Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail Named President of Minority Council

Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail Named President and CEO of the National Action
Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME)
McPhail calls for systemic change in science and engineering curricula  and
offers support through NACME to underrepresented minority students

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., -- The National Council for
Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), today announced that Dr. Irving
Pressley McPhail has been named its sixth President and CEO, replacing the
recently retired Dr. John Brooks Slaughter. Dr. McPhail's tenure begins
immediately.

Dr. McPhail has articulated a vision for NACME and wide-ranging expectations
for necessary changes in education and political institutions to help maintain
American competitiveness in a global economy.

"As NACME celebrates its 35th Anniversary during 2009, we will continue to
play a central role in building the overall number of underrepresented
minority engineering graduates," said Dr. McPhail. "We will continue to
provide scholarships to deserving youth and we will continue to form
partnerships with K-12 schools to promote science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) careers.

Increasing the number of underrepresented minority engineering students is not
only the right thing to do, but an economic imperative."

Dr. McPhail outlined several goals, which he said NACME would consistently and
continuously measure, including:

    --  Positioning NACME at the forefront of policy discussions that include
        STEM careers;
    --  Driving systemic change in STEM curricula from middle school through
        higher education;

    --  Assisting employers to develop more effective practices in recruiting,
        retaining, developing, and promoting underrepresented minority
        engineers.


A native of Harlem, Dr. McPhail earned an academic scholarship to Cornell
University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in development sociology.  He
holds a master's degree in reading from the Harvard Graduate School of
Education. He was a National Fellowships Fund Fellow at the University of
Pennsylvania, where he earned his doctorate in reading/language arts.

Dr. McPhail served as Chancellor of The Community College of Baltimore County
(CCBC), one of Maryland's largest and most-powerful higher education
providers, from 1998 to 2005.  Under his leadership, CCBC successfully
reorganized from three separate community colleges into a single,
multi-campus, public college that has benefited people, families, and
businesses in the region.

Dr. McPhail also served as president of St. Louis Community College at
Florissant Valley and president of LeMoyne-Owen College.  He has held senior
tenured faculty appointments at Morgan State University, Delaware State
University, LeMoyne-Owen College, and Pace University, and served for one year
as chief operating officer of the Baltimore City Public Schools.

Dr. McPhail currently serves on the board of directors and the executive
committee of the National Council on Black American Affairs/Northeast Region,
an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges, and
the board of directors of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
Education Foundation. He is a founding member of the National Engineers Week
Foundation Diversity Council.

He is married to Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail, managing principal of The
McPhail Group LLC, a global higher education consulting practice. McPhail is
the father of Dr. Kamilah McPhail McKissick, a board certified clinical
psychologist, and the grandfather of Connor Pressley McKissick.

About NACME

Since 1974, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME)
has provided leadership and support for the national effort to increase the
representation of successful African American, American Indian, and Latino
women and men in engineering and technology, math-, and science-based careers.
Over the past 35 years, more than 20,000 underrepresented minority students
have received in excess of $100 million in scholarships grants and program
support at 160 colleges and universities in all regions of the United States.


 

SOURCE NACME