Agriculturalist Charles Magee was born on March 28, 1948, to Eva N. Magee in Prentiss, Mississippi. He received his B.S. degree in general agriculture (animal science) from Alcorn State University in 1970, his M.S. degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1973, and his Ph.D. degree in agricultural and biological engineering from Cornell University in 1980. Magee was the first African American graduate of a historically Black college or university to earn a Ph.D. degree in agricultural and biological engineering.

In 1973, Magee was hired as a research associate and instructor for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s department of plant science and technology. He then worked as a teaching and research assistant at Cornell University between 1974 and 1979 before becoming an assistant professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville in 1979. He was hired as an associate professor of agricultural engineering technology at Fort Valley State University, Georgia in 1984. In 1995, Magee joined Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University to establish a program in Biological and Agricultural Systems Engineering (BASE), where he served as the program’s first director for six years beginning in 1996. Throughout the course of his career, sixteen patents have been registered in Magee’s name.

In 1988, Magee joined the 1890 Association of Research Directors and was a founding member of the National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, National Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS). He served as the MANRRS advisory board chair between 1991 and 1999. Magee became a member of the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center at Alcorn State University in 2014.

Magee received numerous awards for his professional accomplishments. In 2017, Magee was awarded the Teacher of the Year from the Florida Section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (FL-ASABE). He was inducted into the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in 2020 and to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) as a senior member in 2022.

Magee and his wife, Audrey, live in Cairo, Georgia. They have two children, Candice and Darian.

Charles Magee was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 26, 2024.

Rheumatologist Dr. Brenda B. Spriggs was born on March 11, 1944 to Jewell Spriggs and Carlton Spriggs in Houston, Texas. Spriggs attended Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas. She received her B.S. degree in biology from Fisk University in 1966, her M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College in 1970, her M.P.H. degree in health services management from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000, and her M.B.A. degree from Claremont College Drucker School of Management in 2003.

Spriggs was named an N.I.H. Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco in 1972 before becoming an associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco in 1974. In 1976, Spriggs opened her own practice where she served as a consultant rheumatologist. Spriggs then went on to serve as president of Children’s Hospital San Francisco’s Physicians Medical Group between 1985 and 1991. In 2006, she was awarded Clinical Professor Emerita at the University of California, San Francisco before co-founding Newell & Spriggs Consulting, LLC, a healthcare consulting company in 2009. She co-authored the book Focus On Your Best Health: Smart Guide to the Health Care You Deserve with her business partner, Dr. Glenda F. Newell in 2013. In 2014, Spriggs joined Healthline, Inc.’s medical review board and starting in 2017, she worked in telemedicine as a consultant for Telemed2U.

During her career, Spriggs became a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. She also became a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Rheumatology. Spriggs served on the boards of numerous organizations including the Providence Hospital Board in Oakland, California beginning in 1986 and the Beneficial State Bank Board and the Women’s Foundation of California Board, both beginning in 2006.

She has received several academic honors including inductions into Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha, Mortar Board, and Beta Gamma Sigma and served as a Citizen Ambassador of the People-to-People Program in post-apartheid South Africa. Spriggs received numerous recognitions for her professional achievements, including Senator Barbara Boxer’s Women Making History Award in 2013 and magazine Directors & Boards’ "Directors to Watch” recognition in 2010.

Spriggs and her husband, Dr. Zealous D. Wiley, Jr., live in San Francisco, California. They have two children, Gabrielle S. Wiley and Zealous D. Wiley, III.

Dr. Brenda B. Spriggs was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 7, 2024.

University president Carmen Twillie Ambar was born on July 3, 1968 to Gwendolyn and Manuel Twillie in Little Rock, Arkansas. Ambar received her B.S. degree in foreign service from Georgetown University in 1990, her M.P.A. degree in domestic education policy from Princeton University in 1994, and her J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1994.

Between 1994 and 1998, Ambar served as an assistant corporate counsel in the New York City Law Department. In 1998, Ambar was hired as the director of graduate programs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 2000, she became the assistant dean for graduate education. Ambar then was hired as the dean of Rutgers University’s Douglass College and served in this capacity from 2002 and 2008. She became the president of Cedar Crest College in 2008. She served in this role until 2017 when she was hired as president of Oberlin College, making her the first African American to hold this position.

