I.S. Saluja

NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consulate General of India, New York, in partnership with Shanti Fund is celebrating BLACK HISTORY MONTH on Saturday, February 25, 2023 from 4:30 to 06:00 pm in the Indian Consulate.
The event will feature two eminent speakers from the field of academia and medicine. They are Dr. Timothy E. Sams and Dr. Bernadine Waller. There will be Music & Songs by John Colonna (Pianist), Joel Proctor (Drummer), Kenji Tokunaga (Jazz), Soh Young Lee (Singer), & Dr. Donna M. Jones (Reader).
Dr. Timothy E. Sams

President · State University of New York College at Old Westbury

Dr. Timothy E. Sams began his tenure as the sixth full president in the history of SUNY Old Westbury on January 11, 2021. Throughout a career spanning three decades, Dr. Sams has demonstrated leadership in improving student success, particularly for students from disadvantaged and marginalized communities. He brings to the College an emphasis on institutional excellence, inclusive innovation, and strategic change management. Prior to Old Westbury, he served as vice president of student affairs for Prairie View A&M University in Texas. As the senior vice president for student development at Morehouse College, he held a portfolio that included Student Services, Enrollment Management, Campus Safety and Athletics, among other units. As vice president for student life at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he led such services as Residential Life, Health & Mental Health Services, and more. He is also credited as inaugurating the Student Life Office at New York University-Abu Dhabi and, for 13 years, led the Black Cultural Center at Swarthmore College. Dr. Sams is from Syracuse, New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree in History and Sociology from Union College in Schenectady, New York, a Masters in Africana Studies from the University at Albany, and a Ph.D. in African American Studies from Temple University.

Bernadine Waller, PhD, LMHC

Dr. Bernadine Waller is an award-winning National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Translational Epidemiology and Mental Health Equity with a dual appointment at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is an implementation scientist who partners with faith-based organizations to tailor and implement evidence-based interventions for African American women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Dr. Waller’s ground-breaking research is transforming the domestic violence service provision system. She developed the first US theories that identify help-seeking among African American women: The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior, Constructed Agency, and Sarah Waller’s Help-Seeking Model. A scholar-clinician, Dr. Waller has taught in academia for more than 14 years. A testament to her investment in the next generation of scholar activists was winning the 2020 GADE Award for Teaching in Social Work. She is as a member of the Women’s Council, a sub-committee of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) which accredits all schools of social work, and a member of the Research Capacity and Development Committee for the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR). She additionally serves on the Board of Trustees for the Long Island Children’s Museum. Dr. Waller is a NYS-licensed mental health counselor who earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work and a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from Adelphi University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with a concentration in Legal Studies from Temple University.