Feb. 8: Spelman Celebrates Stacey Abrams, C’95, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

Spelman Celebrates Stacey Abrams, C’95, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

Spelman College students, faculty and staff members celebrate Stacey Abrams, C'95, for being nominated for the distinguished Nobel Peace Prize.

The news was announced on Monday, Feb. 1.

Abrams was nominated for playing a major role in shifting the political landscape in the state of Georgia through her organization Fair Fight Action.

Nia Dumas, C’2022, a political science major and SSGA director of leadership and civic engagement said Abrams embodies what it means to be a Spelman woman and leader.

"From the time we enter through the gates of Spelman College as freshman, we are taught to be change makers and it is emphasized that it is ‘our choice, and we choose to change to world,’ said Dumas. "Ms. Abrams serves as an example to all people, that when we come together to organize, encourage and uplift one another, we can do anything."

Established in 1895, the Nobel Peace Prize is the first of five Nobel Prizes created by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and philanthropist.

The Black Lives Matter movement is also included in the list of nominees this year.

Courageous Conversation to Feature Board Chair Rosalind Brewer, C’84

Spelman’s next Courageous Conversations: Black in the C-Suite will feature Rosalind Gates Brewer, C'84, Spelman Board of Trustees chair and the newly named CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

During Courageous Conversations, distinguished guests join Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., to talk candidly about their corporate and personal journeys and discuss opportunities for Black women leaders in the corporate world.

The conversation between Dr. Campbell and Brewer will take place at 11 a.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 11, on the Zoom platform.

Brewer’s appointment by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., a merger of the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States and Switzerland-based Alliance Boots, a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group, will make her the only Black woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

To register, or for more information, visit Spelman.edu.

Women in STEM Speaker Series to Feature COVID-19 Vaccine Coordinator

The upcoming Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM’s "Women in STEM Speaker Series," will feature Lola Williams, program manager for the U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity.

Moderated by Center of Excellence Director Tamara Pearson, Ph.D., C’96, "Now What? The Complexity of COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution," will take place at 5 p.m. EST, Monday, Feb. 15, on the Zoom platform.

For the last nine months, Williams has been on a special detailed assignment for Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government's response to provide vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Focused more on the therapeutic side, Williams has coordinated with various teams within Operation Warp Speed to develop education materials beneficial in the fight against COVID-19.

During her talk, Williams will examine the complexity of manufacturing and disseminating an FDA-authorized vaccine from "shelf to shots," including allocation, logistics and distribution. In addition, she will discuss how vaccine hesitancy and mistrust complicate the distribution process.

To register, or for more information, visit Spelman.edu.

Research Day Across the Academic Year

For more than 20 years, Spelman has celebrated and showcased the scholarship and creative works of its students through Research Day.

This year, due to the pandemic, Research Day "Across the Academic Year," will take place over a nine-week period.

Events will kick off at 6 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Feb. 10, with a Research Day Live Virtual Showcase. The showcases will continue weekly at the same day and time through the end of the series.

Events will highlight the research and creative work of the Spelman community through oral and poster presentations, performance videos, art galleries and more.

For more information, visit Spelman.edu.

Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell Among Participants of FAMU Black History Month Town Hall

Spelman College President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., will join Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., and the presidents of Howard University and South Carolina State University for the FAMU Annual Black History Month Town Hall.

The 90-minute virtual event, themed "The Rise and Relevance of HBCUs," will be streamed live at 7 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 11, on Zoom and the FAMU Facebook page.

"Spelman, like other HBCUs, provides a stellar educational experience that lifts whole families and communities, which is critical to the nation’s economic engine," Dr. Campbell said. "Alumnae leaders like Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stacey Abrams and incoming Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer have a global impact that moves markets and advances civic engagement and social justice. HBCUs have always been and will continue to be a necessity for American excellence."

To attend this event visit the Black History Month Town Hall zoom registration page.

Alumna Named to Inaugural Social Justice Fellowship, Receives Promotion

Ruha Benjamin, Ph.D., C’2001, is among the first cohort of Freedom Scholar fellows, an initiative supporting progressive academics who are at the forefront of movements for economic and social justice.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation and Group Health Foundation, which partnered to create the award, recently announced the $3 million initiative, which will support 12 academics with a $250,000 award over two years.

Founder of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab, which brings together students, educators, activists and artists to rethink and retool data for justice, Dr. Benjamin joined the faculty of Princeton University in 2014 and was promoted to full professor of African American studies in November 2020.

She is the author of the books "People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier," and "Race After Technology," and the lead editor on the anthology covering race and technology, "Captivating Technology: Race, Carceral Technoscience, and Liberatory Imagination in Everyday Life."