AAMU Ranks 10th in producing African American engineers

(AAMU Release) Huntsville, Ala. ---- Diverse Issues in Higher Education has published its annual “Top 100 Degree Producers” list for 2008 (June 12 edition), and Alabama A&M University appears on the list several times.

The magazine records those institutions most successful in the matriculation of African American students at the baccalaureate level from a pool of more than 2,200 institutions, including several proprietary (for-profit) schools.
AAMU ranked 46th, or in the top two percent, of institutions nationwide in the awarding of bachelor’s degrees to African American students by graduating 506 students in the 2006-07 academic year. The top three spots were dominated by three much larger historically black colleges (HBCUs)—Florida A&M, North Carolina A&T and Howard—that recorded more than 1,100 African American graduates each. Hampton University, with 849 graduates, held the banner for private HBCUs.

In the awarding of biological and biomedical sciences degrees to African American students, AAMU ranked 13th nationally with its 48 students. However, small, private Xavier topped the list with 126 graduates during the 2006-07 year, significantly outperforming the mammoth Howard, which reported 90 students. Even cross-town sister institution, Oakwood University, which reported 44 biological-biomedical graduates, achieved a ranking of 18th.

Although Alabama A&M University ranks 34th in the production of African American computer science graduates (22 graduates in 2006-07), that number was 33 percent less than the previous year’s number. Sister HBCU Alabama State University achieved a ranking of 8th place in the nation (61 graduates) in this category. However, had it not been for the listing (first through seventh place) of proprietary schools, Alabama State would have the distinction as the nation’s top producer of black computer science graduates.

AAMU is 15th in the nation in the production of African American graduates who received degrees in the field of education. It awarded 55 such degrees for the reporting period, which was a drop of 40 percent from the 2005-06 academic year. However, such losses in the number of education graduates were common throughout the list’s Top 50, including a 44 percent drop reported by Florida Memorial and a 31 percent drop recorded by Temple.

Perhaps the jewel in the magazine’s reporting on the baccalaureate degrees received by African American students for the previous academic year was AAMU’s 10th place national ranking for the production of African American engineers, edging Tuskegee out of the Top 10.

AAMU alumnus William E. Cox is president of Cox, Matthews and Associates, the publisher of the bi-weekly magazine, which has become one of the most respected publications in the higher education community. A similar listing for graduate schools will be published in the upcoming weeks. For more information, visit www.diverseeducation.com.

Judge will Rule if Gov. Bob Riley's Illegal Republican Tactics will hold

Judge to rule on A&M's re-appointed trustees
Lawsuit filed to keep the Senate reject appointees from illegally serving.

MONTGOMERY - A judge will decide Thursday whether four people reappointed to the Alabama A&M board of trustees by Gov. Bob Riley can participate in board meeting on Friday.
Circuit Judge William Shashy has scheduled a hearing in Montgomery at 9 a.m. to hear a request for a temporary restraining order that would block the four from taking part in the meeting.

The lawsuit, filed by a former A&M trustee, also seeks a permanent injunction that would keep Riley's four reappointments from serving in the future.

Unless the judge blocks the appointments, the suit said Riley's "reappointments would strip the (Alabama) Senate of its veto power over the governor's appointments. " Jeff Emerson, Riley's chief spokesman, said the governor's office had not had an opportunity to fully review the suit. But he added, "We're confident the governor's appointments are 100 percent legal."

The request for the order was filed Tuesday by Montgomery attorney William Massey, a former A&M board member, on behalf of Robert T. Hughes of Florence, a former A&M trustee, and David Marzette of Birmingham, the financial secretary of A&M's National Alumni Association.

Defendants in the case include the four trustees, David Slyman Jr. of Huntsville; Leroy C. Richie of Birmingham, Mich.; Mayor Edward E. May of Bessemer; the Rev. Willie Clyde McNeil of Chatom; and Riley.

The governor on June 9 reappointed the four men after the Senate Confirmations Committee during the regular legislative session in early May voted 8-0 to reject their nominations.

Massey said he based his suit on state law and a 1991 attorney general's opinion covering a similar situation at Alabama State University.

"The essence of it is that once a nominee is rejected by the Senate, they cannot be reappointed as a trustee in a subsequent session," he said.

Massey was appointed to a six-year term on the board by former Gov. Fob James in the 1980s, and later was appointed by the late Gov. George C.

Wallace to an unexpired term in the 1990s. He said he served about four years before resigning.

