Alumni on the Move

TNG Consulting LLC has promoted Senior Supervising Consultant Tanyka M. Barber, J.D., ’98, to Partner. With her promotion, Barber becomes TNG’s practice leader for developing products and services for K–12 schools and districts, an expanding market for the company. Barber brought extensive experience in civil rights and equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance in higher education and K–12 settings to TNG when she joined the firm in 2019. Her earlier posts include Director, Diversity and EEO, and Title IX Coordinator at Morgan State University, and EEO Officer for the Baltimore County Public Schools. She began her career with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, where she rose from law clerk to Assistant General Counsel. Barber earned a Bachelor of Science in health education at MSU.

Corporate tax lawyer Sabrina Bradley Conyers, ’99, has joined McGuireWoods’ Tax & Employee Benefits Department as a Partner in the firm’s Charlotte, North Carolina, office. Conyers has more than 17 years of experience advising clients on domestic and international tax matters, including service as lead tax counsel, negotiator and facilitator for transactions valued at more than $2 billion. She came to McGuireWoods from the Charlotte office of Nelson Mullins, where she was a Partner in the tax and benefits practice, and previously was a Senior Manager at a Big Four accounting firm. Conyers has received numerous honors for her work, among them selection as a “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer in 2021, for her role creating a first-of-its-kind community investment fund for Black and Latinx business owners on behalf of Invest Newark in partnership with New Jersey Community Capital. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in communications at Morgan.

Ed Gainey, ’94, has been inaugurated as Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after a resounding victory with more than 70% of the vote in the November 2021 general election. Gainey left his longtime position as State Representative serving Pennsylvania’s 24th Legislative District to become Mayor and is the first African American to hold Pittsburgh’s top post. Gainey’s mayoral campaign promoted his advocacy for good union jobs, affordable housing, genuine public safety and a culture of inclusivity for the people of Pittsburgh. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Morgan.

Randy Griffin, ’96, been appointed Commander in the Technical and Analytical Services Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of the District of Columbia. In his new post, he oversees all information technology services, as well as research and analytical services used to support innovative policing operations and public safety practices. Griffin had served the department as Commander for the Fourth District since March 2018, during which time the district had overall crime decreases for 2019, 2020 and 2021. He began his career with the MPD as a Fourth District patrol officer in 2001, five years after he received his Bachelor of Science in biology from Morgan. Over the course of his career, Cmdr. Griffin has received numerous trainings and certifications and has volunteered in his community as an AAU basketball coach and in other roles.

Alicia B. Harvey-Smith, Ph.D., ’84, President of Pittsburgh Technical College (PTC), has received two recent recognitions for her outstanding work in her profession. The Pittsburgh Technology Council selected Dr. Harvey-Smith as its Tech 50 Outstanding CEO of the Year for 2021, and Smart Business 2021 chose her as a Pittsburgh Smart 50 Award honoree. The Smart 50 Awards recognize top executives in the Greater Pittsburgh region for their ability to build and lead successful organizations. Dr. Harvey-Smith has led PTC since April 2019. A learning-centered educator with 30 years of experience, she came to PTC from Lone Star College in Houston, Texas — one of the largest college systems in the country — where she had served as Executive Vice Chancellor since 2016. At PTC, she supports the institution’s foundational values to provide an immersive, careerfocused education. Dr. Harvey-Smith is the first African American to serve as President of the college. She earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration at Morgan.

The sixth book authored by Morgan graduate and former MSU faculty member Max Hilaire, Ph.D., ’79, has been released by the publisher, Logos Verlag Berlin. In “The Evolution and Transformation of International Law,” Dr. Hilaire encourages a rethinking and reconfiguring of the international legal order to make it more effective in responding to the global challenges of the 21st century. Dr. Hilaire served Morgan as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science for 20 years, until his retirement last September. A two-time

Fulbright Scholar, he has lectured extensively at universities in more than 30 countries in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean under the auspices of the Department of State Speakers Program. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science at Morgan and two master’s degrees and a doctorate in international relations from Columbia University.

