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____________________________________________________________________ Volume 6; Issue 2 February/March 2003 |
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** Administrator Visit **
First and Second Decades |
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_____________________________________________________________________ New Intercom Editor Announced By Stan Ciurczak _____________________________________________________________________ |
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Norris Hite, Jr. takes over as the new editor of the Technical Center Intercom with this issue. Mr. Hite brings to this position more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of the communications industry. He succeeds Dr. Terry Kraus who was interim editor of the Intercom the past five years.
He
worked with Charles Bibbs, the distinguished artist and businessman who
owns two Southern California art galleries and a publishing/distribution
business called B Graphics and Fine Arts, a company he created to publish
and distribute his artwork. Mr.
Hite was the first editor of Images magazine, the first national
publication dedicated to ethnic art, which is a product of the ART 2000, a
non-profit visual art association that was founded by Mr. Bibbs. Mr.
Hite became the first editor/publisher of the National Society of
Black Engineers (NSBE) Journal in 1989; that journal has been known since
1990 as the NSBE Magazine. Mr.
Hite created a new NSBE publication in 1990 called the NSBE Bridge, which
encourages high school students to pursue math or science careers.
Three years later, he created the Career
Engineer, which also is
published by NSBE. In this
position he also recruited Fortune 500 companies to become members of the
Board of Corporate affiliates for NSBE. While
a student at Florida A&M University, Mr. Hite worked for the
Tallahassee
Democrat as a general news reporter and the Gainesville Sun as
a general assignment and police reporter. After
earning a degree in Journalism from FAMU, the Philadelphia native went to
work at the Wilkes-Barre
Times Leader
as a sports reporter and copy desk
editor. Mr. Hite then moved on to Business Digest, a chain of business
newspapers, where he was a business writer/editor. He was soon promoted to
associate publisher and given the responsibility of managing two offices
and overseeing the transition to in-house desktop publishing systems. A
writer since junior high school, Mr. Hite has also served as a publicist
for Fortune 500 companies including Dupont, The Gallup Organization, Texas
Instruments and Eli Lilly. He
also wrote speeches for top executives at NSBE, Texas Instruments, Eli
Lilly and BIT. The oldest of four children and the father of three, Mr. Hite has been married for more than 21 years to Beverly Hite, group manager of ACB-830. He gives full credit for who he is to his father and mother. “I am what I am because of my parents,” he says. His mother, an educator, taught him to treat people with respect. His father, also an educator and a school administrator, taught him the importance of always being prepared and to fight for what he believes is right. With
25 years in communications and 15 years in management, Mr. Hite’s path
to becoming the new editor of the Intercom was not as easy as one might
think. He literally had to
reinvent himself after a traumatic automobile crash in 1994 that left him
unable to read, write or even remember anything.
As tough as it was at the time, Mr. Hite feels the accident was a
blessing. “It allowed me to be at home with his kids and provide the
guidance they needed.” One
thing of which Mr. Hite is particularly proud is the influence he has had
on people. He trained and
continues to mentor various editors with whom he worked with in the past.
Clearly, he has had a special impact on all his children,
particular his daughter Nicole, who is a communications major at Virginia
Wesleyan College in Norfolk, VA. Mr. Hite is really looking forward to editing the Technical Center Intercom. “I think this is a great opportunity. I'm looking forward to the challenges, and I love that I am doing this,” he said.
_____________________________________________________________________ Letter From the Editor By Norris Hite, Jr. (485-5730) _____________________________________________________________________ When I first became employed at the William J. Hughes Technical Center as a contractor, I picked up a copy of the Intercom and admired how it was done. I did more than read it. I looked at the design and the type of stories that were done. As a journalist, I could not help myself. I even commented to a coworker that I would love to be the editor of the Intercom. When I discovered that it was produced in Washington, I was a little discouraged because I felt there would be little to no opportunity to join the FAA and be involved with the publication, especially since I wasn’t going to be moving to the nation’s capital any time soon. I also commented to a coworker that whomever was serving as the editor, had to be on point because doing a publication like the Intercom from a remote (if you consider Washington remote) location is very difficult. When I finally had the opportunity to meet Dr. Terry Kraus, who was the editor at the time, I understood why the publication was successful. She is more than on point. She is an exceptional woman. She not only was producing the Intercom from a remote location and doing it well, the Intercom wasn’t her only, or even her primary, responsibility. In my mind, she is one of those employees that you point to when you want to create a poster of the type of person that symbolizes excellence. So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Kraus for her contributions and for showing me how it should be done. Now, I have the job that I admired when I came to the Center almost three years ago. I guess good things come to those who wait. To make the contribution that I would like to make in this position, I need your assistance. Please send me any story ideas you may have. Stop me when you see me and talk about what you like about the Intercom and what you want to see. I am the editor but this is your publication. I am merely acting as the courier of your voice. So, please send your ideas, comments and concerns. I look forward to hearing from you. Norris Hite, Jr. 5-5730 Norris.Hite@FAA.gov
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Mr.
Hite worked for Bloodworth Integrated Technology, Inc. (BIT) at the
Technical Center when he was selected for his current position, which is
in the Office of Human Capital Strategies (ACH-1).