Honors & Awards

Spelman College President Earns Highest Honor From the American Psychological Association

The citation for the award given to Beverly Daniel Tatum said that "you have engaged the very difficult subject of race relations in the United States, and the impact of such an environment on identity development for African Americans."

Vanderbilt University Honors Its First African American Administrator

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, has announced that it is naming its newest residence hall in honor of Kelly Miller Smith, who served as assistant dean at the Vanderbilt Divinity School from 1969 until his death in 1984.

University of Georgia Scholar Honored for His Work on Climate Change

J. Marshall Shepherd, the UGA Athletic Association Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Georgia, was named a Captain Planet Protector of the Earth by Ted Turner's Captain Planet Foundation.

University of Colorado Professor Wins PEN Open Book Award

Professor Ruth Ellen Kocher was honored for her collection of poems, domina Un/blued (Tupelo Press, 2013). She will receive the award, and a $5,000 cash prize, at a ceremony in New York City on September 29.

Victor R. McCrary Jr. Named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society

Dr. McCrary is vice president for research and economic development at Morgan State University. He is being honored for his research at AT&T Bell Laboratories, the National Institute of Standards, and the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.

University of Kentucky Scholar Named Rhetorician of the Year

Adam J. Banks, professor in the department of writing, rhetoric, and digital studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, was named the 2014 Rhetorician of the Year by the The Young Rhetoricians Conference.

Hampton University Professor Wins National Award for the Teaching of Science

Edison R. Fowlks, a professor of biology and director of the Biotechnology Laboratory at Hampton University in Virginia, will be honored this December by the American Society of Cell Biology.

University of Delaware Scholar Honored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Babatunda A. Ogunnaike, dean of engineering at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the 2014 Eminent Chemical Engineer Award from the Minority Affairs Council of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Howard University’s William Spriggs Earns Honor From the NAACP

Dr. Spriggs is a professor of economics at Howard and also serves as chief economist for the AFL-CIO. He is the former assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Isaac Crumbley to Be Honored by the Geological Society of America

Isaac J. Crumbley, associate vice president at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, will be honored for his efforts to open the geological sciences to minority students.

Ohio University Pays Tribute to Its African American President

The board of trustees of Ohio University in Athens produced a video tribute to President Roderick J. McDavis to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his appointment as president of the university.

Three HBCU Executives Honored With Awards

The honorees are Julie D. Goodwin, general counsel at Morgan State University, William R. Harvey, president of Hampton University, and Glenda Baskin Glover, president of Tennessee State University.

Alva Ferdinand Wins Outstanding Dissertation Award

The assistant professor of public health at Texas A&M University, received the Outstanding Dissertation Award from AcademyHealth, the academic professional association for health services and health policy researchers.

Michael Drake Awarded the University of California’s Presidential Medal

Michael V. Drake, the outgoing chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, was awarded the Presidential Medal from University of California system's president Janet Napolitano. He will soon become president of Ohio State University.

University of California, Riverside Scholar Earns Major Literary Award

Nalo Hopkinson, associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, is the recipient of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Anita Allen Honored by the Electronic Privacy Information Center

Dr. Allen is vice provost for faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and the Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the university's law school. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the EPIC.

Oregon State Names Its Newest Dormitory in Honor of Its First Black Male Graduate

William Tebeau enrolled at what was then Oregon State College in 1943. He was not permitted to live on campus. He took a job tending the furnace at a fraternity house in return for a small room in the basement. He earned a degree in chemical engineering in 1948.

Georgia Tech to Honor Zimbabwe Human Rights Attorney Beatrice Mtetwa With $100,000 Prize

The Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage recognizes "individuals who, by standing up for clear moral principles in the social arena, have positively affected public discourse at the risk of their own careers, livelihoods and even their lives."

New Prize to Honor African Poetry

The Glenna Luschei Prizewill be awarded annually to a collection of poetry published in the previous year by an African poet. The judge for this year's competition is Nigerian novelist and poet Chris Abani.

Notable Honors and Awards Relating to Blacks in Higher Education

Rosie Phillips Bingham of the University of Memphis had an award named in her honor. Cristal Truscott of Prairie View A&M University, Elias S. Siraj of Temple University, and the Africana studies program at Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis were also honored.

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