But it was his love students and his strong ties to North Carolina A&T State University that brought him back to campus last week as guest speaker for the School of Business Closing Bell Speaker Series.

“Growing up I can remember that my family was always engaged in education,” said Bluford.

Bluford comes from a long legacy of scholars beginning with his granduncle Ferdinand Bluford – North Carolina A&T’s longest serving president and the person who the library is named after. Ferdinand is credited for elevating the university’s status to a class “A” institution in the early 1930s and expanding the campus to 110 acres and growing the farm land to 672 acres. He also created the graduate school and the schools of agriculture, education, general studies, engineering, and nursing as well as the technical institute during the span of his 30 years as president.

“Although I never attended A&T, I was influenced by my family’s history here. I come from a family of scholars that always emphasized the importance of education and was taught that without it, I wouldn’t have much,” he said.

Bluford has served as the president emeritus of Truman Medical Centers in Kansis City, Missouri for the past 15 years and has been recognized by Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review.

The schools’ Closing Bell Series is designed to bring successful scholars and professionals to campus to engage with students in discussions that reflect the changing global environment. The series also provides students with further insight to current business trends, inspires and encourages student’s career development options, and enriches the lives of students by providing them with role models in their perspective careers.

Because of his passion for healthcare and desire to give back to students, he established the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute that offers leadership training and an intensive hands-on experience in healthcare administration.

“There is a dire need for more minorities in the healthcare field and this program exposes these students to experiences that they would not otherwise be exposed to,” he said.

Six A&T students have been selected to participate in this program this May and two were selected last year. Last year, one A&T student who participated in the institute received a full time job in a healthcare system.

Bluford encourages students to take advantage of every opportunity.

“Be prepared at all times. Everything is important and everything matters, even the smallest detail. It is important to be professional even when you think no one is looking,” he added.

Bluford is the first cousin to Dr. Guion Stewart “Guy” Bluford Jr., the first African American astronaut to go into space.

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