During her career, Ambar served on numerous boards and commissions. In 2002, she joined the Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN) and became the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College. In 2003, Ambar joined the American Repertory Ballet, the NJ 300, and the Executive Women of New Jersey. She also served on the Host Committee for the Opening of the Presidential Library. Between 2004 and 2008, she served on the American Society of Civil Engineers Extraordinary Women Engineers project advisory committee and the Liberty Science Center learning and teaching advisory board. Ambar was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey to the Governor’s New Jersey Advisory Commission on the Status of Women. She joined the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Policy Research Institute advisory board in 2005. In 2006, the Governor of New Jersey appointed Ambar to the State of New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority and the School Construction Corporation. She was a board member of the Women’s College Coalition between 2009 and 2017, the Association of Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania between 2014 and 2017, the Swain School between 2014 and 2017, and the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges between 2002 and 2017. Ambar served as the Pennsylvania Campus Compact vice chair between 2010 and 2017. In 2017, she began serving on the Five Colleges of Ohio board, the NCAA’s President’s Council, the Great Lakes College Association board, and the State of American Democracy advisory committee. Ambar joined the Council of Independent Colleges board and the Consortium on Financing Higher Education Board in 2021. She became a member of the Lumina Foundation board in 2022. Along with her memberships, Ambar served as the chair of various boards/commissions including PLEN, the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges board, and the Five Colleges of Ohio board.

Ambar resides in Oberlin, Ohio with her husband, Saladin Malik Ambar. They have three children, Gabrielle, Luke, and Daniel.

Carmen Twillie Ambar was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 2, 2023.

Director and playwright Runako Jahi was born on November 26, 1952 to Olivia Foster-Peters and Nathanial Palmer in Chicago, Illinois. Jahi attended Austin College and Career Academy High School in Chicago, Illinois and the American Academy of Art. He received his B.A. degree in drama and dramatics/theatre arts from Columbia College Chicago.

Since 1972, Jahi worked as an actor, playwright, and director. Between 1990 and 2014, Jahi served as the artistic director of Chicago’s eta Creative Arts Foundation where he held actors’ workshops for youth and adults and, in 1985, developed the Showfolk Daytime Theatre Series for Schools. At eta Creative Arts Foundation, Jahi produced numerous plays, including Stoops, where he was awarded the Best Director Award from the Black Theatre Alliance Awards in 1995; Eyes, where he won the Best Director Award from the Black Theatre Alliance Awards in 2004; HOME The Musical, where he won Best Director and Best Set Design from the Black Excellence Awards in 2006; and Broke-ology, where he won the Best Set Design from the Black Excellence Awards in 2012. As an instructor, Jahi coached numerous students including Jennifer Hudson for her audition for the film Dreamgirls.

Jahi has received numerous honors for his professional accomplishments including the Promising Playwright Award from the Chicago Black Theater Alliance in 1976; the African American Achievement Award from Columbia College in 1990; the President’s Award for contributions to children’s theater in 1990; Paul Robeson Award from the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago in 1990; the Lorraine Hansberry Award for Drama from Afrique Magazine in 1999; the 34th Annual Convention Community Award from the Chicago Chapter of Justice, Unity, Generosity, Service International, Incorporated in 2001; the Jefferson Award of Merit from NBC-5 Chicago and Harris Bank in 2002; the Recognition for Outstanding Contributions to the Community from Rolling Out News in 2002; The Award of Merit from the Black Theatre Alliance Awards in 2004; the Black Men of Excellence Award from the Chicago Defender in 2010; the Outstanding Playwright Award from the Black Ensemble Theater in 2010; the Nehemiah Award from Maintaining Excellence in the Greater Englewood Community in 2011; the N’Culture Award from the N’Digo Foundation in 2011; the Tradition Keeper Award from ASE: The Chicago Association of Black Storytellers in 2011; and the Alyo Award from the Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago in 2013.