SOURCE: Writeen by By BOB Lowry,submitted to A&MFamily List by Alumni Association President.

Study findings from Alabama A&M University broaden understanding of crystallography

Alabama A&M Univeristy is one of the leading research institutions in crystal growth. Below are published findings reported in the June 2008 edition of Vertical News:

2008 JUN 23 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to recent research from the United States, "Cesium cerium bromide (CS2CeBr5) and potassium cerium bromide (K2CeBr5) are new scintillator materials for X-ray and gamma ray detector applications. Recently, halide scintillator materials such as Ce-doped lanthanum bromide have been proved to be very important materials for the same purpose."

"These materials are highly hygroscopic; a search for high-light-yield non-hygroscopic materials was highly desirable to advance the scintillator technology. In this paper, we are reporting the crystal growth of novel scintillator materials, CS2CeBr5 and K2CeBr5. Crystals were successfully grown from the melt using the vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger technique. In comparison with the high-performance LaBr3 or LaCl3 crystals, cerium-based alkali halide crystals, CS2CeBr5 and K2CeBr5, have similar scintillation properties, while being much less hygroscopic. Furthermore, cesium-based compounds will not suffer from the self-activity present in potassium and lanthanum compounds. However, the CS2CeBr5 crystals did not grow properly probably due to non-congruent melting or some phase transition during cooling," wrote R. Hawramia and colleagues, Alabama A&M University.

The researchers concluded: "Published by Elsevier B.V."

Hawramia and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Crystal Growth (New scintillator materials (K2CeBr5 and CS2CeBr5). Journal of Crystal Growth, 2008;310(7-9 Sp. Is):2099-2102).

For additional information, contact R. Hawramia, Alabama A&M University, Dept. of Physics, Normal, AL 35762, USA.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Crystal Growth is: Elsevier Science BV, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands.


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Source: This article was prepared by VerticalNews Electronics editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2008, VerticalNews Electronics via VerticalNews.com.

NBC's 'Today'throwing weddinggiveaway June 11

After a long distance courtship and an Egyptian proposal in front of the Sphinx, Alabama A&M graduate LaDonna Bradford decided to take her engagement one step further. Why not get married on national television and let America plan her wedding?

So Bradford and her fiance, Darnell Suggs, applied for NBC's "Today" show's "Today Throws a Wedding" giveaway. They are now one of the final two couples in line for the honor.

The giveaway, in its ninth year, offers viewers the chance to vote online and via text message each week for the couple they want to win.

Bradford and Suggs have made it to the finals. "We decided to try," she said. "They were going to give it to someone, so it might as well be us."

The winner will be announced Wednesday during the show. All voting will end Monday at 11 a.m. CST.

Bradford graduated from Alabama A&M with honors in 2006 with a degree in electrical engineering. A native of Tuskegee, she attended A&M on a full academic scholarship. The couple, who met at job fair in Boston in 2005, live in Atlanta.

The first year of their relationship was long distance while they both finished college in separate states. For her birthday in January, Suggs took Bradford to Egypt. He surprised her with a proposal next to the Sphinx. In April, they found out they were finalists for "Today Throws a Wedding."

Each year, the "Today" show offers couples across the country a chance to apply for the wedding giveaway by sending video entries and applications. As NBC narrowed the field, Bradford and Suggs were named one of five couples to compete this year.

Bradford said she watches the "Today" show every morning and had just been complaining to family about how expensive a wedding is. "We originally decided to plan it for next April so we could save up," she said.

Once the top five couples were notified, NBC sent out camera crews to film a "meet the couples" interview for the show. Those segments aired on "Today" May 14. This year's theme for "Today Throws a Wedding" was "Race to the Altar."

Each Wednesday afterward, the couples competed in a race. Each race was a different game, including a treasure hunt, a design project, a bake sale and a name-that-price game. The winning couple from each race got to choose one aspect of the wedding's details.

The first race was to choose the theme of the wedding, which is East meets West. The second race was to decide the cake's style. The winning couple chose mini three-tier cakes for the guests and a large, matching cake for the bride and groom.

The winners of the third race chose the party favors for the guests. The favors chosen were Kodak digital cameras. The fourth race, which Bradford and Suggs won, was a game to guess the price of different wedding gifts closest to the dollar amount without going over. For winning, the couple was able to keep all the gifts.

After the winner is announced on June 11, viewers will choose from a group of rings, honeymoon trips and wedding attire, including bridal gown choices, for the June 25 wedding at Rockefeller Center.

