The FAMU Department of Physics has been awarded a $5 million, five year, grant from the National Science Foundation to create a Center for Astrophysical Science and Technology.The grant will enable FAMU to integrate education and research in astrophysics and will produce new knowledge and enhance the research productivity of the faculty involved. A central objective of the grant is to increase the number of African-American Ph.D.s in Astrophysics and Astrochemistry.
The Center will support collaboration between the FAMU Physics and Chemistry departments and will lay the ground work for FAMU to startup a Ph.D. program in Chemistry. The program will have a Center component and 3 research subprojects in the field of Astrophysics. The Center will also establish a laboratory astrophysics program, which has both a new undergraduate minor and a research area at the Ph.D. level.
The grant which will run through 2011 is renewable and could set FAMU up for larger NSF grants in this area.
See: NSF annoucement
This is great...this is the type of foundation a new Prez can really build on.
ReplyDeletequite as its kept, RN has more good (positive) news about FAMU than www.famu.edu !!!!
ReplyDeleteExactly! You would think that Castell would be placing as much positive news on www.famu.edu as possible to try and spin the damage she's doing.
ReplyDeleteThere's no such common sense in Lee Hall.
It's great to see some positive news about the university. CVB & Co. will probably want to claim this. She and Co. are such fools.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be an amendment to a previous award. I think it is $1Million instead of $10Millions. This award was made under the previous administration. Please check the facts because FAMU is still treading on thin ice with NSF. This was echoed in D.C. last week during HBCU week. The Vice President for Research made a complete Jack-Donkey out of himself asking inappropriate questions. He was the subject of laughing and snickering doing the meetings. We all want to resume some success at FAMU, however, we need a new and permanent administration to move forward. I am not trying to throw a damper on the NSF amendment, but please call Joe Johnson and ask him the straight-up question about the NSF going-ons at FAMU. I rest my case.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say it is not a $5Million award.
ReplyDeleteCVB will probably try and steal this thunder also. Anything good, she wants to steal and pilfer; anything bad, she wants to put on the previous administration(s). Goes to show, she's only about Castell.
ReplyDeleteBig Money!!!
ReplyDeleteI believe this is $5 million total or $1 million over the next five-years. The grant will not exceed $5 million dollars.
ReplyDeleteAs far as "The Vice President for Research made a complete Jack-Donkey out of himself asking inappropriate questions. He was the subject of laughing and snickering doing the meetings. We all want to resume some success at FAMU, however, we need a new and permanent administration to move forward."
I thought Keith Jackson was her best hire. Could I be wrong about that?
I am afraid that the "Best Hires" will not come to the aid of this sinking ship in which Castell is the Captain. The best hires want to work in an environment of support with the appropriate recognition. The best hires are sort after by the best administrators. We must look forward to that with our incoming permanent administration. Better Days are ahead for FAMU.
ReplyDeleteCan the church say "Amen"?
ReplyDeleteBetter days are indeed coming for us all. As Castell's days of uncontrolability near (hopefully, March 07), I do believe we will see more mass firings and bad behavior from the HNIC. Does anyone remember Bill Clinton's last days as president, when he engaged his last presidential powers by pardoning a bunch of folk who'd been imprisoned for various crimes? Not to make any kind of comparison here, for certain, but my point is that CVB will make one last grand statement as president by showing who's boss and then by leaving a trail of dust behind her. It's what politicians do, not what academician do, and we all know that CVB, with her community college experience, her mail-order correspondence Ed.D. degree three two ago, from (gasp!) Nova University, is no academician.
Clarification on my previous entry, above: "...with her Ed.D. degree, two decades ago..."
ReplyDeleteCredit interim leader with Florida A&M turnaround
ReplyDeleteBy KEITH H. JACKSON
FLORIDA VOICES
About one year ago I resigned from my position at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, moved out of my home in Oakland, Calif., and turned the house keys over to my eldest daughter. I was excited at the prospect of joining the Florida A&M University community in Tallahassee as I reflected back on my days as a student at Morehouse College and as a faculty member at Howard University, both of which are also outstanding universities. FAMU is the only predominately black college in the state university system.
This time, I would not be walking onto a college campus as a student or faculty member, but as a senior administrator with a $50 million research portfolio to manage. Sure, there were some challenges, but they were not any greater than those I had faced in my 14 years working for the University of California. Looking back over the last year, it is hard to believe how many changes have taken place at FAMU.
