Biography

• Tenured Professor of Education, Department of Educational Leadership, Tift College of Education, Mercer University – Atlanta Campus • Received a bachelor’s of arts degree in Spanish from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in 1974. • Received Master’s of Science degree in Counseling from USM in 1976. • Received the Doctorate of Education Degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 1982 in Counseling with an emphasis in Higher Education. • Served in various positions at Texas A&M-Commerce, including Director of the University Counseling Center, Associate Professor, Associate Vice President, and Assistant to the President, 1981 - 1999. • Selected to serve as a Kellogg Fellow, 1988 -1991. • Served on the Commerce, Texas School Board, 1984 – 1999, 6 years as board president. • Served as Executive Assistant to the President at The University of Southern Mississippi, 1999 - 2002. • In 1992, founded Project Keep Hope Alive, a mentoring program for African American Boys in grades K-6 in Commerce, Texas. A W.K. Kellogg funded program. • Served as Vice President of the National African American Male Collaboration, 1995 - 1999. • Served as Mentor for the 1999-2002 Class of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for Educational Leadership. • Member of the Millennium Leadership Institute, sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. A presidential preparation program. • Member of the Standards Writing Committee for School Counselor Certification for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. • Author of three books: Gifts of Moments: Being Somebody to Somebody (2011) ; Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round(2013); and Fruits of a Disgraced Legacy(2014) • Participated in the 10th annual Authors' Extravaganza at Main Street Books in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, December 2, 2013 • Invited keynote speaker for Freedom Day 50th Anniversary Celebration (The start of the Civil Rights Movement in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1964), January 22, 2014 sponsored by the African American Military Museum, the University of Southern Mississippi and the Hattiesburg Cultural Center • Will appear in the PBS Documentary, Freedom Summer, on American Experience, June, 2014. • Invited keynote speaker for Freedom Summer Dialogues: Lunch and Lecture Series, sponsored by the University of Southern Mississippi, February 4, 2014. First in a series of lectures that included Bob Moses. • Invited keynote speaker at The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, Texas, February 27, 2014. • Invited panelist for program on race relations, jointly sponsored by the Atlanta Jewish Committee and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, August 18, 2014 • Made numerous professional presentations and has published more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles