Professor Rosa Purcell, former department chair and faculty member in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, has received the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. The award was presented at Fall Convocation on Oct. 24.

While at A&T, Purcell, Ph.D., served the university as coordinator of the family and consumer sciences education program, the consumer sciences concentration and the Master of Arts in Teaching in FCS education. She initiated the department’s accreditation by the American Home Economics Association in 1984; initiated the dietetics program’s accreditation by the American Dietetic Association; and developed the Master of Arts in Teaching in FCS education.

The department’s enrollment grew significantly under Purcell’s leadership. Today, A&T has the largest FCS program of its HBCU counterparts.

Valerie Giddings, Ph.D., the department’s current chairperson, worked extensively with Purcell. She describes Purcell as a tireless advocate for consumer sciences.

“Anything that she could do to help the department, she’d do,” Giddings said. “She was the ‘boost’ behind consumer sciences in many ways. She was well-known in the community, which was a big advantage for us, and she was also our advocate nationally, helping us to gain accreditations and develop programs such as the master’s in teaching.”

Purcell graduated from A&T’s Department of Home Economics (now Family and Consumer Sciences) in 1970, and earned her M.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Home Economics Education. She was a high school teacher in Virginia and an extension advisor at the University of Illinois before coming to A&T as an associate professor and department chairperson.

Rosa Purcell, Ph.D., right, does some catching up with Carolyn Womack Ragin during the CAES’s annual homecoming cookout at Webb Hall in October.

During her tenure, the department received numerous grants and contracts to meet the needs of public school teachers, individuals with disabilities and various communities.

After 35 years at A&T, Purcell retired in 2014. She immediately established the Dr. Arthur and Rosa Purcell Endowed Scholarship Fund to support the university’s FCS students.

“She was a strong supporter of students and faculty, and she still wants the program to grow and flourish,” Giddings said. “The scholarship she began conveys her commitment and passion for consumer sciences.”

In recognition of her leadership, service and commitment, Purcell received the profession’s highest honor in 2012.

“Dr. Purcell was wonderful to work with,” Giddings said.