Spartan Profiles: Nelvia Brady
THIS MOTHER’S DAUGHTER
Born in Chicago, raised in a Westside housing project, she eventually rose to become the chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago—the nation’s third largest community college district with 120,000 students—and later vice president of the executive search firm Carrington & Carrington, Ltd.
Nelvia Brady, Ph. D. ’80, has now gone solo with the publication of This Mother’s Daughter (www.thismothersdaughter.com), a warm, engaging and candid collection of African-American women’s wisdom that is filled with universal truths about life. “The book has sold tremendously for a self-published book,” says Brady, who credits her MSU experience with her success.
In 1978, she recalls, she received a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship with which she “could choose any university in America” to complete her doctoral program. “MSU had a program that combined both counseling and administration,” she says. “That was exactly what I was looking for.”
She got her degree in two years. “I was crazy,” she admits. “Because of the fellowship, I could devote myself totally to my studies. I took 21 hours my first term.”
She cites Robert Greene, then dean of urban affairs, and sociologist Wilbur Brookover, her dissertation chair, as two key influences. Her meeting with her thesis committee was so rigorous, she recalls, that she burst into tears afterwards. “They put me through the ringer,” she says with a chuckle. “But I really value my experience at MSU. It absolutely made a difference in catapulting my career. Nothing has prepared me better to face the rigors of life better than the preparation for my Ph.D. at MSU.”
Although her time on campus was pretty much totally dedicated to her studies and her thesis on the desegration of schools, she did manage to have some fun when MSU won the 1979 basketball championship. “I remember Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser and the excitement they brought to campus,” recalls Nelvia. “I remember celebrating on the main street (Grand River Ave.) and the total chaos. It was wonderful.”
