Alabama A&M University
“Service Is Sovereignty”
There are numerous reasons people from around the world have found the Alabama A&M University (AAMU) experience fulfilling and exhilarating.
One, AAMU is a dynamic and progressive, 137-year-old land-grant institution with a strong commitment to academic excellence, quality research and service.
This requires that its students, faculty, staff and closely affiliated parties remain constant in the search for new ideas and ways to improve their communities and world. With more than 5,000 students, AAMU is the state, regional, national and international resource that has made a significant impact on the lives of people the world over.
The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far ...
AAMU did not come by its sought-after curriculum, culture and scholarly reputation on its own. The picturesque, hillside campus is located less than five miles from downtown Huntsville. The vibrancy of “The Rocket City” has contributed much to AAMU’s success over the years and AAMU has continually returned the favor. For instance, its numerous undergraduate and graduate degree programs—including four doctoral (Ph.D.) degree programs in Food Science, Physics, Plant and Soil Science, and Reading/Literacy—provide the Huntsville with many of the tools it needs to sustain its unprecedented growth.
Traditional and Futuristic
The University definitely progresses with the times, with cutting edge programs and boastful research in agriculture, engineering and physics, to name a few. Yet, AAMU holds fast to its traditional core of liberal arts, education and student volunteerism.
Fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as other specialty, regional and national accrediting bodies, AAMU’s academic programs have been recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and the Washington Monthly. Each year, several students achieve regional and national honors in their respective disciplines.
Among the newer traditions is the annual Nobel laureate public lecture and the Louis Crews Classic. The University also continues to host numerous professional associations and organizations throughout the year. For instance, the campus hosted the White House Initiative’s technical assistance conference for the nation’s historically black universities and other important events listed in the “Points of Pride”.
Moreover, in the longstanding athletics tradition, the AAMU Bulldogs compete in 17 Division I NCAA sports and are a formidable presence in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Student athletes firmly establish themselves as scholars first. For instance, Whiquitta Tobar, a guard on the Lady Bulldog basketball squad not only participated in a summer program sponsored by the New York University School of Law, but she also took part in a Fulbright-Hays study abroad program in Tanzania.
There is so much more ... so much more. Read the following and continue the discovery at www.aamu.edu.
137 Points of Pride
ECONOMIC IMPACT
1. AAMU is among the Top 20 largest employers in the region
2. Through its 5,000 students and 1,100 employees, AAMU has a $650 million economic impact on the region.
3. In 2011, AAMU launched a new century of football and secured it with the 2nd annual Louis Crews Classic.
4. A&M provides a quality and cost-effective education for the citizens of Alabama; more than 70 percent of its students are Alabama residents.
5. AAMU has awarded more than 5,000 degrees in the past five years.
INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND STATE DISTINCTIONS
6. Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
7. Fredrick Law Olmstead, Sr., designer of New York’s Central Park was commissioned by the State of Alabama to layout the Alabama A&M University campus in 1928.
8. AAMU is the only 1890 university with three PhD programs in STEM areas. The fourth Ph.D. (and state’s sole) program focuses on Reading/Literacy.
9. The Department of Food and Animal Sciences offers the only Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) certified food science program at a historically black college or university in the U.S. The Food and Animal Sciences Department is one of two and the oldest Ph.D. food science program among HBCUs in the U.S.
10. In the 2012 U.S. News and World Report rankings, among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), state-supported Alabama A&M University has climbed from last year’s 28th place listing to No. 18.
11. AAMU is 2nd in the nation in the awarding of undergraduate degrees in natural resources and conservation to African Americans (DIVERSE, 2011).
12. AAMU ranks 2nd in the nation in awarding undergraduate degrees in communications technologies/technicians (DIVERSE, 2011).
13. AAMU ranks 4th in the nation in awarding undergraduate degrees to minorities in the agriculture-related areas (DIVERSE, 2011).
14. AAMU ranks 20th in the nation in awarding undergraduate degrees to African Americans in mathematics and statistics, and 23rd in similar degrees to students in marketing.
15. AAMU ranks 8th in the nation in awarding undergraduate degrees to African Americans in education (DIVERSE, 2011).
16. AAMU is 8th largest producer of undergraduate degrees to minorities in engineering (DIVERSE, 2011)
17. AAMU ranks 15th in the nation in awarding baccalaureate degrees to African Americans in engineering technology and related fields.
