Education

Dr. Avery holds a Ph.D. from the Florence Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, an M.S.W. from the George Williams College of Aurora University, and a B.S. in sociology from North Carolina A&T State University.

Career

Dr. Avery served as Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor at the University of South Carolina Upstate (USC) since 2003. In 2006-07, he served as the institution’s Acting Chancellor while the Chancellor was on sabbatical. Previously, he was Provost at Alma College in Michigan, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Kentucky State University and Founding Dean of the School of Professional Programs at Benedict College in South Carolina. He served on the faculty of the University of Tennessee and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. While holding leading posts at USC Upstate, Dr. Avery served on several boards, including those of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Urban League of the Upstate, and 100 Black Men.

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The 58th mayor of Atlanta, she was the first female to hold the post and became the first black woman to be elected mayor of any major Southern city. Franklin was Atlanta’s fourth black mayor. In July of 2009, Mayor Franklin (along with Frances Townsend and Judge William H. Webster) was appointed to an ad hoc Department of Homeland Security special task force for 60-day review of the Homeland Security Advisory System.

Education

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Franklin received her B.A. in Sociology from Howard University and her M.A., also in Sociology, from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Political Life

Franklin served as the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs under Mayor Maynard Jackson. Subsequently, she was named Chief Administrative Officer and City Manager under Mayor Andrew Young.

Her 2001 run for mayor was her first run for public office. She won, succeeding Mayor Bill Campbell after winning 50 percent of the vote, defeating several candidates including Democrat Rob Pitts (33 percent). Facing a massive and unexpected budget deficit, Franklin slashed the number of government employees and increased taxes to balance the budget as quickly as possible.

Franklin made repairing the Atlanta sewer system a main focus of her office. Prior to Franklin’s term, Atlanta’s combined sewer system violated the federal Clean Water Act and burdened the city government with fines from the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2002, Franklin announced an initiative called “Clean Water Atlanta” to address the problem and begin improving the city’s sewer system.

She has been lauded for efforts to make the City of Atlanta “green.” Under Franklin’s leadership Atlanta has gone from having one of the lowest percentages of LEED certified buildings to one of the highest.

In 2005, TIME Magazine named Franklin of the five best big-city American mayors. In October of that same year, she was included in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Leaders of 2005” issue.

With solid popular support and strong backing from the business sector, Franklin was reelected Atlanta Mayor in 2005, garnering more than 90 percent of the vote. Her popularity has led to increased speculation that she may well be a viable contender for a future Georgia governor’s race.

In February 2006, The White House Project named Shirley Franklin one of its “8 in ’08″, a group of eight female politicians who could possibly run and/or be elected president in 2008. She was the only person the list to not be a governor, senator or presidential cabinet member, and one of two African-American women on the list; the other was United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In 2006, Shirley Franklin led the effort to have the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King given to his alma mater, Morehouse College, instead of being sold at auction:

I never imagined I could contribute to the continuation of Dr. King’s legacy in as a significant way. And I’m really humbled I was able to do anything to continue his legacy. I’m almost moved to tears.

On September 5, 2006, Mayor Franklin, along with a group of representatives from the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, went on a business trip to China to help Delta Air Lines win a direct route to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and lobby officials to open a Chinese consulate in Atlanta.

Franklin is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino. She was 2007/08 President of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.

In 2008, facing a major deficit, Mayor Franklin asked the Atlanta City Council to approve a property tax increase, to avoid public safety cuts. The Atlanta City Council unanimously shot down the measure, which would have caused the average city homeowner to pay an estimated extra $30 in property taxes under Franklin’s plan. As Mayor Franklin warned, without the tax increase, layoffs and pay cuts of Atlanta public safety officials would be imminent.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, in December 2008 Franklin announced that 222 city workers would lose their jobs to help fill a projected $50 million to $60 million budget shortfall. Most remaining city workers, including firefighters, will work fewer hours and suffer a pay cut as part of the budget cuts.

Mayor Shirley Franklin has said that the deficits in the city of Atlanta are not because of excess city spending. In fact, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle city spending actually ran slightly below budgeted amounts through the first quarter of the fiscal year that began in July. According to Mayor Shirley Franklin, city tax collections are down by more than 12 percent because of the economic downturn. However, basic accounting mistakes in the city budget also played a significant role in the budget crisis. An independent audit of the 2002 budget by Ernst & Young reported that Atlanta had some of the worst bookkeeping practices the auditors had ever seen and that many finance department employees were clearly unqualified for their jobs.

Mayor Shirley Franklin has also asked Congress for a “bail-out” of over $30 million for the city of Atlanta.

