s at North Carolina A&T State University and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
HUGH DURHAM NAMED DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS
On May 28, 2021, Hugh Durham began his tenure as director of Admissions and Enrollment Management for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Durham had served in a similar role at Prairie View A&M University since 2018. Before PVAMU, the Miami native worked at the American University of the Caribbean, Howard University, Georgetown University, and the University of Phoenix. In his role, he oversees Undergraduate Admissions, Transfer Services and Undergraduate Recruitment. Durham earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Florida.
HUGH DURHAM
MICHAEL ABAZINGE
Following a comprehensive internal search, Michael Abazinge, Ph.D., was named associate provost and dean for the School of Graduate Studies and Research. He began his new position on April 1, 2022.
A tenured professor in the University’s School of the Environment, Abazinge joined FAMU as an assistant professor in 1988. He has served in several administrative capacities during his time at FAMU including, technical services manager, interim director and interim dean.
“I am quite pleased that we had a number of outstanding internal candidates. Dr. Abazinge’s distinguished record of success in the areas of scientific research, graduate education, grantsmanship, and administrative leadership made him ideally suited for this important role,” said Edington. “His broad set of professional experiences perfectly align with our ambitious vision and goals for graduate ed-
NEW EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS/TITLE IX STAFF
The Florida A&M University Office of General Counsel announced four new additions to its Equal Opportunity Programs(EOP)/Title IX staff.
Latrecha K. Scott, Ph.D., serves as director of Equal Opportunity Programs and Labor Relations/Title IX. A native of Quincy, Florida,, Scott holds a bachelor’s from FAMU, a Master of Education from the University of West Florida, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Southern Mississippi. Scott fills the role formerly occupied by Carrie Gavin.
Letitia McClellan is the Title IX coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s in health care management and an MBA from FAMU. McClellan was employed with the Florida Department of Children and Families for approximately 18 years and holds a certification of Child Welfare Professional Supervisor.
She began her career as a child protective investigator, progressed to child protective investigator supervisor, and later was an operations review specialist with the Office of Child Welfare.
Kimberly M. Ceaser is assistant director, Equal Opportunity Programs/Title IX. In her previous role at FAMU, the Montgomery, Alabama, native was a case manager in the Division of Student Affairs. Her career in higher education includes stints at Tuskegee University and Alabama State University.
Ceaser earned a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in management. She is founder/CEO of UnFolding Blessings, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Florida, recognized to combat housing and food insecurities among college students. She is also a certified life coach and a Florida notary public.
Dana Norton is the Title IX investigator. In her role, the FAMU graduate is responsible for investigating and resolving complaints regarding sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, gender-related violence, and other situations that fall under Title IX within the university.
LATRECHA K. SCOTT KIMBERLY M. CEASER
LETITIA MCCLELLAN
DANA NORTON
ALUMNI APPLAUSE BY [ LA CARROLL ]
St. Petersburg, Florida Gets a New Mayor
Florida A&M University (FAMU) alumni, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken T. Welch, was sworn in as the first Black mayor of his hometown on January 6, 2022.
The son of a St. Petersburg City Councilman, Welch served on the Pinellas County Commission for 20 years. During his tenure, he focused on economic development, transportation, equity, housing, criminal justice reform and fighting poverty. Ken’s father, David Welch, was the first African American man to serve on the St. Petersburg City Council. His father also ran for Mayor in 1991.
After receiving his bachelor’s from the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg, Welch earned an MBA from FAMU. He also worked as an accountant for Florida Power Corporation. He lives in his hometown with Donna, his wife of 30 years, and their two daughters.
Carter sworn in to a second term in Minnesota
Mayor Melvin Carter III was sworn in to a second four-year term as St. Paul’s mayor.
Carter was elected as Minnesota capital city’s 46th, youngest and first African American mayor in 2018. Since taking office, his accomplishments include raising the city’s minimum wage to $15/hour; tripling free programs in recreation centers; eliminating late fines in public libraries; reestablishing an Affordable Housing Trust Fund; expanding immigrant and refugee support resources and launching an Office of Financial Empowerment.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter launched the St. Paul Bridge Fund to provide emergency relief to St. Paul’s lowest-income families and small businesses most vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic. The fund provided more than $4 million in direct aid between April and June. He has also been in demand on national media in the wake of protests following a Minneapolis police officer’s killing of George Floyd.
The son of a retired St. Paul police officer and a Ramsey County commissioner, Carter graduated from the city’s public schools before entering FAMU. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the FAMU School of Business and Industry in 2002 before completing a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota.
College of Law Grads are holding down the bench
Mikaela Nix-Walker, circuit judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, borrowed – and attributed – the motto from 100 Black Men of America as the theme for her speech during her 2021 investiture ceremony.
