Ebony Scurry is a clinical sociologist in practice helping individuals and communities thrive into their best selves through leadership development, self-care, and positive change. As a change agent and interventionist, her ministry includes a deep commitment to students in higher education, purpose driven leaders, and value driven, social justice oriented organizations.
With a multifaceted background in multi-cultural organizational leadership, strategic human resources, and learning culture, she strives each day to serve from an optimistic, practical, and compassionate approach.
Ebony is an adjunct professor at Montgomery College and the University of Maryland Global Campus. She is an ordained Unitarian Universalist Community Minister based in the DC Metro area where she applies a sociological perspective to building partnerships with local organizations and cultivating a culture of inclusion and belonging within the non-profits she serves.
Read her 2025-2026 presidential vision statement here: https://www.linkedin.com/
I am a first-generation college graduate who struggled with poverty until I reached college. Before college I worked in agriculture, as a maid, and a newspaper reporter. While working on my bachelor’s degree, I became a wildland firefighter, a park ranger, and a juvenile justice mentor. In graduate school I directed the Women’s Studies Program at Brigham Young University (BYU), worked as a research assistant, and taught Sociology undergraduate classes. After graduating with my masters in Sociology, I became the Director for the Gender Equity Center at Utah Valley University (UVU) and taught as a Sociology Adjunct for both UVU and BYU. In total, I have taught Sociology for 29 years at Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah Valley University (UVU), Ivy Hall Academy of Nursing, the University of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), and for the past 16 years I have been at South Texas College (STC). I also had a brief stint as 7th grade English teacher with Teach for America when I also coached track and basketball.
Over the years I have presented at many conferences, participated in countless community action projects, collaborated on research and curriculum projects, and received many awards. My Sociological Areas of Interest include Education, Juvenile Justice, Poverty, Gender Issues, Diversity, and all forms of Equity—basically, I am and have always been passionate about social justice and helping all people reach their potential.
Some awards I have received include: the Utah Association for Adult, Community, and Continuing Education Educator of the Year in 2003, the University Continuing Education Association Region West Innovative Noncredit Programming Award in 2004, the 2012 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award for Texas Educators, and in 2018 I was named Faculty of the Year for South Texas College.
In 2019 I discovered and fell in love with AACS. In 2022 I designed STC’s Applied & Clinical Sociology Associate’s Degree Track and became its Program Coordinator. In 2023 I was appointed to the AACS Board as Community College Liaison. Now I am Vice President-Elect for AACS. I believe in AACS, its future, its mission, and its ability to strengthen and motivate. I am dedicated to increasing the positive impacts of AACS as we use sociological skills and knowledge to solve problems in the world around us.
Lindy Hern is an Associate Professor in and Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. She is currently studying the Medicare for All Movement and the transformation of health policy in Hawaii after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and through the COVID Era – having published one book and multiple articles on these topics. She has also conducted applied research on a range of topics including transfer student retention at UH Hilo and Community Responses to natural disasters in Hawaii.
A tenured Professor of Sociology at Lincoln Land Community College, Dr. Colin E. Suchland, PhD, is a sociologist with expertise in urban ethnography and academic assessment. Outside of academia he is a newspaper journalist with a focus on local government, working in suburban St. Louis, Mo. As an instructor, he brings an applied sociological approach to student-research and project-based learning.
He is a lifetime member of AACS and served as secretary before taking on the role of vice president-elect. He also is the editor of the quarterly AACS Newsletter.
Augie Diana holds 3 academic degrees in Sociology and has been an active Applied Sociologist his entire professional career, including serving as Treasurer (since 2018) and as Vice President of AACS. Augie’s professional diversity includes federal service (retired December 2019), state agencies, as an independent consultant and at a small business. In these roles, Augie served as coordinator of small business research and general technology portfolios at 2 NIH Institutes, led development of disease prevention and wellness portfolios, oversaw national evaluations and data/technology initiatives, and designed and implemented community-based research studies in areas such as physical activity, drug use/abuse, and media/communications.
Bruce K. Friesen is Associate Professor of Sociology and Sociology Chair at the University of Tampa where he has been since 2005. From 1995 to 2005, Dr. Friesen served as Assistant and then Associate Professor of Sociology at Kent State University in Ohio. Dr. Friesen specializes in the Sociology of Human Rights and Applied Sociology. He is the author of numerous articles and three books, the most recent of which is Moral Systems and the Evolution of Human Rights (Springer 2015). Dr. Friesen has served as President of the U.S. chapter of Sociologists Without Borders (2013-2015), as Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Human Rights (2011-2012), and as the ASA’s representative on the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition in D.C. He also founded the University of Tampa’s Human Rights Think Tank at the University of Tampa. Dr. Friesen is the recipient of over two dozen teaching excellence awards and commendations, including the 2013 College of Social Science, Mathematics, and Education Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Tampa and the College’s 2012 Service Award. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Social Science (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/jax).
Lisa Fisher, PhD, has more than 25 years of experience in organizational effectiveness leadership, research, strategy, and marketing roles across a broad array of industries, including higher education, federal government, IT, healthcare, and consumer products. She also maintains faculty affiliation with Bowling Green State University.
Dr. Fisher’s research focuses on applied sociological social psychology in American society. She is the author or editor of several articles and chapters and four books, including her latest examining larger cultural influences on employee engagement.
A native of St. Louis Missouri, Dr. Kathleen Krueger completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Missouri Columbia in May of 2013, and her Core Concepts Certificate in Public Health at the University of Minnesota in May of 2013.
She is a Professor of Sociology at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland, where she teaches Introduction to Sociology and Marriage and Family to a diverse student body.
Inside the classroom and in research and outreach, Dr. Krueger focuses on inclusive pedagogy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academy. Outside of the classroom, she is actively involved in the movement for reproductive rights and justice and has volunteered for the Abortion Fund of Maryland for the past decade, along with other justice work, bringing scholar activism to her community in Baltimore.
Professor Mariam Seedat-Khan CCS is an AACS certified Clinical Sociologist. She is a National Research Foundation (NRF) rated scholar based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She is also the founder and co-ordinator of the Applied and Clinical-Sociology postgraduate programme. She is a visiting professor at Taylor’s University in Malaysia and Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in India. She is a member of Human Science Research Council (HSRC) Editorial Board, and a trustee for the KwaZulu Natal Childrens Hospital Trust (KZNCHT).
She has been recognized for her expertise in neuro-bio diverse intrinsic and extrinsic learning. She has occupied the role as vice president for the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) and the International Sociological Association Clinical-Sociology Research Committee 46. Seedat-Khans research has made significant contributions to understanding the intersections of education, identity, gender, citizenship and power.
Her contributions and role as a leader in developing clinically and sociologically informed interventions include SMART (Simply Managing Academic Related Tasks), designed to offer practical learning strategies and tools. This platform has gained international acclaim for its effectiveness in addressing learning disorders, exacerbated during COVID-19. Seedat-Khan's achievements have placed her among a select group of certified Clinical-Sociologists worldwide, highlighting her expertise in teaching and learning interventions in education.