Rupert Nacoste, N.C. State vice provost for diversity, lectures here April 30

Rupert Nacoste, professor of psychology and vice provost for diversity and African-American affairs at North Carolina State University (NCSU), will give the College of Human Ecology's Flemmie Kittrell Lecture Tuesday, April 30, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. in 280 Martha Van Rensselaer (MVR) Hall on campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The title of Nacoste's talk is "As Affirmative Action Lay Dying." An open reception will be held outside of 280 MVR at 2:45 p.m., prior to the lecture.

Nacoste conducts research on the social psychology of affirmative action. Named as NCSU's Academy of Outstanding Teachers (1994) and as Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor (1999-2001), Nacoste has participated in the Congressional Briefing on Affirmative Action and delivered technical analyses at conferences such as the World Conference on Remedies to Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality and the U.S. Department of Defense World Wide Equal Opportunity Conference. For the past three summers, Nacoste has been a visiting scholar at the Department of Defense's Equal Opportunity Management Institute, where he researches and makes research-based recommendations about equal opportunity in the armed forces.

The Flemmie Kittrell Lecture, established in 1991 at Cornell, is dedicated to addressing emerging issues of a multicultural society. In 1936 a Kittrell, at Cornell, became the first African-American in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in home economics. While at Cornell, her boldness of character, her underlying spirit and her intellect became her trademarks. She taught at Howard and Hampton universities. An expert in nutrition, child development and consumer behavior and education, Kittrell directed a U.S. State Department nutrition survey in Liberia and organized a College of Home Economics at Baroda University in India. Before Kittrell died in 1980, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, which cited her for contributions to the improvement of family life and individual well-being.

This year's Kittrell lecture is co-sponsored by the College of Human Ecology Diversity Committee; the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education; the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality; Cornell Public Service Center; Asian American Studies Program; and Africana Studies and Research Center.