MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2016 By
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MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2016 By: Representatives Holloway, Campbell To: Rules HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 22 1 A RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING DR. CAROLYN W. 2 MEYERS ON HER 5TH ANNIVERSARY AS THE 10TH PRESIDENT OF JACKSON 3 STATE UNIVERSITY. 4 WHEREAS, Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers, a native of Newport News, 5 Virginia, mother of three adult children and grandmother of four, 6 through years of hard work in the academic and administrative 7 realms, became President of Jackson State University (JSU) in 8 2011; and 9 WHEREAS, Dr. Meyers has a tremendous vision of growth for JSU 10 and has already expanded its impact with three new campus 11 locations, increased course offerings for evening, weekend and 12 online studies, and initiated the implementation of the nation's 13 largest freshmen iPad initiative, which provided all first-year 14 students with iPads to aid their coursework; and 15 WHEREAS, as JSU expanded, Dr. Meyers had the foresight to 16 rebrand the university, opening a Veteran's Center, Office of 17 Community Affairs and Welcome Center, receiving national acclaim H. R. No. 22 *HR31/R1046.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ N1/2 16/HR31/R1046.1 PAGE 1 18 for her campaign, which she hopes will continue until JSU lives up 19 to the ideal of the "Urban University of Mississippi"; and 20 WHEREAS, while a vision of growth has been at the forefront 21 of Dr. Meyers' strategy, the basic necessities of education has 22 not been lost as Jackson State has earned a 10-year reaffirmation 23 of accreditation in business, teacher education and engineering, 24 welcomed record-breaking enrollment in the fall of 2015 and 25 positioned the university to become a national model for educating 26 the underserved and achieving global recognition for excellence in 27 education, research and service; and 28 WHEREAS, a leader beyond measure, Dr. Meyers has brought an 29 era of massive achievement to Jackson State receiving accolades 30 from Apple, which named the university a "Distinguished School for 31 2013-2015 for innovation, leadership and educational excellence" 32 and again for 2015-2017; and 33 WHEREAS, always a woman not afraid to go to unexpected 34 places, Dr. Meyers earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical 35 engineering from Howard University, one of few women in science 36 and engineering, a master's degree in mechanical engineering and a 37 doctorate in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of 38 Technology, and she completed post-doctoral work at Harvard 39 University; and 40 WHEREAS, Dr. Meyers did not merely get an education and keep 41 her talents to herself, she has served within the engineering 42 community as a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical H. 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No. 22 *HR31/R1046.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 16/HR31/R1046.1 PAGE 2 43 Engineers, and a board member of the American Council on Education 44 and National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher 45 Education; and 46 WHEREAS, a woman built for this role, Dr. Meyers brought to 47 Jackson State more than 30 years of leadership experience in 48 higher education, serving as President of Norfolk State 49 University, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for 50 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where 51 she was a tenured professor of mechanical engineering and Dean of 52 the College of Engineering; and 53 WHEREAS, not only did Dr. Meyers tear down barriers 54 encountered by women as a student, she helped "break the glass 55 ceiling" of women who chose a career in academia, as a tenured 56 faculty member at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and she was 57 the first Associate Dean for Research in its College of 58 Engineering; and 59 WHEREAS, these many academic accomplishments of Dr. Meyers 60 gave her the opportunity to publish and receive numerous honors 61 and awards, which include giving more than 200 invited 62 presentations and technical papers on education and diversity 63 topics as well as research and technical topics, and she received 64 the National Society of Black Engineers' Golden Torch Award and 65 the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator 66 Award; and H. 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No. 22 *HR31/R1046.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 16/HR31/R1046.1 PAGE 3 67 WHEREAS, possessing an impressionable kindred spirit of 68 inspired wisdom, Dr. Meyers has a far reaching and lasting affect 69 on all whom she encounters, capitalizing on her academic 70 endeavors, which places her in a path to encounter students from 71 various walks of life, not only to illuminate minds, but to 72 brighten lives with rays of hope and encouragement; and 73 WHEREAS, as the president of an Historically Black College 74 and University, that has molded the lives of numerous prestigious 75 minority scholars, the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus deems 76 it incumbent to acknowledge her invaluable service to the State of 77 Mississippi, the membership of such consisting of: Jeramey 78 Anderson, Juan Barnett, Willie Bailey, Earle Banks, Christopher 79 Bell, Barbara Blackmon, Edward Blackmon, Jr., Cedric Burnett, 80 Albert Butler, Credell Calhoun, Kimberly Campbell, Bryant Clark, 81 Alyce Clarke, Angela Cockerham, Linda Coleman, Oscar Denton, 82 Deborah Dixon, Jarvis Dortch, Tyrone Ellis, John Faulkner, Hillman 83 Frazier, Karl Gibbs, Kabir Karriem, John Hines, Gregory Holloway, 84 John Horhn, Robert Huddleston, Lataisha Jackson, Robert Jackson, 85 Sampson Jackson, Robert Johnson, David Jordan, Carl Mickens, 86 America Middleton, David Myers, Sollie Norwood, Orlando Paden, 87 Willie Perkins, Omeria Scott, Derrick Simmons, Willie Simmons, 88 Kathy Sykes, Angela Turner, Kenneth Walker, Rufus Straughter, Sara 89 R. Thomas, Percy Watson, Tammy Felder Witherspoon, Sonya 90 Williams-Barnes, Adrienne Wooten and Charles Young; and H. R. No. 22 *HR31/R1046.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 16/HR31/R1046.1 PAGE 4 91 WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to 92 honor and recognize the accomplishments of such an outstanding 93 leader as Dr. Meyers, who is dedicated to serving the educational 94 needs of our great state: 95 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF 96 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby 97 commend and congratulate Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers on her 5th 98 anniversary as president of Jackson State University and extend 99 heartiest wishes for success in all of her future endeavors. 100 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be 101 furnished to Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers, Jackson State University and 102 to the members of the Capitol Press Corps. H. R. No. 22 *HR31/R1046.1* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 16/HR31/R1046.1 ST: Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers; commend for service PAGE 5 at Jackson State University. .