Steven Watkin Will Be the New Leader of Bakersfield College in California
Watkin was hired by Bakersfield College nine years ago to build an outreach program in partnership with local area high schools. Most recently, he has served as associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at the Kern Community College District. In addition, Watkin has been pastor of the Church of God in Christ in Arvin, California, for the past 11 years.
The First Black Woman in Vanderbilt University’s Neurosurgery Residency Program
According to the American Society of Black Neurosurgeons, there are currently only 33 Black women who are in the field of neurosurgery in the United States. Tamia Potter, who completed her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University, will be the first Black women neurosurgery resident at Vanderbilt in the program's 91-year history.
The First Black Woman in Vanderbilt University’s Neurosurgery Residency Program
According to the American Society of Black Neurosurgeons, there are currently only 33 Black women who are in the field of neurosurgery in the United States. Tamia Potter, who completed her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University, will be the first Black women neurosurgery resident at Vanderbilt in the program's 91-year history.
The First African American to Deliver the Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford
Willie James Jennings an associate professor of systematic theology at Yale Divinity School, has been selected to deliver the Bampton Lectures for 2023 at the University of Oxford in England. He is the first African American selected to give these lectures in the 243-year history of the program.
Kara Freeman to Lead the National Association of College and University Business Officers
When she takes office on June 1, Freeman will be the first African American woman to lead the organization. Freeman has been serving as the senior vice president and chief operating officer at the American Council of Education. She has worked there since 2006.
Garry W. Jenkins Will Be the First Black President of Bates College in Lewiston,...
Since 2016, Jenkins has been dean and the William S. Pattee Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Prior to joining the Minnesota Law School Jenkins was a professor of law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law for 12 years, including eight years as associate dean for academic affairs.
Claudine Gay Appointed the Thirtieth President of Harvard University
When she takes office on July 1, Claudine Gay will be the first African American to lead the university since its founding nearly 400 years ago. Since 2018, Dr. Gay has served as the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She first joined the Harvard faculty in 2006.
Howard University Posts a Record Year in Grants and Contracts for Research
In 2018, historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. announced a goal of raising $100 million in grants and contracts for research by 2024. Today, Howard surpassed that goal two years early by raising $122 million in its 2022 fiscal year. This is a record sum for any historically Black college or university.
Keshia Elder Will Be the First Black Woman to Lead a School of Optometry...
Keshia Elder has been named dean of the College of Optometry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She has been serving as director of diversity, equity, and inclusion and director of externships at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry.
The First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University
Dr. Carcia Carson intends to devote her professional career to developing translational research in cancer vaccines and personalized immunotherapy.
African American Scholar is the First Faculty Hire for the Columbia Climate School
Kristina G. Douglass was the Joyce and Doug Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute and assistant professor of anthropology and African studies at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Douglass' research focuses on investigating human-environment interaction in Madagascar.
The First African American President of Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland
Dr. Daria Willis currently serves as president of Everett Community College in Washington. Earlier, Dr. Willis was the provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Onondaga Community College of the State University of New York and dean of academic studies at Lee College in Baytown, Texas.
The First African Woman to Win the African Studies Association’s Distinguished Africanist Award
Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí is a professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University in New York. In the 38-year history of the honor, she is the first African woman to win the Distinguished Africanist Award. More than half the recipients have been White men.
Reginald DesRoches Will Be the Eighth President of Rice University in Houston
The will of oil tycoon William Marsh Rice stipulated that only White students would be allowed to enroll at the university bearing his name. From its founding in 1912 to 1965, no Black student was permitted to enroll at Rice University. Next summer, the university will install its first Black president.
The Higher Education of the Next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
On Tuesday, November 2, voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia elected Winsome Sears to the position of lieutenant governor. She will be the first woman and the first African American to hold the office in the 400-year history of the Commonwealth.
The First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Judicial Studies in the United...
Dr. Tobi-Aiyemo currently resides in New York City. She retired from the Lagos State Judiciary bench in Nigeria in 2019. She began the Ph.D. program six years ago and completed her studies with a dissertation entitled “The Role of the Nigerian Judiciary in a Democracy: A Judge’s Dilemma.”
Alcorn State University in Mississippi Graduates Its First Class of Doctoral Students
Six family nurse practitioners recently became the inaugural Doctor of Nursing Practice class at the Cora S. Balmat School of Nursing at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. All six of the graduates had earlier received a master’s degree in nursing from the university.
