Join us for the Duke Divinity School African-American Alumni Day and our annual Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series with guest lecturer and preacher Rev. Martha Simmons, founder of The African American Lectionary.

This will be a reunion not to miss as we journey with the university-wide 50th anniversary commemoration of the first black students to attend Duke. The Divinity School reunion will be an opportunity for networking, community building, and celebrating the mission and vision of the Office of Black Church Studies under the new directorship of Rev. Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman. There will be a morning plenary session focusing on the historical, present, and future direction of the Office of Black Church Studies and the legacy of African-American church leaders and theologians.

Tuesday evening will feature a dinner for alumni, students, faculty, and staff at the Hilton Durham. Come enjoy food, fellowship, and a joyful time as the Spirit moves us from memory to hope. Rev. Dr. William Barber II, M.Div. 89, president of the NC NAACP and pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, will offer an inspirational message. During the dinner, we will honor select alumni and memorialize those who have passed from labor to reward.

At the same time as the reunion, well also be hosting the annual Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series. Since 1975, the Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series has brought outstanding black preachers to Duke University. The lectures are named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, pastor emeritus of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Registration is required for all events.

Rev. Martha Simmons

Rev. Martha Simmons is an associate minister at Rush Memorial United Church of Christ in Atlanta, Ga. She currently resides in Atlanta and is a native of Tchula, Miss. For more than 25 years, Simmons has preached throughout the U.S. and in Africa and has served in a variety of ministerial capacities. For the past 18 years, she has served as the preaching scribe for the Black Church through the codification, preservation, and elevation of African-American preaching for present and future generations. In this work, she is providing homiletical models and approaches to ministry that promote excellence in African-American preaching and ministry.

Simmons is often called upon to talk about the current state of black preaching and black faith, and was quoted by the religious press on the use of faith in the 2011 and 2012 State of the Union addresses. She can be heard regularly on programs such as the Operation PUSH broadcast. Simmons has also developed a reputation for being a mentor to young clergy (having assisted more than 20 young clergy in becoming pastors), and she is a life coach to numerous senior pastors.

Rev. Dr. William Barber II

Rev. Dr. William Barber is president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP. He serves as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Goldsboro, N.C., a 120-year-old congregation with more than 400 members and 30 active ministries. He is chairperson of the Rebuilding Broken Places Community Development Corporation, a non-profit organization involved with building affordable single family homes and senior citizen housing and providing job training, affordable child care, and inner city revitalization in Goldsboro.

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Rev. Martha Simmons to Deliver the Gardner Taylor Lectures This Week at Divinity

Edwardsville, Ill. (PRWEB) September 23, 2013

The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing has selected five recipients to receive 2013 School of Nursing Excellence Awards. They will be honored at the Nursing Excellence Gala and 50th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 5. The event in the Morris University Centers Meridian Ballroom begins at 5:30 p.m.

Our gala award recipients are prime examples of individuals and organizations who continuously give of themselves for the good of others, said Anne Perry, interim dean of the SIUE School of Nursing. Their service to the School, the nursing profession and their communities is truly admirable.

The awardees include: Outstanding Friend to Nursing: Karen Kelly, Ph.D. The award honors a person, business, foundation, legislator or other entity that has demonstrated a civic responsibility to the profession of nursing and to society by advancing the nursing profession through acts such as funding, supporting legislation or promoting nursing through media outlets.

Kelly graduated with a bachelors in nursing from SIUE in 1972. She has dedicated her life to the betterment of the health care industry and nursing education. A triple SIUE alumna, she earned a masters in 1977 and a doctorate in education in 1983.

Currently serving as an associate professor and director of continuing education in the SIUE School of Nursing, Kelly has worked with many state and national organizations to promote the advancement and success of the profession. She is president of the Illinois American Nurses Association and continues to make strides towards nursing excellence in every aspect of her life.

Outstanding New SIUE School of Nursing Alumna: Carla J. Daniels, FNP-BC, AOCNP The award was created to honor a baccalaureate or masters graduate who has made a significant contribution to the nursing profession and earned a degree within the past 10 years.

Daniels earned a family nurse practitioner masters degree from SIUE in 2004. An oncology nurse practitioner at Springfield (Ill.) Clinic, Daniels has achieved credentials as an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner, a certified Breast Health Specialist and a BRCA testing expert. She is a leading resource for genetics counseling in the Springfield area and is a tireless advocate for breast cancer prevention, detection and treatment. Next year, she will celebrate 25 years at Springfield Clinic.

Outstanding SIUE School of Nursing Alumna: Lenora M. Drees, APN-FNP The award was created to honor a baccalaureate or masters graduate who has made a significant contribution to the nursing profession and who earned a degree more than 10 years ago.

Drees began her nursing career in 1968 after graduating from St. Johns Mercy School of Nursing with a nursing diploma. In 1989, Lenora graduated from SIUE with a bachelors in nursing. Four years later, she earned a family nurse practitioner masters from the University of Illinois Chicago.