You can say many things about the FAMU administration led by interim President Castell Vaughn Bryant, but I think all will agree she has been an instrument for change. She has made it clear she did not accept the job to be a caretaker, but was charged by the Board of Trustees to get FAMU in shape for its next president. Her leadership team has taken on issues that have lingered and festered at the university for a number of years. Dr. Bryant and her team have demonstrated a willingness to accept the board's charge and restore the academic and financial credibility of the university.
This commitment has a tremendous bearing on our research enterprise, and it positively affects every faculty member and student engaged in scientific studies. In fact, the research dollars generated at FAMU represent 20 percent of the university's operating budget. With this funding, we are able to support research in basic and health sciences, mathematics, engineering and more. Our students, both graduate and undergraduate, are afforded the opportunity to work alongside faculty, and they are engaged in experiences at major research-intensive institutions.
Dr. Bryant has been hands-on in helping faculty establish new research programs in plasma physics, composite materials, nanomaterials and laser-based detection of radionuclides. Under her leadership, FAMU is now taking an active role in developing Innovation Park through a $3.7-million investment in research space renovations at the Centennial Building. This means that FAMU has joined other research universities in the race to discover alternate sources for our nation's energy supply, to detect nuclear materials (radionuclides) from nuclear explosions and develop next-generation composite materials for advanced passenger aircraft.
Furthermore, our restored relationship with the National Science Foundation has helped to solidify a longstanding space issue with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. We have resumed a normal, productive relationship with this NSF-funded national user facility and can now take advantage of its unique facilities to expand our research programs and graduate student opportunities.
Great things have happened for us, and we will soon announce another exciting milestone in our relationship with the NSF. Only an interim president with Dr. Bryant's vision and no long-term aspirations for the job of permanent president could achieve these goals.
The challenges at FAMU are not issues of academic freedom or some other lofty ideal, but the reality of bringing change to an institution with a largely obsolete administrative infrastructure that has suffered from indifference and large numbers of students with academic and financial needs beyond what the state of Florida has been willing to provide.
Bringing about much-needed changes has been Dr. Bryant's focus. She has made the politically sensitive administrative changes and decisions that might prove unpopular with faculty, students, their families and even members of the Board of Trustees to uphold academic standards, fiscal responsibility and effect significant change in the way FAMU does business. Every institution has challenges, but not every institution has a bold leader who is not afraid to make the tough decisions. Reflecting on my one-year anniversary, I, for one, am glad that FAMU does.
Jackson, Ph.D., is vice president for research at Florida A&M University.
Where does this Keith Jackson get off on writing this complete contradictory editorial?
ReplyDeleteWith all of the problems facing Sponsored Research, this clown has the time to write an editorial. This is a complete waste of taxpayers money and a complete waste of valuable time he should have spent drumming up some support/proposals from other colleges/schools on campus.
What Dr. Keith Jackson has failed to realize it that everyone knows Castell. He is not fooling anyone but himself and Dr. Joe Johnson who influenced Castell to bring him to FAMU. I have transferred his remarks to some influential members of the Morehouse Alumni Association so they will see just how low this "so-called" man from the House his dipped. Castell is known around the "HBCU" Network as an incompetent mis-placed outcast. The morale at FAMU is rock-bottom, lower than the lowest in the history of the University. Jackson must get a grip or he is going to lose his mind.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dr. Jackson has dipped very, very low. He will be hearing from the "House" members very soon.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...What Dr. Keith Jackson has failed to realize it that everyone knows Castell. He is not fooling anyone but himself and Dr. Joe Johnson who influenced Castell to bring him to FAMU. I have transferred his remarks to some influential members of the Morehouse Alumni Association so they will see just how low this "so-called" man from the House his dipped. Castell is known around the "HBCU" Network as an incompetent mis-placed outcast. The morale at FAMU is rock-bottom, lower than the lowest in the history of the University. Jackson must get a grip or he is going to lose his mind.9/22/2006 11:13 AM
ReplyDeleteOh.... Dr. Joe Johnson. Have you ever seen anyone so prolific at kissing ass? First his lips were attached to Gainous and now to Castell. This is an all time low for even Joe. But, I guess you do what you gotta do. Keep those lips puckered baby, there's plenty more from where that came from!
And just to think he wouldn't allow me to work in his lab. Maybe if I'd practiced my ass kissing, I could have been down.