Franklin, Philadelphia’s Michael Nutter and Phil Gordon of Phoenix lobbied Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a joint letter asking for a share of the proposed $700 billion bailout.

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As a result of her personal adversities, Dr. Carter has a passion for helping people succeed. A strong advocate of higher education, in the midst of her educational trials, Dr. Carter realized that the thesis and the dissertation phase is where fifty percent of students drop-out. In response to this startling statistic, she developed an interactive CD-ROM tutorial product designed to alleviate the high attrition rate among graduate students working on dissertations or theses.

One of five children, this eager young scholar’s parents could not afford to send her to college. Keeping her eyes on the prize, when told something could not be accomplished, Dr. Carter, found the means to succeed despite the obstacles. As a result, Dr. Carter has adopted author Julia Cameron’ s (The Artist’s Way) personal philosophy “Leap and the net will appear,” a motto which served Dr. Carter throughout her educational career.

As a student at the rigorous Boston Latin Academy (formerly Girl’s Latin), Dr. Carter was able to attend one of the country’s most demanding preparatory schools and excel both academically and as a leader. To escape an alcoholic household, she applied to Stanford for her undergraduate program, where she was accepted. She earned both a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford in six years, in addition to becoming a single parent.

After graduation, Dr. Carter went to work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Unchallenged by her work, Carter applied for and was accepted to Carnegie Mellon’s School of Urban and Public Affairs for their Master’s program in Management and Public Policy. Acceptance into the program was a stellar accomplishment, but as a single parent without financial aid the news was bittersweet. In keeping with her motto, she “leapt,” and the funding net appeared with a Patricia Harris Fellowship.

Again getting funding after her admittance to the doctoral program, Dr. Carter was accepted to the nationally-recognized Ph.D. program in sociology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Securing a six-year research assistantship, Dr. Carter honed the skills she now markets to become the first in her group to finish her course-work in the doctoral program. Despite failing her qualifying exams, she succeeded in her second try while suffering from depression and continuing to raise her daughter. Today, her daughter is a senior majoring in Communications at Howard University.

In all, Dr. Carter has identified roadblocks throughout her life, overcome them, and moved forward to advance to new levels of success. As a woman, parent, educator, motivational speaker and business owner, Dr. Carter exemplifies leading by example.

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Few historical researchers could hope to achieve much without the guidance of archivists, and Sara Dunlap Jackson was especially helpful and caring. One of the first African-American professionals hired by the National Archives in Washington, DC, she specialized in western, military, social and African-American topics. During her 46-year career, she came to be called “Archivist Exraordinaire” by her peers, authors and those she mentored.

Hundreds of historians were taken under her wing and she is fondly remembered through the acknowledgments of many publications and in the hearts of many scholars.

Early Life

Dr. Jackson was born in 1919 in Columbia. Orphaned when she was an infant, Sara Dunlap Jackson was adopted and raised by Reverend C. W. Dunlap and his wife, Ella Fair Dunlap.

Education

She graduated from Columbia’s Booker T. Washington High School in 1939, attended Allen University, and then earned her Bachelors Degree in Sociology form Johnson C. Smith University in 1943. She later did graduate work at the American University and The Catholic University of America. A lifetime of research assistance and scholarly pursuit was acknowledged in 1976 when the University of Toledo, Ohio, awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Career

Initially, Dr. Jackson started out as a teacher at Robert Smalls High School in Beaufort, but the meager rewards for African-American teachers in South Carolina at the time compelled her to look for work in Washington, then a mecca for African-Americans seeking employment during World War II. She obtained a clerical position in the War Department in 1943, and joined the National Archives in 1944. In 1968, she transferred to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, which oversees publications of papers of prominent Americans, like Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglas, Emma Goldman, and Thomas Jefferson. Her efforts contributed greatly to many dissertations and historical volumes.

In 1990 the Houston Civil War Round Table awarded her the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit for outstanding contributions to Civil War scholarship. A well-known archivist who she trained said the

“her special kindness bridged what might have been barriers of race, sex, and experience. She was simply eager to welcome another recruit. To her more than to any other individual I owe the discovery of the pleasures of an archival career.”

Other Work

In addition to her duties as an archivist, Dr. Jackson wrote reviews, inventories, and introductions to scholarly works, and presented numerous papers and lectures. Her particular area of interest was the life of Henry O. Flipper, the first African-American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. She served on the executive council of the Southern Historical Association, and was a member of many historical and archival organizations. She also offered her assistance to religious missions and tutorial programs.

