University of Tennessee Professor Named the Physician of the Year
Samuel Dagogo-Jack, professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, has been chosen as the Physician of the Year in internal medicine by the National Medical Association.
Texas Tech Scholar Named Teacher of the Year in Spanish and Portuguese
Comfort Pratt, professor of bilingual education and diversity studies at Texas Tech University, was named the Outstanding Teacher of the Year at the college and university level by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.
Two African American Women Win Academic Awards
Crystal Sanders, an assistant professor of history at Penn State, won two awards for her doctoral dissertation on Black women in Mississippi and Sylvaia Schell of the University of Georgia was honored for her work to promote diversity in international education.
Leroy Keith Jr. Given the Title of President Emeritus of Morehouse College
Leroy Keith Jr served as the eighth president of Morehouse College in Atlanta from 1987 to 1994. Now, nearly two decades after his retirement, the college's board of trustees is bestowing on him the title of president emeritus.
University of Maryland Award Will Honor Sports Journalists Who Work for Racial Equality
The award is named for Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith, two African American journalists who documented Jackie Robinson's effort to racially integrate Major League Baseball.
Master’s Degree Student Wins Award for Best First Fiction
R. Kayeen Thomas, a student in the master of divinity program at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., was the recipient of the Phillis Wheatley Book Award for First Fiction at the 15th annual Harlem Book Fair in New York City.
Two Educators to Be Inducted Into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame
The IAAHF was founded in 1995 in Des Moines but is now located in the Black Cultural Center at Iowa State University. Since its inception, 56 members have been inducted into the IAAHF. This year two of the three new members have ties to higher education.
Two African American Scholars Honored for Service
Cheryl Swanier of Fort Valley State University was honored by the National Center for Women and Information Technology and M. Christopher Brown II, president of Alcorn State University will be honored in November by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
Morehouse College Graduate Wins the Caine Prize for African Writing
Tope Folarin, a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta and a Rhodes Scholar, was honored for his short story entitled "Miracle," about a blind healing prophet who pays a visit to an evangelical church in Texas.
Williams College Scholar Wins Dissertation Prize
Candis Watt-Smith, an assistant professor of political science at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has been selected to receive the Best Dissertation Award from the race and ethnic politics section of the American Political Science Association.
Three African Americans Presented With the National Medal of Arts
Ernest J. Gaines is the writer-in-residence emeritus at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Joan Myers Brown is the founder of the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts and the Philadelphia Dance Company and Allen Toussaint is a New Orleans-born musician, composer, and record producer.
Two African Americans Receive Top Honors
Michelle Johnson of Boston University was named Educator of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. Benjamin Quillan of California State University received the top honor given by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
Anna Deavere Smith Awarded the National Humanities Medal
Anna Deavere Smith is an actress and playwright and University Professor in the Department of Performance Studies in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She is the only African American among the 12 individuals honored with the medal this year.
Two African American Professors Named NEA Jazz Masters
Richard Davis of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Anthony Braxton of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, will be honored as 2014 Jazz Masters by the National Endowment for the Arts next January at a ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Two African Americans Honored With Prestigious Awards
Professor Linda Florence Callahan of North Carolina A&T State University is being honored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and Alcorn State University President M. Christopher Brown II won an award from the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
Keith Wilson Honored for His Work in Multicultural Rehabilitation
Keith B. Wilson, dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has been selected to receive the 2013 Virgie Winston-Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association for Multicultural Rehabilitation Concerns.
Honors for Two African American Academics
Amilcar Shabazz of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was honored by UnityFirst.com and John E. Pierce of Creighton University in Omaha won a leadership award from the Urban League of Nebraska.
Sylvester James Gates Awarded the Mendel Medal From Villanova University
Sylvester James Gates, the John S. Toll Professor of Physics and director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland in College Park, was named the winner of the Mendel Medal, given out by Villanova University.
