FAMU’s Dhyana Ziegler to deliver commencement address at SIUC
Ziegler is also among nine alumni award honorees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Tallahassee, Fla. — Dhyana Ziegler, assistant vice president of instructional technology and
academic affairs at Florida A&M University (FAMU), will address graduates of the Class of
2007 College of Education and Human Services at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
(SIUC) on May 12. Ziegler, who earned her master’s degree in radio and television and doctorate
in higher education from SIUC, will also be among the nine graduates to receive the 2007 Alumni
Achievement Award during the university’s commencement ceremonies. She will be recognized
for her many achievements in educational and instructional technology.
“Being an outstanding alumnus and commencement speaker at my alma mater is special; it is one
of the pinnacles of my life,” said Ziegler. “I am extremely excited to give the commencement
address, and I plan to deliver a message that will positively impact the lives of the graduates.”
Ziegler joined the faculty of FAMU in 1997 as the Garth C. Reaves Eminent Scholar Chair of
Excellence in Journalism. Prior to her work in higher education, she worked in broadcast news as
a reporter and producer for two New York City television stations and as a copywriter and
producer for major New York advertising agency, Rosenfeld, Sirowitz & Lawson. Ziegler then
moved to the faculty at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she was professor of
broadcasting and associate director for diversity resources and educational services, supervising
research and technology. She remains the first and only African American elected as president of
the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Faculty Senate, and was a charter inductee into the
university’s African-American Hall of Fame in 1995.
Since becoming a top administrator in instructional technology at FAMU, Ziegler is among the
African-American leaders of the information revolution. She is one of 26 African-American
information technology experts appearing in the newly-released book, The Black Digital Elite,
written by John T. Barber, media analyst, communications educator, scholar and broadcasting
practitioner. She is featured for her work using virtual reality and other technology to educate
African-American youth about science and math and to change the way they view career options
in information technology.
Last month, Ziegler was on hand at Warwick Castle in England to receive the Bronze Medal for
Meritorious Service in Education at the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Justice World Reunion
and Investiture Ceremony. Representatives from 15 countries were nominated for the Bronze
Medal, but only two were given—one in medicine to a prominent Ethiopian medical doctor, and
one in education to Ziegler.
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Pam Bryant
May 11, 2007 (850) 412-7936
Pamela.Bryant@famu.edu
