Metropolitan A.M.E. Honorees (Bios)

Ms. Webb is a Peabody award-winning producer, performer and host of the number one Sunday Afternoon Gospel music program on 96.3 WHUR. Ms. Webb marked her twenty-fifth year of providing her special mix of inspirational music on WHUR in 2015. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined In 2018, Webb hosted and produced a special presentation of Gospel Routes of Rock and Soul for WXPN Philadelphia. The Indiana University Archives of African American Music and Culture established the Jacquie Gales Webb Collection in 2016. The collection is a repository for collected papers and production materials related to her career. The collection provides a resource for scholarly research and course development on media and music history and has been a resource for books, publications, and an online exhibit on the Golden Age of Black Radio for the Google Cultural Institute. In 2014, Webb was inducted into the WERS Hall of Fame at her alma mater Emerson College for her broadcasting career achievements. The National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses presented Ms. Webb with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 for continuous service and support of gospel music. She was also named by the Washington Examiner newspaper as one of the top ten “movers and shakers in gospel music” in the Washington metropolitan area. Her performance and body of work in the gospel music industry was instrumental in WHUR receiving the 2009 Stellar Award for Major Market Station of the Year. Webb produced two gospel music CD compilations for Time Life and is a featured gospel music expert in the Magnolia Pictures film documentary “Rejoice and Shout.” Her other awards include the George Foster Peabody Award from the University of Georgia and the Alfred I. Dupont silver baton from Columbia University for the radio documentary “Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was”, and six local EMMY Awards and 14 nominations from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Jacquie Gales Webb currently serves on community advisory boards for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Foundation for the Advancement of Music Education and the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts. She served on the national alumni board of Emerson College for six years and is a past president of the DC Emerson alumni chapter. She also served as vice president of the national Capitol area chapter of the Alliance for Women in Media and on the board of the Prince Georges County, Maryland Arts and Humanities Council.

Mrs. Thelma Dean Jaco https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined bs is a native Washingtonian and a graduate of the city’s great Armstrong Technical High School. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Howard University, Mrs. Jacobs became a Federal Civil Servant. Now retired, her career began at the Treasury Department and concluded at the Department of the Army where she was a Supervisory Computer Specialist. Mrs. Jacobs has attended Metropolitan AME Church for over 70 years and is a member of the Robert R. and Ora B. Kelly Lay Organization, teaches Church School, and serves as the Church Historian. She teaches Metropolitan AME Church history to new members and conducts church tours. Mrs. Jacobs is also a contributor to the church newsletter, the “Metropolitan Spirit”. She is a fourth generation AME. Mrs. Jacobs has attended AME General Conferences since 1988 and five of the most recent Connectional Lay Organization Biennials. At Metropolitan AME, her late parents, Mrs. Ruth Morgan Dean, was a Stewardess (later a Deaconess); her father, Mr. Wade Preston Dean, was a Church School teacher. In 2013, Mrs. Jacobs led the Metropolitan AME Church team that assisted in the filming of segments in the documentary, “Meet Me At Equality” at the church. The documentary, which commemorated the 50 th anniversary of the 1963 “March on Washington”, was broadcast nationwide on PBS television. Mrs. Jacobs appeared in the 2015 C-Span segment commemorating the 150 th anniversary of the 13 th Amendment. She was commentator in the 2012 and 2017 documentaries on the life of Afro-British classical composer Samuel-Coleridge Taylor. The documentaries were filmed at the church where Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a visitor in 1904 and guest conductor in 1906. Mrs. Jacobs is an avid reader and world traveler. She has visited most major US cities. Internationally, she has visited Turkey, England, Germany, Switzerland, France, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Botswana, Zambia, and the Republic of South Africa. She is the proud parent of three adult children, Benjamin Jacobs, Esq., Eugenia T. A. Jacobs, and David P. Jacobs.

Aisha Karimah is a native Washingtonian, a graduate of Howard University and Wesley Theological Seminary. She is proud and devoted to her family: two sons, a daughter in love, and a grandson. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined After a 46 year career with NBC4 Washington, Aisha retired in 2015. At NBC4, she was the Director of Community Affairs, where she championed many community campaigns such as: Beautiful Babies Right from the Start (reducing infant mortality in .D.C.); Drug Free Zones (creating safe zones around schools); It Takes a Whole Village ( aimed at ending violence in community); Make the Right Call ( ending bullying); Changing Minds ( mental health awareness); Camp 4 Kids; Get Healthy 4 Life; Backpacks 4 Kids; Food 4 Families; and, the successful annual NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo. A veteran television producer, Aisha has produced programs for NBC4- Reporters Notebook, Viewpoint, Washington Informer Spelling Bee, Make the Right Call, Just Rappin’, The Sunday Show, Tony Brown at Daybreak, and The Fred Thomas Show. And, she has also produced programs for Howard University Television, including The Urban Health Report with Dr. Freda Lewis Hall, Washington’s Leaders with Professor Roger Wilkins and The Randall Robinson Program. Throughout her career, she has received many accolades and awards including: Howard University's School of Divinity Pillar of Faith Award; Greater Washington Urban League’s Whitney Young Award; Radio One Media Pioneer’s Award; Whitman Walker’s Partner for Life Award in the fight against HIV/AIDS; San Francisco State University’s Broadcast Media Award; Howard University’s Salute to Black Women’s Award; The Capital Press Club’s Meritorious Award; Concerned Black Men’s Community Service Award; and, a National Emmy Plaque for Community Service. Additionally, she has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Silver Circle and awarded the Academy’s prestigious Board of Governor’s Emmy for outstanding work in the community. She also received the prestigious, ICON Award for Community Service by General Electric’s African American Forum. On May 5, 2014 in recognition of her 45 years of service to the community, the D.C. Mayor at the time, Vincent Gray issued a Mayor's Proclamation establishing, Aisha Karimah Day in the District of Columbia. Also in recognition, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton issued a resolution of recognition for the Congressional Record. And this year, she was inducted into the D.C. Hall of Fame and the National Association of Black Journalists 2017, Hall of Fame. Licensed to preach in 2005, Aisha was ordained in November 2006 to serve the congregation of historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church as an Associate Minister. Her primary ministerial responsibilities are Metropolitan’s Social Justice and Community Engagement and the New Members Ministries. Aisha says, “As a cancer survivor my life is a witness to God’s amazing grace. There is no secret what God can do.”