18. AAMU ranks 6th in the nation in awarding master's degrees to African Americans in the fields of both biological/biomedical sciences and physical sciences.
19. AAMU contributes directly to the defense of the country and has commissioned 978 officers through its ROTC program since the program's inception.
20. AAMU President Andrew Hugine, Jr., hosted a luncheon to honor Ato Fuad Ibrahim, the State Minister of General Education for the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Hugine, deans and other University officials met with Canadian Consul General Stephen Brereton in September 2011 to promote business and other opportunities throughout Canada.
21. The engineering facility is named for Arthur J. Bond, former dean and founder of the National Society of Black Engineers.
22. Alabama A&M University’s forestry program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters and the only such program at an HBCU.
23. AAMU offers a certification program in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
24. AAMU boasts the only certified (Planning Accreditation Board - PAB) undergraduate Community Planning program in Alabama. It is also the only HBCU in the U.S. with both the master’s and undergraduate programs accredited by PAB.
25. AAMU received the campus pride grant of $25,000 in the Home Depot Retool Your School campaign in 2012, garnering over 220,000 votes.
26. The College of Education, Humanities and Behavioral Sciences has the only e-tutorial in teacher education in the state of Alabama.
27. The teacher education programs in the College of Education, Humanities and Behavioral Sciences are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
28. AAMU boasts the only MSW degree in social work in the region and one of only two in the state.
29. The social work programs, undergraduate and graduate, are accredited by the Council of Social Work Education.
30. The rehabilitation program is accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education.
31. The Master of Science degree in speech-language pathology at AAMU is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
32. The Family and Consumer Sciences program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Family and Consumer Sciences.
33. The Nutrition and Hospitality program is accredited by the Commission of Accreditation for Dietetics Education.
34. The College of Engineering, Technology and Physical Sciences provides fabrication facilities for its undergraduate students. This is unique to schools in the region.
35. The programs in Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Technology, and Mechanical Engineering and Technology are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Also, AAMU has the oldest Computer Science program in the state.
36. A cadre of state legislators, along with members of the North Alabama delegation visited the AAMU campus to gain a more distinct perspective of the institution’s offerings to the State of Alabama. The team included Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard and State Senator Majority Leader J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner, who vowed to become a cheerleader for AAMU.
37. AAMU researchers are using book sense, conceptual modeling and innovation to come up with improvements aimed at better nuclear detection for homeland security uses. A $360,000 grant from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has helped Dr. Stephen Egarievwe and colleagues extend and secure additional research support ($2 million) from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security.
38. AAMU has hosted a Nobel Laureate for 14 consecutive years, the only institution in the country to have such a distinction.
39. AAMU researchers lured scientists from around the world to an important four-day conference on medicinal plants. AAMU hosted in 2011 the 2nd Annual Conference of the American Council for Medicinally Active Plants (ACMAP). Over 100 internationally noted scientists and other individuals involved in all aspects of medicinal plants attended the event. That number included individuals involved in the production, marketing and research of medicinal plants, as well.
40. Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University Historic District, also known as Normal Hill College Historic District, has 28 buildings and 4 structures, listed in the United States Register of Historic Places.
ACADEMICS/FACULTY
41. State officials and Alabama A&M University professors joined forces to host a community environmental workshop on “Citizen Empowerment for the Environment.”
42. Environmental scientist William E. Stone and a team of surveyors were the first to discover the presence in Alabama of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a deadly disease that afflicts bats. According to Stone, bats prey on insects that would otherwise cost the U.S. agricultural industry an estimated $3 billion each year.
43. College of Business and Public Affairs Professor Horace W. Rice has authored over 35 publications and is a certified arbitrator who has resolved numerous business and labor disputes.
44. Soil scientist Robert W. Taylor was selected as a Fellow and completed the coveted Food Systems Leadership Institute.
45. AAMU soil chemists were featured on the cover of the March-April 2011 edition of the premier Soil Science Society of America Journal.
46. The new $350,000, three-in-one equipment is housed in a nearly half-million dollar device characterization laboratory built from scratch by Dr. Mohammad Alim. The JEOL JSM-6610LV equipment functions as a scanning electron microscope (SEM); an Oxford-produced energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS); and a nanometer pattern generation system (NPGS) by the Nabity Company.
47. Dr. Susan Brown, professor in the Department of Visual, Performing and Communication Arts, was elected to a three-year term as a director with the National Education Association (NEA). In the coveted position, Brown works with the NEA, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and the administration of President Barack Obama.
