SU doctoral student receives K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award

Thomas D. Eatmon Jr., a Southern University public policy and urban affairs doctoral student, has been awarded the 2008 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU).

The award recognizes graduate students who are committed to academic and civic responsibility and who show promise as future leaders of higher education.

Eatmon is one of 10 recipients chosen from more than 150 nominees who demonstrated leadership ability or potential for exercising leadership in teaching and learning and a strong commitment to academic and civic responsibility. Other recipients represent schools such as Brown University, Florida State University, Rutgers University, and the University of North Carolina.

"It is an outstanding accomplishment and a testament to the Ph.D. program to have a student excelling in his field and a student to receive the prestigious K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, said Lionel D. Lyles, director of Southern's Public Policy Doctoral Program. "Everyone in the Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs is especially happy to have him recognized in the school and in particular the department for receiving the national award."

Eatmon, who also is an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Grant scholar and has studied at Michigan Technological University, will attend the AACU annual meeting in Washington, D. C., from January 23-26, where he will be honored at the opening session.