Heritage Associates (www.Heritage-Assoc.com), a specialized genealogical and historical research and training firm led by siblings Donna Tyler Hollie, Ph.D., ’63, ’92 and ’00, and Brett M. Tyler, ’69, has been awarded a contract to find living descendants of the victims and perpetrators of the 40 or more lynchings that occurred in Maryland between 1854 and 1933. Funding for their work came from a grant awarded to Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General and the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2020, by the United States Department of Justice’s Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations Program. Donna Hollie earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a Master of Arts in history at Morgan and was the first person to earn a doctorate in history at MSU. Her brother Brett earned a Bachelor of Science in economics at MSU. Financial liberation expert, educator, author and public speaker Kevette Minor Kane, ’00, has been selected as one of SUCCESS Magazine’s TOP 125 Thought Leaders of 2021 and as one of Women of Distinction Magazine’s Top 50 Unstoppable Innovators of 2021. Kane, a graduate of Morgan with a Bachelor of Science in finance, guides women and men on their journey to self-sufficiency by educating them to take back their financial power and supporting them in gaining the confidence to fulfill their purpose in life. Kane is CEO and Founder of MarimorLife Mindset & Money Management, which is a vehicle for her mission to elevate women worldwide to a greater quality of life. She is a monthly contributor to iShine Magazine, writes the #MindfulMoneyMoments Blog at www.marimorlife. com and hosts the #MindfulMoneyMoments Broadcast on YouTube.

Matthew J. Maddox, ’99, has been appointed to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. He will sit in Baltimore, Maryland. Maddox has served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland as an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2015, prosecuting a wide range of criminal cases, and has served as the Office’s Identity Theft Coordinator since 2018 and Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Section since 2020. He received an award from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2017 for Outstanding Contribution to a Law Enforcement Initiative. Maddox graduated summa cum laude from Morgan with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and religious studies and earned his J.D. at Yale Law School.

The United Nations Security Council has, since 1945, formed the core ofaninternationalsecurityregimedevotedtomaintainingor restoring internationalpeaceandsecurity.DuringandsincetheColdWar,theworld hasseenaprogressivereductionininter-statewarfare,anevolutionin whichtheCouncilhasplayeditspart. ButtheCouncilhasalsoseenits shareoffailures,bothindomesticwarsinvolvingnon-stategroups,and inmattersoflegitimacy,seenasitisasavehiclefortheinterestsofthe threewesternpermanentmembers. Neverprovidedwithastandingmilitaryforcetoimplementenforcement actions,theSecurityCouncilinsteaddevelopedaformulafortheuseof international peacekeeping forces; it has often delegated enforcement powerstocoalitionsofstatesortoregionalalliances;and ithasadvanced the use of mechanisms not anticipated by the original framers of the UN Charter, such as international criminal tribunals and post-conflict transitionaladministrations.Increasinglyinvolvedinmatterstraditionally consideredthedomesticpreserveofnationstates,theCouncil’sagenda isevermoredominatedbyissuesrelatedtoeconomicdisparity,internal political repression, corruption, insurgency, and struggles over natural resources. Thisbookexaminestheactions–andsometimesthefailuretoact– ofthe SecurityCounciloverthepastsevendecades. ProfessorMaxHilairehas providedacomprehensiveanalysisoftheroleoftheSecurityCouncilin SecurityCouncilandTransnationalArmedConflicts WagingPeace: TheUnitedNations WagingPeace TheUnitedNationsSecurityCouncil andTransnationalArmedConflicts MaxHilaire transnationalarmedconflictsfromUNandnormativeframeworks. Waging Peace is a valuable addition to the literature of international law and international relations, and of the history of what remains a uniquely idealistic experimentin creatingan institutiontosafeguard peaceand securityglobally. MaxHilaire LogosVerlagBerlin λογος ISBN978-3-8325-4000-5

Educator and activist Emily Moore, ’65, has been inducted into the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Eastern Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2021. Moore, a gifted athlete, came to Morgan from her hometown of Freeport, New York. She was prominent among the student-activists at Morgan during the civil rights era as she earned her Bachelor of Science in physical education. She then joined the Peace Corps, teaching health and physical education in Nigeria for two years, before returning to the U.S. to begin what became a nearly 50-year career as an elementary school teacher in the Roosevelt (New York) School District . In 1975, she founded the Alliance Junior Tennis Development Program, which has introduced the sport to thousands of Long Island children while also guiding the development of their discipline, leadership qualities and citizenship skills.

An article published in the Feb. 24, 2022 online edition of Catholic Review profiled Morgan alumna Sandra Williams Ortega, Ph.D., ’57, the first Black woman to receive an officer’s commission in the U.S. Air Force. Dr. Ortega was pursuing her bachelor’s degree in sociology at Morgan in the early 1950s when President Martin D. Jenkins and other Morgan administrators recommended her for the college’s ROTC program. Commissioned as an Air Force second lieutenant in July 1958, Dr. Ortega went on to earn a master’s degree in counseling and a doctorate

in psychology, and overcame racism as she traveled the world serving in management and executive positions in personnel and administration for the Air Force. She met her husband, Julio, early in their Air Force careers, and the couple had three children. After retiring from the military, Dr. Ortega served in civilian leadership positions and, in 2018, was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.

