Dr. Mary Frances Howard-Hamilton, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Education at Indiana University Bloomington, will speak at Berea College, February 9 on the affect African American women have had on history and their resilience in face of adversity.

The annual Carter G. Woodson Memorial Convocation, part of Black History Month activities at Berea, is scheduled at 3 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel and is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Black Cultural Center.

Before becoming Dean of Graduate Studies, Howard-Hamilton served as both the department chair of and an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at IU. She previously held the positions of associate professor and coordinator for the University of Florida's Student Personnel in Higher Education Program and, at the same time, held an affiliate faculty position at the Center for Women's Studies and Graduate Research (at the University of Florida).

Howard-Hamilton earned her Ed.D. from North Carolina State University, and both her M.A (in College Student Personnel Services) and B.A. (in Speech and Dramatic Arts) from the University of Iowa. Among the awards she has earned are the 2000 S. Earl Thompson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Residence Life and Food Service by the Association of College and University Housing Officers International, and Outstanding Student Affairs Faculty member by the Southern Association for College Student Affairs Administrators.

For a complete listing of Berea College Convocations for 2005-06, visit online at www.berea.edu/convo.