48. Dr. Harriet Hamilton, associate professor of health and human performance, received the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS) 2012 Dr. Nell C. Jackson Award. NAGWS is an affiliate organization of the American Alliance for Health and Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD).
49. Dr. Remesh Kantety, associate professor of plant and soil science, has used the NSF-funded Plant Genome Project, the only such project in the nation headed by an HBCU, to investigate the deposition of 250,000 genome sequences.
50. Master pianist and associate professor of music, Mira Kruja authored a book approved for addition on the approved list of the National Federation of Music Clubs.
51. Dr. Duncan M. Chembezi, associate professor of agribusiness was elected to head the Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
52. Dr. Chris Enyinda has been re-elected for a second three-year term as the President of the International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD), a more than 700-member academic body of scholars focused on the development of the African continent.
53. Physicist Padmaja Guggilla authored a chapter in the 404-page, 15-chapter book on “Nanocomposites and Polymers with Analytical Methods,” which has attracted brilliant researchers internationally.
54. Alabama's only certified orofacial myologist has published an important new work in the field of speech and language pathology (SLP). Dr. Hope C. Reed, associate professor of communicative sciences and disorders in the College of Education, Humanities and Behavioral Sciences at Alabama A&M University, is the author of 157-page "The Source for Counseling for SLPs."
55. College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences faculty addressed a group of landowners in the Black Belt on the feasibility of goat production.
56. Dr. Martha Verghese, professor and interim chairperson in the Department of Food and Animal Sciences, received an outstanding service award for her services as chair of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), South East Section, in Atlanta, Ga., during the annual meeting. Verghese focuses her research on phytochemicals and bioactive compounds in foods in the prevention of chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and others.
57. Physicists Mohan Aggarwal and A.K. Batra contributed to the “Springer Handbook of Crystal Growth,” an important international reference publication on the subject.
58. Dr. Horace Carney of AAMU’s music program was one of three outstanding musicians honored at the Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir Scholarship Banquet in Birmingham, Ala., in November 2011.
59. Social work professor Valerie McDuffie was selected as “Social Work Educator of the Year” by the Alabama-Mississippi Social Work Educators Conference.
60. Associate Professor of Health Lynne Edmondson published an article in “The Health Educator,” a professional journal of Eta Sigma Gamma, a professional organization committed to advancing health education.
ALUMNI
61. AAMU produces leaders for higher education. Two A&M alumni, Dr. Carl Harris Marbury and Dr. Jack Thomas, former English major and AAMU track star, served as presidents of Alabama A&M University and Western Illinois University, respectively. Dr. Nathan Essex serves as president of Southwest Tennessee Community College.
62. AAMU produces governmental leaders, Kenneth Gulley, Mayor of Bessemer, Alabama and former Mayor Edward May; Senator Linda Coleman and Representatives Laura Hall and Mary Moore of the Alabama Legislature; Chris Carter and Don Calloway of the Missouri House of Representatives; and James Perkins, former Mayor in Selma, Alabama.
63. AAMU produces leaders in public education, among them current and former superintendents of schools: Eugene White, Indianapolis Public Schools; Barry Carroll, Limestone County Schools; Arlester McBride, Wilcox County Schools; Dee O. Fowler, Madison County Schools; Fred Primm, Jr., Bessemer City Schools; Woodie Pugh, Clarke County Schools; and Elam Ray Swaim, Madison County Schools.
64. Dr. Henry Panion III arranged and conducted gospel singer Kirk Franklin’s Haiti relief production of “A Song for Pain.” Panion conducted the Atlanta Symphony in a 90th birthday tribute to civil rights icon and Huntsville native Joseph Lowery. He is best known for his work as conductor and arranger for superstar Stevie Wonder, for whose performances and recordings he had led many of the world’s most notable orchestras.
65. William E. Cox is president of Cox Mathews & Associates, publisher of the nationally distributed DIVERSE magazine.
66. Bob Hayden of Huntsville, Ala., was among the first African Americans on a Presidential Honor Guard and took the first watch over the body of President John Kennedy.
67. Lisa S. Jones, founder/CEO of EyeMailInc.com of Atlanta, Ga., was featured in Black Enterprise magazine.
68. Dr. Marquita Furniss Davis became finance director for the State of Alabama in October 2011. She is the first female and the second African American to hold the post.
