said. Battle’s mother Rachel not only cared for her three
a senior researcher at the Boston University School of
sons and daughter, but reached out to the children of the
Medicine, he worked to provide support for young fathers in
neighborhood as well: she fed them when they were hun-
urban neighborhoods and then, as professor at the University
gry, and gave them guidance and inspiration when they
of Connecticut’s School of Social Work, he established a
needed it. After a 60-year marriage, both parents
mentoring program for young children in Hartford.
“This have since passed on. But Battle says he will When he moved into administration is an institution never forget the values they instilled in him: as an associate vice president for academthat realizes the hard work, integrity, the importance of ic affairs at Eastern Connecticut State importance of academic University, he continued to work with church and community, and an active excellence and one that fully young men who needed some direction, compassion for those less fortunate. understands the tremendous or a helping hand. Battle and his wife of “I learned that the most important power of education to transform lives.” 34 years, Judith Lynn Rozie-Battle, a family thing is what you do for people and with people,” says Battle, Southern’s new interim president. “That’s why higher education is
— INTERIM PRESIDENT BATTLE
important, because when you’re involved in it you can never really get old. There are always new challenges to face, new students to educate.” Battle’s community commitment started early in his
law attorney, even took in one Eastern student for a year as he struggled to get his life on
track. They helped the young man get a job and eventually gain admittance into a doctoral program. “This is not a game. It’s an opportunity to impact a person and to impact that person’s life,” Battle says. “That’s
career in academia. As an assistant professor in the University
what people did for me and I feel I have a responsibility to
of Minnesota’s School of Social Work, he opened up the first
do the same.”
group home for African American girls in the state. Later, as
continues on page 35
PRESIDENT BATTLE AT A GLANCE Education: Post-Doctoral 2002
Harvard Graduate School of Education Educational Management Institute
Ph.D.
1980
University of Pittsburgh
M.P.H.
1979
University of Pittsburgh
Maternal and Child Health
M.S.W.
1975
University of Connecticut
Casework
B.S.
1973
Springfield College
Sociology
Social Welfare Policy
Career Highlights: 2007-2010
Chancellor and Professor, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
2003-2007
President and Professor, Coppin State University
1998-2001
Sullivan-Spaights Distinguished Professorship, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Schools of Social Welfare and Education
1993-1998
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern Connecticut State University
1987-1993
Professor of Social Work and then Associate Dean for Research and Development, University of Connecticut, School of Social Work
1984-1988
Associate Professor, Boston University Schools of Social Work and Public Health and Medicine; Senior Researcher in Health and Hospitals, Boston City Hospital
Other: Author of 10 books and more than 50 refereed journals. Co-Editor of the Journal of Social Work in Public Health, (Routledge Taylor and Francis Group). Awards include the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Inc. Presidential Leadership Award (2008) and the Maryland Daily Record’s Innovator of the Year Award for the Coppin Academy (2005) Summer 2010 | 5