Notable Honors and Awards for Six African Americans in Higher Education
The honorees are Nafissa Thompson-Spires of the University of Illinois, Gregory S. Carr of Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Tayari Jones of Emory University in Atlanta, Jamilla Lyiscott of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Wilma Mishoe of Delaware State University, and Vinette Gordon of Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
Norman C. Francis Receives the 2019 Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame
Established at the University of Notre Dame in 1883, the Laetare Medal was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor that dates from the 11th century. The award honors an individual who "has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church, and enriched the heritage of humanity.”
Johnnetta Cole to Be Honored by the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity
Dr. Cole is being honored as a role model and leader for others through her personal achievements and excellence in a chosen field; commitment to human, civil rights, and social issues; and contributions to the betterment of society.
A Quartet of African American Women Who Have Been Selected for Notable Honors
The honorees are Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, president of Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, Karen Robinson, associate professor of nursing at Marquette University, Gabrielle Abelard a clinical assistant professor of nursing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Benita Powell, assistant general counsel at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
Keisha N. Blain Wins Book Award from the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians
Dr. Blain is an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, where she has served on the faculty since 2017. Her book examines the activism of Black nationalist women who challenged White supremacy and advocated for full citizenship and human rights for people of African descent.
Four African American Scholars Honored With Notable Awards
The honorees are Gilda Barabino dean of engineering at City College of New York, Lovoria Williams, an associate professor of nursing at the University of Kentucky, WIlliam M. Jackson Jr., professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of California, Davis, and Nicole R. Howard of the University of Redlands.
College of Charleston Renames Award to Honor Educator James E. Campbell
James E. Campbell, who was born in 1925, is an African American educator and civil rights activist. He worked as a teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, New York City, and Tanzania. He later became an administrator with the New York City public school system and in retirement has remained active in educational initiatives in South Carolina.
Johnnie Hamilton-Mason to Receive the 2019 Feminist Scholar Award
The Simmons University professor of social work will be honored at the Council on Social Work Education's annual program meeting in Denver, Colorado on October 26. Dr. Hamliton-Mason has taught at the Simmons School of Social work since 1991.
University of Virginia’s Kevin Everson to Receive a 2019 Heinz Award
The Heinz Awards, now in their 24th year, honor individuals who have made extraordinary contributions in five categories: arts and humanities; environment; the human condition; public policy; and technology, the economy and employment. Professor Everson will be honored for his body of work in film on October 17 in Pittsburgh.
Framingham State University to Honor its First Black Graduate: Mary Miles Bibb
After graduating in 1843, Bibb went on to become one of the first African American woman teachers on the continent. She opened several schools for Black children during a 23-year teaching career in Canada. The university will rename a residence hall in her honor.
International African-American Historical and Genealogy Society Book Award to Walter Curry Jr.
Walter B. Curry Jr., who teaches online graduate courses in the master of education degree program at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, was honored for his book on the Thompson family of Salley, South Carolina.
Winston-Salem State University Honors Retiring Chief of Police
Patricia Norris stepped down as chief of campus police at Winston-Salem State University on December 31. Her husband, Robert Norris, made a secret donation to the university so that the police and public safety building on campus would be renamed in her honor.
Hampton Honors Dean With More Than 50 Years of Service to the University
Jewel B. Long, dean of residence life at Hampton University in Virginia, is stepping down from her post. In recognition of her 54 years of continuous service to the educational institution, Hampton University is naming the lobby of a residence hall in her honor.
Former Tennessee State University Faculty Member Given Posthumous Honor
The Tennessean, the daily newspaper in Nashville, has named a conference room in its headquarters to honor the late Getahn Ward, a reporter for the paper and an alumnus and adjunct faculty member at historically Black Tennessee State University.
Emory University’s Jericho Brown Wins the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
In selecting Professor Brown's collection of poetry for this honor, the Pulitzer board called it “a collection of masterful lyrics that combine delicacy with historical urgency in their loving evocation of bodies vulnerable to hostility and violence.”
University of Virginia Honors Its First African American Doctoral Graduate
In 1953, Walter N. Ridley earned a doctorate from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Dr. Ridley holds the distinction of being the first African American to earn a doctoral degree from a historically white university in the South.
Melissa Holloway Honored by the National Association of College and University Attorneys
Since May 2019, Mellissa Holloway has been general counsel for legal affairs at North Carolina A&T State University in East Greensboro. Earlier, she was deputy general counsel at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and general counsel at North Carolina Central University in Durham.
University of Chicago’s Eve Ewing Honored at the Iowa City Book Festival
Eve Ewing is an assistant professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. The Paul Engle Prize honors writers who demonstrate a pioneering spirit in the world of literature and a commitment to engaging with the issues of the day.
