Robin Carter Appointed Dean at Sacramento State University in California
Dr. Carter joined the faculty at Sacramento State in the late 1980s as a professor of social work. She also served as director of the graduate program, project manager of a child welfare-training grant, and associate dean of the college.
Thomas Stith III Named President of the North Carolina Community College System
Stith has been serving as district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Earlier, Stith served as chief of staff to former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory from 2013 to 2017 and was a three-term city council member in Durham from 1999 to 2007.
Vernell Bennett-Fairs Named the Thirteenth President of LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis
Since 2016, Dr. Bennett-Fairs has been serving as vice president for student affairs at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. Earlier, she was vice president for student affairs at Kentucky State University.
The Next Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Alabama
Dr. Schnavia Smith Hatcher has been serving as director of the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Earlier, Dr. Hatcher was the founding director of the Center for African American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2012 to 2016.
Johnny Moore Appointed Chancellor of Arkansas State University-Newport
Dr. Moore returns home to Arkansas after spending the last four years as president of Pierpont Community & Technical College in Fairmont, West Virginia. A native of Old Washington, Arkansas, he was president and CEO of Philander Smith College in Little Rock from 2012 to 2014.
Christmas Comes Early for a Large Groups of HBCUs
MacKenzie Scott, a novelist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has announced donations of nearly $4.2 billion to 384 organizations. Among those receiving funds are at least 17 historically Black colleges and universities. Prairie View A& M University received the largest donation of $50 million.
Hampton University President William R. Harvey to Step Down in 2022
During President Harvey's 43-year tenure, he has presided over immense change on campus including the initiation of 92 new academic degrees, erecting 29 new buildings, and increasing the endowment from $29 million to over $300 million.
The New Dean of the Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Debora Jackson has been serving as the director of operations for All Girls Allowed, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on educating and empowering women and girls and engaging partners to realize global impact.
L. Song Richardson Will Be the Next President of Colorado College
Richardson, who is of African American and Korean descent, currently is the dean and chancellor’s professor of law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. When she was appointed to that post in January 2018, she was the only woman of color to lead a top-30 law school.
Gregory Fowler Has Been Named President of University of Maryland Global Campus
Dr. Fowler has spent nearly nine years at Southern New Hampshire University, where he served in a dual role as chief academic officer and vice president for academic affairs. He was promoted to president of the university's Global Campus in September 2018.
The Next Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University...
Most recently Dr. Noma Anderson was dean of the College of Health Professions at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Earlier, she was dean of the School of Health Sciences at Florida International University in Miami.
The New Chancellor of the Anderson Campus of Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana
Before being named interim chancellor of the Anderson campus this past summer, Dr. Anderson was vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Muncie campus of Ivy Tech. She has been with Ivy Tech for more than 12 years.
The First Woman to Be Named Dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio...
Dr. Howard is currently chair of the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Earlier in her career, she developed robotic devices for space exploration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Two African American Women Who Have Been Appointed to Endowed Professorships
Robin R. Means Coleman was named the inaugural Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand Barnett Professor in the School of Communication at Northwestern University and Whitney Pirtle was named to a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chair at the University of California, Merced.
The First African American Leader of the Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute was founded in 1839 and trained many of the officers of the Confederate Army. Today, African Americans are 6 percent of the student body, according to the latest data reported to the U.S. Department of Education. Now Retired Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins will serve as interim superintendent at VMI.
Marsha Gable Selected as the New Leader of Grossmont College in El Cajon, California
Dr. Gable has been serving for the past five years as vice president of student services at Grossmont College. She served for eight months in 2019 and 2020 as interim president of San Diego Miramar College. Earlier, Dr. Gable was dean of counseling services and admissions and records at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego, California.
Soyica Colbert Appointed to Dean Position at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Professor Colbert joined the Georgetown faculty in 2013. She is the Idol Family Professor of the College of Arts and Sciences and has been serving as vice dean of the faculty. Professor Colbert will now serve as interim dean of Georgetown College.
Thomas Hudson Appointed the Twelfth President of Jackson State University In Mississippi
Thomas Hudson has been serving in the post on an interim basis since February. Before being named acting president in February, Hudson had been serving as special assistant to the president and chief diversity officer at the university.
Lena Hill Will Be the Next Provost at Washington and Lee University in Lexington,...
Dr. Hill currently serves as dean of the College and professor of English and Africana studies at the university. Prior to joining Washington and Lee, Hill was associate vice president and interim chief diversity officer at the University of Iowa, where she was an associate professor of English and African American studies.
