February
19, 2002
Lincoln University President Ivory V. Nelson will be Honored
at a Gala Reception at Philadelphia Museum of Art on Feb.
20
Lincoln University President Ivory V. Nelson, who has
achieved a national reputation for his distinguished leadership
in higher education, including as president of Lincoln
-- America's first Historically Black University -- will
be honored at a gala reception at the Philadelphia Museum
of Art on Wednesday, February 20, 2002.
The reception, which will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00
p.m. at the Museum, is being hosted by The Philadelphia
Tribune to celebrate the area's most influential Africans
Americans and African American leaders of the past year.
"I am very honored and, of course, very pleased that
The Philadelphia Tribune, the oldest, continuously published,
owned and operated newspaper by African Americans, is
honoring me," President Nelson said. "In honoring me this
prestigious newspaper is also honoring Lincoln University
and its legacy of excellence."
President Ivory V. Nelson,
Ph.D., who has achieved a national reputation for his
distinguished leadership in higher education, became the
twelfth president of Lincoln University on August 15,
1999. Before coming to Lincoln, he had served as the president
of Central Washington University (CWU) for more than seven
years. He was formally inaugurated as Lincoln's president
on April 14, 2000. A trained chemist, President Nelson
is listed among the world's top scientists.
Under President Nelson's leadership, Lincoln University
-- America's first Historically Black University -- is
being restored as the institution of choice for students
seeking a world-class higher education. President Nelson
has a record of active community and professional involvement
throughout his 30-plus years in higher education. He is
a member of the Oxford (Pa.) Mainstreet, Inc. Board of
Directors; YMCA of the Brandywine Valley Board of Directors;
Regional College and University Presidents Council; and
the NCAA Division III Presidents Council.
He served on the board of directors of Key Bank of Washington
and was a member of the Washington State Commission on
Student Learning, by gubernatorial appointment. He also
was a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force
on the Arts, State of Washington.
President Nelson's career in higher education includes
receiving the Fulbright Lectureship, teaching graduate
and undergraduate chemistry, and serving as department
head, assistant dean of academic affairs, and vice president
for research. President Nelson has been inducted into
Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Kappa Delta Phi education honor
society, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Phi Sigma physics honor
society. He has authored eleven technical publications
in the field of analytical chemistry, a chapter in one
book and a chapter in a monograph. He has secured extensive
outside funding through grants and proposal writing. In
addition, he has acquired significant funding from state
legislatures to construct major academic facilities. His
career in the corporate sector includes assignments as
a research chemist for both Union Carbide and American
Oil Company. President Nelson is profiled in a book entitled,
Distinguished African American Scientists of the 20th
Century.
The Central Washington University Foundation honored
President Nelson by establishing a $50,000 Ivory V. Nelson
Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry, and the Board
of Trustees of CWU passed a Resolution in August 1999
conferring on him the title of President Emeritus.
He graduated magna cum laude from Grambling State University,
in Louisiana, in 1959, with a bachelor's degree in secondary
education, chemistry. He immediately entered the University
of Kansas, Lawrence, where he graduated with the Doctor
of Philosophy degree in analytical chemistry with high
departmental honors.
Founded in 1854, Lincoln University provides the best
elements of a liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate
core curriculum and selected graduate programs to meet
the needs of students living in a highly technological
and global society. Lincoln is recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education for being one of this nation's
largest producers of African American graduates in the
physical sciences, biological and life sciences, and computer
and information sciences.
Besides its main campus in southern Chester County, Lincoln
also operates the Center for Graduate and Continuing Education
in Philadelphia. The University enrolls 1,871 undergraduate
and graduate students.
For more information, contact:
Samuel W. Pressley,
Director
Lincoln University's Office of Marketing & Communications,
610-932-1094; e-mail: spressley@lu.lincoln.edu; home:
856-582-9574.
