Prominent figure in HBCU advocacy will deliver opening keynote at second MS-CC annual meeting later this month

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Walter M. Kimbrough — the former president of Dillard University and a prominent figure in HBCU advocacy  — will deliver the opening keynote at the 2024 Annual Meeting for the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC), May 29-31, in Washington, D.C.

The opening keynote address will occur at 9:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, May 30, at the Mayflower Hotel.

Passionate Advocate for Students 
Kimbrough began his career in student affairs, holding the position of vice president for student affairs at Albany State University. Prior to this role, he held positions at Emory University, Georgia State University, and Old Dominion University.

Kimbrough's path led him to Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, where, at the age of 37, he was appointed as the 12th president of the college. In 2012, he became the 7th president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Kimbrough leveraged his influence as president of a historically Black college and university (HBCU) to become a voice in the community. He hosted campus events at Dillard University, including the Black Male Summit, in an effort to improve the number of Black males who complete college and pursue successful careers.

Kimbrough notably hosted a convening for Louisiana's HBCUs, the White House Initiative on HBCUs, the United Negro College Fund, and several of the state's major economic organizations to identify ways for HBCUs to more actively engage in economic development.

Published Author and Thought Leader
Kimbrough is a renowned scholar on fraternities and sororities and a thought leader on HBCUs and Black men in college. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity Inc., and author of Black Greek 101: The Culture, Customs and Challenges of Black Fraternities and Sororities.

Kimbrough has garnered frequent recognition for his leadership. In 2010, he earned a coveted spot on Ebony Magazine's Power 100 list. Three years later, he was honored among The Grio 100: History Makers in the Making. In the subsequent years, he was celebrated as the HBCU Male President of the Year by HBCU Digest, while also being recognized by TheBestSchools.org as one of the 20 Most Interesting College Presidents.

The HBCU Campaign Fund distinguished Kimbrough as one of the 10 Most Dominant HBCU Leaders of 2018, and College Cliffs included him among their 50 Top U.S. College and University Presidents in 2020. His alma mater, Georgia State University, recognized him with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021.

Kimbrough earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia, his master's degree from Miami University in Ohio, and a doctorate in higher education from Georgia State University.

Second Annual Meeting
The MS-CC Annual Meetings are gatherings of peers, practitioners, community-builders, advocates, and leaders from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and the broader community of minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

It is a once-a-year opportunity to come together and create a space where HBCUs and TCUs lead the conversation around sustainable campus-level IT capabilities for data-intensive education and research programs.

The MS-CC Annual Meetings are made possible thanks to support and funding from the National Science Foundation under awards #2137123 and #2234326.

Registration is now open. To learn more and secure your spot, visit the event website.

About the Minority Serving – Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC)
We envision a transformational consortium that promotes advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) and advanced technologies for teaching, learning, research, and enterprise technology capabilities at historically under-resourced HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, and MSIs. We seek to lift participating institutions by advancing technology infrastructure for research and education. We will contribute the unique voices, cultural identities, and interests of our community to research and education nationally and beyond.

The MS-CC in partnership with Internet2 received funding from the National Science Foundation to support this vision. The grants contribute nearly $3 million over two years to fund a Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence Pilot in 2021 (NSF Award # 2137123), and nearly $15 million over five years to support accelerating cyberinfrastructure-centric research capacity at HBCUs and TCUs through proof-of-concept grants and shared resources in 2022 (NSF Award # 2234326). The MS-CC has also been awarded nearly $2.5 million NSF supplement to develop the MS-CC Collaboratory in Climate Science. The consortium emerged from a pilot project funded by the National Science Foundation through Clemson University (NSF Award #1659297).

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SOURCE Internet2