N.C. A&T’s Gilmore Named 2020-21 Fulbright Program Grant Finalist Jacqueline Torok : Photo courtesy NCA&T EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 27, 2020) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Student Government Association President Allison Gilmore has been selected as a 2020-21 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant finalist. Gilmore, of St. Louis, is a senior studying journalism and mass communication whose grant application was for one of up to four Combined Community-English Teaching Assistantships in Austria. This grant will allow her to work as a teaching assistant for English at a secondary school, pursue a project at a community organization and take university courses on a part-time basis. “I worked really hard on this and I’m proud of myself for this accomplishment,” said Gilmore. “What I’m looking forward to the most is traveling while living in Europe and falling deeper into my passions for civil service and diplomacy.” Gilmore, who worked with Angela Rye as a public policy intern and with U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, plans to attend graduate school to study international affairs and eventually work for the State Department. Gilmore is N.C. A&T’s sixth Fulbright Program grant recipient and the first to participate in a combined grant. She was endorsed by the university last in October after completing the campus application process through NCAT Extraordinary Opportunities (NCAT EO) last August. A University Honors Program (UHP) student, Gilmore was first recruited to seek a 2019 Truman Scholarship. She has remained active in UHP since then by serving as an ambassador, mentor and participant in New Student Orientation sessions. “Allison has a demonstrated interest in and commitment to learning from and empowering marginalized communities on local and global scales,” said Margaret I. Kanipes, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T Honors Program director. Gilmore joined YoVanna Solomon ’18 and Jaylynn Ellington ’18 as N.C. A&T’s semifinalists in this year’s Fulbright Program grant cycle. Gilmore and Solomon are official institutional semifinalists, while Ellington is an at-large semifinalist. “We are immensely proud of Allison, YoVanna and Jaylynn,” said Kanipes. “This is just another outstanding example of the commitment and dedication of our Aggies to achieve excellence.” Solomon, of Wilmington, North Carolina, graduated with a degree in international studies and was an exchange student in Uruguay. She also worked with Row New York to create a social and emotional learning curriculum to be integrated into coaching and rowing culture offered to youth. Having taught English and volunteered with various youth development nonprofits, she is being considered for the English Teaching Assistantship grant in Brazil. Ellington, of Salisbury, North Carolina, graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in political science with a certification in Global Health Awareness. She went on to complete Yale University’s Foundations of Bioethics course, receive certifications in global human rights from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and international women's rights and health from Stanford University, and served as an AT&T Inc. legal scholar in 2018. Her semifinalist status last year for a Master of Global Health at National Taiwan University resulted in her receiving full funding from the university, where she is completing the degree while being considered for a Study/Research grant in Barbados. Led by the United States government in partnership with more than 160 countries worldwide, the Fulbright Program, established by Congress in 1946, offers international educational and cultural exchange programs for passionate and accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers and professionals of all backgrounds to study, teach or pursue important research and professional projects. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program awards about 2,000 grants annually in all fields of study and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. Candidates must submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the United States.

N.C. A&T’s Price Receives Maria Leonard Graduate Fellowship Jackie Torok : Photo courtesy NCA&T EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 14, 2020) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduating senior Kailyn Price has been awarded the Maria Leonard Graduate Fellowship, the top fellowship offered by Alpha Lambda Delta national honor society. Price, of Huntersville, North Carolina, was chosen from a pool of competitive applicants to receive the fellowship named for Alpha Lambda Delta’s founder. Her $7,000 award is for the 2020-21 academic year. After receiving her B.S. in biology, Price will pursue her Ph.D. in genomics and bioinformatics at George Washington State University, where she also intends to engage in policy, ethics and global health coursework and opportunities. At N.C. A&T, Price is a Dowdy Scholar who is active in the University Honors Program. She also is a Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research Scholar, a 2018 White House Competitiveness Scholar and a member of the 2018 Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute cohort. In addition, Price is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, a peer facilitator and PrEP Ambassador, a teaching assistant for Step Up to STEM at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and an intern at Duke University Hospital Emergency Services Department. Price was N.C.A&T’s third Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute program recipient – its first since 2000 – and attended the summer 2019 program at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Afterward, she received honorable mention from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Price served as president of her Alpha Lambda Delta chapter and was the founding president of Aggies Debate and Forensics, an organization she led from fall 2016 through spring 2019 when it won many awards at a national competition. “With all Kailyn has accomplished in her educational career, she serves as a model of Aggie Pride,” said Margaret I. Kanipes, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T Honors Program director. “We applaud her success and continued development as a passionate learner and leader.” Founded in 1924, Alpha Lambda Delta has more than a million lifetime members and is present on 280 campuses nationwide. Its mission is to “encourage superior academic achievement, to promote intelligent living and a continued high standard of learning, and to assist students in recognizing and developing meaningful goals for their unique roles in society.”