The First Black Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review at Georgia State University
Jeannine Holmes is a 2008 graduate of the University of Virginia, where she majored in English. After studying design in New York City, She moved to Atlanta in 2016 to work in the healthcare field. Later she enrolled in law school part-time at Georgia State University.
The First African American Editor in Chief of the Syracuse Law Review
When she assumes her duties for Volume 72 (2021-22), Hilda Frimpong will be the first Black student to lead the Syracuse Law Review since it began publishing in 1949.
Laurie A. Carter Will Be the First Black President of Lawrence University in Appleton,...
Since 2017, Carter has been president of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. She spent 25 years in leadership positions at The Juilliard School and later was executive vice president and university counsel at Eastern Kentucky University. She will begin her new duties on July 1.
The First Black Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Law Review
Brandie Burris is a second-year student at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is the first Black student to lead the Minnesota Law Review in the publication’s 104-year history. Burris is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
African American Student at the University of Mississippi Wins Miss USA Crown
Asya Branch, a senior at the University of Mississippi majoring in integrated marketing communications, was the winner of the Miss USA pageant recently held in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the first African American to win the title of Miss Mississippi and the first woman from Mississippi to wear the Miss USA crown.
The First African American Female Brigade Commander at the U.S. Naval Academy
Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber, of Lake Forest, Illinois, is a mechanical engineering major and aspires to a commission as a Marine Corps ground officer.
The First African American to Be Promoted to Full Professor at Ithaca College
Dr. Cynthia Henderson joined the faculty at Ithaca College in 2000. In 2007, she was the first African-American woman to earn tenure at the college. Now she is the first African American who has been promoted to the rank of full professor in the 128-year history of Ithaca College.
The First African American Woman to Chair a Department at Johns Hopkins Medical School
Namandjé Bumpus was appointed chair of the department of pharmacology and molecular sciences. She is the first African American woman to chair an academic department at the medical school and the only African American woman currently chairing a pharmacology department at any medical school in the nation.
The First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of...
Dr. Mendes, who is from Jamaica and holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Florida, successfully defended her thesis, titled "The Kinetics of Microglial Ontogeny and Maturation in the Adult Brain."
The First Black Woman to Serve as Student Body President at MIT
Danielle Geathers who is completing her sophomore year in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was elected president of the student body. Geathers is from Miami, Florida.
Black Man to Become Dean of the Nation’s Oldest Law School
A. Benjamin Spencer will be the next dean of the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. When he takes office on July 1, Professor Spencer will be William & Mary’s first African-American dean. Since 2014 he has been on the law school faculty at the University of Virginia.
The First Black Valedictorian in the 274-Year History of Princeton University
Nicholas Johnson is a graduate of Selwyn House School in Westmount, Quebec. He has majored in operations research and financial engineering. He will begin doctoral studies in operations research this fall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lori White Will Be the First African American President of DePauw University in Indiana
Dr. White has been serving as vice chancellor for student affairs at Washington University in St. Louis. Earlier, she worked as vice president for student affairs and clinical professor of education at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Dr. White will become president of DePauw University on July 1.
Erika James to Lead the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
When she takes office on July 1, Erika James will be the first woman and the first African American to lead the prestigious business school since its founding in 1881. Since 2014, Dr. James has been serving as dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta.
Lynn Perry Wooten Will Be the First African American President of Simmons University
Most recently, Dr. Wooten has been serving as the David J. Nolan Dean and Professor of Management and Organizations at Cornell University’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Prior to her position at Cornell, Dr. Wooten served on the faculty at the University of Michigan for nearly two decades.
The First Black Woman to Lead a College at Oxford University in England
Since 2015, Baroness Valerie Amos has served as director of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. From 2010 to 2015, Amos served as undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator at the United Nations.
The First African American Woman to Serve as Athletic Director in the Southeastern Conference
Dr. Lee has been serving as associate vice chancellor and deputy athletic director. She has been the department’s senior woman administrator for the athletics program since 2004. Dr. Lee was a four-year varsity letter winner in basketball and holds three degrees from Vanderbilt University.
The Higher Education of Delaware’s First Black Supreme Court Justice
African Americans make up 21 percent of the population in the state of Delaware. Yet until now, the state has never had an African Americans on its highest court. Tamika Montgomery-Reeves recently began her tenure as a justice on the the Delaware Supreme Court.
The First African American Woman Dean at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio
Alyncia Bowen was appointed dean of doctoral studies and the School of Nursing at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Bowen joined Franklin University 14 years ago. She has served as department chair, director of doctoral studies and director of the Global Center for Healthcare Education.
