Monthly Archives: January 2023
Cynthia Nance Receives the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award
Nance, the Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law at the school, is serving as dean of the school for a second time. She joined the faculty in 1994 and served as dean from 2006 to 2011. She was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as dean in the school's then-82-year history. In July 2022, she was named dean for the second time.
Lincoln University of Missouri Offers Cybersecurity Education to Local High Schools
Historically Black Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and the Jefferson City School District are partnering on a new academic initiative designed to bolster the nation's cybersecurity workforce entitled Project REACH (Realizing Equitable Access to Cybersecurity in High School).
New University Administrative Appointments for Three African Americans
Alicia Dorn was named chief of staff to the chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Charles B.W. Prince is the new transformation and sustainability officer at Dillard University in New Orleans and Christianne Malone was appointed assistant vice president for economic development at Wayne State University in Detroit.
In Memoriam: Bobby Lee Lovett, 1943-2022
In 1973, Dr. Lovett joined the faculty at Tennessee State University, a historically Black educational institution in Nashville. In addition to teaching history for more than 30 years, Dr. Lovett served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the university.
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.
Grinnell College in Iowa Honors Its First Black Graduate
Edith Renfrow Smith was the only Black student on campus when she graduated with a degree in psychology in 1937. Now 108 years old, Renfrow Smith is the oldest living graduate of the college.
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.
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.
In Memoriam: Charles Sommerville Harris, 1951- 2022
Charles S. Harris was the former athletic director at the University of Pennsylvania, Arizona State University, and Averett University in Virginia, and the former commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He was the first African American to serve as the athletic director at an Ivy League school.
Nikki Giovanni Named University Distinguished Professor Emerita at Virginia Tech
Professor Giovanni began teaching at Virginia Tech in 1987. She is the author of many collections of poetry, children’s books, and works of nonfiction. She has published 11 illustrated children’s books and received 30 honorary degrees
Black Enrollments in Post-Pandemic Higher Education
In October 2021, there were 2,717.000 African Americans enrolled in higher education. They made up 15.7 percent of all enrollments in higher education. Black women made up 65 percent of all African American enrollments in higher education.
William J. Barber II to Lead Yale University’s New Center for Public Theology and Public Policy
Since 1993, Dr. Brber has been pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He has teaching experience at Union Theological Seminary, St. John's University, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
Study Finds a Significant Lack of Diversity in Participants in Psychophysiology Studies
Many methods for collecting physiological data use electrodes placed directly on the skin. But these technologies were developed to work best with physical attributes most commonly associated with White people, like light-colored skin and thin straight hair.
Ron Darbeau Is the New Chancellor of the Altoona Campus of Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Darbeau was vice president for faculty affairs and academic operations at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, the integrated institution of Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield universities that was established in July 2022. Earlier, he served as interim dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas—Fort Smith.
The Rate of Workplace Fatalities for Black Americans Reaches an All-Time High
In 2021, 653 African Americans died from work-related injuries. This was up 20.7 percent from 2020. African Americans made up 12.6 percent of all work-related fatalities due to injury. This was the highest percentage recorded since statistics on workplace fatalities have been collected.
Three Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions
Levon Esters will be the next dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education at Pennsylvania State University. Ann-Margaret Esnard will serve as the interim dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and Robert E. Bedford was appointed dean of students, housing, and residence life at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina.
