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National Gates Arrest Review Committee Features Simmons College Professor

Simmons School of Management Professor Stacy Blake-Beard Appointed to National Group

BOSTON (September 18, 2009) — Stacy Blake-Beard, a professor at the Simmons School of Management, has been appointed to the 12-member Cambridge Review Committee, a national independent group that aims to identify lessons learned from the July 16 arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Blake-Beard, who specializes in organizational behavior, diversity and mentoring, joins a distinguished body of academic and law enforcement representatives to address a range of issues surrounding the controversial incident that made international headlines. Among the committee's goals are to assess whether the Cambridge Police department should modify its operational procedures; how issues of race, class, and interpersonal conflict should be included in officers' training; and what should be done to better appreciate the cultural and social complexities of the residents who deal with police.

The group will begin to meet in October; it eventually will produce a report that will be made public.

Blake-Beard has researched, published, taught and consulted on diversity in organizations with a variety of professional groups for more than 20 years. Additionally, for the past several years, she has taught diversity in an executive education program for senior law enforcement personnel throughout the U.S. and several other countries.

Among the committee members are Charles H. Ramsey, the police commissioner of Philadelphia; Judge Joyce Alexander, who retired as the longest-serving magistrate at the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts; and Terrance Gainer, the U.S. Senate sergeant at arms.

The Simmons School of Management is the only AACSB-accredited business school designed specifically for women. The school is committed to advancing women of diverse backgrounds into leadership positions. Simmons College is a nationally recognized private university located in the heart of Boston.