As the Statue of Liberty proudly stands at the entry to New York City to celebrate American history, so should there be a monument to honor Dr. Frederick S. Humphries, the great man who has given so much to Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) magnificent history, our promising present, and our boundless future. This monument, a slightly-greater-than-life-size sculpture of an already statuesque (at 6’5”) leader, will serve to inspire greatness in FAMUans for generations to come.

Because of his extraordinary vision, the depth of his passion and commitment to his cause of “Excellence With Caring,” our beloved alma mater would expand beyond its granted programs and reestablish our pre-eminence among the mighty land-grant institutions.

Endowing a chairship is the most comprehensive way to honor Dr. Frederick S. Humphries. It is the highest academic award that the University can bestow on a faculty member, and it lasts as long as the University exists. Thus, it is both an honor to the named holder of the appointment and also an enduring tribute to the person for whom it is named to honor.

In 1987, Dr. Fredrick S. Humphries established the Florida A&M University Graduate Feeder Scholars Program, a direct pipeline for high achieving sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students enrolled at FAMU in any academic discipline, to attend nationally renowned universities to pursue graduate level degrees at no cost to the student. Dr. Humphries’ vision for this program was to ensure that his students had the ability to pursue and earn their degree of choice both at FAMU and beyond. Thirty-four years later, the “Feeder Program” has been copied by a host of Research 1 Institutions in their desire to expand their diversity in graduate programs. Thus, the Florida A&M University Graduate Feeder Scholars Program has become the “Flagship Pipeline Program” in America. Additionally, since 1987 FAMU has maintained more than 20 partnerships with universities such as Florida State University, the University of Florida, Cornell University, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina A&T University for more than 30 years. These types of institutions have proved their commitment to the Graduate Feeder Scholars Program and inducted Graduate Feeder Scholars by agreeing to provide full funding for up to five Feeder Scholars in graduate-level programs each year.

The Life-Gets-Better Scholarship was conceived and designed by former President Frederick S. Humphries, Ph.D., in 1986 “to capture and recruit the best and brightest African American students in partnership with corporate America.” These students were designated as National Achievement, Merit Finalists and Scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. In response to “A Nation at Risk,” he conceived the Life-Gets-Better Program (LGB), a unique industry-sponsored, full scholarship program for these students at Florida A&M University majoring in Engineering, Physical, Life, Natural and Computer Sciences and Pre-Law.

In response to the recent change in the Florida Board of Governors' Performance-Based Funding Model for all state universities to the four-year graduation rate from the national six-year graduation rate, FAMU is re-launching the Life-Gets-Better Scholarship Fund with a goal of $6M annual recurring dollars to provide scholarships to recruit and retain the best and brightest students with the goal of increasing FAMU's four-year graduation rate from 34.6% to 40% within the next year on a path toward over 50%.