Faculty Faces features Queen Booker

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Continental Traveler Seeks Global Community 

By Patricia Anyango
Graduate Assistant, CSU Communications

 

Queen Booker still needs to see the bottom of the world.

An associate professor of Management within the College of Business who loves to travel, Queen said many would be surprised to know that she has travelled to all the continents except Antarctica. Among her favorite – and most daring – journeys was her travels in Angola during the late 1990s.

“I loved the people and the most courageous thing I ever did was travel there to determine what aid was needed for civilians who were trying to survive the civil war,” she said. The payoff was knowing that what she was doing in Angola had a positive effect.

A native of the Mississippi Delta, Queen has always been passionate about helping communities and making them stronger. She has worked with the Ford Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other nonprofit organizations focusing on economic empowerment of rural communities.

Although her background is in community development, Queen got into academia to serve as a resource and source of encouragement to students.  Helping them see the importance of community and economic development is at the heart of her teaching philosophy.

“Be engaged, think and look outside your classroom and yourself and look at how you can make a difference in your community,” is her advice to students.

Besides the classroom, Queen offers guidance to students involved with African Students’ Organization for Development and Progress (ASODP), Liberia Student Association & African Student Association (ASA). In and outside the classroom, Queen remains actively involved in the advancement of diversity on campus. You may also find her singing some of the R&B classics in Centennial Student Union during daytime karaoke events.


I would like for students to remember me as someone who genuinely cared about their long-term success and well-being. –  Queen Booker


Queen holds a doctorate from the University of Mississippi, an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s from Harvard University. During her 14 years at Minnesota State Mankato, she has taught subjects like Principles of Management, Ethics, Operations Management and Management Information Systems.


If she had a superpower, what would it be? 12 questions with Queen Booker

  1. What did you do for fun growing up? I was and still am a complete bookworm. I read books. My early favorites were the Child Craft books and World Book encyclopedias followed closely by the Sam and Ann adventure series, especially in the later books where the authors focused on Greek and Roman mythology.
  2. What is your favorite childhood memory? When I was in first grade, I was named homecoming queen of our elementary and middle schools. It was the one and only time I have ever been Queen Queen!
  3. Would you rather watch a movie or read a book? Oh in a heartbeat: Read a book!
  4. Which superpower would you choose? I would chose the power to summon the elements of a storm (lightning; rain; wind; snow) like Thor.
  5. Which fad do you wish would come back, and which do you wish would disappear?  The fad that I wish would disappear is the practice of wearing pants around the hips and the one I wish would come back is men opening the car door for women.
  6. Do you collect anything? I collect post cards and t-shirts. Instead of taking pictures when I travel I purchase post cards and t-shirts to recall my favorite memories of my trips.
  7. What would you do if you weren’t a professor? If I weren’t a professor, I would most likely have been a writer of “love inspired” religious novels.
  8. What does your perfect day include? A perfect day for me is one where it snows and then it stops before I have to drive in it! I love the snow but hate driving in it!
  9. Who is your hero/heroine? I don’t have a specific hero/heroine. But I admire anyone who is willing to stand up for what they truly believe as long as it doesn’t bring harm to others or themselves.
  10. Where in the world would you like to live? I would love to live in the Mississippi delta again. There is just something about being able to get peaches and plums fresh off the tree!
  11. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to? If I could go back in time, I would go back to 1982 and relive my first year of college. I made many mistakes during that first year including but not limited to eating too many Nutty Bars and Oreo cookies that caused me miss a few classes. Missing those few classes could have ended my academic future but I was lucky enough to have professors who cared enough to address my problem and helped me to continue my education. Being a professor now, I realize how important it was to have caring professors but I also know that it was my responsibility to take care of myself. So I would go back and be a better person during that first year of college.
  12. If you could share a meal with any 3 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?  If I could share a meal with any three individuals, I would choose my mom, my maternal Aunt Mae Bell and my maternal grandmother Gertrude all of whom have passed on. I never had the chance to share a meal with them at the same time although all three had a profound impact on the woman I now am.

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