An article on Dr. Antoine Alston, professor and associate dean for academic studies in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, was featured in the USDA Blog on July 16. “An Agricultural Legacy: Agriculture Strides through the Generations” was published as part of the 1890 land grant 125th anniversary celebration this year. Alston is an alumnus and third general scholar of the 1890 land-grant universities (LGU) educational system. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from N.C. A&T and his doctoral degree from Iowa State, and his father and grandfather received their degrees from A&T and Delaware State, respectively.

Dr. Solomon Bililign, professor of physics, attended the 11th International User Meeting and Summer School on Cavity Enhanced Spectroscopy, June 16–19 in Boulder, Colorado, at the National Institutes and Standards and Technology Office and NOAA Earth Systems Research Laboratory, where he also served as a session chair and judge for graduate students oral and poster presentations. Bililign presented a poster, “Measuring Aerosol Scattering and Absorption-Limitations of the Extinction-Minus-Scattering Method.” His research group uses enhanced cavity spectroscopy to measure optical properties of particulates (aerosols) from biomass burning and characterize gas phase organic acids emitted by biomass burning.  

Dr. Robin N. Coger, dean of the College of Engineering, has been named to the board of directors of FIRST, an international nonprofit that promotes K-12 students’ interest and participation in science and technology. N.C. A&T is the North Carolina Operational Partner for FIRST® LEGO® League and FIRST® Tech Challenge. The university manages state competitions for both programs. FIRST is based in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Dr. Rosalind Dale has been appointed interim administrator of The Cooperative Extension Program at N.C. A&T. In this role, Dale will lead the institution's outreach, Extension and engagement efforts with external communities to extend and apply the organization's knowledge, expertise, and resource capabilities to improve local, state, and regional economic interests and quality of life. The administrator’s duties also require collaborations with business, industry, government, other universities, individuals, and groups to address a wide range of issues and challenges facing the larger community. The title of Extension administrator is returned to that division. Dr. Fletcher Barber will resume his duties as associate administrator.

Dr. Valerie Giddings has been appointed interim associate dean for agricultural research. The primary responsibilities of this position are to provide leadership and strategic management for the Agricultural Research Program, including: developing and implementing research priorities in consultation with departmental chairpersons; engaging in strategic planning; coordinating proposal development and preparation with departmental chairpersons or principal investigators; coordinating plans of work and budget preparation; and managing human and financial resources. The associate dean’s duties also entail working cooperatively and positively with faculty, staff and other university administrators with varied backgrounds, experiences, and disciplines

Dr. Cathy Kea, professor of special education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for a five-year period. The purpose of Project CREED (Culturally Responsive Exceptional Educators for Diversity) is to produce and support well qualified, culturally competent pre-service general and special educators who can effectively deliver data-based intensive intervention instruction in high need LEAs, high poverty and low performing schools in diverse communities.

Project CREED is designed to achieve the following objectives: (1) Recruit, select and retain 20 well qualified scholars from traditionally underrepresented groups, including individuals with disabilities; (2) Integrate data-based intensive intervention instruction and culturally responsive practices in coursework and field experiences in urban classrooms and diverse communities; (3) Provide professional development and action research opportunities to enhance retention and program success; and (4) Evaluate and disseminate effective practices and models from Project CREED.

Dr. Maranda McBride has been appointed director of the Transportation Institute in the School of Business and Economics. McBride has served as an associate professor of management since 2009; she joined the department in 2005. McBride’s research has focused primarily on bone conduction and communication, but includes work in decision-making, human computer interaction, and cyber security. Her work is published in the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, the International Journal of Change Management, and Human Factors, among others.

Dr. Lisa Owens-Jackson has been appointed interim associate dean in the School of Business and Economics after serving as an associate professor of accounting since 2009. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Virginia and North Carolina. Owens-Jackson’s research concentrates on accounting education and the use of financial and managerial accounting information in governance and decision-making. She has presented at the European Accounting Association Congress, the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, the Institute of Management Accountants National Conference and many other regional conferences.

Dr. Jagannathan “Jag” Sankar, director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (NSF ERC) for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials, was honored with the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine on June 9. The award is among the most prestigious civilian awards presented by the governor to individuals who have a proven record of extraordinary service to the state. Notable recipients of this award in the past include Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, William Friday, Charles Kuralt and Andy Griffith.

The award was presented at the ERC’s seventh annual site visit by NSF program officers and a panel of subject matter experts from across the country. Presenting the award was Dr. John Hardin, executive director for the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation.

Dr. Kim Smith, associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, is the 2015 recipient of the Baskett Mosse Award for Faculty Development sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The award, which was presented Aug. 8 in San Francisco at the annual AEJMC convention, includes a plaque and faculty development grant that will allow Smith to seek additional training in multimedia journalism.
  

Dr. Tonya Smith-Jackson, chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is collaborating with Dr. John Lach in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Virginia, and experts Drs. Azziza Bankole and Martha Anderson at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Carilion Clinic Center for Healthy Aging. This interdisciplinary investigative team was awarded a $2.1 million grant to develop an environmental and behavioral sensing network to empower caregivers to identify, control and prevent agitation episodes in persons with dementia (PWD).

The system, known as BESI (Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention), focuses on using ethnography, sensing systems, and big data analytics to identify factors associated with agitation in PWD to help caregivers provide effective support for PWD. A simple tablet computer device serves as the main monitoring tool for the caregiver to provide information and understand what might be associated with agitation episodes.

Smith-Jackson and her team of graduate and undergraduate students will partner with the Center for Outreach in Alzheimer’s, Aging, and Community Health (COAACH) in the College of Arts and Sciences at A&T. Systems engineering will be used to expand the Center’s contributions to community health by leveraging joint, interdisciplinary expertise in the College of Engineering and transforming how we serve citizens in the areas of community health and well-being.

Dr. Godfrey Uzochukwu, professor and director of the Waste Management Institute, was the guest speaker at an international workshop in Nigeria where he called for “Environmental Sustainability.” Hosted by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), the workshop highlighted climate change, water resources, waste management, renewable energy and environmental education and outreach.  

Dr. Daniel Webb, associate professor in the Department of Human Performance and Leisure Studies, has been invited to serve as a manuscript reviewer for the Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly (APAQ) Journal, which is considered the premier empirical-based peer-reviewed publication journal pertaining to individuals with disabilities.