Remembering a Legend . . . Dr. Flossie M. Byrd, PVAMU Provost Emerita

Flossie M. Byrd, the eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Byrd, graduated as valedictorian of Howard Academy High School, Monticello, Florida (1944), earned the Bachelor of Science degree at Florida A&M College, magna cum laude (1948), the Master of Education degree at the Pennsylvania State University (1954), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Cornell University (1963). She is a member of four honor societies and is a Certified Family and Consumer Scientists. She also holds the distinction of being the first person from Jefferson County to earn the Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Flossie has received numerous honors and awards. Among these are the American Home Economics Association (now the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) Distinguished Service Award; The Florida A&M University Distinguished Alumna Award; an induction into the Gallery of Distinction for Agriculture and Home Economics graduates of Florida A&M University.

Beginning her professional career In 1948 as a high school home economics teacher in Apalachicola, Florida, she taught briefly at Howard Academy High School in Monticello, and resumed her career as a home economics teacher in Live Oak, Florida. Later Dr. Byrd served five years as Teacher Educator at Florida A&M University and two years as Teacher Educator at Prairie View A&M University, Texas. During her thirty-two year tenure at Prairie View, she advanced from Teacher Educator to Dean, College of Home Economics, to Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, to come Vice President for Academic Affairs, and concluded her career as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. She was the first person appointed Provost. She was awarded status as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Emerita, by the Texas A&M University System, effective September 1, 1994. Upon retirement, she established the Flossie M. Byrd Endowed Scholarship for students in Agricultural and Human Sciences at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas. Her career spanned a total of forty-two years.

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