the focus of Leslie’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) outreach and, eventually, a second job as program manager of Boeing’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Mi- nority Institutions Initiative. “If corporate America was going to be successful, we had to grow the future workforce,” Leslie said in a recent telephone interview. That thought drove his passion for aerospace research coupled with Boeing investment in the future workforce. In the course of his university relations outreach, he has served on a commission led by Michigan State University to study the need for an engineering program at Alabama A&M University in the 1980s; on the Board of Directors at AAMU, as member of the St. Louis Federal Executive Board’s Small Busi- ness Opportunity Committee, and on the 2012 Department of Defense Commission to study Engineering at and STEM Educa- tion at HBCUs/MI.
Leslie has been an alternative board member of AMIE (Ad- vancing Minorities Interest in Engineering) since 1997. From day one, preparing students to meet future workforce has captivated him and over the years his efforts have mush- roomed, providing a vehicle for reaching deans, faculty, students at HBCUs and minority institutions across America. In 2008, when Leslie won the Black Engineer of the Year
Award (BEYA) for Affirmative Action in Supplier Diversity, Joyce Tucker, then vice president of Boeing global diversity and employee rights, told US Black Engineer & Information Technology (USBE&IT) magazine that, “Oliver’s ingenuity, volunteering spirit and ease while interacting with others are of paramount importance to the world of diversity and change.” Leslie’s citation praised his accomplishments in raising the level of collaboration between Boeing and HBCUs and other minor- ity institutions, as well as bringing about possibilities for them to take part in what Leslie called the “technological paradigm shift.” That shift saw Boeing earn the No. 1 spot on USBE&IT’s
“Top Supporters of HBCU Engineering Schools” list three years in a row. The Top Supporters list features employers who receive direct recommendations from deans at HBCU engineer- ing schools. In 2006, records show that Boeing campus hires were almost double that of the previous year and the company increased its sub-contracting dollars spent at historically Black colleges and universities and minority institutions by 35 percent. Under Boeing’s cooperative partnership with Tennessee State University, TSU students and faculty developed computer- based systems that evaluate cockpits, did joint research on seat comfort in Boeing airplanes, and developed two Howard Univer- sity nanotechnology research projects. Leslie’s dream, which started more than 40 years ago, has soared beyond what he could have ever imagined while picking cotton in Alabama. Given corporate freedom to help people, he has used his influence to enhance relationships, build trust, and impact the future workforce. While Leslie’s successor prepares to carry on his legacy, Joan Robinson-Berry gave a 360-degree view as vice president of supplier management, Boeing Shared Services: “In an increasingly competitive marketplace, Boeing needs the best talent available; a diverse workforce can provide tan- gible benefits. In fact, as markets expand globally being able to understand and reach out to the individual needs of people from other cultures and regions will be paramount. A multicultural, talented, and trained employee base gives companies that com- petitive advantage,” Robinson-Berry said.
Meanwhile, outdoors enthusiast Leslie, 65, looks forward to growing more veggies, tomatoes, cucumbers and hosta plant- ing. In the summers, he plans to spend time on sandy beaches in Florida or Honolulu with his wife of 38 years, their two adult daughters, son-in-law, and their 15-year and 7-year-old grand- daughters. He might also find time to watch Star Trek reruns with Captain Jean-Luc Picard on USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B.
TRIBUTES TO OLIVER “BO” LESLIE Morgan State University The members of the Council of Engineering Deans at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)
take pride in offering this salute to Mr. Oliver Bo Leslie, on the occasion of his retirement from the Boeing Company. Bo Leslie, as one of the original attendees of the organizational meetings that led to the founding of AMIE in 1992, has contributed uncountable hours of his time, energy, and emotions, in advocating for and soliciting support for the growth and development of the engineering schools located at the HBCUs. Some who have observed this might be left to wonder what has motivated Bo to do this over the past twenty-two years. Given our awareness that Bo is a proud graduate of an HBCU, it is not a mystery to us. Without exception, we the deans can say with certainty that Bo has been simply trying to repay those who helped get him to get to the place where he is today. Thanks to the existence of a HBCU for him to attend, and the belief instilled in him by those who advised and taught him that Bo was blessed with an opportunity to reach out to others. Thus, we the deans know that “What Makes Bo Run,” is that he is aware that there are many more “Bo types” out there. All they need is a hand up that will lead them on the pathway to a higher education degree; preferably one that they will attain at a HBCU; one of our na- tion’s National Treasures.
Eugene M. DeLoatch, Ph.D. , Dean, Engineering School Morgan State University
34 USBE&IT I SUMMER 2014
www.blackengineer.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76