FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2006
FY06-24
Taylor Joins ORAU Board of Directors
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.—The Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ (ORAU) Board of Directors welcomed Orlando L. Taylor as a new director at the 61st annual meeting of the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions held recently in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The board provides policy and fiduciary oversight of ORAU operations for its membership.
Taylor currently serves as the vice provost for research, dean of the graduate school, and professor of communications at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He joined the faculty at Howard in 1973 and has held a number of positions, including executive assistant to the president, interim vice president for academic affairs, dean of the school of communications, and chair of the department of communication arts and sciences. Taylor earned his doctorate in communication disorders from the University of Michigan and his master’s degree in communication disorders from Indiana University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in education from Hampton (Va.) University.
In his current position at Howard, he has secured major National Science Foundation grants to help increase the number of minority Ph.D. recipients in science, mathematics and engineering. Howard currently produces more African American Ph.D. recipients than any research university in the United States.
Prior to joining Howard, Taylor was a faculty member at Indiana University where his research focused on brain and language function. He is the author of numerous journal articles, chapters and books in the field of communication disorders and linguistics. Among his many honors, Taylor has received Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from both Purdue University and Hope College; the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s highest award, the Honors of the Association; and the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
Other directors elected to the ORAU Board were:
- Philip E. Coyle, III, senior advisor, Center for Defense Information
- Peter M. Hekman, U.S. Navy (retired), re-elected to another three-year term
- Nancy C. Martin, senior vice president for research, University of Louisville
- Colin G. Scanes, senior vice president for research, Mississippi State University
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 96 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.