Appointments & Awards

Appointments of African Americans to Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Here is this week’s roundup of news of African Americans who have been appointed to administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Richmond Honors Virginia Union University Students Who Protested Jim Crow

On February 22, 1960, 34 students from Virginia Union University were arrested for staging a sit-in at a segregated lunchcounter of a downtown department store. The city has now honored this group with a historical marker.

Five Black Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments

Taking on new duties are Edouard Wemy at Clark University, Gilberte Bastien of the Morehouse School of Medicine, Robert Z. Carr Jr. at Alcorn State University, Danny Hubbard at Grambling State University, and Crystal Moten at Macalester College.

Fayetteville State University Professor Wins a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award

Carole Boston Weatherford, a professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, is being honored for authoring one of the year's best books for children or young adults. Her book is on civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer.

Seven African Americans Taking on New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

Here is this week’s roundup of news of African Americans who have been appointed to administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Texas Southern University Team Wins International Entrepreneur Competition

The Texas Southern University team showcased their RadBlok device, an electromagnetic chip that improves cellphone reception, increases cellphone battery life, and protects the user from unwanted radiation.

Alicia Henry of Fisk University Wins the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art

In announcing the award the society stated that "Henry’s work specializes in painting, textile and mixed-media installation work that explores social relationships through depictions of the human figure shown in isolation and interacting with one another."

New Academic Assignments for Five Black Scholars

The five Black scholars in new roles are Carl Goodman at Florida A&M University, Ifeoma Kiddoe Nwankwo at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Enoch Agbesi Adogla at Francis Marion University in South Carolina, Moses Alexander Green at Saint Augustine's University in North Carolina, and Serie McDougal III at San Francisco State University.

Honors and Awards for a Trio of African Americans With Ties to Higher Education

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland is honoring alumna and congressional representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones. LaDonna Christian of Simmons College in Boston was named Nurse Educator of the Year and the late Professor Clement Alexander Price is being remembered by Rutgers University-Newark.

Five African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties in Higher Education

Taking on new assignments are Kelli V. Randall at Livingstone College in North Carolina, Angela Jones at Eastern Washington University, W. Tramaine Rausaw at Central Arizona College, Cheryl L. Johnson at the University of Pittsburgh, and Darryl A. Pope at Fort Valley State University in Georgia.

A New African American Dean at River Parishes Community College

Walter T. Tillman Jr. was named dean of student services and enrollment management at River Parishes Community College in Gonzales, Louisiana. He is a former executive of the Southern University System.

Old Dominion University Professor Named Virginia’s Poet Laureate

Tim Seibles, professor of English at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, was named poet laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia by Governor Terry McAuliffe. Professor Seibles joined the faculty at Old Dominion University in 1995.

Six Black Faculty Members Taking on New Roles

Here is this week’s roundup of African American faculty members from colleges and universities throughout the United States who have been appointed to new positions.

California State University, Fullerton Scholar Wins Poetry Award

Natalie Graham, assistant professor of African American studies at California State University, Fullerton, has been selected as the winner of the 2016 Cave Canem Poetry Prize from the Brooklyn, New York-based Cave Canem Foundation.

Five African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

The appointees are Sentwali Bakari at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Michael A. Nutter at the University of Chicago, Sherie Cornish Gordon at Albany State University, Will Sutton at Grambling State University, and Darryl C. Wilson at the Stetson University College of Law.

Three Black Scholars Appointed to Positions as Deans

The new deans are Lisa Kirtman at the College of Education at California State University, Fullerton, Winston Oluwole Soboyejo at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and Jon Gant at North Carolina Central University in Durham.

Two African American Women Faculty Members Assigned New Duties

Stanlie James, a professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University, was appointed vice provost for inclusion and diversity engagement. Ellen D. Smiley, dean of the Honors College at Grambling State University in Louisiana, was named interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Two African American Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards

Rickey Laurentiis was selected as the winner of the 2016 Levis Reading Prize presented by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and Bridgette Peteet, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati, was honored by the American Psychological Foundation.

