Monthly Archives: July 2021
Higher Education Grants or Gifts 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.
Report Documents the Employment Shortfall of African Americans in the Tech Workforce
A new report from the Computing Technology Industry Association offers a wealth of data on employment in the technology sector. In the San Jose, California, metropolitan area, home to Silicon Valley, there are just over 3,000 African Americans employed in tech positions. In contrast, there are 45,000 White workers and more than 107,000 Asian American workers.
Upward Economic Mobility for African Americans Is Rarer Than Most People Believe
A new study by researchers at Ohio State University and Columbia University finds that Americans consistently believe that poor African Americans are more likely to move up the economic ladder than is actually the case.
The Far-Reaching Racial Disparities as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic
While overall deaths relating to motor vehicle crashes increased by 7.2 percent in 2020, African American deaths increased by 23 percent. The fact that Blacks were less likely to be able to work at home during the pandemic was a contributing factor.
Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates to Join the Faculty at Howard University
After a major controversy, Professor Hannah-Jones has turned down her appointment to an endowed chair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to teach at Howard University. She will be joined by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a renown educator, journalist and author who will hold the Sterling Brown Chair in English and Humanities.
Shirley Ann Jackson to Step Down as President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2022
Dr. Jackson was chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999. She then left government service to take over as the 18th president of RPI in 1999. She was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in any discipline from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
M. Brian Blake Appointed President of Georgia State University in Atlanta
Dr. Blake is currently executive vice president for academic affairs and provost of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 2015, he was appointed provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He will begin his new duties on August 9.
Muriel B. Mickles is the New Leader of Danville Community College in Virginia
Dr. Mickles had been serving as vice president of academics, students, and workforce development at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg. She will serve as interim president of Danville Community College while a search for a permanent president is conducted.
A Trio of Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions
Tyson King-Meadows was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Julianne Malveaux has been appointed dean of the new College of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and Olusegun A. Ojewuyi will serve as interim dean for the new College of Arts and Media at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Melissa Nobles Appointed Chancellor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Since 2015, Dr. Nobles has led the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at MIT. Her current research is focused on building a database of racial killings in the U.S. South, from 1930 to 1954, an archival project developed with the Northeastern University Law School’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice law clinic.
Five Black Scholars Taking on New University Faculty Assignments
Taking on new roles are Garrett L. Washington at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Marjuyua Lartey at the University of Southern Mississippi, Darius Young at Florida A&M University, LaTasha Barnes at Arizona State University, and Gregory K. Freeland at California Lutheran University.
Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University Launch a MD/MBA Dual Degree Program
Dual degree students will spend their first three years at Meharry. They will start the Vanderbilt MBA program in their fourth year and will be registered as full-time MBA students for three consecutive semesters. They will return to Meharry for the spring semester in their fifth year to complete their medical degree.
Eight African Americans Who Will Be Taking on New Administrative Duties
Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Howard University Enters Educational Partnership With the Naval Undersea Warfare Center
The educational partnership agreement allows warfare center scientists and engineers to work with Howard faculty and students to enhance STEM education. New provisions also permit student participation in technology transfer and associated legal activities.
Nashville’s Dixie Street Renamed to Honor a “Janitor” Who Pioneered Surgical Techniques
Vivien Thomas, who dropped out of college during the Great Depression, developed and refined a corrective cardiac surgical technique to treat “blue baby syndrome” at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1940s. Thomas did not receive due credit for the lifesaving advance for decades.
Historically Black Lane College Begins New Prison Education Program
In mid-June, Lane College began offering classes to inmates at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. At the successful completion of the program of study, students will be awarded a bachelor's degree in business.
Five Black Scholars Appointed to Higher Education Diversity Posts
Recently hired to diversity posts are Paul Frazier at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Sylvia R. Carey-Butler at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, LaVar Charleston at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jeanne Arnold at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, and Wilmore Webley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
In Memoriam: Frank M. Mundy Jr., 1951-2021
Frank Mundy directed the theater program at South Carolina State University for 32 years before retiring in 2010.
Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers
Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.
Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.
