Tonya Butler was appointed chair of music business and management at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Samuel Johnson was named interim chair of the department of radiology at Wayne State University in Detroit and Tracy Dunbar will head the agriculture department at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Carrie Mae Weems is a photographer and video artist whose works have been exhibited at some of the premier art museums in the United States. A former MacArthur Fellow, she was the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
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 American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 57,000 members in academic, public, school, government, and special libraries. The association was founded 143 years ago. Traci Hall will be the first Black woman to lead the association.
Taking on new administrative roles are Kimberly M. Scott at Tuskegee University in Alabama, Gloria Walker at the University of New Orleans, Rodney Chatman at the University of Utah, Sonya Williams at Lake County College in Illinois, and Nicole R. Stokes at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
The late David Williams II, the former athletic director at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, is the 2020 winner of the NCAA president's Pat Summitt Award. The award honors an individual who has demonstrated devotion to the development of college athletes.
In 2019, Kishauna E. Soljour became the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in History from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York. Her doctorate dissertation was recently honored by the Council of Graduate Schools.
The three African Americans appointed to new administrative posts are James A. Felton III at The College of New Jersey, Nadirah Pippen at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Cheryl A. Brown at Stanford University.
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.
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.
John M. Mativo, an associate professor in the department of career and information studies in the College of Education at the University of Georgia, was recognized as the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Outstanding Faculty Advisor.
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.
Dr. Gray-Little became the 17th chancellor of the University of Kansas in 2009. She is the only woman to serve in that role. Dr. Gray-Little stepped down as chancellor after the 2016-17 academic year.
Taking on new duties are Simone T.A. Phipps, of Middle Georgia State University in Macon, Thelma Hurd at the University of California, Merced, and Raegan W. Durant, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Preventive Medicine.
The School of Social Work at Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts, has appointed two Black scholars to endowed professorships. They are Johnnie Hamilton-Mason and Hugo Kamya.
Taking on new roles are Cletis Earle at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Sherwin E. James at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, and Marlon C. Lynch at the University of Utah.
Mona Hicks was named dean of students at Stanford University in California and Cora Thompson has been appointed interim dean for the College of Education at Savannah State University in Georgia.
In 1966 and 1967, Deidre Dumas Labat and Reynold T. Décou became the first African American undergraduates to earn degrees from Newcomb College and Tulane University, respectively. The university recently renamed a residence complex in their honor.
Taking on new administrative roles are Judith Brown Clarke at Stony Brook University in New York, Cheryl Pollard at Jackson State University in Mississippi, and Brandi Stone at the University of New Mexico.
Elliott Charles was appointed director of intercollegiate athletics at Chicago State University and Kortne Gosha is the new vice president and director of athletics at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
The award has been given out for the past 13 years by Baton Rouge Area Foundation. It recognizes the work of African American fiction writers and honors the legacy of author Ernest J. Gaines who died last month.
Taking on new administrative roles are DeLaine Priest at the University of Central Florida, Linda Gunn-Jones at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Joseph Montgomery at Tuskegee University in Alabama, and Qiana M. Watson at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Mignon R. Moore was promoted to full professor of sociology at Barnard College in New York. Professor Suzanne Weekes was named associate dean at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Tracy L. Jackson will direct the physicians assistant program at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York.
John Ambrose joined the staff at Michigan State in 2008 as senior associate director for inclusion, strategic planning, and student success. Earlier, he served in leadership roles at the national and state levels of the Michigan Association for College Admissions Counseling.
Pamela Bracey, an associate professor in the department of instructional systems and workforce development in the College of Education at Mississippi State University, was named Collegiate Teacher of the Year by the National Business Education Association.
Alan D. Robertson was named chief financial officer at Florida A&M University. Julian Coaxum will be the next chief of police at Davidson College in North Carolina and Raymond Clarke has been named vice president for enrollment management at Savannah State University in Georgia.
Leon Prieto of Clayton State University in Georgia was named an associate research fellow at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. Adrienne Morgan was appointed as an associate vice president of equity and inclusion at the University of Rochester and Professor Calvin R. Walker was named executive vice chancellor at Southern University in Louisiana.
Professor Pettigrew’s award was given “for leadership at the National Institutes of Health, and for academic and industrial convergence research and education, resulting in innovations that have improved global health care.”
Karen Davis is the a new assistant dean for inclusive excellence at Syracuse University in New York. Kory Trott will serve as the director of the research integrity office at Virginia Tech and Paul Monteiro is the new assistant vice president of external affairs at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Cynthia B. Dillard is the Mary Frances Early Professor of Teacher Education in the department of educational theory and practice of the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Dr. Dillard was honored at the association's annual conference in Baltimore earlier this month.
Taking on new roles are Renita W. Marshall at Southern Univerity in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, André J. Thomas at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, Chassidy Bozeman at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and Akinwumi Ogundiran at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
David Williams II was the first African American to serve as a vice chancellor at Vanderbilt. He also was the first African American to serve as an athletics director in the Southeastern Conference. He died earlier this year at the age of 71.
Taking on new administrative positions in higher education are Bill Means at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Darrell B. McMillon at Delaware State University, Amber Williams at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Malik Washington at the University of Pennsylvania.
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.
John H. Morrow, Jr., professor of history at the University of Georgia, is the 13th recipient of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. The award includes a gold medallion and a $100,000 honorarium.
The four scholars beginning new duties are Sheria D. Rowe at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Alvin Thomas at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Adia Harvey Wingfield at Washington University in St. Louis, and Nicole Mitchell at the University of Pittsburgh.