West Liberty University in West Virginia Names Its First Black President in Its 183-Year...
For the past four years, W. Franklin Evans has been president of Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. He is the former provost and chief academic officer at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, where he also served as interim president.
Three Black Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans at State Universities
Doneka Scott will be the next dean of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs at North Carolina State University. Rhea Ballard-Thrower will become dean of libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago and Camellia Okpodu was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming.
Nathaniel Jones Appointed President of the College of Alameda in California
Dr. Jones has been serving as vice president for business services at Moreno Valley College of the Riverside Community College District in California. Earlier in his career, Dr. Jones held administrative and faculty positions at the University of California, Riverside; Pepperdine University; Dartmouth College; Northern Arizona University; and the University of Maryland.
Liberal Arts Colleges Form an Alliance to Address Racial Justice Issues
The presidents of six liberal arts colleges are leading a new consortium called the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance. The presidents of 45 other institutions have joined the alliance. They will collaborate with the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Southern California.
The New Director of African and African American Studies at the University of Arkansas
Caree A. Banton is an associate professor of African diaspora history, who is jointly appointed in the department of history and the African American studies program. She teaches classes in Afro-Caribbean history, African diaspora history, and race. She joined the faculty at the university in 2013.
Timothy Sams Will Be the Next President of SUNY Old Westbury
Dr. Sams currently serves as vice president of student affairs at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sams was senior vice president for student development at Morehouse College in Atlanta and vice president for student life at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
The Dawn of a New Day for Historically Black Paine College in Augusta, Georgia
After nearly a decade-long battle to hold on to its accreditation, the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools has advanced Paine College from candidate status to accreditation status. TRACS is recognized by the United States Department of Education as a national accrediting agency.
Francine Conway Is the New Provost at Rutgers University in New Jersey
A native of Guyana, Dr. Conway had been serving as dean of the Graduate School of Applied Psychology. She was the first Black scholar to hold that position. Dr. Conway joined the faculty at Rutgers in 2016 after teaching for 13 years at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.
California Voters Refuse to Reinstate Affirmative Action Admissions at State Universities
In 1996, voters in California passed Proposition 209 which banned the consideration of race in admissions decisions at California’s state-operated colleges and universities. By a considerable margin, voters in California this year rejected a proposal to allow state universities to once again consider race in their admissions decisions.
President of Tuskegee University in Alabama Takes Her Second Medical Leave This Year
In January of this year, Lily McNair, president of Tuskegee University in Alabama asked for and was granted a medical leave of absence from her duties. She returned to work in May. Now, the university announced that Dr. McNair is taking a six-month medical leave.
Chris Graham Elected President of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors
Graham was appointed assistant director of Greek life at Florida State in 2014. He was promoted to director of sorority and fraternity life in 2016. Graham is the first Black man and the youngest person ever elected president of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors.
Northwestern University’s Carol D. Lee Selected to Lead the National Academy of Education
Dr. Lee served as Edwina S. Tarry Professor of Education and Social Policy and as a professor of African American studies at Northwestern University. She became professor emerita in 2019. Professor Lee will serve a four-year term as president of the National Academy of Education beginning in November 2021.
Theresa B. Felder Selected as the Tenth President of Harford Community College in Maryland
Dr. Felder comes to Harford Community College from Clark State Community College in Springfield, Ohio, where she most recently served as the senior vice president for student success. Prior to this position, she was the vice president of student affairs and administrative dean for Clark State’s largest branch campus.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Names Its Next Chancellor
Dr. Thomas Gibson has been serving since 2016 as vice president for student affairs and vice provost at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Previously, he was associate vice president of student affairs at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Dr. Gibson will take on new duties in January.
Saint Augustine’s University President Succumbs to the COVID-19 Virus
Irving Pressley McPhail, the twelfth president of Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina, died on October 14 from complications relating to the COVID-19 virus. He had taken office as president of the university in July of this year. Maria A. Lumpkin was named interim president.
New York University Adds a Major Black Scholar to its Faculty
Claudia Rankine, an award-winning poet and past recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Award,” will join the faculty at New York University as a professor of creative writing. She will begin her tenure at NYU in the summer of 2021. Professor Rankine is currently the Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University
Three African American Scholars Appointed to Dean Positions at Southern Universities
Sharon E. Williams was appointed interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Brandon Common was named dean of students at Louisiana State University and Nichole Lewis is the new dean of students at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina.
