Milestones

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.

African American Makes History as the First Woman Leprechaun Mascot at Notre Dame

Wukie is a junior majoring in film, television and theatre at Notre Dame. She and Samuel Jackson will be the second and third African Americans to serve as Leprechaun mascots. The first, Mike Brown, is a 2001 graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

The First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics at Florida State University

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Kalisa Villafana decided at the age of 12 that she would be a physicist.

University of Glasgow Agrees to Pay £20 Million in Reparations to the University of the West Indies

The sum of £20 million was the amount paid to slave owners as reparations by the British government when it abolished slavery in 1834. 

Wanda Brown Takes Over as President of the American Library Association

Brown, the director of library services at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, is the first president of the American Library Association who is currently a librarian at a historically Black university. She is the sixth African American to hold the presidency of the ALA.

LaToya Webb is the First Black Woman Invited to the U.S. Army Band Conductors Workshop

LaToya Webb, a graduate teaching assistant in the department of music in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University in Alabama, has been selected to attend the U.S. Army Band Conductors Workshop this summer. Her selection makes her the first African American woman to be chosen for this prestigious event.

Kenesha Starling is the First African American Editor-in-Chief of the South Texas Law Review

Starling, the first Black editor-in-chief in of the law review in the 96-year history of the law school, is currently completing her final year of law school at South Texas. During her time in law school, she has had to balance a full-time job at a federal agency, her educational pursuits, and motherhood.

The First African American President of Everett Community College in Washington State

Dr. Willis has been serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York. Earlier in her career, Dr. Willis was an assistant professor of history, faculty senate president, department chair, and dean of academic studies at Lee College in Baytown, Texas.

The First African American Student Body President in the 318-Year History of Yale University

Recently Kahlil Greene was elected president of the Yale College Council. Greene is a rising junior and an economics major. He spent the summer of 2018 at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

A Milestone Achievement for Marsha Jean-Charles at Cornell University

In 2013, Cornell University initiated a doctoral degree program in Africana studies. Last month, Marsha Jean-Charles was the first person to earn a Ph.D. in the field at the university.

Liselle Joseph’s Milestone Achievement at Virginia Tech

Liselle Joseph was awarded a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. She is the first woman from an Eastern Caribbean nation to earn a Ph.D. in the field.

The First Black Master of a College at the University of Cambridge in England

Sonita Alleyne was recently appointed as master of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge in England. The title of master is the equivalent of dean in the United States. Alleyne will be the first woman and the first Black person to lead the college, which was established in 1496.

The First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Michigan

With a background in chemistry, Dr. Sivels had not taken basic physic courses in high school or as an undergraduate at MIT. As a result, she he was not as well prepared for a graduate level program in nuclear engineering in comparison to her peers.

Olivette Otele Becomes First Black Woman History Professor in the United Kingdom

Olivette Otele has become the first Black woman history professor in the United Kingdom. She has been named a professor of history at Bath Spa University where she will lead history courses at the university's Newton Park on Duchy of Cornwall campus.
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