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Dr. Vivian Carter, associate professor and chair of Ƶ’s Department of Psychology and Sociology, has been honored by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority with its 2017-19 Distinguished Professor Endowed Chair Award. The honor was bestowed on her at the organization’s 53rd National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Distinguished Professor Endowed Chair Award, a perpetual trust established by Delta Sigma Theta, affirms the sorority’s long-standing commitment to educational excellence through quality instruction at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Through the award, Delta Sigma Theta seeks to support and sustain these historical institutions by providing them with support to expand educational opportunities for their students. Ƶ was the first recipient of this award when it was established in 1977.
Dr. Tamara Floyd Smith, Tuskegee’s assistant provost who led the process through which Tuskegee nominated Carter, applauded Carter’s selection for this honor.
“Dr. Vivian Carter is an accomplished academic with a research agenda focused on health disparities —particularly in the African-American community,” Smith said. “Her work fits nicely into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s goals, not to mention the student-centered and community problem-solving principles of Ƶ’s mission and strategic plan.”
In honor of Carter’s achievement, the sorority will award the university with a $200,000 grant. This award will assist Tuskegee with expanding and sustaining Carter’s research, which is focused on smoking cessation among African-Americans in Alabama’s Black Belt region. Her research seeks to determine if current smoking cessation plans would be more successful in communities of color if they were tailored to the specific cultures of those communities. The Black Belt counties targeted by her efforts represent some of the highest smoking-related mortality rates in the United States.
Carter joined the Tuskegee faculty in 1998, and was appointed as department chair in 2010. In addition to her academic duties, she also serves as deputy director for community engagement for Ƶ’s Health Disparities Institute for Research and Education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cameron University and attended the University of Oklahoma, where she completed both a master’s in human relations and a doctorate in sociology and human relations. She is a member of the Montgomery (Alabama) Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. Since its founding in 1913, more than 200,000 women have joined the organization. The organization is a sisterhood of predominantly black, college-educated women, with 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Republic of Korea.
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