Florida A&M University (FAMU) Associate Professor of English Veronica Adams Yon, Ph.D., has been elected the next national president of the Alpha Kappa Mu (AKM) Honor Society, Inc.
The election took place in Greensboro, N.C., during the Society’s 65th Convention.
The 93,000-member organization celebrates the academic achievements of juniors, seniors and graduate students in all disciplines. Yon’s four-year term as president will begin on August 1, 2019.
Founded in 1937, by George W. Gore, Jr., who became FAMU’s fifth president, AKM is the first honor society at a historically Black college or university (HBCU) to be admitted to the Association of College Honor Societies.
“I am extremely honored to have been selected to lead Alpha Kappa Mu through its next era of promoting and recognizing academic excellence,” said Yon, who served as the founding director of the FAMU Writing Resource Center (WRC) from 2003 to 2016.
A graduate of Florida State University’s English master’s and doctoral programs, Yon has held a variety of roles since joining FAMU. She coordinated the University’s college preparatory English program from 2002 to 2003, directed the Composition Studies program for three years and later served as interim chair of the English Department while being head of the WRC. Yon is credited with securing approximately $1.5 million in Title III grants to open and operate the resource center.
As the WRC’s director and the coordinator of Tutorial Support Services, Yon supervised and mentored undergraduate and graduate student tutors and presented campus workshops on the writing process and tutoring techniques.
In congratulating Yon, Valencia Matthews, Ph.D., dean of the FAMU College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, said she is delighted Yon will get to share her talents on a national stage.
“Dr. Yon has provided exemplary leadership and service on campus for many years,” Matthews said. “Alpha Kappa Mu members will reap the benefits of her vision and commitment.”
Yon also served as faculty adviser of the Kappa Iota (FAMU) Chapter of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society in 2008. In this role, Yon has guided hundreds of students through society inductions, community service projects, scholarship and graduate school applications, and scholarly presentations.
Yon was named FAMU “Teacher of the Year” in 2009 and AKM Director of Public Relations in 2013. This year, she received the 2019 “Outstanding Advisor” Award from AKM as well as the “#WriteOnFAMU Teacher of the Year” Award from the University’s Quality Enhancement Program.
Mollie B. Brown, Ph.D., executive secretary/treasurer of Alpha Kappa Mu, called Yon “a proven leader” and “the right person, in the right place to serve as the 23rd National President of the 82-year-old organization.”
“We look forward to her leadership,” said Brown.
