Home

10%

Pillars of Knowledge

Honoring professors who inspire, empower, and transform

By Kennesaw State University

February 27^th, 2025

Black History Month honors the rich history and groundbreaking contributions of people across many fields. Throughout February, Kennesaw State University will spotlight faculty members making an impact on and off campus. From a range of disciplines, these educators and researchers are dedicated to inspiring and mentoring students, with their experiences leaving a lasting influence on Owls for generations to come.

Jabari Cain - Bagwell College of Education

Growing up in a household of educators gave Jabari Cain some important lessons about the value of college education. Now, he is bringing those lessons to a new generation in his role as associate professor of instructional technology and director of the Call Me MISTER program at Kennesaw State University.

“I guess it’s in my DNA to be a teacher,” Cain said. “My parents were educators – that’s what made me want to get into education myself. They are both retired now, but they had been in education for a combined 60-plus years.”

Their influence put him on the path to earning advanced degrees in education, but he also recognized the value of representation to students who are considering careers as teachers.

“I understand the importance of K-12 students seeing teachers that look like them,” Cain said. “Because there is an extremely small number of educators of color, and I want to make sure that we increase those numbers and then keep that trend going.”

That approach to education is part of what attracted Cain to the Call Me MISTER program, where he has been the director since 2022. The program, which started nationally in 2000, is an educator mentorship and development effort that aims to place more males of color into elementary and middle schools. Kennesaw State has one of three Call Me MISTER programs in Georgia, with chapters at Georgia Southern University and Georgia College and State University.

“The whole purpose of the Call Me MISTER program, I call it the “Triple R” – and that’s recruit, retain, and raise the 2 percent of males of color that are in education,” Cain said.

At KSU, the program has grown each year for the past four years, with classes of six or seven students now joining each year.

Participants in the Call Me MISTER program, all students in the Bagwell College of Education, gain assistance in ensuring they complete a formal education curriculum and teaching certifications, while also engaging in community outreach activities with area schools. Throughout the process, the students make connections with Black male educators from Georgia schools.

Cain said the program has multiple meetings each year to engage with the MISTERs, including monthly webinars with current educators who talk to the students about their experience in the field. Early this month, the program held the Black Male Empowerment Summit, an all-day event that brought together the MISTERs on campus to gain insights into teaching careers.

“It gives the MISTERs the chance to bond, get to know each other, push each other,” Cain said.

Call Me MISTER also hosts the Future MISTERs Academy, a free event for middle school and high school students held each summer. Over three days, the young students can attend KSU classes, meet with the dean of the Bagwell College, and meet with the MISTERs.

“The whole purpose of that is they can learn more about the Call Me MISTER program and hopefully to build a pipeline for them to become educators,” Cain said.

As more students join Call Me MISTER, Cain said he is preparing to publish research into the effectiveness of the program for students.

“I want the MISTERs to get as much out of the program as possible,” Cain said. “I don’t want to waste anybody’s time. I want it to be as productive as possible.”

Melanie Griffin – College of Science and Mathematics

Antibiotics have been fighting bacterial infections for 90-plus years. For almost as long, bacteria have been fighting back by developing resistance to the original “wonder drugs.”

Kennesaw State University microbiologist Melanie Griffin is among the scientists worldwide who are exploring alternative ways to combat increasingly antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

Griffin’s latest research, undertaken with KSU graduate and undergraduate students, explores how viruses and predatory bacteria might be used to kill harmful bacteria that have evolved to have resistance to antibiotic drugs.

“My most recent interest is in learning whether we can we use them as alternatives to an antibiotic, because these bacteria are outsmarting us,” she said. “They are developing resistance faster than we can keep up with new antibiotics, and the worry is we will be out of our antibiotic pool.”

Other research she has undertaken with students looked at the DNA of a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which exists harmlessly in the soil where we walk. But it has increasingly found its way into health care settings, where it switches into a dangerous pathogen responsible for infections of the lungs, urinary tract, skin, and bloodstream for those who are compromised. It is also very resistant to antibiotics.

“I have a long-term study on DNA regulation of genetic factors within Pseudomonas into what about it allows it to make that switch,” Griffin said. “Hopefully, we'll be publishing that soon.”

In addition to advancing science, Griffin harbors a deep love of teaching.

“I love being in the laboratory, because it’s fun discovering stuff,” she said. “But getting to work with the students and helping lead them to those ‘ah-ha’ moments is so rewarding.”

Fostering a sense of community within her classroom, her laboratory, and within the department also plays a role in helping students succeed, said Griffin, who is interim chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, as well as a tenured associate professor of microbiology.

As a Black woman in STEM, Griffin said she appreciated the feeling of community she experienced as an undergraduate at Jackson State University and later while pursuing her doctorate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Over the years, Griffin has worked to encourage students who are interested in science. She advises students participating in the Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation for undergraduate students seeking degrees in STEM disciplines. She, along with colleagues Martin Hudson and Kojo Mensa-Wilmot, work with students in the Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) program to provide research experiences for students interested in earning a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and advise students in the Peach State Bridges to Doctorate program for master’s students in integrative biology and chemical sciences.

