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Welcome to the Strike Zone President
era of greater accountability and operational efficiency. Readers will also get to know FAMU’s first female Vice President/Athletics Director, Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, who is fulfilling her lifelong dream of leading the Rattlers’ athletic program.
The FAMU National Alumni Association (NAA) has new leadership. This issue introduces readers to the new NAA President Curtis E. Johnson, Jr. The New Faces/ New Places section provides an informative snapshot of key personnel changes and appointments we have made over the past year.
Our new strategic plan, “Boldly Striking,” builds on the accomplishments of the previous five years. Student Success, Academic Excellence, Leverage the Brand, Long-term Health and Fiscal Sustainability, and Organizational Effectiveness and Transformation are the pillars on which our sustained success rests. The strategic priorities and anticipated outcomes encompass our vision of being recognized as a leader within the State University System (SUS) of Florida in performance-based funding outcomes; a Top 100 National Public University; a Top 10 national university in social mobility; a Carnegie Research 1 institution; and a top talent producer in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), health, and business.
The University received $75.5 million in total research and development funds in 2021-2022 and expended $59.3 million. Both are records as we push toward Carnegie R-1 status. The expenditure amount is $10 million more than the previous year, making FAMU No. 1 among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for non-medical schools’ R&D funding, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Equally pleasing is our fundraising outcomes. We are on pace for another record year of corporate and private donations and expect to surpass last year’s $24.3 million total.
To accomplish our ambitious goals, we must have the right talent and leadership in place. This issue of A&M Magazine offers a closer look at our new Chief Operating Officer (COO), Maurice Edington, Ph.D., who was named to the position as part of our administrative restructuring. A first-generation college student, Edington explains how his personal experience shapes his view as an HBCU administrator and how he will help guide FAMU into a new
Among the other highlights, is the Marching “100” Band’s trip to Paris for the Louis Vuitton men’s fashion show in June 2022. Student Government Association Vice President Makira Burns also spent last summer across the Atlantic as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in London. Her remarkable story of activism and service is chronicled on these pages.
All these stories of success and accomplishment are a blueprint of what’s ahead for our esteemed University. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Larry Robinson, Ph.D. PRESIDENT