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From www.blackengineer.com Awards & Lists Recognition at Last! The Most Distinguished HBCU Graduates, 2004 Melissa A. Charles Maj. Gen. James A. Cheatham Wilmer Cooksey Jr. Brig. Gen. Robert Crear Jimmie L. Davis Jr., Ph.D. Lawrence W. Hamilton Jay C. Hartman Samara P. Heaggans Rayna Henderson, Ph.D. Preston L. James II Sandra K. Johnson, Ph.D. Leroy Jones LeVerne W. Kelley Nathelyne A. Kennedy Julius L. Longshore Freddie H. Lowe Joseph Monroe, Ph.D. Carolyn G. Morris Clarence Ogletree Curtis R. Patterson II Roy G. Perry E. Glenn Rogers Sr. Ronald E. Smiley, Ph.D. Kurt A. Thomas M. Lucius Walker Jr., Ph.D., P.E. Edward T. Welburn Gina P. Wilkerson, D.V.M. It's not easy to pick the best from among the best, but that is exactly what we are attempting to do when we ask the question: Who are some of the most distinguished alumni of America's historically Black colleges and universities, aka the HBCUs?
Howard's Ed Welburn Sculpts Wheels for the World For eight-year-old Ed Welburn, the 1958 Philadelphia International Auto Show was the key to the future. His father ran an auto repair and body shop in nearby Berwyn, and Ed spent days watching him work on cars from the skeletons out. Forty years later, the younger Welburn still spends days looking at cars, inside and out, as vice president of Design, North America at General Motors Corporation, the world's largest automaker. Welburn, only the sixth design chief in GM's history, has his stamp on every vehicle conceived by the company's more than 400 designers in 11 design studios world-wide. He's come a long way from his childhood, when Americans were taking to the new interstate highways in record numbers in cars sporting shining chrome grills and huge fins. "The '50s were a very car-oriented period," Welburn says, "and cars had a lot of flair. You could easily identify different brands by their looks. They all have very strong character. It was a very exciting auto industry, and I grew up in a family where there were always new cars around." But the Auto Show was special. Designs were changing as Americans shifted to a mobile culture. Automakers were experimenting with new designs, configurations, and bold styles imitating the fighter planes of the era. "I like a design that has flair," says Welburn. "But they all have to be contemporary. And that is what the big fins on the cars -- especially the Cadillacs -- were all about. They were built on the new technology of the time." Welburn's mother encouraged him to read everything he could find about cars and design. By age 11, he knew what he wanted to do with his life. "It was my dream to be a designer," he says, "and I did not think of it as a field in which there were not a lot of African-American designers." He wrote to General Motors, "and I just let them know I was an 11-year-old kid in Berwyn, Pa., who was interested in auto design..... What courses should I take in high school, and what other preparation would I need to go to a university? And the GM design team responded." They told Welburn he needed art courses in high school and a portfolio that could pass the competitive entrance reviews at top art schools. They also sent a list of colleges with fine arts programs that included product design. Welburn chose Howard University and specialized in sculpting. Davis Smedley, associate professor of art and coordinator of Howard's sculpture program, says, "the car is the largest form of sculpture that most Americans own. In the process of designing cars, they are actually clay first. They make a full-sized version in clay before they finalize any design. "There is nothing like the physical form in front of you, and being in the same space as the vehicle, to get the feel of what these cars are going to be like. It is an emotional attachment, and it therefore makes sense for GM and the other car companies to recruit from fine arts, especially the sculpture programs." Welburn graduated in 1972 and began an uninterrupted march up GM's ranks, beginning in the Warren, Mich., design center. He moved to Oldsmobile in 1975, where he helped design the highly successful Cutlass Supreme, Cutlass Sierra, and Calais. In the mid-80s, Oldsmobile had a 1,000-horsepower engine whose capabilities it wanted to test. The driver was the legendary A.J. Foyt. The car was a newly designed Indianapolis 500 Pace Car. "The very first sketch I drew was the one they picked," Welburn says. "Its top speed was over 300 miles per hour, and the aerodynamics had to be designed very carefully. I'm really proud of the fact that it had no wings, no spoilers, and no external aerodynamic aids to correct the shape of the body." Welburn's philosophy melds the old with the new. The new Cadillacs -- notably the sporty CTS and ponderous Escalade SUVs -- continue the '50s use of aerodynamic styling. Now, however, it's the harder edge of the stealth jets that provide inspiration for these vehicles' more angular look. GM still recruits graduates from art programs at Howard and at Xavier University of Louisiana, another Black institution, he says, and its collaboration at Howard now includes work with engineering students. There is a need, he believes, for more diversity in auto design. "There are very few Blacks in design now, and that should change," he says. Considering Welburn's 30 years of success in changing the face of some of the world's best cars, one can expect him to succeed in eventually changing the faces above the drawing boards in the design studios of the auto world. For Others, Sometimes It Is Rocket Science Melissa A. Charles, graduate of Morgan State University, distinguished herself early in her career with The Boeing Company when she helped develop flight hardware and ceramic filter technology for advanced communications receivers. Her work won her recognition in 1994, when she was named "Most Promising" by the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Selection Panel. She has not disappointed them. Today, she is deputy director of passive microwave devices for Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, responsible for about 90 program managers, scientists, designers, engineers, technicians, and planners. She earned her B.Sc. in electrical engineering from Morgan in 1991 and continues to give back to the school as an active member of the University Alumni Association.
