In Memoriam: Leroy Sterling, 1939-2023
A native of Booneville, Texas, Sterling applied to Texas A&M University in the early 1960s but was denied admission. But in 1963 he and two other Black students were allowed to enroll in summer sessions. There, he earned credits that went toward his bachelor's degree at historically Black Texas Southern University.
In Memoriam: Alfonza Louis Carter, 1949-2023
Alfonza Carter served on the staff at Shaw University for 40 years, including more than two decades as its athletic director. Before he became a legendary athletic director, Carter was an accomplished head coach in women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and tennis.
In Memoriam: BeEtta L. Stoney, 1959-2023
Dr. Stoney joined the Kansas State community in 1999 as a race equity coordinator and technical consultant with the College of Education's Midwest Equity Assistance Center. She was subsequently hired as an assistant professor of secondary education with the college in 2000 and was promoted to associate professor in 2005.
Dr. Stoney served as Kansas State's faculty athletics representative for 13 years from 2010 to 2023.
In Memoriam: Wesley G. Robinson-McNeese, 1948-2023
Dr. McNeese joined the faculty at Southern Illinois University in 2001 and founded the Office of Diversity Multicultural and Minority Affairs.
In Memoriam: Francine Oputa, 1953-2023
During her 30-year career at Fresno State, Dr. Oputa served as director of the Center for Women and Culture and director of the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute. She retired as director of the Cross Cultural and Gender Center in 2021.
In Memoriam: Dianne Jemison Pollard
In addition to her service as dean of the Honors College at Texas Southern University, Dr. Jemison Pollard was chair of the department of fine arts at the university for 10 years. She also was an award-winning university stage director who directed over 50 productions.
In Memoriam: Sandra Williams Rackley, 1937-2023
Dr. Rackley began her career by joining the faculty of Florida A&M University. She later moved to Florida State University to join the faculty in the College Communication. There she served as associate dean and later dean of undergraduate studies.
In Memoriam: Julius Chapman, 1937-2023
Julius Chapman served in dean positions at Towson University in Maryland and Coppin State University in Baltimore. He was also provoset and vice president for academic affairs at Voorhees University in Denmark, South Carolina.
In Memoriam: Willard R. Johnson, 1935-2023
Dr. Johnson joined the political science faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 as an assistant professor. He was the first Black faculty member at MIT to rise through the ranks and achieve tenure from within.
In Memoriam: Julius Wesley Becton Jr., 1926-2023
After a 40-year career in the U.S. Army, in 1985, General Becton was appointed by President Reagan to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Then in 1989, he was appointed the fifth president of Prairie View A&M University. He served in that role until August 31, 1994.
In Memoriam: John Brooks Slaughter, 1934-2023
John B. Slaughter was the former chancellor of the University of Maryland and former president of Occidental College in Los Angeles. He also served as the director of the National Science Foundation.
In Memoriam: Willie Ruff, 1931-2023
Professor Ruff held bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Yale University. He joined the faculty at Yale in 1971 and taught there until his retirement in 2017.
In Memoriam: Colleen J. McElroy, 1935-2023
In 1983, Dr. McElroy became the first Black woman to serve as a full-time faculty member at the University of Washington. From 1995 to 2007, Professor McElroy served as editor of The Seattle Review, a literary magazine based at the university.
Kentucky State University Partners With the Kentucky Community and Technical College Systems
The partnership includes clear pathways to facilitate a smooth transition for community college students aspiring to complete their bachelor's degrees in 11 academic programs at Kentucky State. Students will benefit from updated curricula that align with industry needs, preparing them for successful careers upon graduation.
In Memoriam: John Louis Flateau, 1950-2023
Dr. Flateau served as a professor and chair of the department of public administration at Medgar Evers College. He was also the director of the Dubois Bunche Center for Public Policy. He was also the former dean of the college’s School of Business.