Bradford said she doesn't mind the viewers choosing those details. "I'm an indecisive bride," she said. "Just tell me where to show up."
She said she trusts NBC to pick out the tuxedos, dresses and rings the viewers will vote on.

Each week, Bradford and Suggs flew to New York City on Tuesday evening, taped the show Wednesday morning, and flew back to Atlanta Wednesday afternoon.

"It's truly amazing," she said. "All this time, it seemed like a regular relationship. Now it's a regular fairy tale."

By VICTORIA CUMBOWTimes Staff Writer victoria.cumbow@ htimes.com

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Source: [aamufamily]yahoo group, submitted by A&M Alumni President, Lee Harris - written by huntsville times writer Victoria Cumbow, which was published on the "Everything Alabama" blog, AL.com.

Dr. Chandra Reddy the Prestigious 2007 George Washington Carver Agricultural Excellence Award

Huntsville, Ala. ---- Dr. Chandra Reddy, professor and former dean of Alabama A&M University’s School of Graduate Studies, has been selected by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to receive the prestigious 2007 George Washington Carver Agricultural Excellence Award.

The award annually honors a scientist/scholar who has had significant impact on International Agriculture. Calvina Dupre, USAID program manager, said Reddy received the award because a technical review panel recognized his significant contributions to improving the lives of people in Africa through sustainable agriculture.

Reddy will receive the award medallion from USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore during the White House Initiated National HBCU Week Annual Conference. AAMU will also receive a plaque as the host university of Dr. Reddy’s international development work in the 1980s.

Dr. Reddy was nominated for this award by Dr. James Lowenberg DeBoer, associate dean and director of international programs in agriculture at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. DeBoer called Reddy a pioneer in intercropping systems research in West Africa, where the former developed an improved millet-cowpea intercropping technology that is now known across the Sahel from Chad to Senegal.

His 50-page handbook on “The Strategies for Rainfed Millet and Cowpea Production in Niger” was pioneering and revolutionary in nature and is still widely used. In this publication, Dr. Reddy introduced for the first time, the concept of decision trees that provided flexible production practices as a function of agro-climatic and economic situations.

Reddy also contributed to building agronomic research and extension capacities in the Niger National Agricultural Research Institute (INRAN). He identified promising Nigerian agronomists for long and short term training in the U.S., mentored many of these young scientists upon their return and was the role model for rigorous and relevant agronomic research. He also coordinated the multidisciplinary farming systems research in Niger and brought together many specialists to work on national priorities.

In recognition of his contributions to agricultural development in Africa, the Ministry of Agriculture, Niger, honored him with a Meritorious Service Award. In appreciation of his international and domestic efforts in sustainable agriculture, the American Society of Agronomy in 2006 honored Dr. Reddy with the prestigious Agronomy Fellow award, the highest awards of the society.

As reported by Jerome St. John a year

Alabama A&M University Provost Dr. Beverly Edmond will be named interim President

Alabama A&M University Provost Dr. Beverly Edmond will be named interim president. Her appointment came during a debacle at trustees meeting in which the two leading candidates for the post withdrew and where Gov. Bob Riley's newest appointment to the board -- Leroy Richie of Detroit -- was introduced.

Prior to her interm appointment as President of the University, Dr. Beverly C. Edmond was appointed to the position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University on July 1, 2006. In this position she is responsible for providing leadership to the University's Academic and Instructional Support Programs. As Provost she serves as second in command to the President and acts in his absence and on his behalf. Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Edmond served as Vice Provost at Clark Atlanta University (CAU) in Atlanta, GA. She assumed this position in January 2004 after having served as Associate Provost since 2000. In her position as Vice Provost, Dr. Edmond was responsible for assisting in the overall management of the University's academic programs. She had specific responsibility for providing leadership for the Academic Program Review and Academic Strategic Planning Processes, faculty development and evaluation, student retention, integration of technology into the instructional program, and resolving academic grievances and appeals among other things. Dr. Edmond also served as Director of the University's $6.2 million dollar Title III Program. She held a tenured Associate Professor position in the Public Administration Department at CAU, and she served as Chair of that Department for seven years.

