Former Miss FAMU Kimberly Brown Selected to Participate in the 2009 Miss Black U.S.A. Pageant

Kimberly Brown, a Florida A&M University graduate and former Miss FAMU 2005-2006, was recently selected as the reigning Miss Black Alabama USA 2009. She will serve in the Miss Black U.S.A. Pageant in August 2009 in Washington, D.C. Competing in this National Pageant will give Kimberly an opportunity to vie for $20,000 in scholarship funds, which would be tremendously helpful toward her quest to enroll in a doctoral program in history in the fall of 2009.

“I’m so thankful to Florida A&M University for providing me with the academic training and unique experiences that have helped to prepare me for life as a young professional,” said Brown.

Brown, 24 and a Montgomery, Ala. native, obtained both her B.S. in public relations and master’s of applied social science in history at FAMU.

Brown’s platform as Miss Black Alabama is “A Map and A Compass: Using History Education as Tools to Guide and Inspire.” Her goal is to promote history education as a vehicle to motivate and move young people in a positive direction. Consequently, she will speak to a group of young teen-age girls as a part of a youth program at the Riley Museum in Tallahassee in December 2009 and make appearances at other youth centered educational programs throughout her reign.

Miss Black U.S.A. is a scholarship-based organization. It is the mission of the Miss Black U.S.A. Pageant to provide educational opportunities to outstanding young women of color and to develop the "whole woman mind, body, and spirit."

FAMU leads America’s Public Universities in Preparing Blacks for Ph.D.s

Florida A&M University has another number one ranking. It tops America’s public higher education institutions in preparing blacks for success in Ph.D. programs.

According to the National Science Foundation’s “Survey of Earned Doctorates,” 27 blacks who received baccalaureates from FAMU earned Ph.D.s in 2006, the largest number from any public college or university in the United States.

Howard University was first overall with 40.

FAMU’s performance stood out within the State University System of Florida. In 2006, Florida State University’s undergraduate program produced 9 blacks who earned Ph.D.s. The University of Miami and University of Florida both had 5.

“FAMU’s ‘Excellence with Caring’ approach is a winning formula,” said President James H. Ammons. “Our faculty and administration are dedicated to the goal of increasing the number of African Americans who earn their Ph.D.s. In addition, our faculty works to equip students with the discipline, knowledge, and research skills they need to become America’s top scholars.”

FAMU’s Graduate Feeder Scholars Program accounts for much of the university’s success. It serves as a pipeline that sends FAMU’s top-performing students on to advanced degree programs at more than 40 research universities. Participating institutions include the University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, and Vanderbilt.

“The success of a university’s graduates is one of the best measures of its academic quality,” said Chanta Haywood, Ph.D. dean of FAMU’s School of Graduate Studies and Research. “This data shows that FAMU’s baccalaureates are regarded highly by Ph.D. program admissions committees across the nation. It also proves that FAMU’s students leave here ready to compete and excel anywhere.”

NSF has tracked earned doctorates since 1966 and its online records extend to 2006. Over those 40 years, FAMU graduated 599 black baccalaureate degree recipients who went on to complete Ph.D.s, the largest all-time number from any public higher education institution. Only Howard (1,285) and Hampton (628) managed to edge out FAMU during that time period.

2006 (USA)
Howard, 40
Spelman, 36
Hampton, 33
Morehouse, 28
Florida A&M University, 27

2006 (Florida)
FAMU, 27
FSU, 9
Miami, 5
UF, 5
FIU, 4

Overall, 1966-2006
Howard, 1,285
Hampton, 628
Florida A&M University, 599
Southern A&M, Baton Rouge, 594
Tuskegee, 564

School of Nursing Students Receive 100 Percent Passage Rate on Examination

Students at Florida A&M University in the School of Nursing received a 100 percent pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), which is used by state, commonwealth and territorial boards of nursing to assist in making licensure decisions.

“I am extremely happy,” said Ruena Norman, interim dean of the School of Nursing. “The results represent the hard work of our students and faculty.”

