Keynote and Featured Speakers
(2025)
KeyNote Address
Dr. Pamela Pruitt
Grammy-Winning Artist, Communicator, and Educator
Our keynote speaker is Dr. Pamela Pruitt, a Grammy-winning musical artist whose work has transcended the decades and genres of music, education, and community, from Motown in the 1970s to the hip-hop of the modern age. Her song, Baby Come Close, became the first hit song recorded by legendary artist Smokey Robinson in 1973 when he went solo after his time with the Miracles. Dr. Pruitt’s song was then digitally sampled and released in 2007 as Leaving Tonight by artists Ne-Yo and Jennifer Hudson, winning Dr. Pruitt her first Grammy award
more than three decades after she wrote it, and when her last name was Moffett. But Dr. Pruitt’s life has traveled through many other changes and transformations.
KeyNote Address
Dr. George A. Pruitt
President Emeritus, Thomas Edison State University
This keynote features the insights of Dr. George A. Pruitt, an award-winning University President. Dr. Pruitt will draw upon his book, From Protest to President: A Social Justice Journey through the Emergence of Adult Education and the Birth of Distance Learning, co-authored with Dr. Melissa A. Maszczak. From Protest to President describes an inspirational odyssey of a young, Black activist coming of age in Mississippi and Chicago in the tumultuous 60s and 70s, culminating in a notable thirty-five-year presidency at Thomas Edison State University.
