Taking on new duties are Sheara Williams Jennings at the University of Houston, Marc Williams at Florida Memorial University, Cheryl Waites Spellman at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Sharon A. Simmons at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Appointed to new positions are Gloria Johnson-Cusack at Florida International University, Joseph Ballard II at Iowa State University, Maria Ramirez at New York University, Cornell B. LeSane II at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Samba Dieng at Louisiana State University.
Hazel V. Carby is the Charles C. & Dorathea S. Dilley Professor Emerita of African American Studies & American Studies at Yale University. The daughter of a White Welsh mother and a Black Jamaican father, Dr. Carby taught at Yale for 30 years before retiring from teaching at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.
LaKeisha L. Harris has been appointed dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Hub Brown will be the next dean of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
Keith McGee is taking on a new administrative role at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Lydia Didia is a new assistant professor of accounting in the College of Business at Jackson State University in Mississippi and Charrise M. Barron is a new assistant professor of African studies and music at Brown University in Rhode Island.
taking on new administrative duties are Delonte J. LeFlore at the University of Cincinnati, Karyn C. Nooks at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, Thomas J. Calhoun, Jr. at Mississippi Valley State University, and Aisha Oliver-Staley at New York University.
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.
The new diversity executives are Trent Ball at Southeast Missouri State University, Norma Holland at the University of Rochester, Fatiah Tourney at the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University, Karen Armstrong at Pennsylvania State University, Stephany Rose Spaulding at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and Kamille Dean at Fordham Law School in New York.
Taking on new positions or roles are Sherman Jackson at the University of Southern California, Adji Bousso Dieng at Princeton University in New Jersey, John Dabiri at the California Institute of Technology, Frederick Douglas Dixon at the University of Wyoming, and Robyn Ridley at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
Dr. Sinkford was appointed associate dean at the Howard University College of Dentistry in 1967. In 1975, she broke the gender barrier when she was appointed dean of Howard University College of Dentistry, the first woman to lead a U.S. dental school. She served as dean from 1975 to 1991.
Jerome Tinker was named executive director for the Jackson State University Development Foundation. Tamara Williams has been appointed interim vice president for workforce solutions at Tidewater Community College and Valerie S. Fields was appointed vice president for student affairs at the University of Louisiana Monroe.
Shannon Mathews will be the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of La Verne in California. Rochelle Gilbert was appointed dean of student affairs at Walden University and Bruce A. Johnson is the new dean of mathematics and sciences at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte.
The appointees are Sheldon D. Fields at Penn State, Deidre Hill Butler at Union College in New York, Belinda Robnett at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Sonia Rucker at Southeast Missouri State University, Franklin Ellis at Vanderbilt University, and Nahomi Carlisle at Bunker Hill Community College.
The four Black scholars in new posts are Brian K. Smith at Boston College, Zindell Richardson at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, Olufunmilayo Ayobami at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and Blessing Masasi at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
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.
Taking on new assignments are Dionne Hall at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, Quinton Clay at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, and Dawn S. Booker at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Sharon E. Williams was appointed interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Brandon Common was named dean of students at Louisiana State University and Nichole Lewis is the new dean of students at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina.
The five Black scholars taking on new assignments are Nicole Patton Terry at Florida State University, Samuel Adu-Mireku at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Suzzette Shaw Goldmon at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Kristina Douglass at Pennsylvania State University, and Ethlyn McQueen-Gibson at Hampton University in Virginia.
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.
Taking on new duties are Aline Phillips at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Kelly White at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, Rollinda Thomas at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, and Keywuan Caulk at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Dr. Collins served as the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell University from 2010 to 2020. On August 1, 2020, he became the inaugural vice president and executive director of Virginia Tech’s new Innovation Campus in Alexandria, Virginia.
Taking on new roles are Carole Boyce Davies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Major Jackson at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Wallace Best at Princeton University in New Jersey, and Christopher C. Mathis Jr. at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Taking on new administrative duties are Aishah Casseus at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, DeWayne Peevy at DePaul University in Chicago, Dallas A. Grundy at the University of Akron in Ohio, Roslyn White at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, and Georgio Douglas at Grambling State University in Louisiana.
Tamara Bertrand Jones is an associate professor of higher education in the College of Education at Florida State University. Her research examines the sociocultural influences on socialization during graduate education and the professional experiences of underrepresented populations, particularly Black women, in academia.
Taking on new administrative duties relating to diversity, equity and inclusion are Tiffany Willoughby-Herard at the University of California, Irvine, Brent Lewis at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Shawntae Jones at the Kansas City Art Institute, and Ra’Sheda Boddie Forbes at Mississippi State University.
Taking on new faculty assignments are Candice Price at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin at Pennsylvania State University, Shatema Threadcraft at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and Charrise Barron at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Taking on new administrative roles are Jovette Dew at Oklahoma State University, Leonard Brown at Norfolk State University in Virginia, Melba V. Pearson at Florida International University, Rashad Young at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Eric Sullivan at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis.
James I. Cash was the first African American to earn a basketball scholarship at Texas Christian University. After earning a master's degree and a Ph.D. in computer science at Purdue University, Dr. Cash joined the faculty at Harvard Business School in 1976. He became the first Black tenured faculty member in 1985.
At some colleges and universities, a hiring freeze has been enacted due to the pandemic. But with the world’s new focus on racism and social justice, the hiring of diversity and inclusion officers at colleges and universities remains at a brisk pace.
Taking on new assignments are Abigail S. Newsome at Mississippi Valley State University, La Fleur Small at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Anaiis Cisco at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Rachel Finley at Arizona State University.
The department of religion in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has named a graduate student scholarship program in honor of Robert L. Gilbert, the first Black student to receive an undergraduate degree at Baylor University and the first Black graduate student in religion.
Taking on new administrative roles are Brian Jackson at Danville Community College in Virginia, Yasmine Farley at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, Clifford Porter at Norfolk State University in Virginia, Kristine Kelly at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and Kenyatta Randall at Grambling State University in Louisiana.
Taking on new faculty roles are C. Vanessa White at Xavier University in New Orleans, Rufus Bonds Jr. at Syracuse University in New York, Tia-Simone Gardner at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Tiffany Wright at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Kehbuma Langmia, professor and chair of the department of strategic, legal and management communications is the 2020 recipient of the Orlando L. Taylor Distinguished Scholarship Award in Africana Communication, presented by the National Communication Association.
Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
The four Black faculty members taking on new assignments are Alex Manning at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, Renée Crichlow at the University of Minnesota, Breea Willingham of the State University of New York-Plattsburgh, and Nathan Stevens at Illinois State University.