Three offices in Boston University\u2019s Metropolitan College building at 1010 Commonwealth Avenue are now named after inspirational women who personify hard work, perseverance, and empowerment. Funded through generous donations from Steven G. Akers (MET\u201994), BU MET is proud to introduce the Izabella Temkina Computer Science Chair\u2019s Office<\/b>, the Annie Wilcox Applied Social Sciences Chair\u2019s Office<\/b>, and the Mabel A. Akers Administrative Sciences Chair\u2019s Office<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think their shared attributes are, basically, a dedication to helping others by helping themselves,\u201d says Akers, ruminating on the similarities between the three women. \u201cHard work and a dedication to the philosophy of self-betterment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gifted by Akers in 2020, the Izabella Temkina Computer Science Chair\u2019s Office honors the mother of Dr. Anatoly Temkin<\/a>. Dr. Temkin, who joined the Department of Computer Science in 1989, allows that he was surprised by the gesture. \u201cIt was totally unexpected,\u201d he says. \u201cI am very happy to have the chair\u2019s office dedicated to the memory of my mother. She was an MD and held a PhD and DSc in developmental psychology. She helped a very large number of children who were hard of hearing and deaf.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew it would honor Anatoly more to have his mother’s name on his office than his own, since she was an inspiration to him,\u201d explains Akers, who earned his MS in Computer Science<\/a> at BU MET. I wanted to find someone special to him because he is so special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Temkin took on the role of mentor when Akers was working on his master\u2019s in Computer Science at MET in the 1990s. \u201cI\u2019d never had anyone take an interest in me,\u201d says Akers. \u201cAnatoly not only cared that you learned the material; he also got very excited if you were engaged and you showed him that you really were trying hard and you were pushing the envelope a little bit. He would go the extra mile to help you understand what new things in computer science were related to what he was teaching you.\u201d<\/p>\n Also established in 2020, the Annie Wilcox Applied Social Sciences Chair\u2019s Office had its genesis in a very different set of events: the murder of George Floyd. Moved by the tragedy and inspired by the ensuing social justice protests, Akers wanted to give his next gift in the name of a Black female alum. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen the George Floyd situation happened, I just thought it was really important to show that BU had always had this tradition of helping people regardless of their color,\u201d observes Akers. \u201cIt always made me proud to go by Marsh Chapel, where they have the birds in flight monument to Martin Luther King, Jr.\u201d <\/p>\n That sculpture, by Chilean artist Sergio Castillo, is called Free at Last<\/i>\u2014after the final words of the 1963 \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech by Dr. King (GRS\u201955, Hon.\u201959). <\/p>\n That speech was also the inspiration for Annie Wilcox (MET\u201906,\u201909), a graduate of MET\u2019s bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s programs in Criminal Justice<\/a> and a 28-year veteran, now retired, of the Boston Police Department (District B-3, Mattapan). In 2008, she was promoted to a critical role as community services officer; in 2014, she was recognized for her commitment with a Henry L. Shattuck Public Service Award from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.<\/p>\n Born in Williston, Tennessee, at the tail end of Jim Crow, the young Wilcox pledged to her mother that one day she would go to the same school as Dr. King. \u201cThe Martin Luther King, Jr., speech [\u2018I Have a Dream\u2019] was all I needed to know that BU offers a good education for any student who is willing to learn,\u201d said Wilcox in a 2008 interview with BU MET. \u201cI said to my mom, one day, I am going to that school. And she said, \u201c\u2018You are<\/i> dreaming.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n King\u2019s spirit also factors into Akers\u2019 latest gift, the Mabel A. Akers Administrative Sciences Chair\u2019s Office (2021), which memorializes his paternal grandmother.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember being a little boy when they had the racial difficulties in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama,\u201d recalls Akers, who was shaken by images of brutality against peaceful protesters\u2014 firefighters turning firehoses on Black children in Birmingham in 1963, authorities beating marchers in Selma during the \u201cBloody Sunday\u201d event in 1965. \u201cMy friend was Black. My dad\u2019s coworkers were Black. I said, \u2018Grandma, why are they doing this? Why are all the Black people getting fire-hosed and beaten?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Her response was simple, yet invaluable: Nobody should be discriminated against. Treat everyone well. \u201c\u2018Just remember that,\u2019 she said.\u201d<\/p>\n Mabel Akers also championed education. \u201cShe went to what they called normal school to become a teacher,\u201d says Akers. \u201cAnd then she taught school. She always valued education.\u201d<\/p>\n She was a supportive figure in his life. Akers recalls that when he was in fifth grade saving shoe-shine earnings to buy issues of Popular Science<\/i>, Grandma Akers gave him a subscription for his birthday. And later, as a struggling college student sleeping in his car, she offered him a loan. \u201cI was in a particularly bad stretch,\u201d says Akers. \u201cI had to repair my car or something, and I had nowhere to go. She offered a loan, but I knew my dad wouldn’t like that too much because he was embarrassed that he couldn’t help me out. But discreetly, she loaned me a couple bucks. And then I slept inside for the first time in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n Access to an education\u2014for everyone, without barriers\u2014has been a driving force in Akers\u2019 philanthropy. \u201cInsofar as you can motivate even one person to think outside their self and realize that they can help other people, it is an investment,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou’re lighting a match which sends a light into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Metropolitan College Dean Tanya Zlateva applauds Akers\u2019 commitment to his alma mater, noting that he has played an active role in the MET community for many years. \u201cSteve goes above and beyond, not only through his thoughtful gifts to the College, but also in the way he generously shares his time,\u201d says Dr. Zlateva. \u201cWe are grateful for his support as an executive in residence, a member of our advisory board, and through his efforts to share his knowledge through lectures and other acts.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt is deeply rewarding to work with alumni like Steve Akers, who, when the times get tough (as I think we can all agree they have been for the last 18 months), selflessly think, \u2018How can I help?\u2019\u201d says Dr. Katherine Moran, senior director of alumni relations and development at MET. \u201cSteve has repeatedly demonstrated incredible generosity and leadership to his alma mater, which will propel future generations of students to achieving their own higher education aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n Akers is the founder and president of MaxCogito, Inc., and founder of Digital Reef, Inc., and Spring Tide Networks. He is an entrepreneur in residence at MET and serves on the Dean\u2019s Advisory Board. In 2009 he received the MET Distinguished Alumni Award for Computer Science, and he was the guest speaker at MET\u2019s 2011 commencement ceremony. <\/p>\n If you would like to help Boston University Metropolitan College, please consider making a gift<\/a>, of any size, to support students (like yourself) and faculty (who taught you) with the resources they need in this challenging time. Learn more about Giving Opportunities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three offices in Boston University\u2019s Metropolitan College building at 1010 Commonwealth Avenue are now named after inspirational women who personify hard work, perseverance, and empowerment. Funded through generous donations from Steven G. Akers (MET\u201994), BU MET is proud to introduce the Izabella Temkina Computer Science Chair\u2019s Office, the Annie Wilcox Applied Social Sciences Chair\u2019s Office, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16254,"featured_media":0,"parent":1831,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74432"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74432"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92975,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74432\/revisions\/92975"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}