The College has strong records of achievement derived from the skill and creativity of its faculty, staff and students. CAS departments and programs continue to attract national and international attention.
For example, consider two literary icons that are products of the English department: Albert Murray and Ralph Ellison. Novelist Albert Murray, a Tuskegee graduate and a member of the Tuskegee faculty, is one of the most perceptive contemporary interpreters of African American art and culture. While a Tuskegee undergraduate, Ralph Ellison made what he called “the real transition to writing.” Ellison’s Invisible Man is one of the 20th century’s most significant works of fiction.
Consider that the Chemistry department curriculum has American Chemical Society -- Committee on Professional Training approval. As such the Tuskegee Chemistry Program is one of only nine university chemistry departments in Alabama, and the only Alabama historically black college or university, to achieve this distinction. The benefits of an approved program include professional and international recognition that approved departments are staffed by accomplished faculty and provide a coherent chemistry curriculum.
Renowned historian Dr. Frank J. Toland who served for over 40 years as the History department chair, was also president of the Tuskegee Civic Association. The Association supported one of its past presidents, Professor Charles G. Gomillion (Psychology and Sociology Department), during the landmark 1960 Supreme Court case, Gomillion v Lightfoot. The Court found in favor of Gomillion, and wrote that an electoral district created to disenfranchise blacks violated the Fifteenth Amendment. This court case catalyzed support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
From the Fine and Performing Arts program, consider Tuskegee graduate, distinguished conductor, and composer William L. Dawson. He chaired the School of Music and directed the Tuskegee Choir for almost 25 years, during which time the choir garnered national and international acclaim.
From Psychology and Sociology consider Professor Monroe Nathan Work, a sociologist who in 1908 founded the Department of Records and Research at Tuskegee Institute. His early work on cataloging lynching within the southern United States remains a valuable historical and sociological resource. From today's world, consider the achievements of Tuskegee graduate Tom Joyner, the first African American urban, syndicated morning radio host. His radio show reaches millions nation-wide, his scholarships fund the hopes and aspirations of rising African American students.
The Department of Social Work Work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education for the last twenty-five years has a rigorous teaching program that enables its graduates to obtain employment as a generalist social worker as well as to matriculate into graduate schools of social work around the country.
Our Physics department has distinction of enrolling the third largest number of majors among any Alabama degree granting institutions. The accomplished faculty and high quality students have won several state level awards and regional recognition.
The most popular Tuskegee University major, Biology, gives students a broad understanding of the processes, concepts, and structures that characterize life at the three basic levels: molecular/cellular, system/organism, and community/ecosystem. It prepares students for matriculation to graduate or professional school, or for careers in health care, public and private research, teaching, and related fields. Students participating in sponsored research are eligible for departmental financial support.
The Mathematics department prepares graduates to become productive leaders at the secondary school level as well as at colleges and universities. High achieving majors become actively involved in the department's chartered Alabama Epsilon Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon National Honorary Mathematics Society, Inc.
As undergraduates, Tuskegee University majors are involved in summer research opportunities, internship programs, seminars, and activities of various campus honor societies. Graduate students continue to advance the discovery and creation of new knowledge. The progress of these students into leadership roles in higher education, in industry, in government, and in the military are well documented and serve as a testament to the legacy of scholastic traditions at the core of Tuskegee University.
