For release: January 25, 2012
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

Dr. Rosie Phillips Bingham

The University of Memphis will open Black History Month by honoring one of its own, Dr. Rosie Phillips Bingham, with the Authur S. Holmon Lifetime Achievement Award. She will receive the award Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Michael D. Rose Theatre during a ceremony hosted by the Black Student Association and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The event is free and open to the public.

A native Memphian, Bingham became the U of M’s vice president for student affairs in 2003, and developed the mission statement, “Students Learning through Engagement and Involvement.” She had been assistant vice president for student affairs and student development since 1993.

The honoree currently serves on the Council of Representatives for the American Psychological Association, the Council of Student Affairs for the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, the Leadership Academy board, and Baptist Women’s Hospital board. One of her personal missions is to help improve the lives of women and children in the Memphis area. She also is co-founder of Black Scholars Unlimited at the U of M and is published in numerous psychology journals and books.

Bingham graduated from Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and education. She earned a master of arts in counseling and guidance and a doctorate in counseling psychology from The Ohio State University. She started her career in higher education in 1972 as a student personnel assistant at Ohio State and moved to the University of Florida in 1978. Bingham was associate director of the Counseling Center at Florida before being hired as director for the Center for Student Development at the U of M in 1985.

For more information on the event, call 901-678-2054.