Two African American Scholars Win Prestigious Awards
Alvin Thornton of Howard University was named the alumnus of the year by Morehouse College. Harvey Fields received an award for distinguished service from Washington University for his efforts to ensure the academic success of undergraduate students.
Brown University’s Francoise Hamlin Is Nominated for History Book Prize
Francoise Hamlin is one of seven finalists for the 2012 Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Book Prizes. Each year, the group gives out awards for the best first books and best articles written by women who reside in North America.
Ruth Simmons Awarded the French Legion of Honor
The former president of Smith College and the former president of Brown University, received the highest honor bestowed by the French government. Dr. Simmons continues to serve on the Brown University faculty as a professor of comparative literature and Africana studies.
African American Scholar Honored by the Council for the Study of Community Colleges
J. Luke Wood, an assistant professor of administration, rehabilitation, and postsecondary education at San Diego State University, was honored for vast scholarship pertaining to community colleges, particularly in relation to African American men.
Wesleyan University’s Anthony Braxton Wins $225,000 Doris Duke Artist Award
The award program, established in 2011, supports performing artists in contemporary dance, theatre, jazz, and related interdisciplinary work. The award comes with a $225,000 honorarium. Braxton is the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music at Wesleyan.
Notable Awards for Black Scholars
The honorees are Janice R. Franklin of Alabama State University, Jack Thomas of Western Illinois University, civil rights icon Myrlie Evers-Williams, Gladius Lewis of the University of Memphis, and Isaac Crumbly of Fort Valley State University.
Twins Named Co-Valedictorians at Spelman College
Kirstie and Kristie Bronner both achieved perfect 4.0 grade point averages while earning bachelor's degrees in music. Both their mother and grandmother are Spelman College alumnae.
City College of New York to Rename School to Honor Colin Powell
The Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership will include several academic departments including anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. In addition, the school will include academic programs in Black studies, women's studies, and Latin American and Latino studies.
Long Island University Professor Wins Excellence in Teaching Award
Michael J.K. Bokor, assistant professor of English at Long Island University in New York, is the first African scholar to serve as a full-time faculty member in the university’s English department since the establishment of LIU in 1926.
Two Black Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
This October, Ngugi wa Thiong'o will be presented with the University of California Irvine Medal for his service to the university. Velma McBride Murry of Vanderbilt University was honored by the Society for Research in Child Development.
Two African American Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
Franklin D. Cleckley was honored by West Virginia University where he has taught for 44 years and Donna Y. Ford of Vanderbilt University won the Faculty Achievement Award from the Southeastern Conference.
The Inaugural Winner of a Book Award in African American Art History
Bridget R. Cooks, an associate professor of art history and African American studies at the University of California Irvine, was honored by the Driskell Center at the University of Maryland College Park.
Harvard Medical School Faculty Member Embarks on a Second Career as a Children’s Author
Oneeka Williams, a surgeon who is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, has recently published her first children's book that leads young children to the far reaches of the solar system. Dr. Williams is a native of Guyana and was raised in Barbados.
Jackson State University Names Center for Late State Senator
Alice Varnado Harden, a graduate of Jackson State University, was the first Black woman to serve in the Mississippi State Senate. She served for 24 years in the state legislature.
Honors for Three African American Scholars
The honorees are Donna Y. Ford, professor of education at Vanderbilt, William Hamilton, sports information director at South Carolina State University, and Andrea Hairston, professor of theatre and Afro-American studies at Smith College.
University of Rochester Honors Jessye Norman
Norman will receive the honorary degree at a benefit concert in Rochester for Action for a Better Community. a community action agency that promotes and provides opportunities for low-income individuals and families to become self-sufficient.
Bucknell University’s Shara McCallum Named a Witter Bynner Fellow
Professor McCallum will receive a $10,000 prize and had the opportunity to read her poetry at the Library of Congress this week to open National Poetry Month.
Two African Americans Awarded Gilliam Fellowships
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has chosen nine students for its 2013 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study. The students receive $46,500 per year, for up to four years, for doctoral studies in the life sciences. Two of nine fellows are African Americans.
