Black MBA - Summer 2008 - (Page 30)

FEATURE H. Naylor Fitzhugh salesman before accepting what was a planned temporary teaching position at HU – a respectable profession, but one of last resort for many well-educated African Americans of Fitzhugh’s generation, who were more interested in jobs at Wall Street firms and major companies. MAKING A DIFFERENCE Of course, more opportunities exist today for Black MBAs. Recently married to Dr. Traci Nicole Fitzhugh, a practicing OB/GYN, Naylor wants to use his MBA skills to secure a position that will offer balance between his work and life. And while Naylor has options, he questions the overall gains garnered, pointing to the disparities in the amount of minorities, including women, residing at the top rungs of the corporate ladder. “I think it’s almost the same as things were back when my grandfather was around… things are just more subtle now,” Naylor says. Do a Google or Yahoo! search of H. Naylor Fitzhugh, and you will discover numerous articles calling him the “Dean of Black Business.” Fitzhugh taught 30 years at HU, during which time he helped launch the university’s marketing department, organized its Small Business Center and chaired the advisory committee of HUSB. “He put the marketing department on the map,” says Dr. Gwynette Lacy, assistant dean of student affairs and graduate faculty at HUSB. “He was there from the very beginning in business education at Howard,” she says. “Historically, when you go way back to when Howard’s Arts and Science Department [separated into] a very small, struggling business school, he was there His background was very instrumental in getting us accredited the first time.” HUSB was founded in 1970. In 1971, the undergraduate program became the first fully accredited business school in the Washington, D.C., area, and in 1980, the MBA program received accreditation. Although Lacy started her career at HU in 1976 after Fitzhugh retired, she recalls learning about his legacy through various faculty members. “Inspiring” and “consummate educator” are words she uses to describe his legacy. “When I started, I heard about how excellent he was,” she says. “And most of us who work at Howard – who know his legacy – desire to follow in his footsteps.” Naylor, whose name is listed as “Howard Fitzhugh” on classroom rosters, says very few people, including instructors, realize he is the namesake of the man whose images greet them in the business school foyer. But Naylor acknowledged the heightened expectations occasionally imposed on him by instructors aware of his family’s legacy. And while he admitted his 3.6 GPA isn’t the highest in the program, he’s confident in his strong business acumen. At HU, he’s basking in what he considers a nurturing environment – a stark difference, he says, from his experiences at the predominantly white secondary and higher education schools he previously attended. Naylor sings praises about this year’s two MBA scholarship recipients, Crystal Ramdial and Alisa Balwant, of the annual PepsiCo/H. Naylor Fitzhugh Scholars Program, which awards MBA and undergraduate students $5,000. Each of the scholarship recipients this year held at least a 3.5 GPA; both Ramdial and Balwant boasted 4.0 GPAs. Naylor considers them stand-out individuals and worthy of representing the Fitzhugh legacy. PASSING IT FORWARD “Passing it forward” is at the crux of Fitzhugh’s professional and personal legacies, says Ido Jamar, Ph.D., Fitzhugh’s only daughter. This is why she jokingly fusses at her nephew, Naylor, for wanting to apply for the HU scholarship offered in his grandfather’s name. Gathered at a Thai restaurant near HU’s campus, Ido explains how blessed her family already has been over the years due to the Fitzhugh legacy. The laughter continues as they discuss Naylor’s recent wedding and honeymoon, along with family memories, including her father’s magic tricks, which he also performed during her childhood. As she reflects on the numerous afternoons she spent at her father’s HU campus office, her pride for him shines through. She explains his long-standing decision to forego an administrative H. Naylor Fitzhugh III the family], he’d show us magic tricks,” Naylor says. “It was a way for him to make us laugh and bond. He did this thing where he’d have a penny and he’d hold it on his finger… and then snap his fingers, and it would go away. I never figured it out, but my Uncle Richard pointed out that my grandfather always wore long-sleeve shirts… and he flicked the penny up his sleeves.” Naylor adds, “One time he poured milk in a bag and it burst.” But the laughter stops when he considers his grandfather’s experiences as a young man. When Naylor imagines the experiences of his grandfather, he imagines traveling back to 1930 and being one of a few African Americans attending Harvard University. Being Black, his grandfather had limited options for roommates and even fewer burgeoning friendships. The upswing of this is that he had abundant study time; the down side is that he was lonely. During his free time, he taught himself magic tricks. Through the years, he never forgot them, not even with upgraded degrees and people singing his accolades, or the whiplash from doors slammed in his face. Fitzhugh graduated cum laude with an undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1930 before becoming one of the first Blacks to complete Harvard’s MBA program in 1933. He worked briefly as a 30 BlackMBA • Summer 2008 • www.nbmbaa.org http://www.nbmbaa.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Black MBA - Summer 2008

Black MBA- Summer 2008 Contents Mailbag Up Front From the President & CEO Politics of Change Catalyst for Change: Results of our 2008 Political Poll Know Whose Shoulders You Stand On: The Legacy of H. Naylor Fitzhugh Howard University: Changing With the Times Straight Talk: CEO to CEO Creating Your Own Sandbox Dual Threats Avoiding the Faux Pa Invest in Your MBA Everything You Need to Know About...Estate Planning On Campus Plan Ahead The Big Show What's in a Name? On the Move Market Forecast Jeff Friday Keith Wyche Life Lessons On the Ground Real Biz A Golden Opportunity Entrepreneurial Institute Tech Tools Read for Success Stacey Tisdale Advertiser Index

Black MBA - Summer 2008

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