Add U.S. President Barack Obama’s name to the list of people who think FAMU has some of the very best professors in America.Larry Robinson, FAMU’s vice-president for research and a professor of environmental sciences, is Obama’s nominee for the position of assistant secretary of commerce (conservation and management), in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
According to a 2009 memo by Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, the assistant secretary for conservation and management is responsible for driving "policy and program direction for NOAA's stewardship responsibilities, including ocean resource management, coastal management, and protected resources.
With Robinson’s appointment, FAMU joins an elite club of American universities that have faculty members working in the Obama administration. Others include: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, and Duke.
Robinson will come to his new post with a superb track record of research and administration in the area of environmental studies. Since 2001, he has served as Director of the NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC) headquartered at FAMU, which is a multi-institutional consortium of predominantly minority-serving institutions which conducts research, education and outreach to improve the scientific basis of coastal resource management.
From 1997 to 2003, Robinson directed FAMU’s Environmental Sciences Institute where he led efforts to establish B.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Between 1984 and 1997, he served as a research scientist and a group leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He also served a brief stint as FAMU’s acting CEO in 2007.
Robinson attended LeMoyne-Owen College in 1975, graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in chemistry from Memphis State University in 1979, and earned a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 1984.
Congrats Dr. Robinson! Well-deserved, FAMU will be missing a treasure.
ReplyDeleteThe country's gain, FAMU's loss. I hope FAMU can find someone that approximates Larry's ability and personality.
ReplyDeleteIf I am correct he is not leaving to accept the post but will accept the post and still be able to maintain his current position at FAMU
ReplyDelete3:56,
ReplyDeleteyou are wrong. he'll have to move to DC to serve in the administration.
Back in time to succeed Doc Ammons. Congratulations Prof Robinson. We apprciate you and wish you well.
ReplyDeleteThis is phenomenal. A much deserved recognition of a great and honorable man. Make your mark Dr. Robinson and remember FAMU in your new endeavor.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dr. Robinson for being a person of integrity. I wish you well in all endeavors. Most of all I wish you a speedy return as President of our beloved University.
ReplyDeleteWoW President of FAMU??? IDK
ReplyDeleteDo you all beleive Dr. Robinson will be our nextr university persident? I want to see some facts
ReplyDelete@ 3:27 pm, why not?
ReplyDeleteWhy in the hell or we talking about our NEXT president when we just got this one?
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong to looking towards the future. Situations have to be dynamic for there to be progress.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding news...Congrats Dr. Robinson..
ReplyDeleteLarry Robinson ranks at the top of professors and adminstrators at FAMU. His commitment to the highest level of research and his professionalism have provided stability to the University through some very tough times in the not so distant past. Congratulations to Dr. Robinson and his family.
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