BLACK ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS K-12 Promotion of Education
Mary Marie Hamlett 8th Grade Phy. Sci. Teacher Halifax County School System, Virginia
eighth-grade physical science and seventh-grade life science classes scored 98 percent on the Virginia Standards of Learning Science test. African-American female and male students scored 100 percent and 93 percent respectively. The Virginia Standards of Learning Science test represents what many teachers, school administrators, parents, and business and community lead- ers believe schools should teach and students should learn in basic subjects such as science, math and technology. Hamlett, a dedicated home base teacher who offers catch up lessons at home when students are ill or out of class because of behavior problems, earned an America’s Stellar Educa- tor recognition for her efforts from Career Communications Group in 2009, as well as a Halifax County STEM Teacher Stellar Educator Award. Hamlett was also recognized for having a middle school girls’ track & field career coaching record of 215 wins and 16 conference titles. In 2007, she memorably scored a hat trick in the annual open African- American History Contest sponsored by the Southside Virginia Community College. She won first place in 2005 through 2007; and took second place in 2010. Hamlett also wrote the curriculum of the first ever African-American history class at Halifax County Middle School. The course encouraged students to discover the opportunities in various fields.
I Hamlett’s career began in 1985. After graduating from
Averett University with a bachelor’s degree in middle school education, she joined the Halifax County School System as an eighth grade physical science teacher and girl’s track and field coach. Two years later, she served as a teacher for a summer program designed to increase the participation of females and minority students in math, science and computer technology. In addition to physical science, she taught math and reading to help prepare lower-performing students for the Literacy Passport test, which was phased out with the adoption of Virginia’s new and more rigorous Standards of Learning. In August 1991, she began to serve as a peer mediator supervi- sor, where she helped students resolve conflicts in a nonviolent manner. In 2000, she taught remedial classes to young people aged 14-18 at Longwood College. In 1990, Hamlett won an Earth and Space Science Middle Education endorsement from Longwood. She also earned a master’s degree in middle school education from Averett University in 1993.
24 USBE&IT I WINTER 2012
n 2010, 75 stu- dents in Mary Marie Hamlett’s
Lifetime Achievement
Kelvin R. Mason Chief Information Officer Gulfstream, A General Dynamics Company
in a single-parent household in Savannah, Ga. Though the deck appeared to be
K
stacked against him, he had just what it took to beat the odds and clear hurdles. Support from family, friends and the Savan- nah community set him on his way to the University of Georgia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Management Information Systems) in 1983. As a new informa- tion systems college graduate, he landed a job at Gulfstream as an Associate Programmer in Aircraft Services Application Develop- ment. Over a seven-year period, he progressed to Programmer, Senior Programmer, Programmer Analyst, Systems Analyst and Senior Systems Analyst within Application Development. In February1991, Mason launched a Savannah-based startup, soliciting and securing project management consulting and contracting business through creative profit sharing partnerships and pay-for-performance. After eight years of offering competi- tive service, he rejoined Gulfstream in June 2000 as Director of the Personal Computing Group, where he was responsible for all acquisition, configuration and development of personal comput- ing devices. He also managed all desktop projects throughout the company. By September 2000, Mason was named CIO for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp, a $4 billion subsidiary of General Dynamics. The first ever in this position African-American male, Mason led members of Gulfstream and General Dynam- ics management teams in planning strategic use of technology to drive revenue growth, maximize return on assets, and improve productivity and control costs. Currently, Mason oversees a team of 300 employees across 20 geographic company sites and in two separate aerospace busi- ness units at Gulfstream and General Dynamics. Mason’s team is responsible for ensuring that correct information technology (IT) solutions as well as reliable product and business informa- tion are available to support both customers and suppliers. The team’s IT solutions range from networking, hardware, software and helpdesk support services for all employees to transitioning the company’s manufacturing process to an IT-based manage- ment system that streamlines development for technologically advanced business jet aircraft. Mason’s efforts have transformed the IT structure and accelerated business results. Within the community, Mason works with the Savannah
Stars Organization Youth Football, the Savannah Excellence Fund Board of Directors, the Future Business Leaders Associa- tion at Johnson High School, Savannah State University Col-
www.blackengineer.com
elvin R. Mason grew up one of four children
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