Thomas L. Connelly, a famous Southern historian, once said,

“To myself and a lot of slightly older researchers, she became a mother and symbol at the National Archives. Sara trained a lot of researchers, taking them when raw graduate students (such as myself) and watching them with pride through the years as they accomplished something. Always she was what she has been to many other researchers–confidante, guide, friend, mother.”

Sara Dunlap Jackson retired from the National Archives in October 1990, and passed away the following year.

Please read an article about her in this 1989 issue of ‘The African-American and Third World Archivists Roundtable’ (p. 4) along with other interesting historical articles.

See an article on Blackpast.org written by University of Maryland historian Ira Berlin as she recalls the remarkable contribution of Sara Dunlap Jackson.

===

Information courtesy of SC African Americans and BlackPast.

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Dr. James Edward Cheek, president emeritus of Howard University, was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, on December 4, 1932 and has unfortunately passed away recently.  We honor him and his accomplishments with this feature.

Education

Despite suffering from severe cataracts, Cheek was an honor student Washington Street Grammar School. He graduated from Immanuel Lutheran College with a secondary diploma in 1950 and served as a member of the United States Air Force in Korea in 1951, eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and history from Shaw University. In 1955, Cheek received a Master of Divinity from Colgate Rochester University in 1958 and a PhD from Drew University in 1962.

During this period, Cheek was honored with a Colgate Rochester Fellowship, a Rockefeller Doctoral Fellowship and a Lily Foundation Fellowship. He was member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by African Americans.

Career

Dr. Cheek was a professor of New Testament Theology at Virginia Union University when he was named president of Shaw University in 1963, at the age of 30. In 1968, he was appointed president of Howard University.  During Dr. Cheek’s twenty-year tenure at Howard, the student population increased by 3,500 and the number of schools, colleges, research programs, full-time faculty and Ph.D. programs increased dramatically. Howard’s budget increased from $43 million to $417 million as the federal appropriation went from $29 million to $178 million. He was named Washingtonian of the Year in 1980 and in 1983, while still serving as president of Howard, Cheek was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cheek retired from his position as president of Howard University in 1989.

In 1989, Lee Atwater was appointed as a new member of the Historically black Howard University Board of Trustees. Howard U. gained national attention when students rose up in protest against Atwater’s appointment. Student activists disrupted Howard’s 122nd anniversary celebrations, and eventually occupied the university’s Administration building. Within days, Atwater resigned. Dr. Cheek retired in 1989 after 20 years of devoted service to Howard University.  Read more information about this unfortunate but well-known turmoil here.

Awards

The recipient of hundreds of awards and nineteen honorary degrees, Cheek has served as a board member of several colleges and universities including the University of Miami, Drew University, Colgate Rochester University, New York Institute of Technology, Benedict College, Florida Memorial College, Fisk University and Howard University. His presidential appointments include the Board of Foreign Scholarships, National Advisory Council to the Peace Corps, UNESCO, Commission on Selection of White House Fellows, and the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

We send his family condolences from the BSI Family.

A Letter from Dr. Ribeau, Current President of Howard University

Dear Howard University Community:

I am saddened to inform you of the passing of an esteemed member of our family, President Emeritus Dr. James Edward Cheek, who died today in Greensboro, N.C.

For two decades under Dr. Cheek’s leadership (1969-1989), Howard University experienced immense growth and modernization – with our student population increasing and the number of schools, colleges, research programs and faculty expanding. Dr. Cheek’s vision and passion for the University and his view of Howard as a national treasure led to bold action, which eventually resulted in a dramatic boost in our budget with increased federal support. The University built upon its international reputation and its legacy of social justice.

During his tenure as president, in 1983 he was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He served on the boards of several colleges and universities and was the recipient of hundreds of awards and nineteen honorary degrees for his contributions to higher education.

We honor his life and his contributions and we offer our sincere condolences to his wife Celestine, his two children – both Howard alums—James and Janet, and his entire family. His legacy will endure through this institution, as well as through the lives he has touched.

With warmest regards,

Sidney A. Ribeau
President

Travel Arrangements to Dr. Cheek’s funeral (for current members of Howard University community)

January 11, 2010

President Sidney A. Ribeau recognizes the significant contributions of President Emeritus James E. Cheek. To accommodate the interest of those who wish to travel to North Carolina, the Office of the President is sponsoring a bus to transport members of the University community (faculty, staff, retirees, and alumni) to the funeral service scheduled for Thursday, January 14 at noon.