ReplyDeleteThat's okay. There were other profs in physics.
Yes, Dr. Joe Johnson has forgotten from whence he came... Just the thought that Dr. Humphries recruited that "pucker-upper" to FAMU. His only loyalty is to the one in charge. First, it was Humphries & Hamilton, then Gainous & Ray, and now the lowest of low-life: Castell & Jackson. Who will Old Joe prepare for in the future? What an "Arse-H?
ReplyDeleteYou need to stop blogging and get a REAL job then you would learn that your work at an institution is not to the allegiance of the head of a school but to the school. When you loose the allegiance to the school, then you should quit and find work elsewhere. As you pointed Joe does not allow momentary crisis to keep him from his work. Perhaps you should try focusing on your career and just complaining all the time.
ReplyDeleteHey "Me" perhaps if you stopped blogging so much you might be able to get good grades and become a reliable, thoughful contributor to research. Then you could probaboy get a job in a lab. That probably takes more concentration than you can muster so I guess you should just continue to froth.
ReplyDeleteDon't hate the player. Hate the game. Maybe, just maybe if you all stop whining about how bad things are at FAMU, you can see the some of the good that folk are doing to make the name FAMU mean something.
ReplyDelete- The Mongoose
The name FAMU does mean something and long after these idiots are gone it will still mean something.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Joe Johnson is concerned, allegiance is not the point. He has no allegiance, especially not to FAMU. Ask Joe how many Black (US citizens) PhDs has he produced during his career as a educator? You can count them on one hand and your don't need all 4 fingers and a thumb to do so.
I left FAMU and got my Phd somewhere else, but FAMU is my alma mater.
I don't know what world you live in, but in my world there are about 200 Black folk with PhDs in physics in the world. Now in my Small minded thinking I think a Man that had personally produced a PhD should mean something (with more to come this year and next), I would think that a Man that helps starts the ONLY center for Plasma Science in the State of Florida to mean something, I would think that a Man who helped start the 3rd PhD program at an HBCU in Physics to mean something. I would think the fact that that program will produce ~5 Phds in Physics over the next year to mean something. Those 5 will probably be over 50% of the Black Phds produced in the country. Seems to me in my Small-minded view that Joe's allegiance seems to be SHOWING the world that Black folk can do science, compete with the Big Boys and can sometimes come out on top.
ReplyDeleteJoe Johnson and others have EARNED money from the likes of the ARMY, NASA, the Department of Energy, Air force, NSF and countless others. Contrary to popular FAMU is known nationally for doing EXCELLENT work and being home to professors and researchers that know how to get the Job done. When an agency grants you 5 Million dollars they expect results, they expect hard work, and professors expect students that will give the same blood to get the work done. FAMU is the home to one of the fastest computers in Florida, one of the most powerful lasers in the south east, will soon have the only fusion device in the south, has the highest number of African American's studying to get a Physics PHd in the country. The men and women here work hard each and every day to do a job under adverse conditions. And most of them could be elsewhere, but they choose to stay here at FAMU and build something that is bigger than them, that will live beyond them. The Résumé’s of these people are long and they have proven themselves able to BUILD something from nothing. They choose to stay and fight. They can sure use some dayum support and love from you hard-core rattlers.
- The Mongoose
^^^Agreed. Let's not get it twisted Joe Johnson should not be credited with these accomplishments. Contrary to the world of Dr. Johnson, FAMU's physics department has always had outstanding physics professors and if I am not mistaken it was during the Humphries tenure that the department of physics came into it's rightful place. I believe Humphries brought Dr. Johnson to FAMU. It is common knowledge that Dr. Johnson was very critical of Dr. Humphries during and after he left as president. I agree with the previous poster Dr. Johnson does not have any allegiance to FAMU or anyone.
ReplyDeleteLeave it to Dr. Johnson and the whole physics department will look nothing like it looks today, but a version of well you know where Dr. Johnson came from.
Suffice it to say, Dr. Johnson is not a team player and it has always been about him. He reminds many faculty members of Dr. Henry Lewis, selfish and self-centered.
Don't couple Dr. Johnson with the "others" in the physics department because they are the true, passionate professors that have produced the young Black physics that are our future. Dr. Johnson's prospective on this is wacked and out of touched with today's young Black men and women.
Oh, it's true!
Wow, looks like some seriously unhappy people at FAMU.
ReplyDeleteIs this typical of the university or just the physics department?