“In some ways, consciously or unconsciously, I try to mimic in these kinds of training programs the nurturing environments that I had received throughout my career so that students can feel supported,” Griffin said. “They’re getting those important tools they'll need to be successful to transition to the next step in their careers.”

Dominique McDaniel - Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dominique McDaniel is not afraid to challenge norms. She is using scholarship to reshape how people view things like composition, youth activism, teacher education, and digital literacies.

After a decade teaching K-12 language arts, McDaniel earned her doctorate in educational studies and transitioned to higher education to fuel her passions for mentoring aspiring teachers and researching youth in non-traditional, digital spaces.

“I’m pushing the boundaries on what counts as literacy, activism, and writing, and I’m challenging other educators to do the same,” said McDaniel, assistant professor of English education in the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

McDaniel has two converging lines of research that prepare teachers to work with students who have grown up immersed in digital environments. Her primary research examines the digital literacy practices of teens of color. Using social media applications like TikTok and Instagram as her research field, she analyzes how Black and Latino/a adolescents tap into social movements.

"These youth are often overlooked and misrepresented, but I am able to amplify their voices by shining light on the amazing things they are doing online,” McDaniel said. “Hashtags and captions on social media sites are forms of writing, and I’m pushing my field into new ways of thinking about how we define English and language arts as we get closer to the 22nd century.”

McDaniel’s second line of research is a case study involving KSU students studying to become teachers. She created a professional learning community for these students, also called pre-service teachers, and named it Project CULTURE, an acronym for Culture Understanding and Learning of Teachers Uniting to Reimagine Education.

“The learning community is grounded in justice-oriented pedagogical resources, meaning I offer support and professional development for these students,” she said. “We discuss how they can take up culturally relevant and culturally sustained instruction to better serve culturally and linguistically diverse students.”

Other faculty members have taken notice of McDaniel’s unique educational framework.

“Dr. McDaniel is a rising academic star in the field of English education, a thoughtful and powerful teacher, and an engaged and purposeful collaborator,” said Michelle Devereaux, director of KSU’s English education program. “She is reshaping how our field approaches adolescent literacies for the betterment of scholars, and more importantly, for the betterment of students.”

In 2024, the National Council of Teachers of English awarded McDaniel the ELATE Richard A. Meade Award, which recognizes excellence in research in English education, especially in the teaching of composition and in teacher preparation.

“Coming into academia as a scholar of color, I had a little bit of imposter syndrome,” she said. “This recognition minimizes that for me and affirms that my research is reshaping my field.”

McDaniel said she is constantly inspired by the adolescents and college students she works with and often finds parallels between the two groups.

“They are fearless,” she said. “They all have big dreams for society and what they want society to become. They are change makers and advocates and it is an honor to work alongside them.”

Alan Shaw – College of Computing and Software Engineering

Having played a key role in securing more than $3 million in National Science Foundation grants, Kennesaw State University’s Alan Shaw is focused on making his career impactful for the next generation of STEM graduates.

A longtime computer science professor, Shaw’s passion for introducing students to calculus and physics is rooted in his upbringing. He’s the son of one of the first Black physicists at the legendary Bell Labs which, in turn, opened the door for him to follow his father into the world of STEM. Shaw studied applied mathematics at Harvard University, and later continued his graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer science.

He previously worked with Seymour Papert, a pioneer of artificial intelligence at MIT, to teach computer programming to K-12 students and spent most of his early career volunteering in educational initiatives inspired by civil rights leader Bob Moses. For his exploits, Shaw has appeared alongside Barack Obama, Frederick Douglass, and other prominent figures in the book “Black Genius: Inspirational Portraits of African American Leaders,” written by Dick Russell.

Today, Shaw serves as an associate chair and associate professor in KSU’s College of Computer Science and Engineering (CCSE) where he’s been a faculty member for nearly two decades. Recently, he has helped elevate the profile of CCSE for his part in securing two grants.

“Kennesaw State’s computer science program has grown to be one of best in the country, and we now have the resources to improve the lives of students long before they step foot on campus,” Shaw said. “Many people have served as inspiration to me over the years, and I’ve learned from them that we have an opportunity to make a real difference in education.”

In 2023, he and KSU faculty members Ronisha Worthy and Brian Lawler were awarded a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant to pursue a project called Calculus for All, which focuses on introducing high school students to calculus earlier in their academic careers. The grant builds off Shaw’s earlier success landing a $500,000 NSF grant for his Computer Science for All project, which is designed to help middle school students learn computer science through technology-aided math courses.

“These young people are the future,” Shaw said. “Our kids are smart. We just need to give them the opportunity to shine. STEM gives people the power to create new things and start their own paths. We just need to convince our kids that STEM is a field where they can be leaders."

