"The history of African Americans is closely tied with agriculture," said Dr. Daniel D. Godfrey, dean of the NC A&T School of Agriculture. "However, minority representation in a number of agriculture-related fields is small. Our programs address that issue by preparing our students for promising careers in agriculture, and natural and life sciences."

Pioneering programs and people within the NC A&T School of Agriculture have played a large role in increasing the number of minorities in several fields.

Since 1981, NC A&T students have studied under NC A&T's Laboratory Animal Science Program, which, according to the Program's coordinator, Dr. Tracy Hanner, DVM, is the only one of its kind in the state. Hanner is a pioneer himself, in 1986 becoming the first African-American graduate of North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

According to Hanner, of the 1,755 veterinarians licensed in North Carolina, only about 50, or 2.9 percent, are minorities.

Programs like A&T's Laboratory Animal Science Program, which has sent nearly half of its recent graduates to veterinary school, are working to increase minority representation in the veterinary field.

According to departmental statistics, since 1981, 43 percent of graduates from the School of Agriculture's Laboratory Animal Science Program have gone on to attend veterinary medical school, and 57 percent have attended either veterinary school or graduate school.

Another unique program in the NC A&T School of Agriculture is the Landscape Architecture Program.

Initially accredited in 1993, the A&T Landscape Architecture Program is the only undergraduate program at a historically black college or university to be accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board, and it is the only accredited undergraduate program in North Carolina.

Though numbers are increasing, minority representation in landscape architecture remains small. According to Ron Leighton, director, academic relations for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), in academic year 1995 to 1996, about 5,600 students were enrolled in accredited landscape architecture programs, and about 100 to 110 were black. Thirty-two of those students were enrolled at A&T.

Perry Howard, an associate professor in NC A&T's Landscape Architecture Program, is a pioneer working with the program. Howard, who holds the Master of Landscape Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, is one of only three African Americans elected as ASLA Fellows.

The burgeoning field of agricultural engineering has seen a recent surge in minority enrollment, thanks in part to A&T's Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Program.

Since 1991, the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Program, which is jointly administered by the School of Agriculture and the College of Engineering, has been the only accredited program of its kind among historically black colleges and universities. North Carolina is the only state to have two land-grant institutions with accredited agricultural engineering programs within its borders.

Dr. Godfrey Gayle, chairperson of the NC A&T Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design and a professor in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Program, became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from North Carolina State University, in 1982. At that time, he was only the fifth African American nationally to receive this degree.

"Our programs are designed to be responsive to society's needs," said Godfrey. "We are proud of helping our students and faculty develop while meeting those needs."

- 30 -

For more information on the NC A&T School of Agriculture, please call Mitch Arnold at (336) 334-7049.