classnotes
__ Professor Wendell Andrews, (MS.) coordinator of
distance education for the Department of Criminal Justice, July 24, 2013. Professor Andrews received his Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from NCCU in 1996. __ harry groves, dean of the school of Law, Aug. 24, 2013. __ Dr. Cecil L. “Pat” Patterson, former dean of the
Undergraduate School and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs. Article. See story to the right. __ Jurina Vincent-Lee of Durham, a property security officer with the NCCU Police Department, March 30, 2013. __ ’45 Ruby Hayes (B.S.) of Petersburg, Va., July 31, 2013. __ ’46 Arona M. McDougald Parker (BSN) of Durham, July 20, 2013. __ ’50 Douglas C. Howell (B.A.) of Philadelphia, July 25, 2013. __ ’56 Emma E. Isler (B.A.) of Raleigh, June 2, 2013. __ ’58 Chancellor Emeritus Julius L. Chambers (B.A.) of Charlotte, Aug. 2, 2013. Article, Page 20.
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NCCU NOW Fall 2013
Off i c e o f I n s t i t u t i o n a l A d v a n c e m e n t
I in memoriam I __ ’60 Dr. Johnny Baxter Hodge, Jr. (B.A.) of Greensboro, May 5, 2013. __ ’62 Harold Smith (B.A.) of Wheatley Heights, N.Y., July 31, 2013. __ ’63 Maggie Jones Lewis (B.A.) of Bowie, Md., March 12, 2013. __ ’63 Shirley Ann Wilcher (B.S.) of Durham, April 28, 2013. __ ’64 Dr. Alma Chinita Trotter (B.A.) of Chapel Hill, June 23, 2013.
__ ’65, ’75 and ’99 Beverly Ann Smith-Evans (B.A., MLS, and Master of Consumer Science) of Durham, April 22, 2013. __ ’65 James D. Wilson (B.A.) of Takoma Park, Md., March 22, 2013. __ ’66 Elbert S. Hatley (B.A.) of Pittsburgh, Pa., July 26, 2013. __ ’68 Dr. Rosamuel Dawkins Jr. (B.S.) of Charlotte, May 16, 2013. __ ’73 James Payne (B.S.) of Chester, Va.,
__ ’74 Wanda Rose Hamilton (B.A.) of Fort Washington, Md., Feb. 12, 2013. __ ’75 Lewis Locust (BBA) of Durham, July 11, 2013. __ ’75 Thessie Mitchell (BLS) of Durham, May 13, 2013. __ ’79 Anita C. Harris Miller (BSN) of Durham, July 27, 2013. __ ’88 Michael Dwayne Huey (B.S.) of Durham, March 30, 2013. __ ’08 Ernest J. Barnett (B.S.) of Fayetteville, June 27, 2013.
Professor Emeritus Cecil L. Patterson former dean and vice chancellor Dr. Cecil L. “Pat” Patterson passed away on July 2, 2013, at the age of 96. Dr. Patterson, who earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, joined the NCCU faculty in 1950 as assistant professor in the Department of English. He later became associate professor and full professor in the Department of English. He also served as director of the Honors Program, dean of the Undergraduate School (1968-1978) and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs (19781986). Dr. Patterson retired from NCCU in 1986. After his retirement, he was honored by vote of the faculty and the Board of Trustees with the title of Professor Emeritus, and in 1988, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. Among his many honors and achievements, Dr. Patterson was the first African-American officer to be assigned to the position of commandant of a U.S. Army Reserve School. He is survived by his wife, Vivian Rogers Patterson, an NCCU alumna and retired vice president and trust officer of Mechanics & Farmers Bank.
The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation STEM Program by cynthia fobert
h e U nit e d S tat e s n o w trails most of the industrialized nations in the world in the percentage of high-performing mathematics students at the K–12 level. In 2011, Stanford University’s Eric Hanushek and his colleagues found the United States ranked 31st. If North Carolina were a country, it would join the U.S. in that 31st spot. The only countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with smaller percentages of advanced math students than the U.S. were Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Mexico. Even our best education state — Massachusetts — would place just 17th in an international comparison.
The failure to adequately prepare our youth for college-level work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has shifted the burden of math and science enrichment to the post-secondary system at a time when its resources have been cut on an unrelenting, annual basis. To help better prepare NCCU’s students for college-level math and science courses, Institutional Advancement has been working diligently to secure private financial support, and in 2012 found a partner in the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation. The Foundation provided a generous grant of $1.5 million over four years for science and math student scholarships and program enhancements to increase the number of women and minority students who graduate with a STEM degree and pursue STEM careers. Reports from the U.S. Commerce and Labor departments indicate that about half as many women and African-Americans work in STEM fields as should be expected, given their numbers in the workforce. And these are typically higher-paying jobs. In fall 2012, NCCU’s undergraduate student body was 67 percent female and 84 percent African-American. The Foundation came to NCCU to underwrite four
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years of scholarships and faculty support services for 40 STEM majors. “We have a long history of furthering science education,” said Marilyn FooteHudson, executive director of the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation. “We are especially proud that this funding will encourage women and minorities to successfully pursue STEM studies and careers.”
The STEM Program Students in the program are assigned peer, faculty and professional mentors according to their goals and interests. They take part in a learning community — living together in dedicated residential space — and in the summers they are engaged in coursework, cultural enrichment activities, research and professional internships. “One of the greatest challenges and the greatest strengths of this program is that we surround these students with supportive learning opportunities, here on campus and in the scientific community at large,” said Interim Provost Bernice Duffy Johnson, principal investigator and architect of the program. “And Dr. Faye Calhoun is at the heart of it all.” Calhoun is the former deputy director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Bethesda, Md. During her tenure at the NIH, she received awards for her work to increase the number of minority students involved in research. As NCCU’s STEM Program director, Calhoun orchestrates the involvement of residential life, academic advising, and faculty, peer and community mentors. She marshals these human resources in a coordinated effort to provide intensive and intrusive assistance and experiential learning to 20 freshman and 20 sophomore science majors. For four years, the students will begin and end their days at their residence hall where they will live together with peer mentors who offer social, emotional and academic support. These are successful upper-class undergraduate or graduate students like lead mentor audrey barbee. “I’m here to be all ears — to help them if they have problems at home, with their homework, or getting used to college,” said Barbee. “They know they can knock on my Fall 2013 NCCU NOW
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