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined Elsie L. Scott, Ph.D . Elsie Scott has enjoyed a distinguished career in federal, local, nonprofit and higher education settings. Presently, she serves as the Interim President and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) while on leave from her position as founding director of the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center at Howard University. Between 2006 and 2012, Scott served as president and CEO of CBCF where she successfully launched and enhanced CBCF initiatives to strengthen the influence of African Americans in public policy development, including leading the Annual Legislative Conference that which attracts more than 10,000 attendees each year. She has successfully served in law enforcement civilian leadership positions, including Deputy Commissioner of Training for the New York City Police Department, and various senior and supervisory positions in the police departments of Detroit and the District of Columbia. She authored the legislation to create the Police Officer Standards and Training Board for D.C. and served as its first executive director. She also served as executive director of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) for five years. Scott earned a B.A. from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, an M.A. from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University, all in political science. She has taught political science, urban studies and criminal justice at several universities, including Howard, Rutgers, Central Florida, the University of the District of Columbia, and North Carolina Central, and has served as a consultant, advisor and speaker on police issues in places as diverse as Toronto, St. Croix, San Francisco and Brazil. She started attending Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in the 1980s at the invitation of Pastor Robert Pruitt and became a member in 1990. Under the leadership of Pastor (Elder) Ronald Braxton, she moved from being a pew member to active involvement in the church. Some of her work has been co-chair of Homecoming Committee, Member of the Board of Stewards, co-chair of the Website Committee, Chair of the Public Relations Commission, Class Leader, co-administrator of the Facebook page, convener of the revived Bethel Literary and Historical Society, co-chair or advisor for several church anniversary committees and leadership positions for special events. She is the daughter of a Baptist minister who was a civil rights leader in Louisiana. She serves on several nonprofit boards, including the National Council of Negro Women, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and the John H. Scott Memorial Fund.

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined In 2013, Dr. James M. Turner retired from Federal service. He is currently Director of the D.A. Payne CDC’s Percy Julian Institute whose mission is to encourage minority students to pursue STEM careers. He also continues to keep abreast of developments in International Affairs, personalized medicine, and climate change. Prior to retiring, he was the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA's) Office of International Affairs and Senior Adviser to the NOAA Administrator. The Office addressed international scientific issues associated with climate, food security, global oceans, atmosphere, and space. He advised the NOAA Administrator on international policy issues and represented NOAA in federal interagency and international meetings. Dr. Turner came to NOAA from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) where he served as the Deputy Director and Acting Director. NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology. Dr. Turner served as the Assistant Deputy Administrator for Nuclear Risk Reduction in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). He was responsible for major projects in Russia to permanently shutdown their last three nuclear weapons-grade plutonium-production reactors. He worked with foreign governments and international agencies to reduce the consequences of nuclear accidents by strengthening their capability to respond to nuclear emergencies including Chair of the IAEA’s Nuclear Safety in Asia Program. Dr. Turner held senior management posts at DOE concerned with nuclear weapons safety both in the U.S. and abroad such as leading DOE assistance to the Former Soviet Union for the safe, secure dismantlement of their nuclear weapons after the Cold War ended. Dr. Turner was in charge of a DOE field Operations Office for six years. He also led DOE work in special assignments to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia. He has varying degrees of ability in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Russian, German, and American Sign Language. He holds Physics degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T., Ph.D.) and Johns Hopkins University (B.A.). Dr. Turner served five years as Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering at Morehouse College where he did funded research. As a NASA Faculty Fellow, he did research at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Goddard Space Flight Center. He received the U.S. Government Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, the DOE Exceptional Service Award (three times), the Secretary of Energy Gold Award, and the NNSA Administrator’s Gold Medal. Dr. Turner belongs to several professional scientific societies, Council on Foreign Relations, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Union of Concerned Scientists, Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Friend of the Capital City Cherokee Community. Dr. Turner is married (Paulette) with 5 children (Lauren, James IV, Rachelle, Malcolm, and Nat) and 3 grandchildren (Martin, Alexandra, and Martin). He has been a member of Metropolitan AME Church for more than 40 years serving on the Usher Board and Payne-Tanner Scholarship Endowment Board.