Dr. Alice Brown, President of the Appalachian College Association (ACA), of which Ferrum College is a long-time member, will speak to the Ferrum graduating class of 2008 on Saturday, May 2nd. Ferrum will also award Dr. Brown an honorary degree at that time.

For the past 15 years, Dr. Brown has directed the activities of the ACA, a 35-member consortium of higher educational institutions in Appalachia. She has helped raise over fifty million dollars to improve and provide for the development and betterment of colleges in the region. The ACA has helped Ferrum offer its students, faculty and staff outstanding resources comparable to those found at larger colleges and universities, including an updated computer networking system, hardware and software for the College’s Stanley Library. Dr. Cy Dillon, The Executive Director of the Library and Academic Center at Ferrum, says, “Alice Brown’s career is one of the best examples I know of living up to Ferrum’s motto: ‘Not Self, But Others.’”

Dr. Brown received her bachelors and master’s degrees from Appalachian State University and received her doctorate from the University of Kentucky. As an educator, administrator and author, her career has been diverse and filled with numerous accomplishments.

For more information on Ferrum College’s commencement ceremony, contact the Public Relations Office at (540) 365-4300.

Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor's degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.