Brian Culp – Wellstar College of Health and Human Services

Reflecting on his journey through academia, Brian Culp owes a great deal of credit to a professor from his undergraduate days. It was University of Georgia professor Rose Chepyator-Thomson who first suggested Culp should pursue a doctorate, which set him on his current path—as a scholar in physical education for underserved communities.

Chepyator-Thomson was also one of few Black professors Culp had in college to learn from, and Culp carries her influence with him. Put simply, representation matters, Culp said.

“I’d like to think I represent Black male leadership, Black male professors, but also a kid that came from a lower middle-class background in southeast Atlanta, and I've been able to reflect on the experiences of underrecognized groups to help design some really good programs with communities around the world,” said Culp, a professor in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services.

Culp eventually earned his doctorate from UGA in curriculum and instruction, with a specific focus on physical education and instructional technology. His dissertation dealt with teaching methods and life experiences of urban physical education teachers, some of whom were the first Black men their students have had as teachers. Culp can relate, citing a national study that indicates less than 2 percent of public school teachers are Black males, while the same percentage represents the number of full professors who are Black men.

His scholarship expands physical education experiences into a focus on general movement literacy, not just sports, to help include students from other cultural backgrounds trying to navigate American culture. Culp said getting into the habit of movement early on orients people toward a healthy lifestyle that has physical and socioemotional benefits.

“Historically, what research has told us is that groups from other countries want to immerse themselves in the United States in some way,” he said. “Youth in particular want to learn sports from the United States because it is a way for them to get acclimated in the community very quickly. But some of the work I do focuses on spatiality, which considers the relationship between people, context, space and how it is created. If you're comfortable in movement spaces at an early age, that is going to translate positively to other situations one may find themselves in as they grow older and interact with in society.

Representation culminates in serving as an example to his students, both as a scholar and as an instructor. He takes immense pride in Black History Month, from representing the leaders and scholars that have informed his life and work to increasing the amount of scholarship serving underrepresented groups in physical education and activity spaces.

“I have realized it's important to highlight Black history because you never know who's listening to something and may say to themselves, ‘I didn't know that. Now I have an example,’” he said. “It’s extremely important and I think everyone can benefit from it regardless of their background.”

Roneisha Worthy - Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

An associate professor and assistant department chair in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Roneisha Worthy has dedicated her career to empowering the next generation of leaders in STEM.

Worthy’s journey through academia is rooted in the belief that every individual has value and should pursue a life of continual growth. Her path exemplifies this philosophy, as she has never stopped learning, adapting, and refining her role as both an educator and a mentor.

Since joining KSU in 2014, Worthy has been heavily involved in efforts that enrich the student experience on campus. Last year, Worthy joined KSU faculty members Brian Lawler and Alan Shaw in securing a National Science Foundation grant to introduce underserved populations to calculus much earlier in their academic careers. One aim of the grant is to entice more students to consider a future in engineering.

She remains active as an advisor to the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Kennesaw Society of Black Engineers (KSBE) chapters on campus, where she supports young scholars navigating the technical and social challenges of the engineering world. She previously partnered with the KSU Women’s Resource Center and AmeriCorp’s Volunteers in Service to America to host Pathways to STEAM Summer Camp, designed to provide opportunities for girls to explore topics specific to science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

“I treat every student like my own child, with high expectations,” she said. “As a professor and chair, I recognize the importance of shaping the next generation of engineers who will solve critical challenges, like keeping our roadways and drinking water safe. This is my purpose, and I take it seriously, supporting my students both academically and in life."

Belonging to underrepresented groups in the field of engineering, Worthy is keenly aware of the barriers many students face and advocates for environments that lift all voices. She aspires to extend her influence, believing that educational leadership and change is vital to creating a lasting impact.

"I would love to be in an administrative role one day, where I can have a positive influence," she said. "I feel like I can support significant institutional change. My goal is to eventually take on a leadership position and focus on student success initiatives across campus."

As Black History Month celebrations continue throughout February, Worthy said there is opportunity to pause and reflect on the history makers who have come before her.

“Our heritage is rich with individuals who were born to create, innovate, and solve problems,” she said. “We come from a lineage of engineers, architects, and inventors, people whose contributions laid the foundation for many of the advancements we see today. STEM is in our blood, and our history is proof of that greatness.”

Footnotes

Photography: Matt Yung, Darnell Wilburn Jr. | Text: Raynard Churchwell, Dave Shelles, Darius Goodman, Abbey O'Brien Barrows, Gary Tanner, Scott Wiltsee | Page Design: Raynard Churchwell

Button Label

FootNotes

Photography: Matt Yung, Darnell Wilburn Jr. | Text: Raynard Churchwell, Dave Shelles, Darius Goodman, Abbey O'Brien Barrows, Gary Tanner, Scott Wiltsee | Page Design: Raynard Churchwell