Journalist and president to speak to JSU graduating classes

De’Arbreya Lee
Staff Writer

Journalist Ed Gordon and Jackson State University President Carolyn Meyers will be the speakers for JSU’s 2011 Commencement ceremonies.

Meyers will be the speaker for the graduate ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, May 6 at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center on JSU’s main campus.

Gordon will speak during the undergraduate ceremony scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, May 7 at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

This year, approximately 799 undergraduates will receive degrees and 295 graduate students will receive advanced degrees.

The speakers will likely bring different perspectives in their words to the graduates.  Gordon is an Emmy-winning television and radio journalist, and Dr. Meyers is a mechanical and chemical engineer as well as JSU’s newest president.

Meyers, a native of Newport News, Va., earned her bachelor’s degree at Howard University,  and both her master’s degree in mechanical engineering and doctorate in chemical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Before embarking on her career as an educator, Meyers worked as a steam generator and systems analyst for the General Electric Company. While working at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technological State University, she held positions as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, dean of the College of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering.

Meyers is currently serving as Jackson State’s 10th president. Prior to her JSU appointment, she was president of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. for four years,

Gordon, a native of Detroit, Mich., received his bachelor’s degree in communications and political science at Western Michigan University in 1982. He began his exploration into the journalism scene during an unpaid internship with WTVS, Detroit’s public television station.

He later began working as a news anchor for the weekly news show, BET News on Black Entertainment Television network in 1988. While there, Gordon along with few news staff members, helped what was then a small network, reach wider audiences, covering stories concerning global issues in areas like Africa and the Caribbean. Gordon was also the host of the BET aired special, concerning the 1991 Los Angeles riots, titled “Black Men Speak Out: The Aftermath.” During his growing career, Gordon has conducted interviews with the likes of people from political and entertainment backgrounds, such as former president Bill Clinton, Whitney Houston, Nelson Mandela, Janet Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton.

In addition to Gordon’s current projects, Weekly with Ed Gordon returning to the network, he hosted Detroit Black Journal Weekly Talk Show, NBC, CBS news magazine, and 60 Minutes.