Appointments & Awards

Crystal Wilkinson Wins the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

Crystal Wilkinson, the Appalachian Writer-in-Residence at Berea College in Kentucky, has won the 2016 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence presented by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. The award recognizes outstanding work by an African American fiction writer.

Seven African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Thew new appointees are Nathan Stephens at the University of Illinois, Jolene Lane at the University of Akron, Denise Stephens at Washington University, Nathan Cochran at Philander Smith College, Alex Granderson at Mississippi Valley State, Shai L. Butler at the College of St. Rose, and Johnnie Westbrook at Kentucky State.

University of Southern California to Launch the Race and Equity Center

The university has hired Shaun R. Harper to lead the new initiative and to serve as the Clifford and Betty Allen Professor in Urban Leadership. Currently, Professor Harper is the director of the Center for the Study of Race and Equity at the University of Pennsylvania.

Selwyn Rogers Named the Founding Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center

Dr. Rogers, who has been serving as vice president and chief medical officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch since 2014, will also serve as executive vice president for community health engagement at the University of Chicago.

Black Scholar From the University of California, Davis Is Heading to Oxford

Wale Adebanwi, an associate professor of African American and African studies at the University of California, Davis, will be leaving his post at the end of the academic year to assume the Rhodes Professorship in Race Relations in the School of African and Interdisciplinary Area Studies at Oxford University.

A Quartet of African American Scholars in New Faculty Posts

The African Americans in new faculty positions are Rashida K. Braggs at Williams College in Massachusetts, Prentiss A. Dantzler at Colorado College, Beronda Montgomery at Michigan State University, and Norman Anderson at Florida State University.

Four African Americans Taking on New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

Appointed to new positions are Edrel Stoneham at Victoria College in Texas, Kevin L. Williams at the University of the Virgin Islands, Jeanette Barker at North Carolina Central University in Durham, and Kimberly Morris at Fort Valley State University in Georgia.

Donovan Hicks, Wofford College Graduate, Named a Mitchell Scholar

Hicks graduated from Wofford College with a double major in government and finance and was a Gates Millennium Scholar. As a junior he was selected as a Truman Scholar. He also served as vice president of the student body at Wofford College.

Washington University Scholar Named a Newspaper’s “Person of the Year”

Jason Q. Purnell, an assistant professor in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, was named person of the year by the St. Louis American, which has the largest circulation of any weekly newspaper in Missouri.

A Pair of African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Positions

Earl Brown was promoted to chief operating officer of the Newark, New Jersey, campus of Berkeley College and Laura H. Jack will be the new vice president for communications at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

Jazz Musician Named to an Endowed Chair at Arizona State University

Lewis Nash is an internationally acclaimed jazz drummer. Professor Nash has performed on 10 Grammy-winning performances and has a resume that includes more than 400 recordings.

Swarthmore College President Honored by Hong Kong Baptist University

Valerie Smith, president of the highly rated Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, was the recipient of an honorary doctor of letters degree from Hong Kong Baptist University. Dr. Smith was honored for her work on diversity, inclusion, and curricular innovation during her first year as president of the Swarthmore.

Four African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Taking on new assignments are Steven L. Thomas at Harford Community College in Maryland, Barbara Cohen-Pippin at Florida A&M University, Kim D. Kirkland at Oregon State University, and Leah Cox at Towson University in Maryland.

Toni Morrison Selected to Receive the 2016 Emerson-Thoreau Medal

The award was established in 1958 by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to recognize lifetime achievement in literature. Professor Morrison will be honored at a ceremony in April in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Newest Inductee Into the George Washington Carver Public Service Hall of Fame

Clinton V. Turner is the former associate vice president for agriculture and extension at Virginia State University. He is the first Virginian to be inducted into the the George Washington Carver Public Service Hall of Fame in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Rutgers University Creates an Endowed Chair in Honor of the Late Clement A. Price

The Rutgers University Board of Governors has approved the creation of the Clement A. Price Chair in Public History and the Humanities. Professor Price served on the Rutgers University faculty for nearly 40 years until his death in November 2014.

Laurie Shanderson Named Dean of the School of Health Sciences at Northcentral University

Dr. Shanderson has been serving as associate dean in the School of Health Sciences at Stockton University in Galloway Township, New Jersey. She holds a master of public administration degree from Pace University and a Ph.D. in health sciences from Walden University.

University of North Alabama Honors its First Black Graduate

In a case that lasted only 10 minutes, Wendell Wilkie Gunn, with the help of famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray, obtained a court order demanding that he be allowed to enroll at what is now the University of North Alabama. He did so on September 11, 1963 and graduated in 1965.

