G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, was one of 10 recipients of the Barry Prize from the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Dr. Jones has influenced social work education at Bellevue University, Talladega College, Tuskegee University, and Alabama A&M University, where she currently serves as director of director of strategic innovation and distance social work education in the department of social work.
Dr. Proctor has served as the sixth president of Harper College in Illinois for the past seven years. She was recently honored by the Association of Community College Trustees for her leadership in advancing student success, institutional innovation, and community college education.
Cynthia Oliver has been a professor of dance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for more than 25 years. As a choreographer, she creates experimental dance-theater works that explore Blackness, feminism, Black masculinity, and Afro-Caribbean cultures.
New York University's Center for the Study of Africa and African Diaspora has named Hilary Beckles, vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies, a 2026–2027 Distinguished Scholar. Dr. Beckles previously conducted research at NYU more than three decades ago.
The American Sociological Association has presented its inaugural Early Career Award for Community-Engaged Scholarship to Yale's David Knight in recognition of “his visionary leadership in documenting the history of political mobilization within U.S. prisons.”
Tayari Jones, an endowed professor at Emory University, has received the 2026 Kirkus Prize for Fiction for her latest novel, Kin. The book is Professor Jones' fifth novel.
Dr. Edwards is an assistant professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She was recently honored by the American Sociological Association for her latest book, Fueling Development: How Black Radical Trade Unionism Transformed Trinidad and Tobago.
The Black Mental Health Symposium has honored Dr. Rogers, professor of rehabilitation counseling at Winston-Salem State University, for her contributions to counselor education, mentorship, and advocacy.
A leading sociologist of education, Dr. Carter currently serves as an endowed professor and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Dr. LeGrande became the ninth president of Prairie View A&M University in June 2023. Earlier in her career, she held key leadership roles in enrollment management at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Houston-Downtown.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's new Jackson Hall honors two of the university's earliest Black professors. Blyden Jackson was the university's first tenured Black faculty member and his wife Roberta was the first Black tenure-track faculty member in the School of Education.
E. Dale Abel of the University of California, Los Angles has been awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander by the Government of Jamaica. The award is one of the nation's highest honors.
Deborah Willis is a University Professor and chair of the department of photography and imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She will be presented with an American Book Award on September 28.
The American Counseling Association has presented its Robert H. Rencken Emerging Professor Leader Award to Brittany Suggs, an assistant professor and graduate clinical coordinator in the department of counseling and human services at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Dr. Lokko focuses her work on the intersectoral design and research of bio-based materials to drive ecological health and generative justice goals. She currently serves as an assistant professor in the School of Architecture and assistant director of the Center for Ecosystems in Architecture at Yale University.
Dr. Achebe, an endowed professor at Michigan State University, is known for her research on the study of women, gender, sexuality, and oral history in Nigeria.
The National Association of College and University Business Officers is honoring Dawn Rhodes, chief business and finance officer and senior vice president at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Dr. Threadcraft is a member of the Vanderbilt University faculty. Her new book, The Labors of Resurrection: Black Women, Necromancy, and Morrisonian Democracy, has received two book awards from the American Political Science Association.
Among this year's recipients of the National Black Nurses Association's Trailblazer Awards are four Black scholars currently teaching at universities: Angela Frederick Amar of New York University, Felesia Bowen of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Stephan Davis of Georgetown University, and Selena Ann Gilles of the University of Pennsylvania.