[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 84 (Monday, June 18, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO FREDERICK STEPHENS HUMPHRIES, PH.D., NOTED EDUCATOR, 
                      SCHOLAR, AND GREAT AMERICAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 18, 2001

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, tonight I am pleased to pay 
tribute to Frederick Stephens Humphries, one of the true giants of 
higher education in this country. We all recognized early in his 16-
year tenure that he is a man of great vision and wisdom. As President 
of Florida A&M University, he built it into one of this nation's 
premier institutions of higher education.
  Dr. Humphries is one of those special individuals in whom there 
exists not only an immense capacity for service, but also that touch of 
genius which everyone recognizes but no one can define.
  Under Dr. Humphries' leadership, Florida A&M's enrollment has more 
than doubled and the number of graduates has tripled. He did this 
simultaneously while raising standards and improving the overall 
quality of the student body. Three times in the last ten years Florida 
A&M has been the top choice of National Achievement Scholars, tying 
last fall with Harvard for attracting the largest number of these high-
achieving students.
  Thanks to Fred Humphries, Florida A&M now has the triple distinction 
of being the nation's largest single-campus historically black college, 
the No. 1 producer of African-Americans with baccalaureate degrees, and 
the leading producer of African-American teachers.
  Perhaps his single greatest contribution to America and to African-
Americans is that, during his 26-year career as a college President, 
Dr. Humphries has taught an entire generation of African-Americans that 
there was room for intelligence and idealism in our world, and that 
``excellence with caring'' was not just a way to live but a way to live 
greatly, that with education and knowledge each of us might share in 
the promise of our age.
  So to you Frederick Stephens Humphries, I want to thank you for all 
that you have done not only for Florida A&M, but this nation and our 
world.

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