Five African Americans Taking on New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

The appointees are Marsha C. Senior at Syracuse University in New York, Raymond K. Robinson at Webster University in St. Louis, Lisa McBride at Salem State University in Massachusetts, Shira Thomas at Florida A&M University, and Sylvia Clark Anderson at North Carolina Central University.

Three African American Men in New University Positions

Taking on new roles are Delarious O. Stewart at North Carolina Central University in Durham, Timothy K. Eatman at Rutgers University-Newark, and Garvin A. Reid at the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University.

New Faculty Roles at Major Universities for Three Black Scholars

Sherine O. Obare, professor of chemistry at Western Michigan University was given a new administrative post. Professor Jay Hoggard was awarded tenure at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and Tarell Alvin McCraney was appointed chair of the department of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama.

Tuskegee University Researchers Design Strong Biodegradable Plastics

Michael L. Curry, an associate professor in the department of chemistry at Tuskegee University and graduate student Donald H. White have produced cellulose-based plastics that are flexible and significantly stronger than previously biodegradable plastics.

Notable Honors and Awards Relating to African Americans in Higher Education

Tisha Lewis Ellison, an assistant professor of education at the University of Georgia, was honored by the Literacy Research Association, and The Colored Conventions Project at the University of Delaware, led by Professor P. Gabrielle Foreman, will receive an award from the Modern Language Association.

Three Black Scholars Appointed to New Posts in Academia

The three African American faculty members appointed to new positions are Donald R. Easton-Brooks of the University of South Dakota, Tiphanie Yanique at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and Laurence Ralph at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Major Awards for a Pair of Black Scholars

James A. Anderson, chancellor of Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, will be honored by the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education and Tanure Ojaide, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, received the Nigerian National Order of Merit.

A Quartet of African Americans in New Administrative Positions at State Universities

Taking on new assignments are Wanda Ford at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Dwayne Pinkney at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Paul Bryant at Grambling State University in Louisiana, and Angela Clements st Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

Three Scholars Honored for Their Kentucky African American Encyclopedia

There are more than 1,000 entries in the encyclopedia detailing African American history from frontier days to the present time. More than 150 scholars contributed to the entries in the volume.

Cornelius Carter Appointed to an Endowed Chair at the University of Alabama

Professor Carter, who holds a a master of fine arts degree in dance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, also serves as director of the dance program at the University of Alabama and as artistic director of the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre.

Honors for Two African American Women Scholars

Goulda A. Downer, an assistant professor in the College of Medicine at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was honored by the Institute of Caribbean Studies and Alcorn State University has renamed its Fine Arts Building to honor long-time faculty member Joyce J. Bolden.

The New Chief Diversity Officer at Empire State College in New York

Elliott Dawes has been named the inaugural chief diversity officer for institutional equity and inclusion at Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, New York, a campus of the State University of New York System. He will be based in the college's New York City offices.

Walter Massey Is the New Chair of the Giant Magellan Telescope Project

Poised to be the first of a new generation of extremely large telescopes, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be the largest optical telescope in the world when it comes online in 2022. Walter Massey is the former president of Morehouse College and currently serves as chancellor of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Wake Forest University Names a Campus Building to Honor Maya Angelou

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, announced that its newest residence hall will be named to honor Maya Angelou, who served on the faculty at the university from 1982 until her death in 2014. The building will be the first on the Wake Forest campus to be named for an African American.

Five Black Professors Receive New Teaching Assignments

Taking on new teaching roles are Craig S. Wilder at MIT, Stacy-Ann January at the University of South Carolina, Wonder Drake at Vanderbilt University, Joseph Ravenell at New York University, and Marlon James at Macalester College in Minnesota.

Three Black Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards

The honorees are Gilda Barabino dean of the School of Engineering at City College of New York, Karla Smith Fuller of Guttman Community College in New York City, and Yacob Astatke of the School of Engineering at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

New Administrative Roles for Four African Americans in Higher Education

Taking on new administrative duties are Patrick Harold Johnson at Meharry Medical College, Shontay Delalue at Brown University, Kenneth Huewitt at Texas Southern University, and Barry L. Wells at Syracuse University.

Four African American Men Appointed to Key Administrative Posts in Higher Education

The appointees are Rick Daniels at Rock Valley College in Illinois, Raphael X. Moffett at Texas Southern University in Houston, Jack Thomas of Western Illinois University in Macomb, and Peter Edmund Millet at Meharry Medical College.
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