Name: James Black (Jay)
Occupation:Professor at Mercer University/ Journalist
What is one thing you think every student should learn? Time management skills. There is an old student adage of “Good grades, enough sleep, and active social life pick two.” This is the bane of most students. Learning better time management skills allows a student to have all three.
Why did you choose to come to Mercer? This university attracts high quality students. I know this because I graduated from mercer of Atlanta in 1987 with my undergrad in broadcast communication… when Mercer of Atlanta still had a communication program.
Who is your role model? My foster father Bill Steis. I keep a picture of him in my office, reading the Tampa Sunday Tribune’s comic page on the radio when the newspaper went on strike. He raised me… gave me purpose… and kept my hind end in college. I like to say that I went into the family business. He was a radio broadcaster. He started at NBC Blue in 1938. Eventually he picked up his masters and PhD before becoming a professor. Mercer of Atlanta was one of several universities where he taught. I teach some of the same classes as he did… but I updated notes.
If you were to have a secret identity, who would you be? Dr. Andrew Silver… or maybe Mighty Mouse. You choose, or perhaps they are the same person. I don’t know.