by Victoria Stuart

Gwendolyn Boyd FIU alumna Gwendolyn Boyd was born the last of nine children to a family in a poverty-stricken neighborhood on the west side of Jacksonville, but she has spent the rest of her life being first. "Many people told me that a young black woman from the ghetto didn't have much chance at success, but I never listened to them; I never placed limits on myself," said Boyd. A graduate of the Miami Police Academy, Boyd was the first black female officer to train recruits at the academy, the first to spearhead major undercover operations, and the first to ride a three-wheel motorcycle on duty. She continued on the fast track to become the Miami Police Department's first black female sergeant, lieutenant, and then captain. She served in the department for more than 25 years, becoming the first black female police major in the state of Florida, the first female assistant chief in the Miami Police Department's 100-year history, and the first to retire and be selected to serve as a police chief in another city.

Three years ago, Boyd became the first black female police chief for the city of Prichard, Alabama, and last year she was chosen as the first black police chief for the City of Miramar, Florida.

She was also the first and only female police chief in Florida (and perhaps the nation) to hold a doctorate degree.

Today, Boyd is the first FIU alumnus to serve on the executive board of a Florida state university. She was named vice president of Administration for FIU in April and directs the departments of Public Safety, Human Resources, Purchasing, Environmental Health and Safety, Comptroller, and Inspector General.

"It was indeed a surprise and a great honor to be invited to consider this position by President Maidique," said Boyd, who holds a master's degree in public administration and a doctorate in adult education and human resource development from FIU.

"I am truly excited about the opportunity to make a significant contribution to my school, and I am impressed by the phenomenal growth and development that have occurred since I graduated in 1996," she added. "I am grateful that FIU provided me with the requisite knowledge and skills to reach the pinnacle of my law enforcement career, and, now I am returning to my alma mater for a new challenge."

A petite, soft-spoken woman with a gentle demeanor and a smile that lights up the room, Boyd's appearance and humble attitude belie her hard-won success. The only clue to her former profession is a ramrod straight spine and posture so sharp it could cut steel.

"When I first joined the force, people had a stereotype image of policewomen: big, burly, loud and tough. Well, I was tough alright," she laughed, "After all, I grew up in the ghetto. But I surely didn't fit the image in any other way."

Surprisingly, Boyd said that few people ever challenged her. Just two months after she graduated from the Police Academy, she was involved in an incident where she subdued a six-foot, 250-pound muscular male who had attacked her male partner.

"In a strange way, I was lucky that happened so early in my career, because I earned the professional respect of all the other male officers, and I didn't have to experience the kind of prejudice many other female officers endure," explained Boyd, whose "street smarts" and physical fitness were nearly unequaled by any other officer, male or female.

There was only one other time her professionalism was ever challenged, when, as a Police Academy Instructor, two husky male students bet that they could outrun her. She just smiled and started running ­ and running and running.

"We ran more than five miles, then up and down all the stadium steps at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC). Then we ran around the track again. The two men became so worn out that they had to drop out, regurgitating from exhaustion. By the time they stumbled back to the academy, I had already run all the way back, showered and changed into my police uniform. I met them at the door with an assignment to write a 1,000 word essay about not being a quitter."

That kind of energy and "never-give-up" attitude are the hallmarks of Boyd's life ­ both professional and personal.

Despite growing up in poverty; despite the death of her father before she was born and the death of her mother before she was five years old; despite the deaths of both her adoptive parents just three years later, Boyd never let her circumstances limit her aspirations.

"I lived with my great-grandmother from the time I was 8 to age 17, and she instilled in me a profound faith and trust in God. She encouraged us to pray about problems, prosperity and perseverance, and she always emphasized the value of an education," Boyd remembered. "She was the solid rock in our lives. My older sisters and brothers were also my role models; they all achieved success in their own lives as nurses, teachers, construction workers and managers."