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SIUE’s Karen Kelly Among School of Nursing’s 50th Anniversary Awardees

While its not certain Mary Virginia Polson Stapleton is the oldest Jefferson City High School alumni alive today, at 99 years old shes definitely a member of an exclusive club.

On Tuesday, shell be recognized at the Jefferson City Public School Foundations annual gala to be held at the Capitol Plaza Hotel. This year, event organizers are celebrating the school districts 175th anniversary. The gala is held annually to raise funds, but also honor the contributions of the education communitys leading benefactors, volunteers, teachers and alumni.

Although slightly hard of hearing, Stapleton is spry for her age. She still drives and takes a walk around the neighborhood daily.

Im not in perfect health. Everybody has a few aches and pains, she said.

Stapleton, who graduated with the Class of 1931, moved to Jefferson City with her family from Moberly after the Wabash Railroad folded up and her father sought new work.

I was thrilled to death to go to a brand new high school with a swimming pool, she said.

One of her most vivid memories was serving as an attendant in the high schools homecoming court on what is now the Miller Performing Art Centers stage.

Karen Enloe, who serves as director of the JCPS foundation, said shes delighted Stapleton is available to attend.

Shes an accomplished pianist, she said. And she still drives, although she told me shes planning to quit when she turns 100.

Gary Kremer, executive director of State Historical Society of Missouri, will emcee the gala.

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Gala to celebrate district’s 175 years

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business was named the number one graduate entrepreneurship program in the nation, in recognition of the programs, courses, and engagement offered through the school's Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazines recognized Ross in the joint ranking of its top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs, which surveyed more than 2,000 schools. This marks the fourth consecutive year Ross has appeared among the top five, advancing from second place in 2012 to the top spot for the first time.

"We have created a culture at Ross where entrepreneurship is a major focus of our curriculum and a core value," said Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "As more and more students look to entrepreneurship as a way to make a positive difference in the world, we are proud to be the leader in entrepreneurial education and will continue to innovate in the field."

"This ranking is a badge of honor and a resounding endorsement of our unique and effective methodology," said Stewart Thornhill, executive director of the Zell Lurie Institute. "As the nation's top program for graduate entrepreneurship, we set the bar for entrepreneurial education across the U.S. and complement the University's flourishing entrepreneurial community. We do it through a matrix of multidisciplinary coursework, action-based learning, staff and faculty seminars and alumni networking."

The University of Michigan has been a driving force in the advancement of entrepreneurial education since 1927, when it offered the nation's first course in entrepreneurship at what is now the Ross School of Business. The launch of various entrepreneurial programs followed and in 1999, the University was among the first to launch a full program dedicated to entrepreneurial education with the creation of the Zell Lurie Institute. This was made possible with a $10 million gift from iconic American businessman Sam Zell and distinguished philanthropist Ann Lurie, the wife of Zell's late business partner, Robert H. Lurie.

Ross' programs and curriculum have set the bar for entrepreneurial education across the U.S. Examples include the Wolverine Venture Fund, which was the first student-led venture fund of its kind in the country and is now complemented by the Zell Lurie Commercialization Fund and the Social Venture Fund. Together these 'evergreen,' student-run funds have $6.5 million under management and deliver returns that are comparable to the top quartile of professionally managed funds. Since its inception, Zell Lurie has provided scholarships, grants, competition awards and internship funding totaling more than $3 million to help advance new venture development and the entrepreneurial skill set of more than 5,000 students. In 2012, U-M Ross launched a new Master of Entrepreneurship degree program, offered jointly with the College of Engineering. The degree leverages the strengths of both schools to teach students how to build successful, new business concepts around advanced technologies.

Ross' entrepreneurship education programs are strengthened through boundaryless collaborations and partnerships across the University. The partnership with the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering launched TechArb, a student accelerator that is jointly managed by the Zell Lurie Institute. In addition, the Zell Entrepreneurship & Law program and Medical Innovation Center host programs in which the Institute's graduate students participate.

"To educate and launch entrepreneurs has always been our mission. The only thing that makes us more proud than being recognized as the very best in the nation at doing this is to see our students go out into the world to deploy their entrepreneurship skills, knowledge and experience," said Tom Kinnear, the D. Maynard Phelps Collegiate Professor of Business in marketing at the Ross School of Business and former executive director of the Institute (1999-August 2013). "The Zell Lurie Institute is a linchpin in the University of Michigan's remarkable coursework and active, real-world engagement that is catalyzing and refining student entrepreneurship and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders."

Visit http://www.bus.umich.edu to learn more about Ross, Zell Lurie and the Master of Entrepreneurship degree.

About the Stephen M. Ross School of Business TheStephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michiganis a vibrant and distinctive learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for positive change in today's dynamic global economy. The Ross School of Business mission is to develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world. Through thought and action, members of the Ross community drive change and innovation that improves business and society.

Ross is consistently ranked among the world's leading business schools. Academic degree programs include the MBA, Part-time MBA (Evening and Weekend formats), Executive MBA, Global MBA, Master of Accounting, Master of Supply Chain Management, Master of Entrepreneurship, Master of Management, BBA, and PhD. In addition, the school delivers open-enrollment and custom executive education programs targeting general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management.

