Arizona Representative Cloves Campbell Jr. will be honored as the recipient of the Pioneer Award at a dinner at Arizona State University’s West campus on Feb. 27.  The Pioneer Award Dinner is the final event on a calendar of activities celebrating Black History Month at the campus and will take place at 6 p.m., in the University Center Building (UCB), La Sala ballroom.

The award recognizes individuals or families that have made a long-term commitment to the quality of lives of African Americans. Download Full Image

“Representative Campbell is a most deserving recipient of this prestigious award,” said Duku Anokye, an associate professor in the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. 

“He is an actively engaged member of a prominent African American family and has given more than 25 years of his own life in service to the community through his newspaper, The Arizona Informant, and as a representative of Arizona’s 16th District.”

Campbell Jr. is the son of the late Cloves Campbell, the state’s first black senator and founder of The Arizona Informant, the only African-American-owned weekly in Arizona. Now the board chairman and co-publisher of the paper, Campbell Jr. was elected to the Arizona State House of Representatives in 2006 and currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee, Banking and Insurance Committee and the Sub-Committee on Library and Archives.

In the community, the younger Campbell has been a dynamo. He sits on several boards, including Governor’s African American Advisory Board, Attorney General’s African American Advisory Board, Black Theater Troupe Board, Salvation Army Advisory Board, West Coast Black Publishers Board, Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church Board of Trustees, and the 100 Black Men of Phoenix.  He is a life member of the NAACP.

“What stands out when you meet Representative Campbell is his dedication,” says Anokye, who has been an integral part of the West campus Black History Month committee for years.  “His commitment, his faith, his devotion to family and the ongoing growth and development of African American social, cultural, political and historical concerns is an incentive for all of us to do more, do better, and to give back.

“Our Pioneer Award honorees, past and present, are living examples of what it means to live a dedicated and meaningful life.”

In addition to recognition of Campbell Jr. and a documentary commemorating his service, the Pioneer Award Dinner will feature an African processional and a special performance by the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theatre, an award-winning and internationally travelled ensemble of musicians, dancers and singers with training in various disciplines.

Other upcoming West campus events on the Black History Month calendar are the Poetry Jam on Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kiva Auditorium ($5 admission, students $3) and the African Master Dance Workshop on Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. in La Sala.

ASU’s West campus is located at 4701 West Thunderbird Road in Phoenix.  More information about Black History Month events is available by calling 602-543-5306. RSVP at WestEvents">mailto:WestEvents@asu.edu">WestEvents@asu.edu.

Pro-linebacker, entrepreneur, stockbroker and poet Russell Goings is a modern-day Renaissance man.  He was signed to the Buffalo Bills after graduating college in 1959, but soon left the world of professional sports for Wall Street.

Once there, he started First Harlem Securities, the first black-owned firm to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He founded the Studio Museum of Harlem, serving as the founding chairman, and established Essence Magazine. Download Full Image

In the 1990s, he returned to school to study poetry and creative writing, beginning the 13-year process of writing The Children of Children Keep Coming: An Epic Griotsong.

In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, birthday and Black History Month, Goings will discuss African-American mythology, history, and his epic poem that weaves both into an allegorical and lyrical representation of three tumultuous centuries, at 6 p.m., Feb. 10, in the Aravaipa Auditorium at Arizona State University Polytechnic campus in Mesa.

“Poetry is a lifelong passion for Goings, and his epic has garnered praise for its originality, passion and power,” says Wadell Blackwell, director of Multicultural Student Services at ASU’s Polytechnic campus. “I met Russell through a mutual friend, and after reading his biography and talking to him on the phone, I knew right away he would be a great fit as we all look to share unique, engaging stories about the historical complexities that make up our country.”

His poem, The Children, was published in January 2009. With roots in African griot songs, the book-length poem traces African-American history from the Middle Passages through slavery, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights movement. Blues, gospel hymns, jazz and prayer link a mythological journey with a celebration of life, heritage, and the larger-than-life heroes of the past – Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Jesse Owens, Ida B. Wells and many others.

The Feb. 10 event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a book signing.  This signature event will be complemented by a Peace Luncheon for all ASU students, faculty and staff the same day, from 12 to 1:30 p.m., Student Union Cooley Ballrooms.

To RSVP for these events or for more information, contact Wadell Blackwell at (480) 727-1165 or wadell.blackwell">mailto:wadell.blackwell@asu.edu">wadell.blackwell@asu.edu.

