February 23, 2004

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Elizabeth Ninomiya, Writer
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NSU Distinguished Alumni Winner, W. Roy Grizzard, Jr. Ed.d. Inspires Site Administrators
Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Speaks on Leadership

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - Nova Southeastern University 's (NSU) site administrators were treated to an inspiring talk on leadership from W. Roy Grizzard, Jr., Ed.D., Assistant Secretary of Labor for the office of for Disability Employment Policy. Speaking to the group at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center, Grizzard gave important advice on leading and bringing out the best in people.

Defining success as when preparation meets opportunity, Grizzard told the administrators they were training the workforce of the 21st century and the skills these men and women were learning will prepare them to do well. The many tips he shared with the audience of educators were to be flexible, visible, and a good communicator. "If you are going to be a leader, you have to understand you are not managing people, you are working with people,"  he said. His advice was to learn names, adding that a person's name is the most beautiful thing they have. Leaders have teams he explained and you have to let your team know you care. Show them their jobs are important, get to know them,, what makes them tick, and what they enjoy doing.

Before his nomination by President Bush to be the first Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy, Grizzard worked as a teacher, school administrator, and Commissioner for the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired. Legally blind as a result of retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disorder of the retina, Grizzard credits a large part of his success to coming into contact with people that focused on his abilities, not his disabilities.

Dr. Grizzard an NSU alumnus, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award at the recent Celebration of Excellence, which marked the 40th anniversary of the university. H. Wells Singleton, Ph.D. education provost and university dean of the Fischler School of Education and Human Services said that Dr. Grizzard was their highest ranking NSU alumnus.

With an outstanding full-time faculty and more than 700 highly-qualified and experienced adjunct faculty members throughout the world, the Fischler School of Education and Human Services is one of the largest and most technologically advanced graduate schools of education in the world. To learn more about the Fischler School of Education and Human Services, call 800-986-3223 or visit www.schoolofed.nova.edu