Joseph Carter Corbin is a 2018 Inductee Into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of...
The son of former Virginia slaves, Dr. Corbin was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1833. He was the third African American to attend Ohio University and the second to complete a bachelor's degree. He founded and led the educational institution now known as the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff for 27 years.
Brown University Renames Building to Honor Two Early Black Graduates
The J. Walter Wilson Building will now be known as Page-Robinson Hall in honor of Inman Edward Page, one of the first two Black graduates of Brown in 1877, and Ethel Tremaine Robinson, who became the first Black woman to graduate from Brown in 1905.
Princeton University’s Wallace Best Wins Book Award From the American Academy of Religion
Wallace Best, professor of religion and African American studies and associated faculty member in the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton University, has received the 2018 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Textual Studies.
New Research Institute at the University of Ghana to Be Named for Yale’s Lamin...
The new research center, which will be formally inaugurated in early 2020, will focus on designing research projects on various topics on religion and society in Africa. Professor Sanneh taught at the University of Ghana from 1975 to 1978.
Notable Honors for Two African American Scholars
The Oakes College Provost House at the University of California, Santa Cruz will be renamed to honor emeritus professor and founding provost J. Herman Blake. Kesha Morant Williams of Pennsylvania State University is being recognized by the National Communication Association.
Aaron Oforlea Wins Award from the College Language Association for His Debut Book
Aaron N. Oforlea, an associate professor in the English department at Washington State University, has won the Creative Scholarship Award from the College Language Association. The international honor recognizes excellence in literary criticism.
University of North Carolina at Asheville Honors Two Black Faculty Couples
The University of North Carolina at Asheville has announced that it will rename the Humanities Lecture Hall to honor two African American couples who were among the first Black faculty members at the university.
Recent Honors and Awards for African Americans in Higher Education
Here is a listing of a group of African Americans in higher education who have been honored by colleges and universities or who have received notable awards from other organizations.
Princeton University’s Tera Hunter Wins Book Awards From the American Historical Association
Tera W. Hunter, the Edwards Professor of History and professor of African American studies at Princeton University in New Jersey, has been awarded the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in women's history and/or feminist theory as well as the Littleton-Griswold Prize in U.S. law and society from the American Historical Association.
Honors or Awards for Five Black Scholars From the Academic World
The honorees are Jerome H. Holland, former president of what is now Delaware State University, Tequila Harris of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Zachery S. Mitcham of North Carolina Central University, Taiyon J. Coleman of St. Catherine University in Minnesota, and Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, who is affiliated with Cornell University.
West Virginia State University Honors Alumnus Earl Lloyd, the First Black Man to Play...
Historically Black West Virginia State University will recognize Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member and alumnus Earl Lloyd with the naming of a street on campus in his honor. The basketball legend passed away on February 26, 2015.
A Trio of African American Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
The honorees are Patrick T. Smith, an associate research professor at Duke Divinity School, Barbara Ransby, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Dawn Mellion-Patin, a vice chancellor at Southern University in Lousiana.
Honors and Awards Bestowed on a Trio of African American Administrators in Higher Education
The honorees are Franchon Glover, chief diversity officer at the College of Willliam and Mary, A. Eugene Washington, chancellor for health affairs and CEO of Duke University Health System, and Tony Allen, provost ane executive vice president at Delaware State University.
Jeffrey Stewart Wins a National Book Award for His Biography of Alain Locke
Jeffrey C. Stewart is a professor in the department of Black studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He won the National Book Award for his biography of Harlem Renaissance leader and Rhodes Scholar Alain Locke.
St. Cloud State University Names Academic Building After its First Black Graduate
Ruby Cora Webster, the daughter of former slaves, was born in Ohio and moved with her family to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where she attended high school. Webster graduated from what is now St. Cloud State University in 1909 with a degree in elementary education.
Justin Phillip Reed Wins 2018 National Book Award for Poetry
Justin Phillip Reed, a former junior writer-in-residence at Washington University in St. Louis, has received the 2018 National Book Award for Poetry. He is a graduate of Tusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee.
Two African American Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
The honorees are Monica Walker, dean of development education and special academic programs at the Community College of Baltimore County, and Brandon Gamble, dean of student success at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama.
Lt. James R. Polkinghorne Honored with Historic Marker at Florida A&M University
James R. Polkinghorne enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force right before his senior year at Florida A&M University. He completed pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama and in 1944 was sent to Italy as a squadron leader. During a combat mission, his airplane went missing and its crew was never found.
