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People and Events
SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY JEH JOHNSON PROVIDES KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR FMU GRADUATES
by editors@ccgmag.com
Florida Memorial University President Dr. Roslyn Artis
(left) and the Vice Chairman for FMU’s Board of Trustees,
John Ruffin (center) presented Secretary Jeh Johnson the
President’s Award.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was the keynote
speaker at the Florida Memorial University commencement ceremony
held on May 2, 2015. Secretary Johnson gave the spring graduates a handy
list of 10 life lessons. The secretary’s tips ranged from putting maximum
effort into all endeavors to seeking a mentor, doing the right thing, and
treating others as you’d want to be treated. His first lesson advised “you
have it within you to do far more than you know. I am living proof of that.”
Thoughtfulness came in at number eight. He also included accounts of his
journey as a C and D student in sophomore year. Johnson overcame his
hurdles to become a 4.0 student. He graduated from Morehouse in 1979.
Secretary Johnson encouraged students to consider a career in public
service and to be productive. Prior to joining DHS, he served as general
counsel for the Department of Defense, where he led 10,000 lawyers
across the department. As general counsel, Secretary Johnson oversaw the
development of the legal aspects of counterterrorism policies, spearheaded
reforms to the military commissions system at Guantanamo Bay in 2009,
and co-authored the 250-page report that paved the way for the repeal of
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010.
CHAIR, VICE CHAIR, AND SECRETARY RE-ELECTED TO
MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF REGENTS
The
15-member
Morgan
State University
Board of
Regents held
their scheduled
meeting May
5 and decided that Kweisi Mfume will continue as chairman of
the Morgan State University System Board of Regents with Rev.
Frances Murphy Draper as Vice Chair and Tyrone Taborn as
Secretary. Mr. Mfume is a magna cum laude graduate of MSU
and The Johns Hopkins University. Rev. Dr. Frances Murphy
Draper is a graduate of MSU, The Johns Hopkins University,
the University of Baltimore, and Loyola College and received
her doctorate in ministry from United Theological Seminary in
Ohio. Mr. Tyrone D. Taborn is publisher, chairman, and CEO of
Career Communications Group, which promotes the achievements
of minorities in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics. Taborn holds honorary degrees from MSU and the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore and a Bachelor of Science
from The Johns Hopkins University. The Governor of Maryland
appoints Board members for six-year terms, except for the
student regent, who is appointed for a one-year term. The Board
appoints the University President, who serves at the pleasure of
the Board. The Board also sets admission standards, reviews and
approves university policies and budgets, and establishes the
regulatory framework within which the individual units operate.
JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY AND U.S. ARMY CORPS
PARTNER TO DEVELOP HI-TECH RESEARCH
Jackson
State
University
faculty, staff,
and administrators
kicked
off a cooperative
research
agreement with
members of
the Engineer
Research and
Development
Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Mississippi
e-Center recently. Joint areas of research include cyber warfare,
cyber defense, high-tech computational research and analysis,
development of technical measurement involving high-performance
computing, energy management, and Internet apps. Talks
to establish the partnership started about a year and a half ago.
The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) will
work with JSU students and faculty to develop nationally-recognized
research. Jackson State is assuming a leadership position
in the field of computational and data-enabled science and engineering
as one of the first universities in the nation to offer
a doctoral degree in big data.
8 USBE&IT I FALL 2015 www.blackengineer.com