Anderson Sunda-Meya Wins the Excellence in Physics Education Award
Anderson Sunda-Meya, the Norwood Endowed Professor of Physics and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University in New Orleans, has been awarded the 2021 Excellence in Physics Education Award from the American Physical Society.
Princeton University’s Deana Lawson Is the First Photographer to Win the Hugo Boss Prize
Sponsored by the German fashion house Hugo Boss and presented by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the prize has been awarded biannually since 1996 and was established to “embrace today’s most innovative and critically relevant cultural currents.” The prize is considered among the most prestigious awards within the contemporary art world.
Danielle Phillips-Cunningham Honored by the National Women’s Studies Association
Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, an associate professor of multicultural women's and gender studies at Texas Woman's University, is the recipient of a 2020 National Women's Studies Association's Sara A. Whaley Book Prize.
Louisiana State’s Tina Harris Honored by the National Communication Association
Tina M. Harris, who holds the Douglas L. Manship Sr.-Dori Maynard Race, Media, and Cultural Literacy Endowed Chair at the Manship School of Mass Communication, won the Francine Merritt Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Lives of Women in Communication.
Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates Jr. Honored by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Professor Gates received the Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The award has been given out only seven times since it was established in 1975.
Shirley Ann Jackson Wins Award From the American Association of Physics Teachers
Dr. Jackson was chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999. She then left government service to take over as the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999. She was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in any discipline from MIT.
North Carolina A&T State University Names New Engineering Complex After Its Chancellor
The new Harold L. Martin, Sr., Engineering Research and Innovation Complex, scheduled for completion in August, is a $90-million facility that will enhance the research and instructional capacities of a college that leads the nation in the graduation of African American engineers.
Yale’s Marcella Nunez-Smith Honored to Her Work to Address COVID-19 Racial Disparities
Dr. Nunez-Smith, an associate professor and associate dean for health equity research at Yale Medical School, was honored for her work to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and brown communities.
Princeton University’s Nathan Alan Davis Wins Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama
Nathan Alan Davis, the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Playwright-in-Residence at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University in New Jersey. Davis is an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University Bloomington, and The Juilliard School.
Two African American Faculty Members Win the Pulitzer Prize
Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., won the Pulitzer Prize in history and Mitchell S. Jackson, an assistant professor of English at the University of Chicago, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing
Yale School of Public Health Names a Scholarship After an African American Alumna
The executive master’s degree in public health scholarship at the Yale School of Public Health is being named in honor of Irene Trowell-Harris, the first African American woman in the history of the U.S. Air National Guard to be promoted to brigadier general and subsequently, in 1998, to two-star major general.
Marcia Chatelain of Georgetown University Is the 2020 Hooks National Book Award Winner
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis has named Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as the 2020 Hooks National Book Award Winner for her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America.
Ohio State’s Dorian Harrision Wins Award From the National Council of Teachers of English
Dr. Harrison's research focuses on issues of identity and power in literacy education, paying particular attention to how race, class, and language impact teaching and learning. She advocates for the need for culturally and linguistically diverse texts.
Two Universities Bestow Honors on Civil Rights Icon James Lawson
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, which expelled Lawson in 1960 for his civil rights activities, will launch the James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements. The University of California, Los Angeles, where Lawson has taught for 20 years, is naming a historic building in his honor.
Virginia State University Names Four Buildings to Honor Black Alumnae
Virginia State University has announced new names for four buildings on campus that will now honor Black alumnae. In March 2021, the university announced the removal of the names and signs identifying the four buildings saying the buildings were named for individuals whose past beliefs were not consistent with the beliefs and legacy of Virginia State University.
The American Political Science Association Honors the University of Chicago’s Cathy Cohen
Cathy J. Cohen, the David and Mary Winton Green Distinguished Service Professor in the department of political science at the University of Chicago, received the 2021 Hanes Walton, Jr. Career Award from the American Political Science Association. The award honors a political scientist whose lifetime of distinguished scholarship has made significant contributions to the understanding of racial and ethnic politics.
The Society for Epidemiologic Research Names Award for Duke University Scholar
The Society for Epidemiologic Research has announced the establishment of the Sherman A. James Diverse and Inclusive Epidemiology Award. The award will recognize research, teaching, or service by an individual that expands the scope of the field to underrepresented or disadvantaged populations or researchers and that has facilitated greater diversity and inclusiveness.
Lisa Harrison of Ohio University Recognized for Her Contributions to Middle-Level Education
Lisa Harrison, an associate professor and program coordinator for Middle Childhood Education at Ohio University, is the recipient of the John H. Lounsbury Award for Distinguished Service in Middle Level Education from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE).