Rolando Reid, ’16, competed for his home country of Jamaica in the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Beijing, China, as a member of the four-man bobsled team. During his time as a student at Morgan, Reid earned his Bachelor of Science in economics and was prominent on the Men’s Track and Field team, which won the gold medal at the 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships. Reid returned to MSU’s

campus last summer to “train like and sprinter and lift like a thrower” with the Bears track and field team, to prepare for bobsledding at the Olympics, he told the Baltimore Sun. His team was in the media spotlight as Jamaica returned to the Olympic bobsled competition for the first time since 1998.

Rolando Reid, second from left

D’Angela (“Dia”) Simms, ’97, is continuing her rise in the business world. Promoted to President of Sean

(“Diddy”) Combs’ Combs Enterprises five years ago, she is now Chief Executive Officer of the tequila and mezcal company Lobos 1707. Simms spent nearly 15 years working with Combs, in positions of increasing responsibility, before taking her new post. Lobos 1707, based in New York City, has a workforce that is 60% women, but Simms’ hiring as CEO is a rarity in the wine and spirits industry, where only 4% of C-suite positions are held by women, says a profile of Simms published in the Jan. 18, 2022 edition of the Baltimore Sun. Simms earned her Bachelor of Science in psychology from Morgan and worked for the U.S. Department of Defense and in advertising sales before being recruited by Combs.

Brandi Slaughter,

’95, has been elevated on the job and in the community. Last fall, the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) appointed her as Director of the Karabelle Pizzigati Initiative in Advocacy for Children, Youth and Families and Associate Clinical Professor in UMCP’s School of Public Policy. In her new roles, Slaughter trains students to become effective advocates for children, youth and families. Earlier, last June, she joined the Board of Directors of her high school alma mater, the Columbus School for Girls, in Columbus, Ohio, where she is supporting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and an executive search for a new head of the school. This spring, Slaughter will teach a graduate class at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio: “Social Justice in the Law.” Slaughter received a Bachelor of Arts at Morgan as a political science major.

Yvette E. Taylor, ’79, a lawyer in private practice, has been elected to the Board of Supervisors of Upper Makefield Township, in Buck County, Pennsylvania. She is serving a six-year term. The five-member board is the governing body of Upper Makefield. Taylor, a 25-year Bucks County resident, has extensive experience in estate planning, business and insurance law, compliance and risk management and public service, having served as the Inspector of Elections in Upper Makefield District 1. She also serves on the boards of two nonprofit organizations: the David Library of the American Revolution and the Bucks County Estate Planning Council. Taylor earned her bachelor’s degree in political science at Morgan, where she also began her political career in the MSU Student Government and served as the Student Regent in 1978–79. She continued her education at Villanova Law School, where she graduated in 1982.

Calvin Thomas II, ’14, has launched an enterprise named Dolphin University, which provides swim lessons emphasizing water safety and social development at locations in Atlanta; Baltimore; Bowie, Maryland; Los Angeles; and Prince George’s County, Maryland. Dolphin’s classes are geared toward African Americans, who historically have had little access to swimming, Thomas says. Not an actual university, the business employs an academic model, with midterm exams and graduation of participants from one level to the next. More than 1,200 children have enrolled for Dolphin’s classes, and the swimmers range in age from 6 months to teen, Thomas reports. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology at Morgan.

Scientist and inventor Valerie L. Thomas, ’64, has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation. Thomas, who was honored for her achievements in science, was among the 14 honorees in the 2021 cohort. Thomas earned her Bachelor of Science at Morgan, where she was one of only two women in her class who majored in physics. After graduation, she took a job at NASA as a mathematical/data analyst. Her talent eventually moved her up the ranks of the space agency, and she is now best known for receiving a patent for her illusion transmitter, a device she invented to use in her work managing the development of the image-processing system for the “Landsat” satellite. The technology is still used today to send images from space to Earth.

Educator, athlete and entrepreneur Rashad Vance, Ed.D., ’17, is now an author of a published book. “Goal Setter: How to Win at College” seeks to inspire readers with his story of personal achievement through discipline, hard work and a focus on worthy goals. Born and raised in Baltimore City, Dr. Vance overcame dyslexia and other challenges to become a scholar-athlete, wrestling in an NCAA Division I program while earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He then went on to earn a master’s degree in sports administration and came to Morgan, where he obtained a doctorate in urban education. Dr. Vance is now an educator for the Baltimore City Public Schools, specializing in physical education curriculum and course development, and teaches mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling and fitness classes for the Baltimore City Division of Recreation and Parks. His business ventures include ownership of Goal Setter mobile gym and Goal Setter athletic clothing line. Dr. Vance is a mixed martial arts North American Champion.