Initially wanting to follow in her sisters' footsteps and become a nurse, Boyd struggled through chemistry and biology classes until she saw a billboard that changed her life.

"I liked the idea of helping people, but nursing didn't seem to be my niche," she said.

"Then one day, while attending MDCC, I saw a billboard advertising the new Public Service Aide program with the Miami Police Department. After my first class in criminology I was hooked. I knew I had found my bailiwick!"

"As a Public Service Aide, my job was to write up police reports and respond to non-law enforcement incidents, thereby enabling police officers to focus more of their time on 'crime fighting,'" she remembered. "However, after hearing about police foot chases, car chases and in-progress calls dispatched over the radio, my adrenaline would shift into overdrive. So one day, when I heard a burglary-in-progress call, I responded! My supervisor later reprimanded me and told me that I better enroll in the next police academy class, before I got into real trouble."

From that moment forward, Boyd's career skyrocketed. In the late '70s and early '80s, she won national recognition for her success as an undercover narcotics officer. Known as "Hot Stuff," she masqueraded as a prostitute/addict to catch drug dealers and crooked business owners, and contributed to so many record-breaking arrests that she made headlines all over the country. Her story was also featured in national magazines such as Jet and Ebony.

"I was very interested in upward mobility, but everyone told me I was crazy, that the police department wasn't ready for black female sergeants," she explained. "But I studied hard and scored high on all the exams, and remained focused on my goals in spite of opposition and naysayers."

At the same time, Boyd was also moving up the academic ladder, earning her master's degree in Public Administration in 1982, while working full-time and raising two daughters.

"I have always believed in higher education, and I knew I didn't want to stop at a bachelor's degree, but I wasn't seriously thinking about a doctorate until Dr. Douglas Smith convinced me to go for it. I had been considering psychology and the study of human behavior, but he suggested a class in adult education and human resource development. After my first class on adult learning theories with Dr. Jo Gallagher ­ the second female professor I've ever had ­ I was hooked again!"

Boyd finished her dissertation in record time ­ less than a year. Her research examined the effectiveness of psychological testing for police officers.

Boyd has been labeled "an American success story" by her peers, but what truly sets her apart is that, in addition to focusing on her own career, she has dedicated her efforts to improving her community and creating better interracial understanding.

"I grew up in an area where all the cops were white and all the black kids would run as soon as they saw them, convinced they'd be arrested for something, anything," she said. "But when I graduated from the academy and rode with other officers and talked with them, all my misperceptions disappeared because I got to know them as individuals rather than just 'uniforms,' and I realized we were all ­ black, white, Hispanic ­ part of the same team."

That team-building spirit has helped Boyd achieve an extraordinary degree of success, and her record is nearly legendary. When she arrived as the new chief of Prichard, Alabama, she found an understaffed, underfunded department with cramped and outdated facilities. The police officers at the time were earning less than $7 an hour, and had to supply their own guns, ammunition and uniforms. In addition, the city was struggling with high crime and murder rates ­ more than 60 percent of which were related to domestic abuse.

After her first year on the job, the violent crime rate dropped by 39 percent and the homicide rate by more than 50 percent. She hired additional officers, arranged for salary increases and new uniforms, supplied appropriate weapons to her officers, wrote several federal grants to acquire new equipment, and initiated sting operations to reduce the rate of drug-related crimes, among many other projects.

Throughout her career, Boyd has been a leader in integrating education into her police work, from initiating community workshops to providing professional officer training. Even during her first months as chief of police for the city of Miramar, she arranged for FIU faculty to teach on-site courses for officers who needed to complete their bachelor's degree.

"I guess my career has come full circle now," she said. "Back when I was working on my master's degree, I took a class with Professor Anne Marie Rizzo, who asked us to write out a set of goals for our lives and a time frame in which to achieve them. I wrote that my ultimate goals were to become a police chief and maybe get a doctorate, and here I have fulfilled all my own predictions. It still amazes me ...but I am not finished yet!"