69. Paul Pinyan is executive director of the Alabama Farmers Federation and general manager of ALFA Services, Inc.
70. Dr. Ethel H. Hall wrote “My Journey,” recounting details of paths taken and lessons learned on a career that includes a stint as the longest serving member of the Alabama State Board of Education and first African American to serve as Vice President of the Board of Education.
71. Dr. Sandra Ford co-founded the Spirit of Luke Charitable Foundation to help eliminate healthcare disparities,
72. Dr. Alease S. Sims was a co-defendant in the long-running Knight & Sims vs. Alabama higher education desegregation lawsuit, first launched in 1981.
73. A building on the campus of UAHuntsville was named in honor of Dr. Harold Wilson, an AAMU alumnus.
74. Psychologist Dr. Annie M. Wells published a book on “A Multi-Modal Approach to Address ADHD: A Non-Drug Emphasis.”
75. Sandral Hullett, CEO and medical director of Cooper Green Mercy Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., was named the 2010 Birmingham Business Journal "Person of the Year"
76. Clyde Marsh has achieved the highest rank of any graduate of the AAMU ROTC. He retired with the rank of Rear Admiral and is currently serving as the Director of Veterans Affair for the State of Alabama.
ATHLETICS
77. AAMU annually plays in the Magic City Classic, first played in 1924; the Magic City Classic is one of the oldest rivalries between historically black colleges and universities.
78. English/political science major Whiquitta Tobar of Blytheville, Ark., was a talented guard on the women’s basketball squad who also achieved academically. Tobar participated in a New York University School of Law summer program, studied abroad as part of the Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad program in Tanzania, and will pursue studies for a law degree from Georgetown University.
79. The first annual Robert Mathis football camp was held in summer 2011 Louis Crews Stadium. Mathis, a former A&M standout and current member of the Indianapolis Colts, with some help from the Bulldog football coaching staff, conducted the free clinic on the fundamentals of football, footwork, use of hands, position drills and many more football related activities.
80. The football team has had the top Academic Performance Record (APR) scores in the conference for the last three years.
81. Months of intense fundraising of more than $160,000 ultimately led toward the completion of the Marching Maroon and White band uniform drive in fall 2011.
82. The Alabama A&M Athletics Department graduates its athletes at a higher rate than the University.
83. A coveted Maroon and White jersey is being displayed in the Mayor’s office of the City of Birmingham, a historical first.
84. NFL Hall of Famer John Stallworth is a former American football wide receiver who played fourteen seasons in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stallworth played in six AFC championships and four Super Bowls.
85. The four-time defending SWAC champion AAMU volleyball team held its annual Dig Pink event in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October 2011.
86. Former basketball player Obie Trotter was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Decade, while Mickell Gladness remains an outstanding NBA D-League basketball center with the Golden State Warriors.
87. Jearl Miles Clark was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame and is a five-time Olympic winner in track and field.
88. Eighty (80) former Bulldogs have played professional sports.
89. All-time NFL draft picks (19) include: Johnny Baldwin, Robert Mathis, Joe Patton, Fred Lester, Todd Woulard, Howard Ballard, Morris Johnson, Reginald Gipson, Thomas Hopkins, Mike Williams, Raymond Cooley, Frankie Smith, Oliver Ross, John Stallworth, Louis Swain, Onree Jackson, Alvin Pressell, Bill Kendricks, Bernard Corbin and Frank Kearse.
90. Coach Michael Tompkins is the youngest baseball coach in all Division I.
91. Governor Robert Bentley joined AAMU officials in recognizing first responders and other emergency/crisis personnel for their services during the April 27, 2011, tornado outbreak. The brief ceremony was made part of a special Thursday “Community Night” football game in October 2011 in Louis Crews Stadium. The game was nationally televised on ESPN-U.
92. Barry Wagner is a retired player from the Arena Football League for the Orlando Predators with whom he won his first Arena Bowl Championship and the San Jose SaberCats, with whom he won two championships. He is considered the best arena football player of all time.
OUTREACH
93. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Program, a joint program with Alabama A&M University and Auburn University, has extension offices in all 67 Alabama counties.
94. The AAMU Nontraditional Program hosted the 2012 Green Living Expo in the AAMU Agribition Center to promote eco-friendly consumerism.
