The search for a new provost will be narrowed to three Tuesday morning at the final search committee meeting according to Search Committee Chair Margaret Lewis, dean of the School of Nursing.
Candidates for the second highest office at FAMU were narrowed down from 40 to five over the semester.
Former provost James Ammons left FAMU in 2001 to become chancellor of North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C.
Four of the five finalists, Judith Plawecki, Ada Burnette, Johnnie Early and George Cooper went through a series of evaluations by faculty, staff and students of FAMU last week. The fifth, Tennyson Wright, will take his turn today.
According to Lewis, evaluations will be tallied and the three candidates with the highest scores will be selected and their names given to President Gainous.
“President Gainous will then choose the new provost,” said Lewis. “It’s up to the president after that but we anticipate a selection before the end of the semester.”
The following are brief summaries of the candidates.
Judith A. Plawecki currently serves as the associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the graduate school at Spalding University. She received her bachelor’s in educational administration in 1965 from Saint Xavier College, and her master’s and doctorates in 1971 and 1974 respectively from the University of Iowa.
Plawecki also served as dean of the College of Professional Studies in 2000-2001 at Spalding University. She was a tenured professor and dean of the College of Nursing at the University of South Florida from 1987-1995. She has also served as dean at Lewis University, 1983-1987; University of North Dakota, 1981-1983 and the University of Minnesota, 1976-1981.
Ada P. Burnette is a professor in FAMU’s College of Education and serves as president of FAMU’s Faculty Senate and director of the Robert H. Anderson educational Leadership Library. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Talladega College in 1953. She attained her master’s in reading from the University of Chicago in 1958 and her doctorates in educational leadership K-12 from Florida State University in 1986.
Burnette served as superintendent and director of FAMU’s school district from 1990-1993. She also served as an associate professor, director of the Division of Graduate Programs and acting Division of Education chair at the Bethune Cookman College from 1988-1990. From 1973-1988 she served as Statewide and State Level Administrator of Early Childhood, Basic Skills and Elementary Education for the Florida Department of Education, Tallahassee.
Johnnie L. Early is the Dean and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio. He got his pre-pharmacy degree in 1970 in biology from Fort Valley State University. He received his bachelor’s in 1973 in pharmacy from Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy. He then received his masters and doctorates in Pharmacololgy and Toxicology from Purdue University in 1976 and 1978 respectively.
In May 2000, Early served as a trustee on the Council of Ohio Colleges of Pharmacy. He served as Dean and Professor of the Medical University f South Carolina’s College of Pharmacy from 1994-2000. He also served as Dean and professor of FAMU’s College of Pharmacy from 1987-1993.
George E. Cooper is the Deputy Administrator for Science and Education Resources Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C.
He received his bachelor’s from FAMU in 1967 in animal husbandry. He got his masters in 1969 from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Ala. in animal science and his doctorates in animal nutrition from the University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. in 1972.
Cooper has served as Deputy Administrator for the Partnership Unit, 1995-2002, and National Program Leader in the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension System, 1994-1995, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has also served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor at Alabama A & M University; Dean of the School of agriculture and Home Economics, Dean of the School of Applied Science and Associate Professor of animal science at Tuskegee University.
Tennyson Wright is the Vice Provost and Associate professor at the University of South Florida. He received his bachelor’s in mathematics from Livingstone College in 1970; his masters and doctorates in rehabilitation counseling at the University of Georgia in 1972 and 1976 respectively.
He served as associate provost and associate professor for Academic Affairs at the University of South Florida from 1993-1996 and then assistant Provost from 1991-1993. He was the director for Project upward Bound at the University of Georgia, Athens, Ga., from 1982-1985 and director of the Northeast Georgia Educational Opportunity Center at the University of Georgia, 1982-1983 respectively.