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Fisk University president to give Black History Month talk Feb. 18 at Lab

"Achieving the Democratic Ideal" is the subject of a talk by Fisk University President Carolynn Reid-Wallace Feb. 18 at the Laboratory.

The talk is sponsored by the Laboratory's African American Diversity Working Group and the Diversity (DVO) Office as part of the Lab's observance of national Black History Month.

The talk is at 10 a.m. in the Materials Science Laboratory Auditorium at Technical Area 3. The talk is free and open to all Laboratory personnel.

Reid-Wallace's talk will focus on the historical challenges imposed on the American consciousness caused by slavery and Jim Crow laws and new challenges for all Americans that transcend race.

While at Los Alamos, Reid-Wallace also is scheduled to meet with the Education Program Office (STB-EPO) to provide information about recent doctoral graduates in physics who are interested in working at Los Alamos. Reid-Wallace is bringing résumés to STB-EPO, according to Berylene Rogers of DVO.

Reid-Wallace is a Fisk University graduate and its 13th president. Before assuming the presidency at Fisk, Reid-Wallace was senior vice president for education and programming at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In 1991, Reid-Wallace was appointed by then-President George Bush as assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the federal Department of Education. She managed a $12 billion budget and more than 1,250 employees.

She also has been chief academic officer of the City University of New York system responsible for reviewing and approving all academic programs in the system's 21 colleges. Reid-Wallace also was director of pre-collegiate education and assistant director of the Division of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In addition, Reid-Wallace holds numerous board appointments, including serving as secretary of the George Washington University board of trustees; member of the board of governance at Puget Sound University; and board member of First Book, a national nonprofit organization that provides the opportunity for disadvantaged children to read and own their own books.

Reid-Wallace has a doctoral degree in English and American literature from George Washington University, a master's degree in dramatic literature from Adelphi University and a bachelor's degree in dramatics and speech from Fisk University.

A historical black college and university (HBCU), Fisk University is a liberal arts institution in Nashville, Tenn. It was founded in 1866.

In 1930, Fisk became the first HBCU institution to gain full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

-- Steve Sandoval

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