Three Black Scholars Presented With Notable Awards
Donald “DJ” Mitchell, Jr., professor of higher education leadership at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, Gina Athena Ulysse, professor of anthropology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and Kofi Lomotey, the Bardo Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership at Western Carolina University were all recognized for their work.
Emery Brown Wins the 2018 Dickinson Prize in Science From Carnegie Mellon University
The award recognizes substantial achievements or sustained progress in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, computer science, or mathematics. Dr. Brown is only African American, to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine.
Two African American College Leaders Honored With Notable Awards
Paula A. Johnson, president of Wellesley College in Massachusetts has received the 2018 Social Justice Award from Eastern Bank and Phoebe A. Haddon, chancellor at Rutgers University-Camden, has received the 2019 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of American Law Schools.
Drew Lanham Wins Prize for Environmental Leadership From the National Audubon Society
J. Drew Lanham, the Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Clemson University in South Carolina, will receive this year's Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership, which honors individuals who have dedicated their lives to the environment and conservation.
Lucile Adams-Campbell Honored as a 2018 Washingtonian of the Year
Lucile Adams-Campbell is a professor of oncology, associate director for minority health and health disparities research at the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in epidemiology.
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Revokes Honor for Professor Angela Davis
In September of 2018, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute selected Angela Davis to receive the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at its annual gala in February. That decision has now been changed and the event has been cancelled. Dr. Davis believes her support of Palestinian rights prompted the decision.
Natasha Trethewey Elected Chancellor of the American Academy of Poets
Natasha Trethewey, the Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University, has been named one of two new chancellors of the American Academy of Poets. Since it was formed in 1946, only 115 poets have been elected to the academy.
A Trio of African Americans Who Have Been Selected to Receive Prestigious Honors
The honorees are Mercy Mumba of the College of Nursing at the University of Alabama, Paulette Brown Bracey, professor of library science at North Carolina Central University, and LaDelle Olion, professor of special education at Fayetteville State Univeraity in North Carolina.
Two African American Women Honored With Notable Awards
Berenecea J. Eanes, vice president for student affairs at California State University, Fullerton, was honored by NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and Talitha M. Washington, associate professor of mathematics at Howard University won the Black Engineer of the Year STEM Innovator Award.
Jamel Brinkley Wins the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
The award recognizes the outstanding work of rising African-American fiction writers. Brinkley's book is a collection of nine short stories set in familiar places from his childhood, Brooklyn and the South Bronx. The author is the Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University.
Saint Elmo Brady Honored With a National Historical Chemical Landmark
Professor Brady was the first African American to earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. He will be honored with plaques at the University of Illinois, where he earned his doctorate, and at schools where he served on the faculty: Fisk University, Tuskegee University, Howard University, and Tougaloo College.
University of Arkansas Names Residence Halls After Its First African American Faculty Members
Dr. Margaret Clark began her teaching career at the University of Arkansas in 1969 and taught world languages and education. Dr. Gordon Morgan was hired as an assistant professor in the department of sociology in 1969 and eventually worked his way up to the rank of University Professor.
First African-American Graduate of Oklahoma State University Honored With Life-Size Statue
Nancy Randolph Davis, the first African-American student to attend what was then Oklahoma A&M College, has been honored with a life-size sculpture outside the College of Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University.
A Trio of African Americans in Higher Education Who Have Received Honors or Awards
The honorees are Brian Culp, a professor in College of Health and Human Services at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, Keith Berry, dean of academic affairs of the Ybor City campus of Hillsborough Community College in Florida, and Mary E. Silas, former president of Kentucky State University.
Bethel University’s Claudia May Wins Award for Christian Children’s Book
The award-winning book is the first in a series that follows the story of a young Black girl named Winnie, whose relationship with the God she calls Papa empowers her to live with remarkable love, curiosity, and bravery.
Notable Awards Honoring Two African Americans in Higher Education
The honorees are Geffrey Davis, an assistant professor of English who teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas and Bette Simmons, vice president of student development and enrollment management at County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey.
Two African American Men Honored With Prestigious Awards
The honorees are David L. Shabazz, an assistant professor of journalism at Kentucky State University, and James L. Moore III, professor of urban education, vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Ohio State University.
Three African American Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
The honorees are Shaun R. Harper, professor of business and education at the University of Southern California, Muyinatu Bell, an assistant professor of engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and D'Andra Orey, a professor of political science at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
