Dr. Linda Hayden was awarded the 2009 National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher education (NAFEO) NOBLE Prize award on April 4, 2009 at the 2009 NAFEO Conference in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Hayden received this award for her work in education and research as Director of the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research (CERSER) at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU).

This award went to faculty members of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) who were distinguished as teachers or researchers in at least ten high need or growth disciplines: the sciences; technology; engineering; mathematics; health professions; law; economics; foreign languages or foreign affairs; teacher education; “peace, justice, equity or ecumenism.”

Host for the NAFEO 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration with Mr. Tom Joyner and Dana Richardson Joyner (The Tom Joyner Foundation) and Rev. Jesse Jackson. The Provacateur for the event was Rev. Frederick D. Haynes.

Other 2009 awardees included:

• Dr. Mathew Edwards
  Professor, Department of Physics, Alabama A&M University
• Dr. Loretta Jaggers
  Professor, College of Education, Grambling State University
• Dr. Gemma Douglas Beckley
  Professor and Chair of Social Work Department, Rust College
• Dr. Gaston M. N'Guerekata
  Chair and Professor, Department of Mathematics, Morgan State University
• Dr. Doris J. Ward
  Chairperson of Arts and Sciences/Associate Professor of Biology, Voorhees College
• Dr. James Ervin Glover
  Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Ford Valley State University

Acceptance Address

Thank you NAFEO, I am honored to accept this prestigious award from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. This award says that I’ve distinguished myself among my peers in what I do. WOW, I am humbled and blessed to receive this award. I have far more to say than two minutes will accommodate so I will urge you to go to the site renci.org and view the two part interview. Part two is an encouragement for underrepresented students to follow their love for STEM disciplines. Take all the math and science that is available… in fact demand mathematics. Part two is also an acknowledgement of the role that ECSU, my graduate and undergraduate student researchers have played in achieving this award.

Of course there was another set of players in this award including ONR, NSF, NASA, NOAA and NSA. They all, through their research and education funding opportunities support the research and education programs acknowledged by this award.

Thanks to my family…my husband, son, sister and her husband, Dawn and the girls who know my crazy work habits and love me anyway. I applaud the vision of NAFEO, founded in 1969 by a group of HBCU presidents as the professional association of the presidents and chancellors of the nation's historically and predominantly black colleges and universities, as you acknowledge through the Nobel Award efforts to expand the interests of students at all levels in math and science, efforts to secure grants for research here and abroad, and efforts to develop academic workshops to train teachers and better prepare students.

Thank you again. I am truly proud to receive this award.

Dr. Linda Bailey Hayden serves as director of the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research on the campus of Elizabeth City State University. She is also a tenured professor in the ECSU Mathematics and Computer Science Department. Dr. Hayden has distinguished herself in the area of funding for remote sensing research and education projects, which include cyberinfrastructure support for polar science field research. Her work, supported by the Office of Naval Research, NASA and the National Science Foundation established a world class GRID computing facility for storage and manipulation of Synthetic-Aperture Radar Images Polar Ice-Sheet Bed data. The graduate and undergraduate research students who work with her are provided scholarships, internships and opportunities to work with scientist in Antarctica and Greenland. The National Science Foundation awarded Dr. Hayden the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) in 2003.

Through funding from The National Security Agency and the NSF Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, her outreach activities impacts heavily the student population in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia. For the past eight years students from HBCUs and MSIs across the nation have participated in the summer Undergraduate Research Experience. Recently, using support provided by the Office of Naval Research Dr. Hayden now includes students from Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal in the URE program. And, through partnership with the IEEE-Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society and NOAA, K-12 students in Cape Town South Africa will receive training in remote sensing, GIS and GPS.

Dr. Hayden is a product of Virginia’s Portsmouth Public Schools. She received her B.S. degree in Mathematics/ Physics from Virginia State University, a M.A.T. from The University of Cincinnati in Mathematics/Education, the M.S. in Computer Science from Old Dominion University and a Ph.D. in Mathematics/Education from American University.

Founded in 1969 by a group of HBCU presidents as the professional association of the presidents and chancellors of the nation's historically and predominantly black colleges and universities, NAFEO represents approximately 400,000 students and their families, and African Americans across the higher education spectrum. NAFEO member institutions are public and private, two and four year community, regional, national and international comprehensive research institutions, located in twenty-five states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Brazil.

NAFEO includes more than 100 member institutions, which consist of two- and four year private and public colleges and universities, graduate and professional schools located throughout the country. The organization stresses the need for a system of higher education, where race, ethnicity, socio-economic status and previous educational attainment levels are not determinants of either the quality or quantity of higher education. NAFEO offers a wide range of programs and services for students NAFEO includes more than 100 member institutions, which consist of two- and four year private and public colleges and universities, graduate and professional schools located throughout the country. The organization stresses the need for a system of higher education, where race, ethnicity, socio-economic status and previous educational attainment levels are not determinants of either the quality or quantity of higher education. NAFEO offers a wide range of programs and services for students and faculty.

Shown (l to r) are Dr. Edgar Dillard, Navy Career Transition Center, Mr. Charles Luther, Past President of IEEE-Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, and Dr. Anthony Junior from the Office of Naval Research.