The Iowa African American Hall of Fame (IAAHF) has announced that it will induct three new members on August 2. The IAAHF was founded in 1995 in Des Moines but is now located in the Black Cultural Center at Iowa State University. Since its inception, 56 members have been inducted into the IAAHF. This year two of the three new members have ties to higher education.
Betty Jean Furgerson served on the Iowa Board of Regents for six years. She was a member of the Iowa Council on Vocational Education and served on the Multicultural, Nonsexist Curriculum Committee of the Iowa Department of Education. Fergerson enrolled at Talladega College in Alabama but transferred first to the University of Iowa and then to what is now Northern Iowa University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary art education. She later earned a master of social work degree from the University of Kansas.
William B. Hood Jr. is a retired professor at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids. He also served as vice president for student affairs at the university. He currently serves as director of Christian education for the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.
