Historically Black Florida A&M University in Tallahassee has formed a new volunteer group of former and retired faculty members who will focus on designing ways to further institutional excellence at the university and enhance outreach and engagement with all stakeholders in the community. The new group is called the FAMU Forward Think Tank.
The new group will be chaired by Dr. Barbara K. Barnes. Dr. Barnes is a professor emerita who served as dean and interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at the university. According to Dr. Barnes, the think tank will engage a broad spectrum of FAMU supporters including faculty and staff, retirees, alumni, and various business and education thought leaders to help support the administration’s efforts to move FAMU forward. The group will offer briefings, workshops, colloquia, forums and conferences, as well as conduct action research and special studies, and occasionally produce publications of interest to the HBCU community and the higher education community in general.
In addition to Dr. Barnes, charter members of the think tank are Osiefield Anderson, Malcolm Barnes, Vivian Hobbs, David Jackson, Col. (Ret.) Ronald Joe, Ray Mobley, Joseph Roache, Vivian Royster, and William Tucker.
Elmira Mangum, president of Florida A&M University stated that “I firmly believe that the FAMU Forward Think Tank can make significant contributions to the advancement of FAMU. This group will focus on helping to solve institutional problems that are priorities for the University. Also, the think tank will provide an efficient channel of communication between the University and its myriad of external communities.”
