Professor of Journalism, Florida A&M University
Tallahassee, Florida
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 12:00 NOON, KNOXVILLE MARRIOTT HOTEL BALLROOM
Dr. Lady Dhyana Ziegler is currently Professor of Journalism at Florida A&M University. She has a Ph.D in academic administration and an M.A. in radio and television from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Her undergraduate degree is in the areas of journalism and music from Baruch College, City University of New York. She attended Harvard University’s Management and Leadership in Education Institute as part of her post-doctoral work.
Ziegler came to FAMU in 1997 after she was selected as the Garth C. Reaves Eminent Scholar Chair of Excellence in Journalism. Prior to that appointment, she served as Professor of Broadcasting at the University of Tennessee as well as the Associate Director for Diversity Resources and Educational. Ziegler is the first and only African-American to be elected as President of the University of Tennessee Faculty Senate and later was a charter inductee into the University’s African-American Hall of Fame. While at UT, Ziegler served as a member of the State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and served as Chair for part of that time. She was also Co-Chair of the Higher Education Committee for the State Black Caucus and a member of the 1997 Leadership Knoxville Class.
In September, 2012, she received the “Continent Award for The Americas in honor of Distinguished Intellectual Contributions to the 2012 World Forum” held at Oxford University from the World Forum Federation. In April 2008, she was knighted as a Dame of Justice by the Chivalric Order of the Knights of Justice at the University of Cambridge, England. In 2004 she was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship for a special seminar to China for Presidents and Vice Presidents of minority serving institutions.
In 2007, Ziegler was selected to serve on the Senior Threshold Foreign Service Selection Board of the U.S. Department of State. In July 2006, she was an invited speaker for the Inaugural World Forum held at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University, where she addressed delegates representing 55 countries. In 2008, Ziegler was selected by the American Biographical Institute to deliver a presentation at the World Forum at Oxford University where she addressed delegates that represented more than 50 countries on her research in technology. She was also invited in 2008 to engage in a discussion with Ambassadors from the Western Hemisphere in December 2008 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C. by the U.S. Department of State. Ziegler serves as the Executive Director and Secretary General to the United Cultural Convention and was appointed Executive Director of the UCC in 2011.
In 2007, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England, and was inducted into the IBC Order of Merit in 2008. Other notable awards include a Joint Tennessee House and Senate Resolution honoring her accomplishments; Tennessee’s Governor’s Outstanding Achievement Award; Outstanding Educators Award, Oak Ridge Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; and the Chancellor’s Citation for Research and Creative Achievement. Ziegler was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Biographical Institute for her work in communications and technology in 2008.
Ziegler is the author of two books and she has written numerous book chapters, refereed journal articles, and other trade publications. She was the only female in technology featured in the Black Digital Elite: African American Leaders of the Informational Revolution (2007), a book highlighting the contributions of African Americans in Technology.
Besides teaching and research, Ziegler is a television producer and on-air personality and has produced several documentaries, commercials and other audio/visual works. She was Co-Host of “The Tennessee Report” aired on WATE-TV. Currently, she serves on several administrative committees and is a member of several national and international professional organizations, honor societies, and community organizations.