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University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and the Zell Lurie Institute Named Top Graduate Program in ...

Hometown pride and Model T Fords were on display at a record-breaking alumni event last week that drew nearly 800 Bulls from around Western New York to the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum in downtown Buffalo.

The gathering, part alumni party and part pep rally, was planned to build excitement for the coming season of academics, sports, and arts and entertainment at UB. It was the largest local alumni event in recent memory and the second event hosted in Buffalo by the UB Alumni Association.

Last years event was part of President Satish K. Tripathis UB 2020 alumni tour to 20 cities in 20 months. Held in Buffalos Hotel Lafayette, it had 600 attendees and was so successful the association decided to throw a local party again this year.

There is no official UB alumni chapter for Western New York, although officials said that might change. Our university has been experiencing an incredible number of successes over the past year or sowith no end in sightand we want to share the excitement with our alumni and thank them for believing in their alma mater, said Jay Friedman, EdM 00 & BA 86, associate vice president for alumni relations.

The sun was setting on a gorgeous September day as crowds entered the museums cavernous atrium entrance. The atrium protects the newly completed Frank Lloyd Wright Filling Station, based on Wrights 1927 gas station design that was earmarked for a nearby spot on Michigan Street but never built.

Alumni mingled with classmates and UB faculty, staff and students, snacked on hors doeuvres and ogled the museums vintage sedans and the filling stations gleaming copper roof.

Special guests included Tripathi; Alumni Association President Carol Gloff, BS 75; Athletics Director Danny White; head football coach Jeff Quinn; baseball coach Ron Torgalski and womens basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

Jim Sandoro Jr., BS 71, alumnus and founder of the Pierce-Arrow Museum, welcomed UB to his playground.

Sandoro said the museum represents his legacy and is a manifestation of his lifelong passion for cool cars. Starting with an old Model T Ford, which took him 10 years to restore, he painstakingly built his automobile collection over 40 years with his wife, Mary Ann. Since they dont have children, they plan to donate the facility to the city.

This museum is a Buffalo thing, Sandoro said, adding that the event was the largest weve ever had here, and that UB alumni were the first group to see the completed filling station. Imagine that drawing sitting in a drawer somewhere its the first Frank Lloyd Wright building that doesnt leak, he joked.

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UB celebrates progress at historic WNY alumni event

This Friday, eight people nominated by the community, including a 9/11 hero, two beloved history teachers, an Olympic kayaker and well-known actor, will be inducted into the second annual Mira Costa High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame was created last year to honor those graduates who distinguish themselves by contributions to their careers, life endeavors and the country they serve.

The eight graduates, who were chosen from a pool of 28 nominees, will be honored throughout the day Friday, Sept. 28, first at a breakfast reception, then at a school assembly in the auditorium, again at lunch and finally during a halftime ceremony at the football game versus South Torrance.

The inductees will receive resolutions from the city, county and Assemblyman Al Muratsuchis office, along with a swag bag full of a framed certificate, a gold-plated lifetime pass to all Mira Costa High School events, a $50 gift certificate to spend at the kiosk at Fridays game, Mira Costa t-shirts and an aluminum water bottle.

Mira Costa faculty and students believe that positive role models are extremely important in todays world and that these graduates should be held up as models for todays students, said Principal Ben Dale.

The inductees in alphabetical order are

ANTONIO CARBAYO

Antonio Carbayo, a 1978 graduate, embodies the classic Mexican-American immigrant success story. Born in Mexico City, the son of a U.S. citizen father and a Mexican mother, he soon became a naturalized U.S. citizen settling in Southern California. He has always been a hard worker; after receiving the Most Improved Senior Award among other recognition, he went on to El Camino College where he captured his AA degree. He transferred to UCLA where he obtained his bachelors degree in Literature and proceeded to UC Irvine where he obtained his bachelors in Biological Science. As a graduate of the highly acclaimed Post Baccalaureate program at UCI, he was invited to attend UCI Medical School where after completing his Medical Doctor degree went on to specialize in family medicine. As a bilingual doctor, he gives back to his community by providing medical services to an underserved population in Santa Ana. A noted authority in family medicine, he serves as a frequent medical commentator on Spanish Language television stations. He has mentored and inspired many young aspiring doctors to stay in school and pursue their goals.

KENDRA FLEAGLE GORLITSKY

Dr. Kendra Fleagle Gorlitsky, a 1969 graduate, edited La Vista for three years in high school. She now practices Family Medicine with underinsured populations including the homeless, immigrants and others in Central and South LA where she supervises students as Clinical Professor of Medicine at USC and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA. She has served as an expert witness for asylum seekers under the auspices of Program for Torture Victims. She chairs California Hospitals Bioethics Committee Consortium Newsletter, using the skills she learned as a Mustang reporter. Her biggest current challenge is serving as Scout Master for an inner city Boy Scouts troop and is eager for any volunteers. She is the mother of three and her youngest, Garett Gorlitsky, graduated from Costa in 06.

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Mira Costa welcomes its second round of Distinguished Alumni