"Bio Sketch"
Wm. Bruce Ezell, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Biology
The University of North Carolina
at Pembroke
Postal Box 1510
Pembroke, NC 28372
Tel: (910)-521-6421
| A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Wm. Bruce Ezell, Jr. holds the B.S. degree from Lander
College in Greenwood, South Carolina. He was subsequently awarded the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees by the Graduate
Faculty of Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, in 1965 and 1971,
respectively. Dr. Ezell completed further graduate studies at Colorado State
University (in Medical Entomology), and at Mansfield College of
the University of Oxford (in inter-religious Understanding). Throughout his life, Dr. Ezell has maintained an active interest in several different disciplines and academic endeavors. These interests include classroom teaching, college administration, field studies in biology, American History and the preservation of historic places. He is also interested in the History of "The Reformed Tradition" (i.e., Presbyterian & Reformed Churches) and Canadian Studies. His teaching experience includes work at such institutions of higher learning as Clemson University, Winthrop College, Erskine College, The Citadel, Charleston Southern University, Georgia Southern University, The Medical University of South Carolina and The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. As an administrator, he has served in a variety of posts including a Department Chair, a Graduate Dean, and as the Executive Assistant to the President of the University of Maine. Within the field of biology, his specialties are Medical Entomology (that branch of science that deals with the transmission of human and animal diseases by insects) and field ecology. During his graduate studies, he conducted the first systematic survey of flies belonging to the family Tabanidae (i.e., the horse and deer flies) in South Carolina. His research endeavors have enabled him to study various species of flies and mosquitoes as far South as El Salvador, and as far North as Newfoundland and throughout the United States. His other field studies have included investigations of Diptera (i.e., the two-winged flies) with regard to host-seeking behavior, the general bionomics of horse and deer flies, and ecological studies of mosquitoes in dredged material disposal sites. These research studies were supported by grants from the US Department of Commerce, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. In 2002, he received a grant from the Eisenhower Studies Programme to conduct Hexapoda, North Carolina! This grant enabled Dr. Ezell to establish a traveling seminar for a select group of 20 public school teachers from six counties in SE North Carolina to collect and observe insect life in all five of the natural physiographic providences of North Carolina. In 1974, he was named "Professor of the Year" at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. In 1975, he was named "Conservation Educator of the Year" by the SC Wildlife Federation for his work in developing a unique environmental institute for teachers that required the close cooperation of three state universities. Dr. Ezell has served on the SC Council for Endangered Species, the Board of Trustees for the SC Foundation for Independent Colleges, the Board of Visitors for the Medical University of South Carolina, the SC Tuition Grants Commission, the Maine Community Leadership Forum (a program to develop civic leadership in rural areas), and the PA State System of Higher Education Faculty Professional Development Council. In 1986, he was elected by the South Carolina Legislature to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), located in Charleston, SC. In 1988, he was the author and originator of the "Palmetto Fellows Proposal," which later became an integral part of "THE CUTTING EDGE" (an omnibus higher education bill that was later enacted into law in South Carolina). Professor Ezell has held offices and membership in a number of scientific and professional organizations, including Sigma Xi, the SC Entomological Society, and the St. Andrew's Society of Upper SC. In 1985-86, he served as the President of the SC Association of Colleges and Universities. In 1992 through 1998, he was served as Chairman of the National Advisory Council of Alpha Epsilon Lambda, the national honour society for graduate and professional school students. Indicative of his interest in older learners, Dr. Ezell has served as Dean of Graduate Studies at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, and at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. From 1993 through 1997, he served as the Chairman of the Council of Graduate Deans for the fourteen campus system of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PA/SSHE). From 1992 through 1999, he served on Faculty Professional Council of the PA/SSHE. In 1995, he was elected President of the Pennsylvania Association of Graduate Schools. In March of 2001, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of this association. Dr. Ezell has served as a speaker for a wide variety of civic, Church, and academic events. Some of these events have included University Commencements, Academic Honours Day events, etc. In 1989, he was invited to give "The University Sermon" at the Ft. Hill Presbyterian Church in Clemson, SC, (as a part of the Centenary of Clemson University). He has spoken in over 300 Churches and before numerous civic clubs. He is especially known for his slide-illustrated lecture entitled, Grave Stone Art and Rhetoric, which has been given before numerous historical societies and civic clubs. Working with his late father, Dr. Ezell has been especially interested in promoting the development of the Ninety Six National Historic Site, near Ninety Six, SC. In 1998, he produced a revised and updated edition of The Diary of Anthony Allaire for the interpretive staff and park personnel at this location. Dr. Ezell has also conducted research on the life experiences of Baroness Frederika Charlotte Louise von Riedesel in the United States during the American Revolution. For many years, Dr. Ezell has maintained an interest in promoting inter-religious understanding. On three campuses, he has sponsored major seminars that seek to promote better understanding of the relationships between and among the world's great monotheistic religious (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). In three different states, he has promoted an "Islamic Understanding Seminars" for college and university communities. In 1994, he was one of three founders of the PA State System Canadian Studies Consortium, a cooperative endeavor involving 14 university campuses where members of the respective faculties have expressed interest in Canadian affairs. In 1995 as a part of this consortium, he developed a cooperative programme between the PA State System of Higher Education and the Universities of Guelph, Toronto, and Ottawa in Canada. This grant-funded endeavor enabled thirty professors from Pennsylvania to travel and study as a group in Canada. Dr. Ezell's personal interest in Canadian affairs have enabled him to study and visit seven Canadian provinces. In May 1988, his alma mater (Lander College) conferred upon him the honorary degree, Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.). Dr. Ezell's civic activities have included serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for a Church Kindergarten and Day Care Centre, service on a Board of Directors for a Retirement Center, developing a highly successful leadership seminar- (S4TL... or "Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders) for a District of Rotary International, and membership on the Cable Television Commission of Scotland County, NC. Like his maternal grandfather and father, Dr. Ezell has served as a deacon and elder in the Presbyterian Church (PC-USA) and the United Church of Christ (UCC). While in Pennsylvania, he and Mrs. Ezell were active members of the historic First Reformed Church (UCC) of Reading, PA, where he served as a member of the Consistory. In 1995, he was selected by the SE Conference of the United Church of Christ to serve as a "goodwill ambassador" to the Evangelische Kirche der Union in Germany. The Ezells are currently active members of the Laurinburg Presbyterian Church of Laurinburg, NC, where Dr. Ezell serves on the Session. The professor's favorite hobby is hiking the Appalachian Trail, better known as the "AT." The "AT" is the world's oldest and longest continuously marked footpath, running from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Dr. Ezell has hiked more than 500 miles of sections of the "AT" in seven states. For more information about the "AT" CLICK HERE. He is also extremely fond of hiking deep into the Shining Rock Wilderness Area of western North Carolina. Dr. Ezell is married to the former Nancy Ellen Johnson of Ninety Six, SC. The Ezells are the proud parents of four children: Nancy Summer Ezell-Suggs of Charleston, SC; William Bruce Ezell, III, of Philadelphia, PA; Gretchen Edna, Ezell of Maxton, NC; and Heather Elizabeth Johnson Ezell-McQuaid of Morganton, NC. The Ezells currently reside in Maxton, NC. |