BGS Award, Accessibility Engineer, & Chi Epsilon Leadership

Nick A. Brown, LA G ’82, is one of three recipients for the 2016 Business Achievement Award from Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) International Honor Society. Brown is president and CEO of Little Rock-based nonprofit corporation Southwest Power Pool. Southwest Power Pool oversees the wholesale power market and bulk electric grid on behalf of utility and transmission companies in 14 states in the central part of the country, including Arkansas.

He was nominated for the award by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business. According to the news story, the honor annually recognizes outstanding individuals for significant achievement in business and the community and for ethical leadership. Brown received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Louisiana Tech University.

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The USA Today profiled the work that accessibility specialist Matt C. King, IN G ’89, is doing at Facebook. King joined Facebook last summer “with a mission: to make websites and mobile apps friendlier for people like him with disabilities.” King, who is blind, previously spent 20+ years at IBM as a software engineer.

“There are not many products out there where you can say — actually it’s hard to name any — that the experience of using them as a person with a disability is as good as it would be if you didn’t have a disability,” says King who is part of a team at Facebook that focuses on accessibility, such as providing closed captions for videos and keyboard shortcuts for people who can’t use a computer mouse. Read the article for more information on the hot topic of making technology more accessible for everyone.

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Fellow member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), Chi Epsilon the Civil Engineering Honor Society shared with Tau Beta Pi that several of its National Council members are also Tau Bates, including:

Chi Epsilon President: Thomas F. Wolf, Ph.D., P.E. (MO B ’70) – Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at Michigan State Univ.
Chi Epsilon Vice President: Michael D. Symans, Ph.D. (NY N ’90) – Associate Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Chi Epsilon Marshal: Robert W. Barnes, Ph.D., P.E. (GA A ’93) – Associate Professor at Auburn Univ.
Chi Epsilon Central District Councillor: Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Ph.D. (IL G ’98) Associate Professor at Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln

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