Twins Named Co-Valedictorians at Spelman College
Kirstie and Kristie Bronner both achieved perfect 4.0 grade point averages while earning bachelor's degrees in music. Both their mother and grandmother are Spelman College alumnae.
Frances Henderson Is the First African American Woman Granted Tenure at Maryville College
She is the first African American woman to be granted tenure at the college in its 194-year history. Dr. Henderson has been teaching political science at the college for the past six years and she is now the only African American on the college's faculty.
The First African American Dean at Mississippi State University
Achille Messac was named dean of the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University. He has been serving as distinguished professor and chair of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Syracuse University in New York.
Entering Class at Colgate University To Be the Most Diverse in School History
The college states that 28.7 percent of incoming students identify themselves as multicultural and 28.1 percent say they are non-White. Eight percent of the incoming class self-identifies as Black, an all-time record for Colgate.
Morehouse School of Medicine Names Its Next President
Valerie Montgomery Rice was named the next president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She will take office upon the retirement of John E. Maupin Jr. on July 1, 2014. She has been serving as executive vice president and dean of the medical school.
The First African American Rector at the University of Virginia
Earlier this week George Keith Martin, a Richmond attorney, became the first African American rector of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia. Martin has served on the university's governing board since 2011.
Majority-Female Crew Refs Black College Football Game
For the first time in history, on October 24 a majority-female officiating crew took the field for an intercollegiate football game between Lane College and Miles College, two historically Black colleges.
The Higher Education of Mississippi’s First Black Female Federal Judge
Debra M. Brown, a graduate of the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University and the law school at the University of Mississippi, is the only attorney in the state that has a degree in architecture.
Jacquelyn Bridgeman to Lead the College of Law at the University of Wyoming
Professor Bridgeman is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School. She has served as associate dean of the University of Wyoming law school since 2010 and has been on the faculty since 2002.
African American Debaters Make History
Nadia Lewis and Jamila Ahmed, African American students at Fresno State University in California, placed first and second at the recent Henry Clay Invitational Debates held at the University of Kentucky.
Black Student Among the First Five Doctoral Degree Recipients at Georgia College & State...
Chioma Okereke is one of the five women in the first cohort of graduates of the university's doctor of nuring practice degree program. She has been hired to a nursing faculty position at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
Florida A&M University Names Its Next President
Elmira Mangum, vice president for planning and budget at Cornell University, has been chosen as the 11th president and first woman president of historically Black Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
African American Teenager Is the Youngest Qualified Barrister in British History
At the age of 18, Gabrielle Turnquest of Windemere, Florida, passed the Bar Professional Training Course to become a qualified barrister in England and Wales. She is now studying fashion industry management in Los Angeles.
Michael Drake Appointed President of Ohio State University
When he takes office in June, Dr. Drake will be the first African American to be president of Ohio State. Currently, Dr. Drake is chancellor of the University of California, Irvine.
Tufts University Dean Named President of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut
This July, Joanne Berger-Sweeney, currently dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University, will become the first woman and the first African American to serve as president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Black Women From Towson University Make Debating History
Ameena Ruffin and Korey Johnson of Towson University in Maryland are the first African American women's team to win the Cross Examination Debate Association's National Championship.
New Film Honors the First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. at Duke University
In 1967 Ida Stephens Owens received a Ph.D. in physiology from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She went on to conduct important research on drug biotransformation at the National Institutes of Health.
The First Graduate of Indiana University’s Ph.D. Program in African Diaspora Studies
Maria Eliza Hamilton Abegunde will be first student to be awarded a Ph.D. in African Diaspora studies at Indiana University. After receiving her degree, she will serve as a summer scholar at the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Howard University Graduate to Lead the American Bar Association
Paulette Brown, a graduate of Howard University and the Seton Hall University School of Law, will become president of the American Bar Association in August 2015. She will be the first African American woman to lead the ABA.
African American Man Elected Student Body President at Texas Woman’s University
Landon Dickerson is a junior from Houston who is following a pre-med track and majoring in biology. He was a student at historically Black Xavier University in New Orleans but transferred to Texas Woman's University in 2012.
African American Debate Team Makes History
Chris Randall and Elijah Smith, both rising seniors at Rutgers University-Newark, were ranked fifth in the nation for the 2013-14 debate season. This is the highest-ranked position ever obtained by a team of African American debaters.
Terrell Lamont Strayhorn: The Youngest Full Professor at Ohio State University
Dr. Strayhorn was promoted to full professor in the department of educational studies in the College of Education and Human Ecology at Ohio State University. The appointment makes him the youngest full professor at the university.
The First African American Dean of Dental Medicine at Case Western Reserve University
Dr. Kenneth B. Chance Sr. has been serving as a professor and chief of endodontics at the University of Kentucky. He is the former dean of the School of Dentistry at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.
The First African American Endowed Professor in the LSU School of Education
Roland Mitchell was named the Jo Ellen Levy Yates Endowed Professor at Louisiana State University. He was also named interim associate dean of engagement research and graduate studies in the College of Human Sciences and Education.
The First African American to Win a Major Award in Aviation Education
I. Richmond Nettey is the associate dean of the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability, and Technology at Kent State University in Ohio. He is being honored by the University Aviaton Association.
Yale Scholar Named to University’s First Endowed Chair in Poetry
Elizabeth Alexander, who was selected to write a poem and read it at President Obama's inauguration in 2009, has been a member of the faculty at Yale since 2000.
Pomona College’s Claudia Rankine Makes Literary History
Professor Claudia Rankine of Pomona College in Claremont, California, is the first author to have a work nominated as a finalist in two categories in the 39-year history the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
Alcorn State University Alumna Becomes the First Black Woman Orthodontist in Mississippi
Chandra Minor recently opened Smile Design Orthodontics with offices in three cities. The Alcorn State University graduate is the first African American woman to practice orthodontics in the state of Mississippi.
Emory University’s Natasha Trethewey Is Now a Columnist for The New York Times Magazine
Professor Trethewey, who served two terms as Poet Laureate of the United States, will select a poem for publication each week and write a short introduction to the work.
The First Black Woman Graduate of LSU’s School of Architecture to Become a Licensed...
Only 315 African American women have become licensed architects in the United States. Nicole Hilton is the first Black woman graduate of the School of Architecture at Louisiana State University to pass the Architect Registration Examination.
The New Dean of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at the University...
Aaron Dworkin is an internationally acclaimed violinist and serves as founder and president of the Sphinx Organization, a nonprofit organization based in Detroit that aims to increase diversity in the performing arts.
The Nation’s Top-Ranked University Debater Is an African American
Aaron Murphy, a senior at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, was named Speaker of the Year by the American Parliamentary Debate Association.
Rubin Jordan Is the First Recipient of a Fire Services Degree From Albany State...
Rubin Jordan, who has served as a firefighter for 23 years with the fire department in Albany, Georgia, is the first person to earn a bachelor of applied science in fire services administration degree from Albany State University.
Talmadge King Jr. to Lead the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
For the past nine years, Dr. King has been chair of the department of medicine at the university. He joined the faculty at the medical school in 1997 after teaching at the University of Colorado.
Four Black Men Earn Doctoral Degrees From One Department at Ohio State
Four Black men earned doctorates this spring in the College of Education and Human Ecology at Ohio State under the mentorship of Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, the youngest full professor in the university's history.
The First African American Dean at North Greenville University
H. Paul Thompson was named dean of the College of Humanities at North Greenville University in Tigerville, South Carolina. He is the first African American dean in the university's history.
