Alumna to Share the Power of a Liberal Arts Education in Changing Times
RonAmber Deloney Ed.D. will present Austin College’s A.J. Carlson Lecture titled “A Poet, a DJ, a Professor, and a Project Manager: How the Liberal Arts Prepared Me to Reinvent Myself During Changing Times,” on Wednesday, September 20, at 5 p.m. in Mabee Hall of the Robert J. and Mary Wright Campus Center. A welcome reception will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the same location. Both events are free and open to the public.
As part of the year-long celebration of Austin College’s 175th year, invited alumni are returning to campus as speakers for signature events and endowed lecture series. Deloney, class of 2003, will address the value of a liberal arts education in a rapidly changing world.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Austin College in both English and German and traveled to Germany as a Fulbright scholar. Her post-grad education includes a Master of Adolescent Education degree from St. John’s University, Master of Arts degree in politics from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and a doctorate in education for Transformational Leadership from Concordia-Portland. She is a certified project management professional and an associate professor of Humanities at Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas.
“Austin College taught me the importance of staying level-headed when new challenges arise,” Deloney said. “I had a hard landing on campus….The campus was beautiful, but I had to accept that I didn’t end up at the school I planned to attend. AC was ready, though. The student groups were ready to receive me. The freshmen cohort was perfect with just the right amount of challenge and routine I needed to transition into academic life…. And all of my professors had a sense of humor. So, a good laugh was guaranteed at least once a day. I consider these as moments of grace I found at AC that have helped me keep my wit and my grit in areas of career, love, and scholarship.”
Deloney has worked with The Last Poets in Europe, and she has released two spoken word/hip hop albums entitled Of Brickwall and Breezeways and Lilac and Rapeseed, both of which are available on iTunes.
Dr. A.J. Carlson and the Johnson Center
This Austin College lecture series honors the late Dr. A.J. “Jack” Carlson, who joined the Austin College history faculty in 1962. He also served as dean of Humanities for many years and was a leading voice in defense of liberal arts education, which offers broad-based studies in humanities, sciences, and social sciences. He retired as professor emeritus in 1994 and remained active in the campus community until his death in 2014.
The lecture is sponsored by the Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, which is directed by Dr. Andrea Overbay, associate professor of mathematics. The Center schedules multiple events throughout the year with presentations by Austin College faculty and guest lecturers.