Jahi resides in Chicago, Illinois. He has two children, Rahsaan Jahi and Umar Foster, and nine grandchildren.

Runako Jahi was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 8, 2024.

Mathematician and professor Terrence R. Blackman was born on December 28, 1968, to Joan and Terrence Blackman in Georgetown, Guyana. Blackman received his B.S. degree in mathematics from Brooklyn College in 1991, his M.Phil. degree in mathematics from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2000, and his Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2011.

In 1996, Blackman was hired as an adjunct lecturer at CUNY’s Medgar Evers College, and later, he began teaching also as an adjunct lecturer at CUNY’s Lehman and John Jay Colleges. In 2000, Blackman was promoted to instructor and in 2001 assistant professor of mathematics at Medgar Evers College. He transferred to the University of Denver as an assistant professor in 2013 before returning to Medgar Evers College as an associate professor and chair of the department of mathematics in 2015. At Medgar Evers College, he rose to become first the interim dean of the school of science, health and technology and then dean of the school of science, health and technology in 2018. In 2023, Blackman was chosen to chair the mathematics department at Medgar Evers College. He also, over a period of years, served as a Five College Fellow at Mount Holyoke College and a NEAGEP Summer Faculty Fellow at Boston University. He was also twice a visiting instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; first as a Dr. Martin Luther King Visiting Assistant Professor; and second as visiting professor. Blackman was also honored as a visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study and served as a program leader with Legacy Pathways in 2013.

Blackman joined the executive council of the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences as the chair in 2023. He has also served on the board of the National Association of Mathematicians and as the chair of the Math Alliance.

Blackman and his wife, Anna Levman, live in New York City, New York. They have two children, Terrence and Zuri Blackman.

Terrence R. Blackman was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 12, 2024.

Bank CEO Teresa Bryce Bazemore was born on July 31, 1959, to Dorothy Hicks Bryce and Burie Bryce in Norfolk, Virginia. She received her B.A. degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Virginia in 1981 and her J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1984.

After graduating from Columbia Law School, Bazemore was hired by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a law clerk before joining Piper & Marbury in 1985 as an associate attorney. She was hired in 1990 by Prudential Home Mortgage as associate general counsel and then, in 1994, she became general counsel for the PNC Mortgage Corporation of America. In 1997, Bazemore moved to NationsBanc Mortgage Corporations, which subsequently became Bank of America Mortgage, as its general counsel of mortgage legal and the managing attorney for community development. She joined Nexstar Financial Corporation in 2000 as general counsel and corporate secretary. In 2006, she first became general counsel and corporate secretary of Radian Group in 2006 and then also became chief risk officer before being promoted to president of Radian Guaranty, Inc. in 2008. In 2021, Bazemore became the CEO and president of the Federal Home Loan Bank System of San Francisco, where she works to promote homeownership and expand housing access in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

She has been a member of the Public Media Company board of directors since 2009 and from 2019 to 2021 she served as chair of the board. Bazemore became the first woman and person of color to chair the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in 2014, where she served for four years. In 2017, she became a member of the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and the Chimera Investment Corporation. Bazemore joined the T. Rowe Price Funds’ board of directors and audit committee in 2018 and the SoCal Chapter of the International Women’s Forum board of trustees in 2022. She served as T. Rowe Price Funds’ audit chair from July 2020 through October 2023. Bazemore joined the First Industrial Realty Trust’s board of directors in 2020 and since then as its audit chair. Bazemore is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and The Girl Friends, Inc.

Bazemore has received numerous recognitions for her professional achievements. These include the first Trailblazer Award from the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America in 2017, the Paradigm Award from the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia in 2017, the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate American from Savoy Magazine in 2022 and the Woman of the Year Award from the Financial Women of San Francisco in 2023.

Bazemore and her husband, Leonard, live in Los Angeles, California. Bazemore has three stepchildren with Leonard, Alexis, Jordan, and Devon Bazemore.

Teresa Bryce Bazemore was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 5, 2024.

