In Memoriam: Getahn Ward, 1972-2017

Getahn Ward, a noted journalist and educator, died on December 9 in Nashville, Tennessee, after a brief illness. He was 45 years old. Ward was a business reporter for The Tennessean and a long-time adjunct professor at Tennessee State University in Nashville.

A native of Liberia in western Africa, Ward came to the United States in 1991 and became a U.S. citizen in 2014. He began work at The Tennessean in 1998 after working for the now shut down Nashville Banner. He also taught journalism classes at his alma mater, Tennessee State University.

Tameka Wilson, chair of the department of communications at Tennessee State University, said that “he was one of the kindest individuals that I have ever met. Getahn was a stellar professor and the department will never be able to replace him.”

The Getahn Ward Memorial Scholarship has been established at Tennessee State University. The scholarship will be awarded to a journalism student each year. The scholarship has been funded by the university, The Tennessean, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Gannett Foundation. It is the first endowed scholarship in the department of communications at Tennessee State University. Professor Wilson added that “this scholarship represents a man who devoted much of his life to the field of journalism and to the education and success of students at Tennessee State University.”

 

Related Articles

1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Spelman College Receives Federal Grant to Establish Academic Center for International Strategic Affairs

“This grant enables Spelman to prepare a cohort of students to take their rightful places in conversations that will shape, define and critique international strategic affairs and national security issues and help build a better world,” said Tinaz Pavri, principal investigator of the grant.

Two Black Scholars Appointed to Endowed Professorships

John Thabiti Willis at Grinnell College in Iowa and Squire Booker at the University of Pennsylvania have been appointed to endowed professorships.

University Press of Kentucky Consortium Welcomes Simmons College of Kentucky

Simmons College of Kentucky has joined the University Press of Kentucky consortium, bringing a new HBCU perspective to its editorial board and future publications.

Danielle Speller Recognized by the National Society of Black Physicists for Early-Career Accomplishments

Danielle Spencer currently serves as an assitant professor of physics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She was honored by the National Society of Black Physicists for her research into dark matter and her mentorship of the next generation of physicists.

Featured Jobs