June 22, 2004
For Immediate Release
SIM Memphis Honors James Earl Robinson
Memphis, TN—The Memphis Chapter of the Society for Information Management, the premier network of IT leaders, has endowed a scholarship at LeMoyne-Owen College in memory of James Earl Robinson, a distinguished mathematician, professor and alumnus of the college.
“We want to commend Mr. John Nichols, and the Society for Information Management for choosing to honor Dr. Robinson’s memory in this special way,” said Dr. James G. Wingate, President of LeMoyne-Owen College. “Their generosity will carry on the work that Dr. Robinson began by supporting the College’s goal to increase the number of young people pursuing degrees in the areas of mathematics, technology and the sciences. We consider SIM to be strategic partners with us as we continue to pursue this goal.”
Dr. Robinson received his baccalaureate degree from LeMoyne-Owen College in 1968, his master of science degree in mathematics from Purdue University in 1970 and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Memphis State University in 1980. He joined the faculty of LeMoyne-Owen in 1970, and made significant contributions to the academic life of the institution. He was coordinator of the Mathematics Area for many years, and during his tenure in that office the College introduced its computer science program. A creative teacher, he was director of the DuBois Scholars Honors Program. Always anxious to give back to the community, Dr. Robinson directed many youth programs providing enrichment and academic preparation for minority youngsters in the schools. He brought significant funding to the College and youth mathematics programs from the Kaiser Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and IBM.
Recipients of the James Robinson Memorial Endowed Scholarship must be full-time majors in Information Management or a closely related field who have completed a minimum of 60 credit hours. Applicants must also submit a recommendation letter from a faculty member and an essay on business uses of information technology. The selection is made by representatives of SIM and a scholarship committee of LeMoyne-Owen College.
The scholarship fund awards up to $1,500 to the recipient. The number and final value of the scholarships will be determined by the amount contributed to the fund. SIM endowed the scholarship with $30,000 raised at last year’s Strategy Series, an annual event sponsored by the Memphis Chapter.