In Government Service
Brig. Gen. Robert Crear has commanded engineering divisions at home and abroad. Today, he is commander and division engineer of the U.S. Army Engineer Division, Southwestern, in Dallas, Texas. During Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, January 2003 to November 2003, Brig. Gen. Crear commanded Task Force Restore Iraqi Oil, extinguishing oil fires and restoring the Iraqi oil infrastructure. He graduated in 1975 from Jackson State University, where he received a B.Sc. degree in mathematics. He also holds a master's degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Military honors include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and many others. Brig. Gen. Crear received the 2004 Black Engineer of the Year Award for Professional Achievement in Government. Shontese Walker is on the technology fast track and is getting noticed by her supervisors at Edwards Air Force Base, where she is a Defense Department general engineer and human factors engineer. Her job is literally about life and death: Seeking ways to improve avionics and analyze test data to make aircraft safer and more pilot-friendly. She earned her B.Sc. in mathematics cum laude from Tuskegee University in 1997 and later received her master's degree in industrial systems engineering at Auburn University. She now is enrolled in the Squadron Officer School and is pursuing an M.B.A. from Webster University. To help others achieve their potential, Walker volunteers as a math tutor for local high school students. Ronald E. Smiley, Ph.D. began his career as an electronics engineer developing target control and instrumentation systems at the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, California, in 1970, after completing his B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering at Howard University. Today, he directs corporate operations for the Naval Air Systems Command Weapons Division at Point Mugu. His education continued as his career advanced. Dr. Smiley earned an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University in 1976, an M.A. in management from The Claremont Graduate School in 1985, and a doctorate in executive management from Claremont in 1992. His outstanding performance and dedication have won him numerous awards, including the Navy Civilian Meritorious Service Award and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Award. As deputy chief information officer for the Food and Drug Administration, E. Glenn Rogers Sr. helps ensure that IT systems are available to guarantee the safety and effectiveness of all medical products. Rogers' systems protect the safety and purity of the nation's blood and food supply. Rogers oversees acquisition and operation of FDA's IT and telecommunications systems -- approving purchases in excess of $200 million -- and has been instrumental in creating the agency's first Infrastructure Systems Architecture and IT Security Programs. He earned his bachelor's degree in computer information systems and an associate's degree in mathematics from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. During his 17-year career with the government, he has mentored more than 30 HBCU students by providing internship and employment opportunities.
Picking future winners is one of the pleasant tasks of Rayna Henderson, Ph.D. She is vice president of Leadership and Organizational Development at Tyson Foods, Inc. -- responsible for ensuring that team members are equipped to implement the company's business strategy. She oversees executive and leadership development, succession planning approaches, and identifies employees with high potential for career growth within the company. A Fisk University M.Sc. in clinical psychology, Dr. Henderson received her B.A. from SUNY Stony Brook and her Ph.D. in industrial organizational psychology from the University of Georgia. Frank L. Woodson has distinguished himself by engineering and manufacturing some of America's best known food products. Today, he is manager of the Kraft Foods Inc. plant in Fullerton, Calif. He began his career at Kraft as an engineer in the Maxwell House division in 1988, and has progressed steadily through the ranks as a plant engineer, manufacturing engineer, business unit manager, and plant manager. He has earned two degrees from Prairie View A&M University: a B.Sc. in chemical engineering in 1998 and an M.B.A. in 1995. Entrepreneurs Leading the Way
Samuel Metters, Ph.D., another outstanding entrepreneur and dedicated alumnus of Prairie View A&M University, founded the engineering firm Metters Industries, Inc. in his basement in 1981. Through hard work and perseverance, he has built his company into a successful firm with more than 185 employees and six offices nationwide. Before striking out on his own, Dr. Metters made his mark working for an architectural firm that specialized in creating affordable housing, an area of special importance to him, since he had been raised in public housing. He also distinguished himself in the U.S. Army and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, an Air Medal, three Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart, among other awards and honors. At Prairie View, he earned a B.Sc. in architectural engineering, won the Distinguished Graduate Award, and was inducted into the State of Texas Football Hall of Fame. After completing a B.A. in architecture and urban planning from the University of California at Berkeley, he added three more degrees from the University of Southern California: an M.Sc. in systems management and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in public administration. Driving the Auto Industry Wilmer Cooksey Jr. is a lifelong fan of the Corvette, and now, as manager of the world's only Corvette plant, he has his dream job. He began with General Motors Corporation as an assistant professor in industrial engineering at General Motors Institute, now Kettering University. After working various supervisory and management jobs within GM, he assumed his present position in 1993. Under Cooksey's direction, the Corvette has won numerous awards, including Automobile magazine's accolades as "America's Best Automobile of the Year." He received a B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee State University in 1965, a master's in industrial engineering from the University of Toledo in 1972, and went on to complete Ph.D. studies in mechanical engineering at Michigan State University. His achievements earned him broad recognition in his field and in the community: He received the 1997 Black Engineer of the Year President's Award, has been honored as an Outstanding Graduate of Tennessee State University, and was named a "Black Achiever in Industry" by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. And just to keep busy, his plant also is making the exciting, new Cadillac two-seat sports car, the XLR.