The bus will depart promptly at 5 a.m., Thursday, January 14 from Cramton Auditorium and will return to Washington following the service. Seats for the bus are available on a first-come, first-served basis as the capacity of the bus is limited (maximum 55 passengers). Please R.S.V.P. as soon as possible, but no later than Wednesday, January 13 at noon. Please contact Kim Banks at (202) 806-7194 or email kebanks@howard.edu.

The family has also shared that persons traveling independently and have planned an overnight stay in Greensboro, N.C. can consider booking at the Downtown Marriott where a limited number of rooms are reserved for Howard-affiliated parties.

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Ruth J. Simmons was sworn in as the 18th president of Brown University on July 3, 2001. She also holds an appointment as professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Department of Africana Studies. She was president of Smith College from 1995 until the time of her appointment at Brown.

Education
A native of Texas and a 1967 graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, Simmons received her Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures from Harvard University in 1973. She is fluent in French and has written on the works of David Diop and Aime Cesaire.

Career
In 1983, after serving as associate dean of the graduate school at the University of Southern California, Simmons joined the Princeton University administration. She remained at Princeton for seven years, leaving in 1990 for two years to serve as provost at Spelman College. Returning to Princeton in 1992 as vice provost, she remained at the university until June 30, 1995. As vice provost she was deputy to the provost and executive secretary of the Priorities Committee, the university’s budget committee. In 1993, invited by the president to review the state of race relations on the Princeton campus, Simmons wrote a report that resulted in a number of initiatives that received widespread attention. In 1995 she became president of Smith College, the largest women’s college in the United States, where she launched a number of strategic initiatives to strengthen the college’s academic programs and inaugurated the first engineering program at a U.S. women’s college.

Dr. Ruth Simmons

Simmons is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a current officer and past President of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, an Honorary Fellow at Selwyn College at Cambridge University, and she serves on a number of boards, including the Howard University Board of Trustees, Texas Instruments, and the Goldman Sachs Group. She was recently appointed by President Obama as a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. Active in a wide range of educational, charitable, and civic endeavors, she holds honorary degrees from numerous colleges and universities, including Amherst College, Bard College, Howard University, Dillard University, Princeton University, Lake Forest College, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dartmouth College, Boston University, Northeastern University, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, Mount Holyoke College, Washington University in St. Louis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The George Washington University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Ewha Womens College, University of Southern California, Tougaloo College, Jewish Theological Seminary, University of Toronto, Providence College, University of Vermont, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Union College, and The American College of Greece.

Awards
Simmons is the recipient of a number of prizes and fellowships, including the German DAAD and a Fulbright Fellowship to France. In 1997 she was awarded the Centennial Medal from Harvard University, in 1999 the Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service from Columbia University, and in 2001 the President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund. She has been honored with the 2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal and the 2002 “Drum Major for Justice” education award from Southern Christian Leadership Conference/WOMEN. In 2004 she received the ROBIE Humanitarian Award, given by the Jackie Robinson Foundation; the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal; and the chairman’s award of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She was selected as a Newsweek “person to watch” and as a Ms. Woman of the Year in 2002. In 2001 Time magazine named her America’s best college president. In 2007, she was named one of U. S. News & World Report’s top U.S. leaders and — for the second time — a Glamour magazine Woman of the Year.

Recent Accomplishments
In recent years Simmons, an articulate spokesperson and writer, has written and delivered papers or presentations on a wide array of educational and public policy issues, including institutional governance, foreign language study, diversity, liberal arts, science education, leadership, and women in higher education. Among numerous educational institutions and national forums, she has been a featured speaker at the White House, the World Economic Forum, the National Press Club, the Association of American Universities, and the American Council on Education. In September 2001 ABC News tapped her to serve as a respondent during its live telecast following President Bush’s address to Congress.

During her tenure at Brown University, Simmons has created an ambitious set of initiatives designed to expand and strengthen the faculty; increase financial support and resources for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students; improve facilities; renew a broad commitment to shared governance; and ensure that diversity informs every dimension of the university. These initiatives have led to a major investment of new resources in Brown’s educational mission.

Dr. Ruth Simmons has been featured in Ebony Magazine’s POWER150 (December2009/January2010).

As an academic leader, Simmons believes in the power of education to transform lives. She champions the university as a haven of reasoned debate with the responsibility to challenge students intellectually and prepare them to become informed, conscientious citizens. She has spent her career advocating for a leadership role for higher education in the arena of national and global affairs.

===All information obtained from Dr. Simmons’ bio on Brown University’s website.

UPDATE February 2, 2010: Dr. Simmons is also a Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. – the sorority’s highest honor.

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