Mary Frances Early planted roots as the University of Georgia’s first African American graduate, and the 26th annual lecture named for her showed just how many blooms have come from those roots.
Adrienne Madison, keynote speaker at the lecture held Feb. 9, is one of those blooms.
“As I brainstormed potential speech topics and themes, the word ‘bloom’ kept making itself a pestering presence in my notes,” said Madison, a research biomedical engineer at the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory. “Today, in this setting, I ask you to grant me the courtesy of being viewed as one of the branches from Ms. Early’s tree — a brilliant bloom rising from the soil enriched with her grit. My petals are colored by her vision and legacy, and my roots are anchored in her resolve.”
Madison blazed her own trail as the College of Engineering’s first doctoral graduate, earning her Ph.D. in biological and agricultural engineering in 2013. Now she is a principal investigator leading musculoskeletal injury biomechanics research. But that journey wasn’t easy.
“There were lots of highs, lows and defining moments throughout my educational journey. After all, both rain and sunshine are required for growth,” Madison said.
Part of Madison’s interest in biomedical engineering stems from her desire to help her grandmother through some health complications. After her grandmother passed, Madison asked her high school counselor to help her find a college major that combined medicine, science and engineering.
“Biomedical engineering was my destiny,” Madison said. “I remain committed and dedicated to the field of study because I get to honor her memory daily.”
For Madison, the full cycle of growth includes paying it forward. She continues teaching and mentoring the next generation as a way of leaving her own footprint and helping youth thrive in a landscape they haven’t seen.
“Mentorship is an essential catalyst for progress — a crucial step that ensures a community’s grown remains unbroken,” Madison said. “It is the act of scattering new seeds into the soil enriched by trailblazers like Ms. Early. By extending my branch, I can contribute to the vitality of a legacy planted almost 64 years ago.”
As a doctoral student at UGA, Madison felt Early’s legacy firsthand. In 2013, Early asked the then president of Graduate and Professional Scholars for a list of graduating students and their contact information. Early sent each of them a handwritten letter. In a moment of frustration as she finished her research, the letter fell down from the shelf where Madison placed it. That note was the encouragement Madison needed.
It was Early’s hope to inspire others, the way she did Madison.
“I came here to help encourage others,” Early said. “It makes me so proud to see where the university is now.”
Early came to the University of Georgia in 1961 as its first African American graduate student. She followed the footsteps of Charlayne Hunter-Gault and the late Hamilton Holmes, who integrated the university earlier that year as its first African American undergraduate students, and became the institution’s first African American graduate in 1962.
“Ms. Early often reminds us to remember your roots because they will remind you from whence you came and to remember your wings because they’ll take you to unbelievable heights if you believe in yourself,” said Alton Standifer, vice provost for academic and community engagement and chief of staff to the provost.
The lecture series recognizes Early’s dedication to making UGA an institution of higher learning for all people. It also strives to demonstrate the progress that has been made in achieving her vision as well as to identify the work that remains to be done.
“This lecture serves as a reminder of the progress we have made as an institution and allows us to honor a true trailblazer, educator and dear friend,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Thank you for all you have done and all you continue to do today to support the University of Georgia. Thank you for your courage, thank you for your leadership, thank you for your loyalty, and thank you for your unwavering friendship and support for this institution. Your legacy has had a lasting impact on generations of students who all follow in your footsteps.”
The Mary Frances Early Lecture, also designated as a Signature Lecture, is sponsored by the Graduate School, Graduate and Professional Scholars, the Mary Frances Early College of Education, the Office of Academic and Community Engagement and the Office of the President.