N.C. A&T’s Stanley Accepted as 2021 Transportation Review Board Minority Student Fellow Jackie Torok : Photo courtesy NCA&T EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 8, 2020) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduate student Patrick Stanley has been accepted as a Transportation Review Board (TRB) Minority Student Fellow for 2021. Stanley, of Four Oaks, North Carolina, is pursuing an MBA with a supply chain management concentration in N.C. A&T’s Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics. As a fellowship recipient, Stanley will write and submit a research paper on the trucking industry and changes in the hours of service (HOS) standards during the COVID-19 pandemic. He intends to analyze commercial vehicle accident data from trucking capacity statistics recorded on government sites and in articles written during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare the information with data from periods of standard operations. Stanley will present his paper at the annual TRB meeting Jan. 23-26, 2021, in Washington, D.C. “Trucking capacity, delivery times and hours driven are important factors influencing supply chain efficiency,” said Stanley. “These areas interest me because HOS standards directly impact supply chain design, distribution and transportation decision making.” Stanley interned as a research assistant with the Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility (CATM) at A&T as an undergraduate. He received his B.S. in supply chain management in 2019. In 2017, he worked under Xiuli Qu, Ph.D., and Sachin Mhatre, a Ph.D. candidate in the industrial and systems engineering department, to summarize and organize Hurricane Matthew data to be used to evaluate emergency management responses and activities. During the summer of 2018, he participated in the U.S. Department of Transportation Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups with the Federal Railroad Administration. Stanley was selected as a 2018-19 Dwight David Eisenhower HBCU Transportation Fellowship Award recipient, attended the 2019 TRB meeting and is an active member of Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. “Patrick has taken advantage of practically every occasion the Transportation Institute at A&T has offered to learn more about the transportation industry, including professional development, scholarships and fellowships, internships and networking opportunities,” said Maranda McBride, Ph.D., director of Transportation Institute and CATM. “Patrick expressed to me his desire to become a transportation professional several years ago and I can truly say I am pleased to see he is receiving this high honor. His hard work and dedication are definitely paying off.” The TRB partners with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration to fund TRB’s Minority Student Fellows Program through the Dwight David Eisenhower Fellowship Program. The programs promote participation of minorities in transportation careers and in TRB by providing funds for qualified students to attend the TRB annual meeting. TRB Minority Student Fellowships are for juniors, seniors and graduate students who are pursuing transportation-related degrees and who plan to enter the transportation profession upon completing their education. Each university uses its own selection process in deciding which students to send as TRB Minority Student Fellows.

