American International College (AIC) Education Professor Bertha Gorham, PhD, received an Inspiration Award from the African American Female Professors Award Association on October 5, 2023.
Each year, the association celebrates a select group of Black female professors at its awards banquet. This year’s event took place at the Griswold Theatre on the AIC campus, where Dr. Gorham was one of four Black female professors recognized for their significant contributions to higher education.
Dr. Gorham has been a valued member of AIC since September 2020, where she serves as an adjunct professor and doctoral dissertation chair. She has been instrumental in helping more than fifteen students complete their doctoral dissertations, as a chair or committee member, something Gorham calls a great privilege. “Completion of a doctoral degree requires a great deal of effort from students and faculty,” she said. “It is rewarding to see educators accomplish this goal and know that I played a part in helping them achieve their success.”
In addition to her work in dissertation courses, Dr. Gorham has taught research design, research methods, and diversity in education. With more than thirty years of experience in educational research and program evaluation, she served as a researcher for the Maryland State Department of Education for nearly two decades. During her employment, she participated in the Superintendent’s Committee to Establish School Report Cards, represented Maryland at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Forum on Educational Statistics, and authored annual teacher supply and demand reports for the state legislature. As the director of RTI International’s Center for Research in Education, Dr. Gorham led national and state studies focusing on early childhood development.
For a decade, Dr. Gorham worked at the Education Development Center in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she served as an evaluator on two federally funded projects: one addressing the opioid addiction problem in various states, and another establishing a center of excellence focused on infant and early childhood mental health issues.
Dr. Gorham obtained a bachelor’s degree from the College of Notre Dame in Maryland, a master’s degree in measurement, research, and statistics from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in program evaluation and policy studies from North Carolina State University.
The African American Female Professor Award Association annually celebrates and honors African American female professors annually. Traci Talbert, the organization’s founder, is an AIC alumna who graduated with her BA in 2015. Her inspiration to recognize African American female faculty members teaching at the college level has driven the association’s mission.
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