Fred D’Aguiar was named the Clifford A. Cutchins III Professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. The endowed chair was established in 1989 by the Sovran Financial Corporation.
Professor D’Aguiar joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 2003 and served as the Gloria D. Smith Professor of Africana Studies from 2006 to 2012. He is a graduate of the University of Kent. Professor D’Aguiar, who was born in in London to parents from Guyana, has written six novels, seven collections of poetry, six short stories, and four plays.
Wynton Marsalis was named the Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The position is for a six-year term beginning July 1 and holders of these posts are considered full members of the university’s faculty.
Marsalis is the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1997.
Norah Duncan IV was appointed chair of the department of music at Wayne State University in Detroit. He has been serving as a professor of music at the university. For 30 years, he was the music director of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.
Professor Duncan is a graduate of the University of Detroit. He holds a master of fine arts degree from Wayne State University and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Michigan.
