To be named faculty member emerita
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Dr. Carolyn B. Brooks, an award-winning educator at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for more than three decades, will be formally named a faculty member emerita May 25 during the 2018 spring commencement.
The Richmond, Va. native joined the UMES faculty in January 1981 as a research associate specializing in microbiology and emerged as a respected campus leader, eventually serving as a academic department chair, research director of 1890 land-grant programs, dean of the School of Agriculture & Natural Sciences and executive assistant / chief of staff to President Dolores R. Spikes.
In 2007, she became executive director of Association of 1890 Research Directors, an organization of administrators specializing in agriculture and food sciences at the nation’s 19 historically black land-grant universities, including UMES, where she maintained an office in her new role.
Dr. Brooks was credited with attracting more than $4 million in external funding to support research and teaching initiatives as a UMES faculty member and administrator.
Named a Distinguished African American Scientist of the 20th Century, her other career highlights include: the Maryland Association of Higher Education’s outstanding educator award; an excellence in science and technology honor from the White House Initiative for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the UMES National Alumni Association’s faculty award for excellence and achievement. She is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Agriculture Hall of Fame.
She served as chair of the board of LEAD 21, a national program that provides leadership and professional development training for faculty and professionals within the land-grant system of about 90 institutions.
Dr. Brooks also traveled extensively as a consultant or evaluator of research and academic programs at universities across the country as well as internationally.
She is an alumna of Tuskegee University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. Here Ph.D. in microbiology is from The Ohio State University.
She retired in 2016.
