SU engineering alumni receives major citations

Four Southern University engineering alumni were recognized for their achievements in government, industry, and education during the 2008 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) and Career Fair, February 14-17, in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Black Engineer of the Year Awards, presented by Career Communications Group Inc., recognizes individuals who have made meaningful contributions to technological innovation and have exhibited excellence in the development and delivery of technology while making meaningful contributions to others.

Award winners included SU alumni Arthur George, Texas Instruments seniorvice president, high performance analog business; Jo Ann Charleston, chief, NASA John H. Glenn Research Center Educational Programs Office; Terrence E. Mosley, quality manager, Delphi Electrical Centers, Delphi Corporation; and Alice Livingston, lead engineer-systems, Advanced Information Systems.

Twenty-two SUBR engineering students along with College of Engineering Dean Habib Mohamadian; Janifer Peters, assistant to the dean; Christina Crump, administrative assistant; and Nathaniel Denu, engineering recruiter, attended BEYA and were on hand to congratulate the alumni for their accomplishments.

“We were thrilled to be there to see our Southern alumni receive prestigious awards of achievement in government, industry, and academia,” said Peters. “We had more honorees than any other HBCU.”

Arthur “Art” George’s unique management style and trademark firm-but-fair approach made him the obvious choice for BEYAs Career Achievement in Industry Award. Kevin March, TI senior vice president and chief financial officer, wrote in his BEYA nomination letter, “George’s compassion and care for every employee sets the standard for other leaders to emulate. We are learning this critical management trait from Art.”

George earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from SU and a master of engineering management from Southern Methodist University. He started as a test engineer in TIs logic operations and currently leads TIs $2 billion, high performance analog business and manages a staff of approximately 1,700 employees. George’s unit is TIs largest revenue segment and essential to the company’s future success.

Charleston, recipient of BEYA’s K-12 Promotion of Education Award, thought the classroom was her calling, but the laboratory was a stronger draw with higher pay. She conducted research experiences as early as eleventh grade at SU and later worked on a biomedical research project for Dow Chemical.

Charleston’s laboratory experience impressed NASA where she was offered a job to improve the performance and manufacture of iron chromium batteries. She switched gears mid career and applied for a lead position in NASA’s summer internship program. After NASA merged all of its efforts into an Educational Programs Office Charleston became the director. To date, she has managed or developed 25 programs for students, teachers and the public.

Charleston earned a bachelor of science in chemistry from SU and a master of divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary.

Mosley, a quality manager at Delphi Packard Electrical/Electronic Architecture, received a special recognition award for his support of education at the high school, collegiate and graduate school levels during the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference held February 14-16 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Mosley holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Southern University and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mosley, employed with Delphi since 1991, serves as the company's ambassador of education, volunteers with the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) robotics program at Provine High School in Jackson, Miss. He holds a key position on Delphi university relations team, ensuring that Southern University has access to industry leaders, technical presenters and facility tours.

He also volunteers with Southern's Engineering Summer Institute and places graduates in entry-level positions throughout Delphi.

On the graduate level, Mosley serves as Delphi's liaison on the Board of Directors of the National GEM Consortium, a non-profit organization that seeks to increase the number of advanced engineering candidates in the corporate ranks and the number of minority faculty at colleges and universities by providing fellowships to minority students majoring in engineering or science. He also represents Delphi as a member of the Delphi Corporate Recruiting Team at all graduate school activities at the National Society of Black Engineers annual conference.

Under Mosley's leadership, 100 percent of the Provine High School's FIRST robotics team members graduated high school and 85 percent went on to pursue college degrees, reports Lander Luse, a science teacher at H. W. Byers High School in Holly Springs. Miss., and former FIRST robotics team mentor. In March, Mosley's FIRST team won the Bayou Regional Competition championship in New Orleans.

Lead counter-measures analyst Alice Livingston received BEYAs Modern-Day Technology Leader Award in recognition of her outstanding programming ability and talent for tackling difficult challenges. Currently, the SU mathematics graduate leads one of Advanced Information Systems most vital programs: leading the Missile Defense National Team’s effort to develop technology to help the ballistic missile defense system distinguish between threat missiles and other objects.