Raymond Wise has been promoted to executive director of the African American Arts Institute at Indiana University effective July 1. He currently serves as the institute’s associate director and the director of African American Choral Ensemble. He holds a faculty appointment in the African American and African Diaspora studies department and teaches courses in African American music.
Dr. Wise received his bachelor of fine arts degree in music, piano, and voice from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in music education from Ohio State University.
Kirsten Greenidge has been named director of the School of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. She is an associate professor, director of the playwriting track, chair of theatre arts, and co-chair of performance in the College of Fine Arts. She is a playwright of many works including The Luck of the Irish (Samuel French, Inc., 2017) and Milk Like Sugar (Samuel French, Inc., 2012).
Greenidge is a graduate of the Bank Street College of Education at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She holds a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa.
Karen Mainess has been named chair of the department of communications sciences and disorders in the School of Allied Health Professionals at Loma Linda University in California. She has been with the university’s faculty since 2001 and currently serves as director of the department’s master’s degree program.
Dr. Mainess received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Loma Linda University and her Ph.D. in speech-language pathology from Columbia University.
Donica Hadley has been named the inaugural executive director of the Lab School for Innovation and Career Exploration in the College of Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She is an assistant professor of early, elementary, and reading education with over two decades of experience in the education field.
Dr. Hadley is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego where she majored in elementary education. She holds a master’s degree in education administration from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Malcom J. Merriweather has been appointed the inaugural Tania León Chair of Music in the School of Visual Media and Performing Arts at Brooklyn College. He is an associate professor in conducting and voice who has been with the college since 2015. He also serves as a faculty member with the Manhattan School of Music and directs the New York Philharmonic Chorus.
Dr. Merriweather received his bachelor’s degree in music education and performance from Syracuse University in New York. He holds two master’s degrees in conducting and voice performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, as well as a doctor of musical arts degree in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music.
Hope Wabuke has been named the Susan J. Rosowski associate professor of English at the University of Nebraska. Her work focuses on fictional and nonfictional creative writing, African and African diasporic literature, African American literature, women’s and gender studies, and literary and cultural criticism. She is a poet, essayist, and writer who has authored numerous works including The Body Family (Haymarket Books, 2022).
Wabuke is a graduate of Northwestern University where she double-majored in film and media studies and creative writing. She holds a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from New York University.
