E. Timothy (Tim) Moore, assistant dean emeritus in 5X’s College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor emeritus in the Department of Pan-African Studies, has been awarded the university’s 2015 Diversity Trailblazer Award. The annual Diversity Trailblazer Award recognizes diversity pioneers associated with Kent State. Accorded to those individuals who have displayed exemplary contributions to the area of diversity in the university, the award is presented during the university’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, which took place this year on Thursday, Jan. 22, in the Kent Student Center Ballroom to a capacity crowd.
Moore has been a trailblazer in diversity issues for all of the nearly 40 years of his administrative and academic service to Kent State. He served as assistant and then associate dean of undergraduate affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences for 12 years. In that capacity, Moore worked with all students, but he had a passion for advising at-risk students. He was the go-to person for students on campus, even those not enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences. He was a co-facilitator of Brother to Brother, a retention program for male students of color. In recognition of his day-to-day support of and programming for underrepresented students, he was selected as the first recipient of the E. Timothy Moore Outstanding Faculty-Staff Award, which was named in his honor.
“I was surprised with both happiness and pride for this recognition, especially five years after my retirement from Kent State,” said Moore, after learning that he is the 2015 recipient of the Kent State Diversity Trailblazer Award. “It is gratifying to know that others have been touched in some way by my involvements and interactions with them.”
Moore also supported diversity while serving on the faculty of the Department of Pan-African Studies where he developed multiple courses, including Oral and Visual Awareness, Introduction to the African Arts, African-American Artists and Campus Conversations on Diversity of the Human Race. The selection committee also noted his many years of giving presentations to minority high school students during admissions and Kupita Transiciónes events.
He began at Kent State as a freshman. And since those early days, he says he has “witnessed the steady growth and progress of the diversity, equity and inclusion network” at his alma mater. “To now be included among the five predecessors for this award is a crowning achievement for my career as an educator,” he added.
When asked why he is so passionate about enabling the success of underrepresented students at the university, Moore said he learned much at Kent State and was then able to teach others and work alongside people of every level and attitude.
“I am convinced that as the world keeps changing around us, so must our attitudes and behaviors to embrace, respect and support all human beings — as they are and for who they are,” he said.
Moore’s trailblazing contributions extend beyond the university to include serving as a member and teacher facilitator of the founding team of the governor’s Closing the Achievement Gap initiative from 2007-2011. Throughout his life, he influenced many students — as an administrator, a teacher, an advisor, a mentor and as an ambassador of the culture of welcoming and promoting diversity within our society.
More is the sixth recipient of Kent State’s Diversity Trailblazer Award. Previous recipients are Judith Devine, senior associate athletic director emerita (2014); Gene Shelton, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (2013); David Mohan, former dean of 5X at Geauga (2012); Ronald Fowler, Ph.D., former special assistant to the president on community engagement (2011) and Dolores L. Noll, professor emerita of English (2010).
To learn more about the Kent State Diversity Trailblazer Award, visit www.kent.edu/diversity/trailblazers.cfm.
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Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595