“What They See Is What They’ll Be,” said Judge Nix-Walker, who amplified the significance of her achievement to the youth group she invited to the event as an example of a dream fulfilled.
Nix-Walker shared the stage with fellow FAMU Law graduate Christy Collins who was also sworn in in Orlando, Florida. Judges Nix-Walker and Collins joined a rapidly growing list of recent law school alumni who are members of the judiciary.
In January 2022, Devin Collier was appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to serve as a judge for the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in Panama City, Florida. Collier, became the 12th known FAMU Law alum actively serving on the bench. “We are extremely proud of our graduates who have become judges. They demonstrate the strength
and value of the program of legal education at the FAMU College of Law,” said Deidré Keller, dean and professor of law. “The College aims to provide a pathway to the career of each student’s choosing and I am always thrilled to see alumni choose to use their legal education to serve the public.”
Thse distinguished judges are following in the footsteps of graduates from the original College of Law, including the late Ralph Flowers (1968), the late Alcee Hastings (1963), Perker Meeks (1968), and the late Edward Rodgers (1963), all of whom served as judges during their careers.
SBI grad is now taking care of business in North Carolina
Sonja P. Nichols has been appointed to the board of governors for the University of North Carolina system, in Raleigh. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in business administration from the Florida A&M University (FAMU) School of Business & Industry (SBI).
Nichols is president and chief executive officer of the Angel Fund Investment Firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, and also established a private securities firm in the city that is staffed entirely with veterans.
She is also the founding president of the South Charlotte Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a published author of “Your Amazing Body, Your Amazing Organization 2014,” a Biblically-based book (Barnes & Noble, Amazon) that compares organizational structure to the human body. Nichols joined the Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated when she was a student at FAMU; she is a life member and also a member of the FAMU National Alumni Association (NAA).
Researcher gets new grant to look at animal protein growth
Daniel Solis, Ph.D., associate professor and agribusiness program leader, for Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) College of Agriculture and Food Sciences (CAFS), received a $70,000 research grant to perform a worldwide, comparative analysis of production growth rates of animal-based protein from 2000 to 2021.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) funded Solis’ grant for the project performance period from September 2021 through October 2022.
His research project, “Assessment of Animal Protein Growth and Source of Feed” will also investigate faster-growing countries’ major sources of feed use for domestic production versus imports and the source of those imports.
A prolific author and researcher, Solis received FAMU’s 2017 Emerging Research of the Year Award and, in 2017, was also named the Most Read Author at FAMU. His research interests include development and environmental economics, productivity and efficiency analysis, climate and weather economics, and project evaluation and econometrics.
As described on its website, “USDA FAS links United States agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security. FAS has a global network of nearly 100 offices covering approximately 180 countries. These offices are staffed by agricultural experts who are the eyes, ears, and voice for U.S. agriculture around the world.
New Faces, continued from page 33
ucation, which includes increasing graduate enrollment in programs of strategic emphasis and elevating the University’s Carnegie Classification to R1-very high research activity.”
In addition to his responsibilities as a professor, Abazinge, a 1981 FAMU graduate, also serves as the associate director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (CCME) under the leadership of FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., who serves as principal investigator and director.
Abazinge has produced 17 Master of Science and seven doctorate graduates, and his research findings have appeared in more than 30 publications, with several others soon to be released. Abazinge currently holds the patent for Eco-Wares, Ecosystem-Based Water Retention/Reuse System, and two other projects pending patent approval.
Although highly regarded for his scientific research, Abazinge was instrumental in helping what was previously the environmental sciences program in the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences become what is now the School of the Environment.
He is also credited for creating and writing curricula for various graduate-level courses and programs and securing funding for the University’s research projects and initiatives.
GLORIA WALKER, NEW CFO/VP FOR FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
Gloria Walker, Ed.D., has been announced as the new chief financial officer and vice president for Finance and Administration. She began work on June 3, 2021. Walker, a certified public accountant, had served as vice president for business affairs and chief financial of-
GLORIA WALKER ficer at the University of New Orleans since January 2020. Walker holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Houston, an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and a doctoral degree in higher education administration from Northeastern University, Boston.
She comes to FAMU with more than two decades of executive leadership in higher education. Prior to her tenure in New Orleans, Walker was vice president for finance and administration at Cowley College in Kansas. She was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer at Texas Southern University in Houston, where she helped that Historically Black College and University (HBCU) navigate financial turbulence. Walker also worked as executive vice chancellor for finance and administration and CFO at Houston Community College. Her first vice presidency was at what is now South Florida State College in Avon Park, Florida.
