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.
Tekla Ali Johnson’s Book Honored by the National Council on Black Studies
Dr. Ali Johnson is an assistant professor of history at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was honored with the award for outstanding scholarly publication in Africana studies for her book on Ernest Chambers.
Langston Fitzgerald Wins The Kennedy Center/ Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award
He is a professor of trumpet at Pennsylvania State University but was nominated for the award by a master's degree student of his when he taught at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Honors for Three African American Educators
Professor Gerald Early is getting a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Shante Hearst of Morehead State University was honored by the American College Personnel Association and Bowie State President Mickey Burnim is having an endowed chair named in his honor.
Tuskegee University Faculty Member Wins UNCF/Mellon Faculty Residency Fellowship
Dr. Eleanor Blount will spend the fall semester studying the Alice Walker papers at Emory University. She is conducting research on the effects of racism and sexism on African American women writers.
CalTech Astrophysicist Wins Teaching Award
John A. Johnson, an assistant professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, received the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Honors for Three Black Scholars
The honorees are Archie Wade, a retired professor of kinesiology at the University of Alabama, Adriel Hilton of Grand Valley State University, and John Idowu of New Mexico State University.
University of Kansas Scholar Wins Book Award
Randall Maurice Jelks, associate professor of American studies and African and American American studies at the University of Kansas, won the 2013 Literary Award for Nonfiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association for his biography of Benjamin Elijah Mays.
Honors for Two African American Scholars
Adriel Hilton of Grand Valley State University was honored by the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education and Deneese Jones, provost at Drake University, received the Alumni Excellence Award from Texas Woman's University.
Two Black Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
Natasha Brison, an assistant professor at Georgia State University, won an award for research on sport and recreation and Chance W. Lewis of the University of North Carolina Charlotte was honored for a lifetime of work by the American Educational Research Association.
Alabama State University Dedicates Its New Student Center to a Long-Time Faculty Member
The late Dr. John Garrick Hardy served on the university's faculty and administration for more 35 years in a number of different positions including director of the Student Personnel Department.
Honors and Awards for African Americans in Higher Education
Andrea Barnwell Brownlee of Spelman College is honored by the High Museum of Art. Duke University gives a first book award in photography to Gerald Gaskin and Coppin State University honors an alumnus who went on to serve as police commissioner in Baltimore.
Penn Professor Wins Two Awards for His Documentary Film on Africa
Tukufu Zuberi won the best director award and the award for the best documentary at the recent San Diego Black Film Fest for his documentary on the history of the African continent.
Yolanda Moses Honored With the Frederick Douglass Medal from the University of Rochester
Dr. Moses is past president of the American Anthropological Association and past president of American Association for Higher Education. From 1993 to 1999 she served as president of the City College of New York.
Florida State University Honors Its Choral Director With a Stained-Glass Window
Andre J. Thomas is the the Owen F. Sellers Professor of Music, director of choral activities, and a professor of choral music education at the university. For the past 25 years, he has served as director of the Tallahassee Community Chorus.
Syracuse University Professor Honored by the Society of Historical Archaeology
Theresa Singleton, associate professor of anthropology at Syracuse University in New York, is being honored for her lifetime of contributions to the field of historical archaeology through scholarship.
Elijah Anderson Honored by the American Sociological Association
Dr. Anderson, the William K. Lanman Professor of Sociology at Yale University, is one of the nation's leading urban ethnographers. Before coming to Yale in 2007, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania for more than 30 years.
