Dear Fisk Family,
Most of you know that our Provost, Kofi Lomotey, left Fisk today for some well earned time off before he begins his job at Southern University in Baton Rouge. Over the last two weeks, Kofi and I have been discussing an appropriate structure to support the function and important work of the Provost’s Office until an individual is selected and appointed to the position.
I am pleased to share with you that effective July 1, 2008, I have appointed two individuals who are highly respected for their work ethic, their scholarly output and collegiality to serve as Acting Co-Provosts, Dr. Sessi Aboh, Associate Provost and Dr. Arnold Burger Professor of Physics and currently the Chair of the Faculty Assembly for academic year 2007-08.
Both Drs. Aboh and Burger will serve until such time as an Interim Provost has been selected. While serving in this new role, they will continue to perform their existing academic duties.
Sessi S. F. Aboh holds an M.A./Teaching Certification from the National University of Benin (Ecole Normale Supérieure); a M.Ed. and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Before joining the Fisk Family, Dr. Aboh served as the Associate Director of the African World Studies Institute at Fort Valley State University, and as the Associate Director of the Center for Diopian Inquiry of Research on Education as Culture Transmission at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. Dr. Aboh is affiliated with the African Studies Association (ASA) and the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS). She is the Managing Editor for the Journal of Culture and its Transmission in the African World and is currently a reviewer for the Journal of Negro Education.
Arnold Burger is a professor of physics and the chair of the Fisk University Faculty Assembly for the 2007-08 academic year. He joined Fisk University in 1986 after earning his B.S. in Physics-Math, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science/Applied Physics, all from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Dr. Burger has published over 350 papers, book chapters, proceedings and invited presentations and was awarded five patents in these fields. He currently serves as Associate Editor for the journal IEEE Transaction in Nuclear Science and has organized and chaired numerous national and international conferences. His honors include the two-time selection as an R&D100 Award winner, in 1999 and 2001, for developing a new method to grow semiconductor crystals and various compact sensors to detect and image radiation.
Prior to August 1st, the University will open a search for permanent Provost.
Please join me in congratulating these two outstanding academic leaders in this latest challenge.
Sincerely,
Hazel R. O’Leary
President
