Ravi Perry was appointed chair of the department of political science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was chair of the department of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Earlier in his career, Dr. Perry served for three years on the faculty at Mississippi State University. He is a past president of the National Association for Ethnic Studies.
Dr. Perry is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Kathleen Dorsey Bellow has been promoted to director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. She has served as the institute’s associate director since 2005.
Dr. Bellow is a graduate of Loyola College in Maryland where she majored in Spanish. She holds an MBA from McNeese State University in Louisiana, a master’s degree in pastoral theology from Xavier University of Louisiana, and a doctor of ministry degree in liturgical studies from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Narketta Sparkman-Key, an associate professor of counseling and human services at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, was given the added duties of academic affairs director for faculty diversity at the university.
Dr. Sparkman-Key is a graduate of Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan, where she majored in sociology. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Michigan at Dearborn and a Ph.D. in human service through Capella University.
Rodney Priestley has been named vice dean for innovation at Princeton University in New Jersey. He has been a Princeton faculty member since 2009, currently serving as a professor of chemical and biological engineering, associate director of the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, and director of graduate studies.
Dr. Priestley is a graduate of Texas Tech University where he majored in chemical engineering. He holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in chemical engineering from Northwestern University.
