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Cook Society Announces Award Winners at Annual Dinner

Nine members of the Duke-Durham community have been selected as 2010 "Sammie" award winners, named for distinguished Duke political scientist, educator and human rights activist Samuel DuBois Cook.

One of the Cook Society honorees, engineering professor Gary Ybarra has led an effort to boost the number of local children entering scientific fields.

The Samuel Dubois Cook Society Awards Tuesday proved there are many ways to give back to the community and bolster the lives of young people.

The 13th annual "Sammie" dinner and awards ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Course honored nine members of the Duke and Durham community. Mentorship was the theme for the evening.

The "Sammies" are named for the distinguished Duke University political scientist, educator and human rights activist Samuel DuBois Cook. The winners were chosen in appreciation of their work in furthering Cook's legacy.

Some were recognized for their work enriching the lives of girls in Durham's middle schools. Another's work focused on mentoring college students and yet another encouraged organ donation and educating underrepresented minorities about the medical field. All were recognized for continuing the legacy started by Cook, Duke's first black faculty member.

Graduate award winner Alethea Duncan, a fifth-year chemistry doctoral student, was recognized for her work with middle school students in the BOOST (Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology) program. She spoke of her "kids" and the hidden benefit of serving others. "I learn just as much from them," she said. (See video accompanying story)

human rights activist Ann Atwater received a distinguished service award. Since the 1960s, Atwater has served on a number of boards and committees focusing on poverty and civil rights in Durham. Her friendship with former Klansman C.P. Ellis was chronicled in the book, "The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South." In 2003, Atwater was honored as a "Woman of Distinction" by the Durham NAACP.

Atwater said she found solidarity with Cook, a fellow activist. "I think all of us, black, Jewish, Hispanic, white, need to start talking and walking with each other," Atwater said, encouraging communication across communities to address the deterioration of schools, unemployment, inadequate housing and other social ills. "That's the only way to change things."

Other winners are:

-- Dr. Bradley Collins, an associate professor of surgery at Duke Medical Center. His clinical practice includes liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. He encourages organ donation, particularly to under-represented minorities. Collins also coaches basketball and baseball through the Durham Parks and Recreation Department and helps to serve meals each month at Urban Ministries;

-- Alethea Duncan, a fifth-year doctoral student in the chemistry department and past president of Duke's Graduate and Professional Student Council and of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association. For three years, Duncan has helped under-represented minority middle school students as a mentor for BOOST (Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology program);

-- Keith Lawrence, director of media relations at Duke. For the past five years, Lawrence has led an internship program that places students from North Carolina Central University in summer communications jobs at Duke. The internship program has grown from three students a summer to 10 students. The students get hands-on experience producing stories, videos and other valuable content that populate many of Duke's web sites and publications;

-- The Girls' Club, comprised of African American undergraduates Naomi Johnson, Shari Baker, Loren Krueger and Kelsey Porter. The Girls Club, started in 2003, mentors middle school girls in Durham who are recruited with the help of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. Members of The Girls' Club are volunteer mentors who are committed to helping the younger girls feel safe, valued, understood and encouraged. Each of the four members plans to continue to work with children after graduation.

-- Gary A. Ybarra, professor of the practice, department of electrical and computer engineering. Ybarra joined Duke in 1993 and one of his research interests includes improving K-12 science, math and engineering education. He is the director of "Engineering K-Ph.D.," a program that aims to increase the number of children, particularly girls, who choose to pursue science-related careers.

Named for the first African American faculty member at Duke, the Cook Society was founded in 1997 to recognize and celebrate the African American presence at Duke. For more information and to find a list of past award recipients, go to www.duke.edu/web/cooksociety.