NSU to Host Founders' Day Convocation

Sept. 16 Norfolk, Va.-Motivational speaker Calvin Mackie will speak at Norfolk State University at 2 p.m. Sunday, September 16, for the university's Founders' Day Convocation. Free and open to the public, Mackie's keynote address will be held at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall.

The convocation will honor Norfolk State University founders and other individuals who have made significant contributions to the evolution of the university. In addition, new students will be formally welcomed and inducted into the university family.

A native of New Orleans, La., Mackie, co-founder of Channel ZerO and an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Tulane University, has been an active public speaker who has given motivational presentations and speeches at high schools and middle schools for nearly ten years. In 1992, he co-founded Channel ZerO, an educational and motivational consulting company. Operating under the premise that exposure and experience are two important parameters of success, Mackie believes his approach to working with people is simple and practical because he uses unique strategies and methodologies.

For the past decade, Mackie has embarked on an unbelievable journey of academic and personal achievement that no man-made test could have predicted. He began his college career at Morehouse College in remedial reading after scoring 800 on the SAT College Board examination. In 1990, he earned a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree from Georgia Tech and a bachelor of science in mathematics from Morehouse College, where he graduated magna cum laude. He later earned both a master of science and doctor of philosophy degree in mechanical engineering.

Mackie is the author of Think About It, a motivational column for the Black Collegian Magazine, an active member of the 100 Black Men of Metro New Orleans and a member of the board of directors for Big Brothers/Sisters of Southeast Louisiana. For more information, call News and Media Relations at 823-8373.