Milestones

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 States

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, Wisconsin

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 Rochester

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.
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