95. AAMU is among the 10 land-grant universities partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide entrepreneurial training and green energy programs with $75,000 grants. Historically African-American land-grant universities are the tools through which the government is providing funding for business development assistance to entrepreneurs, agribusinesses, cooperatives and communities in economically challenged rural areas.
96. Department of Community Planning and Urban Studies students have assisted the towns of Arab and Hillsboro in developing comprehensive municipal plans. It holds “Future of the City” symposia annually in connection with its yearly Benjamin Banneker awards program.
97. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs, held disaster preparedness resource fair for the general public in November 2011. In addition to providing useful information to help families respond to natural and manmade disasters, the activity attracted professionals from the emergency, health services, waste management, banking and insurance industries.
98. Ranging from rodeos to horse shows, the AAMU Agribition Center hosts a number of unique events for the greater Huntsville community.
99. The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences hosted the Alabama Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Student Unit Fall Leadership Conference.
100. The AAMU Community Development Corporation (AAMU-CDC) is working to revitalize the Edmonton Heights neighborhood adjacent to the campus and to assist first-time homebuyers. To date, 14 homes have been built, renovated, or upgraded. A family life center for after school care and other activities was also built and is in the process of being expanded. The community park has also been upgraded.
101. The College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences is participating in an exchange program with Nanjing Forestry University in China.
102. AAMU faculty received a $600,000 USDA-NIFA grant to help launch a new generation of entrepreneurs in the Black Belt of Alabama. An integral facet of the program is the dual enrollment of students in the Black Belt counties in agriculture courses at AAMU.
103. AAMU has adopted the Ninth Grade Academy at Butler High School and will assist them until they graduate in 2014.
104. President Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., hosted the Founder’s Community Breakfast as outreach to the Faith-Based Community.
105. A film project featuring student performers from an AAMU Acting I class is now being used by Alabama’s state courts. Three student actors were cast in an Alabama Administrative Office of Courts video, produced by Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc. The video, set for state-wide distribution, deals with parents trying to get along and allow visitation for the good of their child.
106. The AAMU Student Wellness Center boasts state-of-the-art fitness equipment and health and wellness outreach programs to the community.
107. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s Urban Affairs & New Nontraditional Programs Unit will host its 11th annual “Successful Aging Conference Initiative” in Fall of 2012 to deliver educational and training programs designed to address issues relevant to aging and related health, financial, and legal education.
108. Education majors provided tutoring and enrichment to more than 50 students in the Sparkman Homes (Oscar Mason) public housing community.
109. Social work educators began offering a new certificate program during spring 2012 to address important issues related to the increasingly older population of the Tennessee Valley region.
110. Having the greatest coverage area in North Alabama, the 100,000-watt radio station, WJAB-FM 90.9, airs hundreds of public service announcements for nonprofits throughout the Tennessee Valley, with listeners spanning a listenership area that extends north of Birmingham and south of Nashville.
111. The University partners with the Madison County Commission to provide vegetables to low-income persons at no cost.
112. The Graduate Student Council (GSC) hosted the community event, “My Black is Beautiful: Heritage and Identity in the United States,” with plans to make the event available via videotape through the State Black Archives, located on the AAMU campus.
RESEARCH
113. AAMU faculty garnered over $116,866,400 in competitive grants and contracts over the past five years (FY2007-11). Over the same period, a total of $164,307,913 was obtained in sponsored dollars.
114. AAMU scientists are studying the effect of Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption on the soil and plant environment on the island of Montserrat.
115. Physicist A.K. Batra and graduate students are actively involved in cutting edge research in energy harvesting, which takes low-grade energy sources and converts them into electrical energy for everyday use.
116. AAMU scientists will team with Tuskegee University and Costa Rican scientists to promote global competence of students in environmental sciences.
117. Dr. Vernessa Edwards, an AAMU physicist, is investigating the capability for treatment of cancer by irradiation using cyto-toxic two-photon molecular probes.
118. Physicist Anup Sharma and student researchers are developing a sophisticated technique to sense extremely low concentrations of explosives, which are often used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
119. A $1 million NSF grant (under the HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering – RISE program) will boost AAMU’s capacities in novel advanced materials and nanophotonics reasech.
120. The NSF has a $5 million grant to allow the Center of Excellence in Forest Ecosystem Assessment to increase the African American presence in natural resources and ecological research.
121. State-of-the-art weather monitoring equipment provided by AAMU scientists, gives farmers and environmentalists throughout Alabama information they need to make critical decisions. The weather stations are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture data collection network.