Kari Stallcop
Public Affairs at ASU Polytechnic campus

Media Contact:
Chris Lambrakis, lambrakis">mailto:lambrakis@asu.edu">lambrakis@asu.edu
(480) 727-1173
Public Affairs at ASU Polytechnic campus

She expected to become a store cashier until she took algebra with legendary high-school teacher Jaime Escalante (of "Stand and Deliver" fame) in East Los Angeles. Now Arizona State University mathematician Erika Tatiana Camacho is one of 12 faculty members under age 40 from across the United States selected as 2010 Emerging Scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.

Camacho is an assistant professor in the http://newcollege.asu.edu/" target="_blank">New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences on ASU’s West campus. She joins faculty members from institutions including Dartmouth College, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Texas at Austin in being selected for this year’s Emerging Scholar recognition by the editorial staff of Diverse, based on criteria including significance of research, uniqueness and competitiveness of field of study, publishing record and teaching record. Download Full Image

“I’m humbled by this recognition,” Camacho said. “I have seen this annual issue of Diverse for several years and have been awed by the stellar scholarship records of the recognized scholars, especially given the early stage of their careers. It is truly an honor to be in the company of these amazing individuals.”

“Dr. Camacho is a superb scholar-teacher who embodies the best of New College,” said Elizabeth Langland, New College’s dean. “She is highly attuned to the needs of our students and models for them the ability to achieve their highest aspirations with hard work and dedication.”

Camacho brings real-world problems and projects into the classroom. She encouraged a student in her differential equations class to use data from his job with a golf equipment company to develop equations to model how far a golf ball will travel when struck by different clubs. Her calculus students read and analyze journal articles focusing on topics such as gender gaps in education and specifically in math achievement.

With work published in journals including Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering and The Mathematical Scientist, Camacho has displayed an ability to cross disciplines in her research. She collaborates with life sciences professors in New College’s Division of Mathematical and Natural Sciences on projects that apply mathematical modeling to gene functions in cells. For the last two years, Camacho has collaborated with a George Mason University sociologist to model the dynamics of workforce migration of highly skilled scientists. They are studying various aspects of this problem including the factors that affect this migration from the perspective of both the individual and the country. This spring, Camacho and an undergraduate student will work on mathematically incorporating a multitude of political aspects into this project.

Camacho said she has been fortunate to have mentors helping to guide her. First there was Escalante, who was portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the 1988 film "Stand and Deliver." It was in 1990 that Camacho entered Escalante’s algebra classroom at Garfield High School. Then in 1996, when she was an undergraduate student at Wellesley College, Camacho was the first student admitted to the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI), a summer program established by Carlos Castillo-Chavez at Cornell University. Its goal is to increase the number of Ph.D.s from underrepresented U.S. populations in fields where mathematical, computational and modeling skills play a critical role.

In 2004 the MTBI program, and Castillo-Chavez, relocated to ASU. Castillo-Chavez is a Regents’ Professor and the Joaquin Bustoz Jr. Professor of Mathematical Biology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change on ASU’s Tempe campus. He also is director of the Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

In 2003, Camacho became the first former MTBI participant to earn a Ph.D. when she completed her doctorate in applied mathematics at Cornell. She then spent a year as a postdoctoral research associate at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Camacho next held a tenure-track faculty position at Loyola Marymount University, while also co-founding and co-directing the Applied Mathematical Sciences Summer Institute, with a mission similar to the MTBI program at ASU. She joined ASU’s New College in 2007.

Castillo-Chavez, who has continued to serve as a mentor to Camacho, told Diverse that “she is playing a critical role in building applied mathematics at our West campus, where they are building a top-notch computational program with emphasis on applications to biology.”

“From fostering interdisciplinary collaborations to helping build our new program in applied mathematics, Erika has made significant contributions to the http://newcollege.asu.edu/divisions/mns/" target="_blank">Division of Mathematical and Natural Sciences in a relatively short period of time,” said Roger Berger, the division’s director. Mathematical and Natural Sciences students pursue bachelor’s degrees in applied computing, applied mathematics and life sciences (with or without a pre-med option). The division also offers minors in chemistry, life sciences and mathematics, as well as a mathematics concentration for secondary education majors.

“Erika’s inspirational life story serves as a source of motivation for many of our students,” Berger said.

More information about Camacho’s life story and professional accomplishments can be found in the article about her that was published in the Jan. 7 issue of Diverse. The article is at www.diverseeducation.com.">http://www.diverseeducation.com/">www.diverseeducation.com.

