Alabama State University News February 12, 2016 ASU Dean Wins Prestigious Award By Lois G. Russell The dean of ASU's College of Visual and Performing Arts recently traveled to her home state of Mississippi to accept an award she helped to launch nearly three decades ago. *** Dr. Tommie Tonea Stewart has won numerous awards during her illustrious career, but she says being a recipient of the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts is a particularly special honor. "To be honored in my state at a high level such as this humbles me," said Stewart. "I can now appreciate how all of those before me felt when they received this prestigious award." Stewart, who has served as dean of ASU's College of Visual and Performing Arts for more than five years and at ASU for more than 25 years, was one of five honorees to receive recognition during a gala occasion coordinated by the Mississippi Arts Commission and held on Thursday, Feb. 11. "Our arts heritage runs so deep in Mississippi, and it's so diverse," said Tom Pearson, executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission. "These awards exemplify and hold a spotlight on that extreme talent that comes from our state." According to the news release announcing the award, Stewart helped to found the Mississippi Governor's Awards in 1988. "It has often been said that individuals are not honored in their own town. So I was surprised when I received notice of this honor. I never thought all those years ago when we started the Governor's Award, that one day I would be a recipient." About Dr. Tommie Stewart Tommie "Tonea" Stewart is a native of Greenwood, Miss., and is a child of the Civil Rights Movement. She is an educator, professional actress, motivational speaker, play director, national museum exhibit director, tenured professor and Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Alabama State University. Stewart is a graduate of Jackson State University (B.S.), the University of California at Santa Barbara (M.A.) and Florida State University (Ph.D. in Theatre). She was the first African-American female to receive a doctorate from the FSU School of Theatre and the first McKnight Doctoral Fellow in Theatre Arts. Stewart is a practitioner of Frank Silvera's acting technique from the American Theatre of Being, which she credits with ASU's Theatre Arts Department's successful graduation rate. Since her tenure with the University, ASU's Theatre Department has seen many of its graduates work in Hollywood (television, film), education, in the theatre and on Broadway. Their most recent credits include "Lion King," "Kinky Boots," "Raisin in the Sun," "All the Way," "Motown" and "Memphis." As an actress, Stewart is perhaps best known for her role as Miss Etta Kibbee in "In the Heat of the Night" and Gwen Haley in the film adaptation of John Grisham's "A Time to Kill." She is a New York World Festival Gold Medal Award winner for her narration of Public Radio International's series "Remembering Slavery." Stewart has been awarded four honorary doctorate degrees and is a life member of the NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. In 2015, Stewart received the White House's coveted Champion of Change Award, which recognizes faculty and staff members at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-592-4820 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.