Football player Lawrence "Larry" Brown, Jr. was born on September 19, 1947 in Clairton, Pennsylvania to Rosa Lee and Lawrence Brown. Brown was raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1965, he graduated from Schenley High School, where he played baseball and football. Later that year, Brown attended Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, Kansas where he served as a blocking back for the school’s football team. In 1967, Brown was recruited by Kansas State University as a blocking back before becoming a running back in his final year.

In 1968, Brown was drafted as a running back by the Washington Redskins, later renamed the Washington Commanders, during the National Football League’s draft. During his first season in 1969, Brown reached a team record by rushing rushed 888 yards. In 1970, Brown became the NFL rushing yards leader with 1,125 yards. In 1973, Brown led the Redskins the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VII against the Miami Dolphins. Brown continued to play for the Redskins until 1976. Over the course of his NFL career, Brown rushed 5,875 yards and had thirty-five rushing touchdowns. In addition to Super Bowl VII, Brown helped lead the Redskins to multiple divisional playoff games. Along with playing in the regular season and playoffs, Brown was selected to play in the Pro Bowl four times. He was also selected for the All-Pro first team twice and the second team once. After eight seasons, Brown left football for a career in finance, real-estate, and disability advocacy.

Brown worked as a salesman for E.F. Hutton, a financial brokerage firm, from 1976 to 1981. He was then hired by the Xerox Corporation as a community affairs manager, where he worked from 1981 to 1993. From 1994 to 2016, Brown served as vice president and a sales associate at NAI Michael, a commercial real estate firm. Additionally, Brown was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to serve on the National Council on Disability (NCD) in 1989. Brown helped in the passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. He also served as the chairperson of the Minorities with Disabilities Committee of the NCD and represented athletes with disabilities from 1989 to 1991.

Brown was named the NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 1972. That same year, he won the Bert Bell Award. In 1973, his book, I’ll Always Get Up, was published. Brown was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame and the Commanders Ring of Fame and was nominated to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2024. Brown was also recognized for his work on behalf of the disabled community with the NCD’s 1993 Eagle Award.

Brown retired in 2016 and lives in South Carolina. He has two adult daughters.

Larry Brown was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 7, 2024.

Home economist and food writer Charla L. Draper was born on January 24, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois, to Alberta and Charles Draper. Draper received her B.A. degree in home economics with a minor in marketing from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois in 1973 and her M.S. degree in marketing communications from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

After graduating from Bradley University, Draper joined Kraft Foods Company as a test kitchen home economist in 1973, where she worked for five years. In 1982, Draper became the director of food and home furnishing at the Johnson Publishing Company and Ebony Magazine, where she served until 1984. Draper then moved into public relations while working at the Birmingham Public Library in Alabama. She then became the manager of the Communications Center at the Campbell Soup Company in 1984. After three years at the Campbell Soup Company, Draper returned to Kraft Foods as a test kitchen supervisor in 1987. In 2000, Draper published her book Cooking on Nineteenth-Century Whaling Ships: Exploring History Through Simple Recipes through Blue Earth Books. Draper also founded National Soul Food Month in June of 2001. Draper worked for Southern Living Magazine in Birmingham from 2004 to 2009 as an associate food editor. In 2009, Draper founded her own food marketing company, It’s Food Biz!, in Chicago, Illinois. Draper worked as the president of It’s Food Biz! for over fifteen years.

Draper served on the boards of numerous organizations including Southern Foodways Alliance, Culinary Historians of Chicago, Bradley University College of Education and Health Sciences, the National Association of Black Journalists Chicago Chapter, the Birmingham Association of Black Journalists, Les Dames Escoffier, Chicago, the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD). She co-founded Common Threads and also served as president of Home Economists in Business (HEIB).

During her career, Draper received numerous awards including the Minority Achievers of Industry Award from the YMCA, the Golden Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago in 1985, and the Silver Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago in 1986.

Draper lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Charla L. Draper was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 4, 2023.