Laura Libman’s pedigree is part analytical thinking, part business model-building, part upbringing. Mix them together and the result is ownership of a successful nonprofit foundation that is making a difference in health care services in rural Mexico.

A graduate of ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, she earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 2003, then went on to graduate from the Thunderbird School of Global Management with an MBA in international development just two years later. These two educational forays, plus an upbringing that included countless trips and extended stays in Mexico, have shaped her professional career, putting her in a position to reach out and help those less fortunate. Download Full Image

Today, she is president and CEO of the Tia Foundation, a small Arizona-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to driving sustainable health solutions in rural Mexico. The foundation boasts 501(c)(3) status in the U.S. and Mexico.

“This all fell together in an odd way,” said Libman, who arrived in the Valley a decade ago with a handful of college credits from the University of Wisconsin-Madison before attending Glendale Community College and eventually New College at ASU’s West campus.

“After I graduated from Thunderbird, I spent the summer in rural villages throughout the state of Guanajuato," she said, referring to a trip to central Mexico. “I went around asking the people what they needed, and I started looking at where the downward spiral of poverty starts. In the majority of cases, it was related to health issues.” 

As an example, she points to a pregnant woman who doesn’t realize her baby is positioned incorrectly for safe delivery.

“Without medical services, there is no one there to tell her this," she said. "She dies in childbirth, her husband is left alone to care for six children.  With some education, this is completely preventable.”

Libman grew up in a multicultural family that included four adopted African American siblings. She followed her father as he travelled to Guadalajara and Mexico City working on his import-export business. She spent summers on her Mexican family’s ranch. It was during these trips that she developed a deep-rooted love for the rural setting and a keen respect for the people who worked the land and raised families, most often under harsh conditions that lacked basic health care.

Her educational mix – the analytical and critical thinking she learned through her New College coursework, and the business model-building skills she acquired in Thunderbird classrooms – rounded out her professional pursuits and helped her design a charitable foundation that provides health services to the needy. In fact, her vision for Tia is to create a sustainable model that will take lessons learned in providing health services and apply them to similar outreach and assistance in education, government and social services.

But getting to this point wasn’t as traditional as graduating from high school and immediately moving on to higher education, earning an advanced degree and entering the professional world. Libman married early, had children and eventually divorced. She became a single mom with the ability to take one, maybe two college courses per semester. She was certain she’d be “cut loose” at the West campus, where her kindergarten-age son, now 22, often attended her American literature classes taught by then-assistant professor of English Darryl Hattenhauer. To this day, a picture drawn by son Nathaniel for Hattenhauer hangs in the professor’s office.

“After that experience – Dr. Hattenhauer’s encouragement, his attention and his mentorship – I was sold on ASU and this campus,” she said. “He was one of the first of many who bent over backward to help me and to push me. I had so many at the West campus who encouraged me and insisted I go to graduate school; I thought I wasn’t smart enough or was too old.”

One of those who helped Libman get back on her educational feet was Kathy Grant, program coordinator for the Learning Enhancement Center, who today is the program manager for the Student Success Center at the West campus.

“Laura faced typical challenges as a re-entry student, which is balancing work and home” said Grant, who came to ASU in 1993 as an undergraduate student in the College of Teacher Education and Leadership. “She has special qualities that were developed growing up in a loving environment of inclusiveness. Doing service motivates Laura.

“It’s amazing what she has accomplished and the speed of her accomplishments is astounding.”

Libman says the lessons she learned in her New College studies have helped her look at the bigger picture and how things fit together, work together and affect one another.

“The New College coursework was so fascinating,” she said. “It was about critical and analytical thinking. I learned to think. It was learning to take something, take it apart and put it back together. Diversity was a focus, and the professors put the lessons into context and brought you the whole world. You learned art and politics and everything that was going on when authors were writing their great works.

“A multidimensional perspective was a natural part of teaching the subjects.”

At Thunderbird, Libman’s circle of education was completed.

“You learned how to put together a good, sustainable model of business development,” she said. “Thunderbird taught us to build models that engender self-development, like what we’re now attempting to do with Tia – taking lessons learned in one area and applying them in other areas.

In presiding over Tia and providing health services to Mexico’s rural populations, Libman’s philosophy is borrowed from the Chinese proverb, “Give a person a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”

“We do want to teach them to fish,” she said. “At New College, I learned how to fish, too. I learned how to have the skills and confidence to shoot for something beyond myself.”