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ALU M N I Tyrone R. Baines, Ph.D., ’65, has received the Bridge Builders Award from the ZETA RHO FOUNDATION of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity in Los Angeles, Calif. Dr. Baines, a diversity consultant for American Honda Motor Co., Inc., received the award for his support of the Fraternity’s Youth and Outreach Activities. He served as the Director of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s youth and education programs and advises his fraternity on youth programming. Baines is also a philanthropist and advises the fraternity on fundraising opportunities. Reginald Ballard, Jr., ’72 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Education degree from St. Mary’s College of Maryland for his work with the students at Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C. Ballard, a former principal at Cardozo, worked to create and improve college-level courses at the school and has sent more than 20 of his former students to the St. Mary’s College on scholarship, where they graduated from the public honors college. Reginald’s father, Reginald “Kiyi” Ballard, Sr., was a member of the Morgan State University Hall of Fame and Varsity M Club. Reginald Ballard, Jr. is now a part of D.C. School Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s administrative team. Lorenzo L. Esters, Ed.D., ’08, Senior Advisor to the President at Dillard University in New Orleans, has been appointed Vice President of the Office for Access and the Advancement of Public Black Universities. Dr. Esters is President of Morgan State University’s first doctoral alumni chapter, the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program Alumni Chapter. He received his Master of Science degree in Higher Education and his doctorate in Urban Education Leadership from Morgan. Eric Feiss, ’03, has been named an Associate of GWWO Architects, a firm based in Baltimore. Feiss joined GWWO in 2005 and has played key roles in a vari4
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ety of cultural and educational projects. Projects he has worked on include a major expansion and renovation of the Daniel Z. Gibson Performing Arts Center at Washington College, the new Red Pump Elementary School for Harford County Public Schools and conceptual planning for the renovation and expansion of the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University. He earned his Master of Architecture degree at Morgan. Thaddeus Hoffmeister, ’95, has taken a position at the University of Dayton School of Law as an Assistant Professor of Law. Before joining the USDL faculty in 2007, Hoffmeister spent four years as a legislative director, counsel and subcommittee staff director in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was also a clerk for Judge Anne E. Thompson in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and served in the military as a Judge Advocate General in Korea, Japan and Washington, D.C. He is a Major in the Army National Guard. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation has given its highest honor, the Distinguished Career Service Award, to Jacqueline Lawson, ’75. “Since coming to the PBGC more than 30 years ago, Jackie has provided valued service…embodying fairness and efficiency and acting as a successful agent for both traits agency-wide,” reads a statement from the corporation. Lawson leads the development of PBGC’s Corporate Performance Reporting System and is responsible for quarterly performance reporting to the corporation’s leadership and to external stakeholders. Lonnie R. Morris, Jr., ’97, has been appointed Director of Admissions for Bowie State University in Bowie, Md. He previously served as Vice President of Enrollment Management at Holy Names University in Oakland, Calif., as Director of Admissions at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tenn., and as Director of Admissions for Edward Waters College in
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Jacksonville, Fla. The former Morgan marketing major also has a master’s degree in organization development from The Johns Hopkins University. Foster parent Agnes Ogletree, ’83, has founded Help Our Children, a not-for-profit organization based in Wilmington, Del., that offers tutoring and cultural enrichment to grade school children being raised by grandparents, guardians and foster parents. Help Our Children joins the resources of Brandywood Elementary School in Wilmington with the talent and commitment of retired educators and other volunteers, to help Brandywood students improve their reading comprehension, fluency and writing skills. Fifteen of the students celebrated “An Evening of Success” in May. Dr. Allen Anthony Robinson, ’05, has received his D.D.S. degree from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. He is now enrolled in a residency program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Dr. Robinson graduated from Morgan with a degree in biology. Olympic gold medalist Rochelle Stevens, ’88, was featured in an article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal in May. The article covered her career as one of the world’s top ten 400-meter runners, her education at Morgan State University and her new job as a Behavioral Specialist working with disruptive children at Cherokee Elementary School in Memphis, Tenn. Stevens has earned a master’s degree from Columbus University and is working on her doctorate. Baltimore native Carl W. Turnipseed, ’69, Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Felician College in May. “He has devoted his nearly 40year career at the Federal Reserve…to
achieving excellence, promoting continuous learning and encouraging professional growth,” said Felician President Sister Theresa Mary Martin in presenting the award. Turnipseed was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2002. He is a member of the board of the MSU Foundation, a life member of the Morgan State University National Alumni Association, and a member of the 1867 Club. He received his M.B.A. from New York University. Linda J. Washington, ’70, Assistant Secretary for Administration for the U.S. Department of Transportation, received the Vanguard Award from America’s Charities in May. The first-time, special award honored Washington’s work as Local Federal Coordinating Committee chair for the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area. Federal employees in the Washington, D.C., area pledged more than $62.7 million in 2008, making it the largest campaign in the history of the program. MSU honors graduate Channa Williams, ’05, ’09, returned from a three-week stay in Hong Kong, China and Macau in January. She studied Asian financial markets and Asian culture during the trip, which was a course offered by Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business. Williams, who received her M.B.A. from Morgan with honors in May, is a financial business analyst with the CPA and management consulting firm Stout, Causey & Horning, LLC, based in Sparks, Md. Her bachelor’s degree in political science and economics is also from Morgan. Louis “Lolo” Willis, ’81, has been appointed Executive Director of the 28th Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Willis was raised in USVI’s capital, Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Morgan, returned home the same year and joined the USVI’s Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1983. He became director of the Bureau in 2000.