There’s been a change at the top of one of Greensboro’s most influential, well-known and important foundations.
There are very rarely changes to the Board of Directors of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greater Greensboro; however, now there’s a brand-new board member. Former North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Chancellor Harold Martin is now sitting in the seat on the board that educator and civil rights advocate Shirley Frye had held since the foundation was established in 1986.
Foundation President and CEO Jim Melvin said this week that Frye decided to retire from the board, and, very soon after the other board members began talking about a replacement, Melvin said, it was clear Martin would be the perfect choice.
Melvin told the Rhino Times that he is extremely excited about Martin joining the Board of Directors.
“We began discussing it and Harold immediately came up,” Melvin said.
Martin apparently didn’t have to think twice about it when he got the request.
“We called him and he was just ecstatic,” Melvin said.
“This is a big appointment for us,” he added. “Harold knows all about A&T, which is a key for Greensboro.”
The Bryan Foundation, which has been a central player in the growth and improvement of Greensboro and the surrounding area over the decades, has a stated mission of supporting “the economic, cultural, educational, and recreational enrichment of the lives of the citizens of the greater Greensboro, NC, area.”
Another primary purpose of the foundation is to make improvements to, and enhance, the Joseph M. and Kathleen Bryan Park.
The foundation is named for its founder, former Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company executive Joseph Bryan, who was widely known for philanthropic efforts before his death in 1995.
The foundation was instrumental in luring the Toyota battery factory to the area, and in bringing the Elon University School of Law to downtown Greensboro, and the foundation is playing a key support role in the “Ready for School Ready for Life” initiative – a collaborative effort designed to establish an innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children.
Those are just a few of the ways the foundation has supported Greensboro. There are too many accomplishments of the foundation to list, but it’s safe to say that Greensboro would look like a very different city if not for the foundation that came onto the scene in the mid-1980s.
Martin, who was born in Winston-Salem, is Chancellor Emeritus of NC A&T and is the former chancellor of Winston-Salem State University.
In May of 2009, Martin became the twelfth chancellor of A&T.
Years before taking the helm of NC A&T, Martin studied electrical engineering at that university as a graduate student.
Under his stewardship, the school grew tremendously and it has become the nation’s largest and top-ranked historically black university. Anyone who’s ever tried to find a parking space on the campus on a school day knows all about the university’s explosive growth.
There is a building on campus named after Martin and he has earned many awards and honors for his service to the university and the community – including the title of President Emeritus, an Honorary Degree from Wake Forest University, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s Education Leadership Award, and his inclusion in Ebony magazine’s “Power 100” list in 2015.
Like Martin, Frye is a former NC A&T student.
After graduating, Frye later returned to A&T to become the assistant vice chancellor for development and university relations.
She also worked for the NC Department of Public Instruction and later as vice president of community relations for WFMY News 2, where she won an Emmy.
In the 1970s, Frye led the effort to integrate Greensboro’s segregated YWCAs and, in 2016, the newly renovated YMCA Greensboro was renamed the Shirley T. Frye YWCA Greensboro.
Frye is a recipient of North Carolina’s highest civilian award – the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which honors “individuals who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities through exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments.”
She is married to former NC Chief Justice Henry Frye, who was elected to the NC General Assembly in 1968, where he served six terms as a representative of Guilford County. He was North Carolina’s only black legislator at the time he was elected. The first bill he introduced was a constitutional amendment abolishing the requirement of a literacy test for registering to vote in North Carolina.
What about Dean Quiester Craig he was more instrumental for making NC A&T what it is today!!! 40 years and all I’ve seen since my grandfather’s death is people talk about this man and what he’s done for NC A&T he received a key to the city . 15 years compared to 40 is not efficient enough. No disrespect to this man I know my grandfather knew of him but start putting some respect on Quiester Craig name!!!
“. . . .sitting in the seat on the board that educator and civil rights advocate Shirley Frye had held since the foundation was established in 1986”
Surely this is not a replacement based on race. . . or is it.
Joe you already know the answer, I’m just surprised it’s not skip
Do you assume all people of color hired into any role are diversity hires? Cuz you sure seem to claim that here anytime a minority reveives a position worthy of news coverage. Hmmmmm…..I wonder why?
Dean Craig died last month.
Rebel and Joe, many are thinking the same thing you each mentioned. After all, it’s Greensboro.
And why is it a problem that Former Chancellor Martin was appointed to this position, he is more than qualified. All you want to do is harp on his skin color but I noticed you won’t recognize his qualifications and accomplishments which you already know makes him more than qualified to sit on this board. Just goes to show that no matter how qualified or accomplished a Person of Color is , there are people who will not afford you an opportunity, a chance, a job, or anything else because of your race. They still stuck on stupid, racist opinions that People of Color are inferior and not worthy of any opportunity. These are the type of people that won’t hire a Person of Color even when they are the best person for the job or anything else.
Thanks Patillo. From an old white guy! 🙂
Please see my comment to Chris above.
Thanks JV, reminds me of the newly appointed city council person that was just selected. It had to be a black person or there would have been hell to pay.
OH please. Martin was a very capable chancellor, level-headed and worked for the UNC system administration before. If you are against DEI that works off checking the race and gender boxes, then Martin is a good example of an individual who worked hard, earned an engineering degree, rose through the academic ranks and is qualified for the position. He is a good addition to the foundation.
Ok Ken whatever you say. Opinions are just that opinions. One is no more valid than another. They are just like a body part we all have.
Nope. Some opinions are more informed and less biased than others.
But that being said they are still opinions.
Thank you for agreeing that some opinions are more worthy of listening to than others. Now if we could just agree what defines a fact.
There are lot of diversity hires under DEI mandates. VP Harris is an extreme example, yet she got over 70 million votes. The only way for this nation to survive is a meritocracy. I have read the U.S. rates 40th in eduction world-wide. China ranks 5th. So who do you think is gonna run things?
Our totally rapacious, self-serving, corrupt, and inept govt will be the end of us.
Chris the fact is you are an insufferable ass. Where does it say that an opinion has to be a fact.
It doesn’t.