STUDENTS AND VOLUNTEERISM
122. Members of the Phi Beta Lambda business fraternity captured 30 prizes at the 2012 State Leadership Conference sponsored by the Alabama State Department of Education.
123. Voice majors from the Visual, Performing, and Communication Arts (VPCA) Department participated in the vocal auditions of the Alabama chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (AlaNATS). Daniel Burton placed third in his category, while Christopher Cole won first place. Each of the six years that AAMU has participated in this competition, students have walked away with first place wins.
124. AAMU was accepted to begin a student chapter of The Wildlife Society in 2012.
125. AAMU students won awards for their participation in the Vann Vocal Institute at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala. Sophomore music majors Hannaan Ester, Alexa Watkins, Christopher Cole, and senior music major George Edwards, Jr. won scholarships to participate in master classes, lectures, and private coaching by international opera artists and Metropolitan Opera singers David Cangelosi, Patricia Risley, Caren Levine, Steven Crawford and Teresa Eickel.
126. An Alabama A&M University finance major started her spring 2012 semester on the island of Cyprus, thanks in large measure to expert coordination by the on-campus study abroad program. Tiffany Ousley experienced an exciting four-month study and learning experience in the Turkish- and Greek-inspired Mediterranean island. She shared an Internet-ready apartment located about five minutes from the University of Nicosia, where she took courses conducted in English.
127. The AAMU Choir received superior rating at the Alabama Invitational Collegiate Choral Festival.
128. Throughout spring 2012, AAMU students conducted activities to raise financial support for Starla Chapman, a child in south Alabama who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia called Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
129. Two Alabama A&M University students made an impressive showing in Atlanta, Ga., at an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference designed to showcase young talent. In attendance were more than 700 undergraduate and graduate students from 131 institutions. Taylor Hood won first place in the poster presentations in the chemistry and chemical sciences category, and Breana McArthur placed third with her research focusing on an analysis of the effects of coffee and cocoa on the production of cancer cells in humans.
130. AAMU Dairy Team won additional honors in the regional and national North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge competitions in 2011 and 2012.
131. A total of 2,464 student volunteers participated in the “Service Learning Network” in the Fall and Spring semesters of 2010 rendering a total of 49,280 clock hours to approximately 56 community agencies and companies.
132. The AAMU Marching Maroon and White Band performed as lead band again for the 2012 Mardi Gras (“Krewe of Endymion”) in New Orleans. In the past, the Band has provided halftime entertainment at the Atlanta Falcon Fulton County Stadium, played at the All American Bowl at the Alamo Dome, played at Disneyland, and was named the lead band for the Tournament of Roses, the first HBCU band to ever lead nationally televised parade.
133. AAMU hosted a statewide step show competition in spring 2012. In the summer of 2011, a group representing the Alabama A&M University chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha chapter won the national step show competition in Chicago in 2011.
134. Student Kenneth Gunn was slated to participate in a summer internship with Schomburg-Mellon Humanities; Gri’Anna Baber will participate in an internship in Ghana, West Africa; Ryanna Miller will participate in the Duke University Global Health Issues in South Africa; and Frederick Randall II will be an intern with Senator Jeff Session in Washington, D.C. Additionally, students Christina Peters and Jasmine Walker were admitted to one of the Top 25 ranked law schools in the nation.
135. Members of the Pre-Law Club received a travel grant from the Pennsylvania-based Law School Admission Council. The funds enabled the students to attend the Atlanta Law Forum in November 2011.
HONORING OUR OWN
136. During the 2012 Academic Honors Convocation, recognition was given to outstanding scholars Ibukunoluwa Kusimo, Taliah Buford, LeBuria Johnson, Adrienne Wiggins and Brook Sims. The 4.0 GPA students were top scholars for their respective colleges.
137. The “Normal Legacy Society,” established by President Hugine, recognizes lifetime contributions of $100,000 or more to AAMU, contributed more than $1.2 million. The members were: Dr. Henry & Mrs. Nell Bradford; the late Ms. Bertha M. Jones; Dr. Ernest and Mrs. Marion Knight; Mrs. Ella Byrd McCain and the late Dr. John McCain; the late Rev. Lucien M. Randolph; the late Ms. Velma Walker; Mrs. Geneva Wright and the late Mr. Elbert Wright; the Tom Joyner Foundation; Atty. W. Troy and Mrs. Sue Massey.