In Memoriam: Antoinette Candia-Bailey, 1974-2024
Antoinette Candia-Bailey was vice president for student affairs at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Before joining Lincoln University in May 2023, she was vice president of student affairs, chief diversity officer, and Title IX coordinator at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
In Memoriam: William Pope.L, 1955-2023
William Pope.L was an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist and professor in the department of visual arts at the University of Chicago. Before coming to the University of Chicago in 2010, Pope.L was a lecturer in theater and rhetoric at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
In Memoriam: Julie Saville, 1947-2023
Dr. Saville was hired to the faculty at the University of Chicago in 1994, joining the founding generation of scholars of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. She was a scholar of slavery, emancipation, and plantation societies in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
In Memoriam: Joyce Inez Johnson Bolden, 1933-2023
Dr. Bolden, who taught for 42 years at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, earned a Ph.D. in music at Michigan State University. She was the first African American woman to receive a doctorate in music from Michigan State University.
In Memoriam: Orlando L. Taylor, 1936-2024
Dr. Orlando Taylor of Fielding University passed away on January 16. He held numerous administrative leadership roles in higher education throughout his life. He dedicated his research to speech and language disorders, as well as advancing leadership at HBCUs, earning him seven doctoral degrees over the course of his career.
In Memoriam: Cleon T. Thompson, 1931-2024
Dr. Cleon F. Thompson, former chancellor of Winston-Salem State University, passed away on January 27 at the age of 92.
In Memoriam: Jesse Hurst II, 1941-2024
Jesse Henry Hurst II, longtime educator and football coach in the state of Texas, passed away at age 82. For over three decades, Dr. Hurst taught at two historically Black universities as a professor of kinesiology and physical education.
In Memoriam: Edgar Lawrence Chase III, 1949-2024
Chase dedicated over twenty years of his career to historically Black Dillard University in New Orleans, where he served as dean of business and vice president of facilities, planning, and management.
In Memoriam: Elizabeth Miller Rawlins, 1927-2024
From 1967 to 1992, Dr. Rawlins taught education at Simmons College in Boston, where she also served as associate dean of the human service program for more than decade.
In Memoriam: Robert L. Palmer, 1943-2024
Dr. Palmer served as vice president of student affairs at California State University, Fullerton for over a decade, where he oversaw the establishment of numerous student support programs including the African American Resource Center. He also spent over twenty years with the division of student affairs at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
In Memoriam: Paul F. Bitting, 1945-2024
In 1989, Dr. Bitting joined the faculty of the College of Education at North Carolina State University where he taught until his retirement in 2016 as an associate professor. From 2006 to 2007, he served as the college's assistant dean for diversity.
In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024
Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.
In Memoriam: Shani Mott, 1976-2024
Dr. Mott was a lecturer in the department of history and Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University where she worked for the past sixteen years. Her academic studies focused on racial language in American popular culture.
In Memoriam: Gloria Jackson, 1931-2024
Dr. Gloria Jackson had a career in higher education that spanned five decades. From 1982 to 1984, she served as president of St. Philip's College in Texas, a historically Black community college within the Alamo Colleges District.
In Memoriam: Lena Prewitt, 1931-2024
In 1970, Dr. Prewitt joined the faculty at the University of Alabama as its first-ever Black woman professor. She served the university as an associate professor of business for over two decades prior to taking on academic and administrative leadership positions with Stillman College.
In Memoriam: Ramona Edelin, 1945-2024
Dr. Edelin founded the first African American studies program at Northeastern University in 1972. She is credited for introducing the term "African American" into American vernacular.
In Memoriam: Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, 1930-2024
In 1970, Dr. Maxwell-Roddey became the second African-American to be hired as a full-time faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. One year later, she became the founding director of the university's Africana studies department.
In Memoriam: Ruth R. Martin, 1930-2024
Dr. Martin was a professor emerita of social work at the University of Connecticut. In addition to teaching, she served the university as associate dean prior to retiring in 1999.
In Memoriam: O. Jerome Green, 1954-2024
President of historically Black Shorter College O. Jerome Green passed way unexpectedly on April 8. Since he became president in 2012, the college has experienced record-breaking enrollment and graduation rates, created new academic programs, and established the STEM Center for Academic Excellence.
In Memoriam: Roscoe Hightower Jr., 1966-2024
Dr. Hightower was a professor of marketing at his alma mater, historically Black Florida A&M University, where he taught for over two decades. He also served the university as the Centennial Eminent Scholar Chair and Professor of Marketing and Facility Management.
In Memoriam: Faith Ringgold, 1930-2024
Ringgold was a mixed media artist, best known for her narrative quilts which centered around African American and women's representation. She was a professor emerita of art with the University of California, San Diego where she taught for 15 years.
