He has made a career-long quest of helping recruit and retain underserved and under-represented minorities. At Auburn, Gilbert and two other African-American colleagues have worked to recruit Black doctoral students into their program. In spring 2006, Auburn had 13 of the nation’s 160 Black computer science doctoral students, more than any other one institution.
This month, Gilbert presides over the Brothers of the Academy’s 2006 Think Tank conference in Atlanta, with BOTA’s affiliate, Sisters of the Academy. As the newly inaugurated president of the national organization, Gilbert has vowed to make the organization the nation’s most visible and most community outreach-oriented of minority academic groups.
Gilbert also leads a National Science Foundation program, underwritten by a three-year $385,000 grant. The NSF program focuses on minority doctoral computer science students, as he once was.
Currently, only 53 of the 5,179 computer science and computer engineering faculty in North America are Black — numbers Gilbert is determined to improve.
“I’ve always had the desire to build things and fix problems,” Gilbert says. “I’m having a great time. I couldn’t have asked for a better life.”
— By Ronald Roach
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
