Janice R. Franklin, dean of the Levi Watkins Learning Center at Alabama State University in Montgomery, has been given the 2013 Sue O. Medina Significant Contribution Award from the Alabama Association of College and Research Libraries.
Dr. Franklin holds a master of library science degree from Clark Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in library science from Texas Woman’s University. She is the co-founder of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Library Alliance and has served as president of the Alabama Library Association and as a board member of the Alabama Public Library Service.
Jack Thomas, president of Western Illinois University in Macomb, received the Distinguished Career Achievement Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Thomas has been president of Western Illinois University since July 2011. Previously, he served as the university’s provost and academic vice president.
Dr. Thomas is a graduate of Alabama A&M University. He holds a master’s degree from Virginia State University and a doctorate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Myrlie Evers-Williams received the Humanitarian Award from the University of Mississippi, the same institution that denied admission to her husband, Medgar Evers, more than a half century ago. The Humanitarian Award has been given only twice before and its has been 10 years since it was last presented. Evers-Williams was given the award after speaking at the university’s commencement ceremony.
Medgar Evers, the field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi, was denied admission to the law school at the University of Mississippi in 1954. He was shot dead in the driveway of his home on June 12, 1963.
Gladius Lewis, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Memphis, was the recipient of the Willard R. Sparks Eminent Faculty Award from the university. Professor Lewis received a crystal obelisk and a $20,000 prize. Professor Lewis joined the faculty at the University of Memphis in 1987 and was promoted to full professor in 1993. He previously taught at Trent Polytechnic in England, the University of Zambia, the University of Zimbabwe, and the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
A native of Sierra Leone in West Africa, Professor Lewis holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of London and a Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Nottingham.
Isaac J. Crumbly, associate vice president for career and collaborative programs at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, received the James E. Stewart Award from the American Association of Blacks in Energy. At Fort Valley State, Dr. Crumbly is the founder and director of the Cooperative Developmental Energy Program.
Dr. Crumbly is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He holds a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in botany from North Dakota State University.