Guiding Business Growth
As president of Innovative Management and Technology Approaches, Inc., based in Washington, D.C., Carolyn G. Morris helps clients compete in Internet and e-commerce. Before retiring after 30 years of federal government service, she was assistant director of the FBI's Information Resources Division, responsible for applying information management and technical approaches to the bureau. She helped implement many successful technology programs, including the highly lauded National Crime Information Center 2000 system, which tracks criminals nationwide. She received a bachelor's degree from North Carolina Central University and a master's degree from Harvard University in mathematics. Kurt A. Thomas, performance manager at BP Exploration and Production Technology Group, has established a record of accomplishment since his days at Southern University, where he was a member of the Honors College program and graduated at the top of his 1995 engineering class. He began his professional career with Exxon Production Company as a facilities engineer and project manager, and was also actively involved in Exxon's recruiting program at Southern. He joined BP America in 2000 as a senior project manager. Giving Back in Academia Joseph Monroe, Ph.D. is a proud product of North Carolina A&T State University, the school he now serves as dean of engineering. He earned his B.Sc. degree in engineering mathematics at A&T in 1962 and completed a master's degree program in computer science in 1967 at Texas A&M, where he also became the first African American in the nation to earn a doctorate in computer science, in 1972. A retired Air Force colonel, he was on the Air Force Academy faculty for 20 years, rising from instructor to full professor and from captain to colonel. He ranks as his major A&T contributions the establishment of an accredited computer science department, ensuring continuous accreditation of all of the programs in the College of Engineering. He helped lead the program to graduate 21 engineering Ph.D.s this past year, making A&T the largest producer of African-American engineers at both the bachelor's and doctorate levels. As a computer scientist, scholar, and advocate for underrepresented minorities in computing and engineering, Dr. Monroe is a leading Distinguished Graduate who continues to give back to the institution that inspired him.
Advancing the State of Technology Roy G. Perry is an expert in supply chain engineering and manufacturing. As corporate VP of Global Supply Chain and Information Systems at StorageTek, he is responsible for a wide range of operations, including logistics, parts depots, quality processes, and facilities for the $2-billion data storage company. Perry is a Sloan Fellow and holds a master's degree in management from Stanford University, a master's in electrical engineering from Iowa State University, and a B.S.E.E. from Prairie View A&M University, where he now sits on the Capital Planning Committee. His leadership and technical skills earned him the Professional Achievement in Industry Award at the 2003 Black Engineer of the Awards Conference.
Leroy Jones, a B.S.E.E. graduate of Howard University in 1977, now manages the Regulatory Engineering department of Dell Inc. in Round Rock, Texas, ensuring that the Dell engineering team meets international regulatory requirements. He had worked for Compaq Computer Corporation, Welex Oil Well Logging Company, and Texas Instruments Incorporated, all in Houston, before joining Dell in 1991. He was the youngest of the 30 original founding engineers of Compaq in 1982, having been out of college only five years. The holder of seven patents, with one still pending, Jones has been recognized twice during the annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference, receiving a Special Recognition Award in 1996 and the President's Award in 1998. He is active on the Dell Diversity Action Council, a minister of his local church, and a tutor of high school seniors. He founded the Texas Technology Awareness Council, a group that donates Dell systems to the Austin community, in 2004, and he served as a national cochair of the National Black Family Technology Awareness Week in 2002.
Freddie H. Lowe is infrastructure project manager for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., in Atlanta. Before taking his current assignment, he was a systems engineer handling quality management and planning for department relocations. Lowe held various jobs in the Georgia area as a system engineer and computer specialist before joining Turner in 1998. He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Tuskegee University in 1988, with a minor in computer science. His goal is to become a senior infrastructure project manager within the next two years and to continue to make a positive impact on people's lives. Outside of work, he sings on a religiously inspired community choir and helps lead the youth mentoring program at his local church. Bruce E. Phillips can be reached at BPhillips@ccgmag.com. Roger Witherspoon can be reached at RWitherspoon@ccgmag.com To read more about The Most Distinguished HBCU Graduates, 2004 see The Most Distinguished HBCU Graduates, 2004 in the USBE News archive. © Copyright 2003 by Career Communications Group, Inc |