NCLEX-RN is required for entry into the practice of nursing in the United States and its territories is regulated by the licensing authorities within each jurisdiction. To ensure public protection, each jurisdiction requires a candidate for licensure to pass an examination that measures the competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as a newly licensed, entry-level nurse. The Florida Board of Nursing regulates practice in the State of Florida.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), composed of member boards, provides leadership to advance regulatory excellence for public protection.

“I applaud and commend the outstanding job of our nursing students,” said Cynthia Hughes Harris, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “This accomplishment demonstrates the hard work and the commitment of our faculty and the quality our students.”

FAMU Mourns the Death of Professor Colin Benjamin

Colin O. Benjamin, a professor of engineering management in the Florida A&M University School of Business and Industry, passed away on Saturday, January 3.

“We are absolutely devastated over the loss of our friend and colleague, Colin Benjamin,” said SBI Dean Lydia McKinley-Floyd. “He was one of the most positive, productive and supportive members of the faculty. He will be sorely missed.”

He received his B.Sc in mechanical engineering from the University of the West Indies, an MSc in engineering production and management from the University of Birmingham, UK, an MBA from the Cranfield Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the University of the West Indies. He had more than 20 years of international teaching and industrial and consulting experience. He held academic appointments at the University of Missouri-Rolla in the Department of Engineering Management and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Technology and Policy.

He served as principal/co-principal investigator on several research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF); Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME); and the Small Business Association (SBA). His work had been presented at numerous international conferences and published in leading journals in industrial engineering, engineering management and management science. His research interests focused on the areas of electronic commerce, risk management, quality function deployment, supply chain management, applications software, and technology commercialization.

Benjamin had successfully directed numerous consulting projects in a variety of industrial settings including assignments with several Caribbean companies and U.S. companies such as Philip Morris, American Automobile Association, John Deere, Houston Chronicle, and NASA-Langley Research Center.

He was a member of IEEE; Institute of International Education; American Society for Engineering Education and American Society for Engineering Management.

Reverend Ernest Ferrell to Keynote Martin Luther King Convocation

Reverend Ernest Ferrell will keynote Florida A&M University’s Martin Luther King Convocation scheduled for Thursday, January 15, at 10:10 a.m. in Gaither Gymnasium. The general public is invited to attend.

Ferrell is the president of the Tallahassee Urban League and serves as pastor of Saint Mary Primitive Baptist Church in Tallahassee.

His church leadership began when he was a youth singing in the choir, the Lincoln High School Chorus, and a gospel group named the Walls of Zion. In 1972, he produced a recording album titled “The Ferrells in Concert,” with his brother and sister. The album was waxed in Nashville, Tennessee. From singing, he progressed to the church pulpit as a young gospel preacher. He became an ordained preacher, and in 1969, he was installed as pastor of his first church, Galilee Primitive Baptist Church.

Reverend Ferrell has advanced through the ranks in the Primitive Baptist denomination. He held the positions of assistant secretary, secretary, vice president, and president of the Florida State Primitive Baptist Convention. In the National Primitive Baptist Convention of the United States of America, he held the position of vice president and served a successful three-year term as president. He was re-elected in August 2008 to serve another three-year term as president of the National Primitive Baptist Convention of the United States of America. This convention consists of more than 600,000 members located in 18 states in the United States.

His community leadership began as a volunteer with the Tallahassee Urban League in 1970. Because of his successful level of achievement as a volunteer, the Board of Directors appointed him to the position of acting chief executive officer (CEO) in 1973. Five years later, he was appointed president/CEO and has served with distinction. Through the leadership of Reverend Ferrell at the Tallahassee Urban League, thousands of individuals and families in the Tallahassee and surrounding communities have received many services. These services include housing, crime prevention, youth services, victims’ rights assistance, emergency food and shelter, and many more.

Ferrell has been the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award from FAMU, the City of Tallahassee Reginald L. Rolle Minority Business Leadership Award, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Citizen of the Year Award, and was nominated by the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce for the Distinguished Citizen Service Award. Also, the City of Tallahassee presented him with the Reverend Ernest Ferrell Day Proclamation Award. He received the Florida House of Representatives Leadership Award and many others.

Reverend Ferrell is married to the former Mary E. Richardson.