N.C. A&T’s Ellington Named 2020-21 Fulbright Program Grant Finalist Jacqueline Torok : Photo courtesy NCA&T EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 1, 2020) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alumna Jaylynn Ellington has been selected as a 2020-21 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant finalist. Ellington is the first member of North Carolina A&T’s alumni community to be selected as a Fulbright Program grant finalist and is the university’s seventh Fulbright Program grant recipient. She was an at-large applicant for a study/research grant in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, where she will study gender-sensitive approaches to disaster management. Her semifinalist status last year for a Master of Global Health at National Taiwan University resulted in her receiving full tuition funding from the university, where she is completing the degree. Ellington, of Salisbury, North Carolina, graduated magna cum laude from A&T in May 2018 with a B.A. in political science with a certification in Global Health Awareness. She went on to complete Yale University’s Foundations of Bioethics course, receive certifications in global human rights from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and international women's rights and health from Stanford University, and served as an AT&T Inc. legal scholar in 2018. At A&T, Ellington was an active member of the Student Government Association (SGA) and worked as chief litigator for Enactus. She also was involved in law-focused organizations such as the Henry Frye Prelaw Society and National Black Law Student Association. In addition, Ellington received the university’s International Business Development Fellowship through which she worked closely with Fortune 500 companies and learned the importance of intellectual property, compliance law and external affairs. “Jaylynn’s extraordinary dedication to making the world a better place was evident as a N.C. A&T student,” said Margaret I. Kanipes, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T Honors Program director. “Her achievements are another example of the commitment to excellence shared by our distinguished alumni.” This marks the first time two Aggies have been chosen as Fulbright Program grant finalists in the same cycle. Ellington joins Allison Gilmore ’20, an official institutional semifinalist whose grant application was for one of up to four Combined Community-English Teaching Assistantships in Austria. This grant allows her to work as a teaching assistant for English at a secondary school, pursue a project at a community organization and take university courses on a part-time basis. Led by the United States government in partnership with more than 160 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, established by Congress in 1946, offers international educational and cultural exchange programs for passionate and accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers and professionals of all backgrounds to study, teach or pursue important research and professional projects. It awards about 2,000 grants annually in all fields of study and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. Eligible N.C. A&T students and alumni are being recruited for the 2021-22 Fulbright Program grant cycle through NCAT Extraordinary Opportunities. The application deadline is Aug. 18. About North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is the nation’s largest historically black university, ranked number one among public HBCUs by U.S. News & World Report. It is a land-grant, doctoral high-research classified university by the Carnegie Foundation and constituent member of the University of North Carolina system. A&T is known for its leadership in producing graduates in engineering, agriculture and other STEM fields. The university was founded in 1891 and is located in Greensboro, North Carolina.

N.C. A&T Computer Science Student Receives White House Initiative Honor Jacqueline Torok EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 18, 2020) – Oluchi Chukwunyere, a rising senior studying computer science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, has been selected by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities as a 2020 HBCU Competitiveness Scholar. Chukwunyere is among 44 students selected from 33 HBCUs nationwide to receive the initiative’s highest honor based on academic achievements, campus leadership, civic engagement and entrepreneurial spirit. “This honor provides an opportunity for me to use my past initiatives at A&T as the blueprint,” said Chukwunyere. “One of my goals is to push and advance African Americans as well as other minorities in this tech space.” Chukwunyere aims to equip other scholars with programming guides and marketing resources to launch coding series at their respective colleges. “I am immensely proud of Oluchi for her White House honor,” said Dorothy Yuan, Ph.D., chair of the computer science department in the College of Engineering (COE). “With her participation in internships, competitions and student organizations, Oluchi demonstrates the many ways our department not only supports the career development of students, but also develops the future leaders of the computer science industries." Chukwunyere, a Forbes 30 under 30 Scholar, was the first Aggie selected to participate in the Google Tech Exchange Program this spring. She has also interned at Apple and Microsoft, and was named a fellow for the Management Leadership for Tomorrow and Rewriting the Code Fellowship programs. “We are all very proud of Oluchi, who continues to thrive at North Carolina A&T and push herself to achieve one distinction after another,” said Robin N. Coger, Ph.D., COE dean. Chukwunyere organized A&T’s second annual Hackathon and served as a judge for the university’s FIRST robotic tournaments in 2018 and went on to lead a team of computer science students who placed first in the Black Enterprise 2019 BE SMART Hackathon. It was the third time A&T won the event since its inception. “Oluchi has engaged and shown care for other students and is the prime example of what we like our STEM students to be,” said Kelvin Bryant, Ph.D., assistant professor in the computer science department. In addition to serving as a program advisor for the Built By Girls’ WAVE technology mentorship program, Chukwunyere co-founded the Nigeria-based nonprofit Janet Hope Alive International Initiative with her parents. The organization is dedicated to empowering Nigerian citizens by providing computer literacy education and web development training, among other skills, to improve their economic status and expand entrepreneurial opportunities. The 2020 HBCU Competitiveness Scholars will participate in the 2020 Virtual National HBCU Week Conference and monthly virtual events hosted by the White House Initiative and other partners, network with other scholars and receive a certificate of recognition from the initiative’s executive director. To learn more about the HBCU Competitiveness Scholar program, visit the U.S. Department of Education website.

VIDEO: N.C. A&T Computer Science Student Receives White House Initiative Honor