Educator Kim Cliett Long was born on December 10, 1960 in Macon, Georgia to Edgar Cliett and Ruby Dean Cliett Mayes. She earned her B.G.S. degrees in early childhood education and business administration in 1982 from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. Then, she went on to earn her M.S. degree in early childhood public policy and advocacy in 2004 from Mountain State University in Beckley, West Virginia. In 2008, Long earned her Ed.D. degree in organizational leadership from Northcentral State University.

In 1982, Long went to work for her family’s business, Long’s Janitorial Service, where she served as its chief operating officer until 2002. In 1999, Long became the president and chief executive director of Organizational Concepts/Adult Learners Now, an educational consulting firm. Then, in 2000, Long served as the executive director of Fun Time Early Learning Childhood Academy in Naples, Florida. In 2006, she joined Pearson Inc. as an executive consultant where she worked for five years before becoming director of the Center for Excellence in Distance Learning in 2011 at Wiley University in Marshall, Texas. From 2014 to 2017, Long served as Wiley University’s executive director of Centers of Excellence, Strategic Initiatives and Innovation as well as the associate provost for extended education and professor of organizational management. Long was hired as the executive director of Lowcountry Rice Culture Project, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on the importance of rice cultivation in South Carolina in 2017. In 2021, she was appointed to serve as the Project Administrator of the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center at the University of South Carolina -- Beaufort, which was the first museum in the world focused exclusively on the global aspects of African and African American maritime art, history, and culture.

In 2002, Long was awarded the Women of Style Award and the Women of the Year Award by N Magazine and Gulfshore Life Magazine, respectively. She then went on to receive the Women of Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women in 2003. In 2021, Long was invited to join the board of the Charleston Literary Festival. In 2020, she became a fellow at the Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal Society of Public Health. That same year, she was awarded the International Excellence in Education Award from the Global Forum for Education and Learning.

Long resides in Charleston, South Carolina.

Kim Cliett Long was interviewed by The HistoryMakers August 1, 2024.

Television executive Wonya Lucas was born on April 17, 1961, to Rubye and Bill Lucas in Jacksonville, Florida. Lucas graduated from Northside High School in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979. She received her B.S. degree in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in 1983 and went on to earn her M.B.A. in finance and marketing in 1990 from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

After graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Lucas was hired by Westinghouse Electric, where she also worked as a product engineer and later as a negotiations and sales engineer. In 1990, she served at The Clorox Company as a brand assistant. The following year, she went on to work as a brand manager for The Coca Cola Company, where she remained until 1994 when she was hired at Turner Broadcasting. Lucas served in various roles at Turner Broadcasting including Vice President of Entertainment Marketing, Vice President of Business Operations and Network Development for Turner Entertainment, and Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing for cnn.com, CNN radio, and CNN Networks Worldwide. Lucas left Turner Broadcasting and joined The Weather Channel Networks in 2002 as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Then, in 2008, Lucas joined Discovery Communications, where she served as the Chief Global Marketing Officer, Chief Operating Officer for the Discovery and Science channels, and Executive Vice President. In 2011, Lucas became the President and CEO of TV One, making her the second African American woman to be President and CEO of a cable television company. Then, in 2015, Lucas worked as President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta before being hired as the President and CEO of Hallmark Media in 2020. At Hallmark Media, Lucas oversaw numerous subsidiary entertainment brands including the Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Hallmark Movies Now, and Hallmark Publishing. She left Hallmark Media in 2023.

Lucas serves on the boards of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, the Atlanta Braves Holding Company, The Comcast Communications, the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Inspire Brands, and the Sundance Institute’s Board of Trustees. Lucas served previously on the boards of EW Scripps, Girl Scouts of America, Hallmark Media, J.C. Penney, NPR, and the Peabody Board of Jurors.

Throughout her career, Lucas received numerous awards and honors including the Power of Play Award from the Children’s Museum of Atlanta in 2022, the Wonder Woman of New York 2022 Award from the Multichannel News Wonder Woman Awards, an induction into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2023, an induction into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2023, and an honorary doctorate from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia in 2023.

Lucas has two children, Alexis and Sydney Kirton, with her ex-husband, Bruce Kirton.
Lucas resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wonya Lucas was interviewed by The HistoryMakers June 19, 2024.