2012 Gems & Jewels Honoree
Shirley N. Weber, PhD
Born in Hope, Arkansas to sharecroppers, the late David and Mildred Nash, Shirley Ann Nash is the sixth of eight children. The family moved to Los Angeles when Shirley was only three years old. She was educated in the public schools of Los Angeles and attended UCLA where she received her BA, MA and PhD by the age of 26. When she graduated from UCLA as an undergraduate she was one of 12 Woodrow Wilson Fellows in a class of over 6,000.
At the age of 23, she became a professor at San Diego State University where she helped develop the department of Africana Studies. In 1988, she was elected to the Board of Education of San Diego City Schools. While a member of the Board, unprecedented progress was made in student achievement level in poor communities. Additionally, a number of new schools were built in older communities and were named after African American and Hispanic leaders.
Dr. Weber is recognized nationally and internationally for her ground breaking work to establish the discipline of Africana Studies. She has authored numerous articles and chapters in books on Marcus Garvey, Black Nationalism and Black Studies. From 2002-2006 she served as president of the largest international organization of professionals in the field of Africana Studies, the National Council for Black Studies. She also chaired the department of Africana Studies at San Diego State University for over fifteen years. She has been selected Outstanding Faculty ten times, and was selected Outstanding Young Woman in America twice. Currently, she is the only African American chair of an academic department at San Diego State University, a campus of over 30,000 students. Dr. Weber is Professor Emeritus and Chair of the Department of Africana Studies.
Dr. Weber is Director of the Academy for Effectively Teaching African American Students. This academy re-trains current teachers in Southern California on effective tools for teaching African American students. Dr. Weber is also the Executive Director of the Association for African American Educators in Southern California. She is the co-founder and Director of the W.E.B. DuBois Leadership Institute for Young Black Scholars through the NAACP, and co-Director of a Summer Institute in Ghana at the University of Lagon.
Annually, Dr. Weber takes a group of students to South Africa to volunteer with an AIDS project and at various youth centers. In 2006, forty-four students and community leaders traveled to South Africa with Dr. Weber to assist students at youth centers and schools in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. Additionally, her work in South Africa was featured on MTV’s “Amazing Break” program that was aired around the globe. She also participates in humanitarian efforts in Ghana where she has adopted a village of Jache in Kumasi.
For her humanitarian work, Dr. Weber has received hundreds of awards from a wide range of organizations (NAACP, Urban League, ACLU, Women’s’ International, YMCA, etc.) too numerous to name. In 2006, Dr. Weber was appointed to the Board of Directors of Southwestern Christian College, an HBCU in Terrell, Texas.
During 2005-2006, Dr. Weber hosted a popular radio program weekly entitled, “It’s a New Day with Dr. Shirley Weber,” on KURS AM 1040. The program was broadcasted live throughout San Diego and internationally over the internet. In 2006, she aired her program live from Johannesburg, South Africa, sharing her students’ perspectives and those of the local South Africans. Dr. Weber lectures widely throughout the United States, Caribbean and Africa. She is a regular speaker at various Christian Women lectureships throughout the United States.
Dr. Weber is the mother of two children: Akilah, a medical doctor, and Akil, a college student in San Diego. Dr. Weber is the widow of the late Honorable Daniel Weber, a California state judge. Her hobbies include reading and sewing.