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Edmond received a B.A. in Sociology from Albany State College (now University), a Master of Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Political Science, with a concentration in Public Administration from Georgia State University.
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See Office of Provost & Academic Affairs for further information on Dr. Edmonds

Black colleges seeking more financial support from alumni

Alabama A&M University is a victim of its incompetent board of trustees. The board clearly has no understanding of the needs of the HBCU. The president, Dr. Jennings met the plan targets, by investing in campus improvements, degreed program improvement standards, alumni outreach, and corporate partnerships. The investments will attract more students, alumni support, and institutional dollars. However, it requires a president that understands the dynamic of fundraising, like Dr. Jennings. Unfortunately, the board of trustees dismissed Dr. Jennings before the end of the school year for an irrelevant reason. HBCUs need institutional fund raisers like Dr. Jennings. Due to the incompetence and small mindedness of the board of trustees, they are incapable of understanding that they have severely compromised the university.

The AP article below regarding the financial needs of HBCUs, discusses the industry standard for College fundraising. Dr. Jennings plan coincided with the industry standards. It's an interesting read.


ETTRICK, Va. - Making money, administrators at Virginia State University have learned, takes money.

The majority black school has spent millions of state dollars renovating buildings, partly to heighten school pride among alumni they hope will respond by opening their own wallets.

It's working: Alumni support has risen from 7 percent five years ago to 10 percent, and individual gifts have increased from hundreds of dollars to thousands, development vice president Robert Turner said as he showed off libraries and academic buildings recently.

"This" — Turner said, surveying the hilltop campus — "obviously converts to good will."

As state and private funds shrink, historically black colleges are refreshing outdated efforts to solicit former students, by adding specialized staff, crafting personalized "asks," improving campuses and increasingly using Internet outreach.

They're targeting a wider base — more blacks are graduating — and younger alumni who've moved into a broader range of careers.

At VSU, efforts as subtle as adding a donor recognition dinner have heartened alumni like Anthony Spence.

"If I'm going to give my money to a university, I want to be sure that it's used for the very best," said Spence, 41, a Miramar, Fla., entrepreneur who's given about $60,000.

Administrators plan computer network upgrades devoted to online giving at Atlanta's prestigious Morehouse College, where alumni contributions dipped from about $3.1 million in 2006 to $1.3 million last year.

Wiley College in east Texas will use a nearly $840,000 grant from the United Negro College Fund to help scout 200 major gift prospects a year, create new online giving opportunities and beef up staff.

Wiley, featured in Denzel Washington's 2007 film "The Great Debaters," has nine staffers focused on institutional advancement.

"At some of the larger, predominant institutions, they may have an advancement staff of say 20, 30, 50 people," said Karen Helton, vice president for institutional advancement. "That's how the Harvards and the Stanfords and the UCLAs generate billions."

Such measures are commonplace at some mainstream institutions. But they represent a major investment for the nation's more than 100 historically black colleges and universities, whose resources often are stretched.

The fundraising push by these schools foreshadows an expected slowdown in levels of state higher education funding, at the same time that predominantly white universities are pushing harder to attract high-achieving black students.

"There is an urgency about this as we look at our network of institutions and look at trying to sustain them," said Elfred Pinkard, executive director of the Institute for Capacity Building, part of the United Negro College Fund that represents 39 private historically black schools.

Since 2006, the institute has granted more than $8.1 million to 29 member schools for projects that include increasing alumni support.

"There was a recognition that alum of these institutions represented a very important constituency that had not been tapped in any systematic way," Pinkard said.

The colleges, founded to serve blacks during segregation, have kept tuition low to help underprivileged students. That leaves little extra cash for things like fundraising, said University of Pennsylvania assistant professor Marybeth Gasman, author of "Supporting Alma Mater: Successful Strategies for Securing Funds from Black College Alumni."

They also have historically been reluctant to ask former students, already paying off loans, to give more money. At the same time, black alumni haven't always had the income of graduates from predominantly white schools, Gasman said.

"Their alumni have had more access to income, to assets, and thus could give back," Gasman said, adding that blacks also tend to give more to churches.

But at Norfolk State University, alumni giving has grown from 2 percent to 8.2 percent since 2000, nudged, officials say, by graduates who are more moneyed at younger ages.

"As we get some of the majors that we have now, for example the optical engineering, there are individuals leaving college with decent salaries," said Phillip Adams, interim vice president for university advancement.

And there are potentially more of them: 142,420 bachelor's degrees were conferred to blacks in 2005-2006, up from fewer than 92,000 a decade earlier, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

But among black colleges' top resources, say some, is alumni loyalty.

"Many of our alum respond to our institutions as providing an opportunity when many other institutions would not have. So they give back," Pinkard said.