Five Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments

Lauren Haynes was named the Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum of Art on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Haynes has been serving as curator of contemporary art at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, since 2016. Previously, she spent a decade at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Hayes is a graduate of Obelin College in Ohio, where she majored in art history.

Christopher Wayne Robinson has been appointed assistant professor of social work at Pennsylvania State University-Greater Allegheny in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Dr. Robinson has been serving as a tenured associate professor of social work at the Community College of Allegheny County.

A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dr. Robinson holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Jackson State University in Mississippi, a master of social work degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Melanie McReynolds will join the department of biochemistry and molecular biology faculty at Pennsylvania State University. McReynolds will serve as a Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career chair in biochemistry and molecular biology. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at Princeton University.

Dr. McReynolds holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in molecular biology from Alcorn State University in Mississippi. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Pennsylvania State University.

Fitzroy B. Beckford was named associate dean and director of extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont, effective May 1. Dr. Beckford spent over a decade with the University of Florida Extension as a county extension director managing work in the areas of agriculture, natural resources, horticultural sciences, marine and aquatic environments, 4-H youth development, family and consumer sciences, food systems, small farms initiatives, and environmental sustainability.

Dr. Beckford holds a Ph.D. in sustainability education. He is the author of Poverty and Climate Change: Restoring a Global Biogeochemical Equilibrium (Routledge, 2018).

Naïma Moustaïd-Moussa, a professor in the department of nutritional sciences and founding director of the Obesity Research Institute at Texas Tech University, recently was named a Horn Distinguished Professor. She joined the faculty in 2012 after teaching for nearly two decades at the University of Tennessee.

A native of Morocco, Dr. Moustaïd-Moussa is a graduate of University Mohammed V in Rabat, Morroco. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Paris.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

The University of New Mexico Partners With the University of the West Indies

The University of New Mexico and the University of the West Indies Five Island Campus, Antigua and Barbuda, recently created a new partnership designed to expand immersion opportunities for students at both institutions.

The Huge Racial Gap in College Completion Rates

According to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the percentage of students who began college in the fall of 2018 and earned a credential within six years rose to 61.1 percent. For Black students who enrolled in 2018, 43.8 percent had earned a degree or other credential within six years. This is more than 17 percentage points below the overall rate. And the racial gap has increased in recent years.

American-Born Layli Maparyan Appointed President of the University of Liberia

Dr. Maparyan, a distinguished academic and prolific scholar, had been serving as the executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women and a professor of African Studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Featured Jobs