Educational Leadership Award

Over the past three decades, Dr. Betty P. Shadrick has held progressively responsible positions in educational institutions, and community-based and state government agencies. Applying her skills in teaching, counseling, and administration, she has worked to advance the well-being of the under served, economically impoverished, and aspiring pre-K, elementary and secondary youths; and undergraduate and graduate students. From her early involvement as a Teacher's Aide in the first Head Start program in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri to her work in the educational arena and community-based activism, she has demonstrated a commitment to helping others become the best that they are capable of becoming.

Currently, she is employed at the University at Albany-State University of New York and is the Director of the Office of Graduate Student Diversity and Assistant to the Associate Provost-Office of Graduate Studies, where she has worked for the last 20 years. Her expertise as a workshop facilitator is well-known locally, nationally, and internationally on diverse topics such as sisterly relations, spirituality and wellness, self empowerment, the graduate application process, effective decision-making, multicultural education, and indicators of academic success for African American college students, to name a few.

Active in the community and her church, she is a member of the Albany District Links, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.- Delta Mu Omega Chapter. She is a founding member and former Chair of the Black Faculty and Professional Staff Association at the University at Albany, a member of Albany County Civilian Review Board, Schenectady County Community College Advisory Board, Hudson Mohawk Association of Colleges and Universities, and TopFliters Golf League. She sits on WMHT-TV Board of Directors, is Board member of Two Together, an after school reading enrichment program for disadvantaged youth, and a member of the National Black Children Institute.

Her educational preparation includes a B. S. in Elementary Education from Grambling State University, an M.S. and CAS (Certificate of Advanced Standing) in Counseling Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University at Albany, SUNY. She is cited in Who's Who in American, Outstanding Women of the 20th Century, and is a recipient of the New York State Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service.