Five African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties in Higher Education

Taking on new roles are Van Bailey at the University of Miami, Maria Arvelo Lumpkin at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Terence Peavy at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Barbara Hampton at Princeton University in New Jersey, and Keyana Scales at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Harriet Nembhard to Lead Engineering School at Oregon State University

Harriet Nembhard was appointed the director of the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University in Covallis. She will also serve as the Eric R. Smith Professor of Engineering at Oregon State.

Kelly Spain Named to Lead the Augusta Campus of Brenau University

The campus serving the Augusta, Georgia, metropolitan area, offers undergraduate programs in business and education and graduate programs in business. Spain was an academic advising coordinator at the main campus of Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia.

Hampton University Alumna Named Secretary of Education in Virginia

Dr. Trent earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and criminal justice from Hampton University in Virginia and a master's degree and a doctorate in public administration and policy from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Professor Glenn Loury Honored by the American Economic Association

Glenn C. Loury, the Merton P. Stolz Professor of the social sciences and professor of economics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association.

Four New African American Deans

The new deans are Twyla Cummings at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, Frank Stevenson at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Bernard Keels at Morgan State University in Baltimore, and Rebecca Crocker McMullen at Fort Valley State University in Georgia.

New Administrative Roles for Four African Americans in Higher Education

Taking on new administrative roles in higher education are FeRita Perna Carter at Riverside City College in California, Jame'l R. Hodges at Tennessee State University, Kara Turner at Morgan State University in Baltimore, and Gloria Thomas at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Two Black Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards

Venita Blackburn, an instructor at Arizona State University, is the winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Short Fiction and C. Shawn McGuffey, an associate professor of sociology at Boston College, was honored by the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Four African Americans Appointed to New Faculty Positions

Taking on new faculty roles are Clara Small at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Maria Dixon Hall at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Natalie Tindall at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and Archie Taylor at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

Three African Americans Appointed to Dean Posts at North Carolina A&T State University

The new deans are Gloria Jones-Johnson in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Anthony Graham in the College of Education, and Lenora Campbell in the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Angela Flournoy to Receive the 2016 Cabell First Novelist Award

The Cabell First Novelist Award is presented by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Flournoy has taught at the University of Iowa, The New School, and Columbia University.

Three Black Women in New Administrative Roles at Virginia State University

Reshuna L. Mahone was appointed vice president for institutional advancement at Virginia State. Annie C. Redd was named special assistant to the president and liaison to the Virginia State University board of visitors and Pamela Tolson was named director of communications at the university.

Dining Hall at Yale’s Calhoun Residential College Named for an African American

The dining hall at Calhoun Residential College will be renamed to honor Roosevelt L. Thompson. A resident of Calhoun college, Thompson was killed in an automobile accident during his senior year at Yale, after he had been selected as a Rhodes Scholar.

New Roles for Six Black Faculty Members

Taking on new assignments are Chalres DeSassure at Tarrant County College, Debbie Owens at Murray State University, Kalenda Eaton at Arcadia University, Tameka Winston at Tennessee State University, Jason Mott at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Shennette Garrett-Scott of the University of Mississippi.

Tennessee State University Scholar Wins Book Award

Harriett Kimbro-Hamilton, an associate professor of human performance and science at Tennessee State University in Nashville, was awarded for writing a book on her father who was a six-time all-star in the Negro Baseball League.

Five African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

The appointees are Timothy Dunn at Trinity College in Connecticut, Eboney Hearn at MIT, Latonya Guillory at the University of Southern Mississippi, Tracy Dildy at Chicago State University, and Getchel L. Caldwell at Clark Atlanta University.

The New Dean of the School of Engineering at Morgan State University

Dr. Michael G. Spencer has been serving as a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He will be only the second dean in the history of the School of Engineering at Morgan State.

Five Black Faculty Members Appointed to New Posts

Taking on new roles are Andre Churchwell at Vanderbilt University, Daphne Bernard at Howard University, Ermias Kebreab of the University of California, Davis, Shontavia Johnson at Drake University in Iowa, and T. Elon Dancy II at the University of Oklahoma.

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