Dr. Fred A. Bonner, II is Professor and Endowed Chair in Educational Leadership and Counseling and Founding Executive Director and Chief Scientist of the Minority Achievement, Creativity and High-Ability (MACH-III) Center at Prairie View A&M University. He is formerly the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University and an esteemed expert in the field of diversity in education. Prior to joining Rutgers, he was Professor of Higher Education Administration and Dean of Faculties at Texas A&M University-College Station. He earned a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of North Texas, an M.S. Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Baylor University, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration & College Teaching from the University of Arkansas. Bonner has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Association for Higher Education Black Caucus Dissertation Award and the Educational Leadership, Counseling and Foundation’s Dissertation of the Year Award from the University of Arkansas College of Education. His work has been featured nationally and internationally. He is the author of the recently released book, Building on Resilience: Models and Frameworks of Black Male Success Across the P-20 Pipeline.
Dr. Stella L. Smith is the Associate Director for the Minority Achievement, Creativity and High-Ability Center in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Prairie View A&M University. In this role, Dr. Smith provides strategic leadership and oversight of the MACH-III Center operations including financial, programmatic, research and assessment activities. Dr. Smith earned her Ph.D. in Educational Administration with a portfolio in Women and Gender Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. Recognized with a 2014 Dissertation Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, her dissertation study was a phenomenological inquiry to investigate the experiences, challenges and strategies for success of African American females in senior-level executive positions in higher at predominately white institutions. A qualitative researcher, her scholarly interests focus on several areas including the experiences of faculty and administrators of color in higher education; African American females in leadership in higher education; access and inclusion of underserved populations in higher education, and P–20 educational pipeline alignment.
Mr. Norman Roumell Eaton is the Administrative Associate for the MACH-III Center, Whitlowe R. Green College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas.