The Twelfth Chancellor of North Carolina Central University in Durham

Johnson O. Akinleye has served as interim chancellor since January. He was appointed provost at the university in 2014. Earlier, Dr. Akinleye was associate vice chancellor for academic programs at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Harold Martin Jr. to Lead Morehouse College in Atlanta

Martin has been a member of the board of trustees of Morehouse College since 2014. He is a former associate partner at McKinsey and Company, a leading management consulting company. Most recently, Martin has built a private consulting practice and an investment firm in Atlanta.

The New Dean of the College of Social Work at the University of Utah

For the past five years, Dr. Martell Teasley has been chair of the department of social work in the College of Public Policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This past February, Dr. Teasley was elected president of the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work.

Ruth Simmons Appointed Interim President of Prairie View A&M University

Ruth Simmons, who served as the 18th president of Brown University, the Ivy League educational institution in Providence, Rhode Island, from 2001 to 2012, has been named the interim president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas.

Jerryl Briggs Named Acting President of Mississippi Valley State University

Dr. Briggs has been serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Mississippi Valley State University. Earlier, Dr. Briggs was vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

President of Two Campuses of the University of Pittsburgh to Retire in 2018

Livingston Alexander, president of the University of Pittsburgh campuses at Bradford and Titusville, announced that he will step down on June 30, 2018. He has been president of the Bradford campus for 14 years and added the Titusville campus to his duties in 2012.

Princeton’s Tracy K. Smith Named the Next Poet Laureate of the United States

Tracy Smith is the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University, and director of the university’s Program in Creative Writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts. She joined the faculty at Princeton in 2005.

Tony Allen Named Provost at Delaware State University

Dr. Allen has been serving as head of the corporate reputation group for Bank of America. He is a former speechwriter and assistant to Joe Biden and was the founding president of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League.

Ira Kincade Blake Selected as the Next President of the University of Houston-Clear Lake

Since 2009, Dr. Blake has been serving as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. When she takes office on August 1, she will become the first woman to serve as president of the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Prairie View A&M University President Is Stepping Down

George C. Wright, the seventh president of historically Black Prairie View A&M University in Texas, announced that he will step down as soon as an interim replacement is named. Dr. Wright, who became president of the university in 2003, will remain at the university as a professor of history.

Ophelia Weeks Appointed President of the University of Liberia in Africa

Ophelia Weeks, who served for more than 30 years on the faculty at Florida International University in Miami, was appointed the fourteenth president of the University of Liberia in Africa. Her father was the third president of the University of Liberia.

The Large Racial Wealth Gap Can Hinder Black Families’ Ability to Pay for Higher...

New Census Bureau data show that the median net worth of non-Hispanic White households was $132,463 in 2013. For Black households, the median net worth was $9,211. Thus, the median net worth of White households was more than 14 times the median net worth of Black households.

A Shortage of African American Men in the Medical Profession

Today, African American men make up just 2.8 percent of all medical school applicants. Of all African American medical school applicants, men make up only 38 percent of the total.

In Memoriam: William J. Taggart, 1961-2017

In April 2017, the board of trustees at Morehouse College in Atlanta installed William Taggart as interim president. Taggart had been serving as chief operating officer at the college since 2015.

Tonjua Williams Will Be the First African American President of St. Petersburg College

Dr. Williams has been on the staff at the college for 30 years. Since 2013, she has served as senior vice president of student services. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Barry University in Miami.

Leadership Change at Tuskegee University

Since its founding in 1861, Tuskegee University in Alabama has had only seven presidents. But it's latest leader has lasted only three years. Brian L. Johnson's contract was not renewed and Charlotte P. Morris was named interim president.

The First African American President of Oberlin College in Ohio

Since 2008, Dr. Ambar has been serving as president of Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is widely regarded as having done a remarkable job leading the woman's college. Earlier in her career, she was the youngest dean in the history of Rutgers University.

Aaron A. Walton to Lead Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

Walton is the former senior vice president of Highmark Inc. the large health insurance firm based in Pittsburgh. He is also a member of the council of trustees of California University of Pennsylvania.

Tracey Hucks Appointed Provost at Colgate University

Dr. Hucks has been serving as the James D. Vail III Professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. Earlier in her career, Professor Hucks spent more than 15 years on the faculty at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.

Leo E. Morton to Step Down as Chancellor of the University of Missouri-Kansas City

Morton has led the university since December 2008. At that time, he was chair of the university's board of trustees and agreed to lead the university as interim chancellor until a new leader could be found. But a few months later, the board asked him to take the job on a permanent basis.

The Next Dean of Students at Westminster College in Pennsylvania

Carllos Lassiter has been serving as vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Rust College, a historically Black educational institution in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He will begin his new duties at Westminster College in July.

State Board Names Its Preferred Candidate for President of Jackson State University

The board of trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning in Mississippi announced that it has selected William B. Bynum, current president of Mississippi Valley State University, as the "preferred candidate" to be the next president of Jackson State University.

Murder of Black Student Prompts University of Maryland to Take Action

Richard Wilbur Collins III, a 23-year-old Black man who had just been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army was stabbed to death on May 20 as he was waiting for an Uber driver at the University of Maryland College Park.

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania Names Brenda Allen as its Fourteenth President

Dr. Allen has been serving as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. She is the former associate provost for institutional diversity at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

James E. Lyons to Lead Concordia College in Selma, Alabama

The board of regents of Concordia College in Selma, Alabama, has named James E. Lyons as chief transition officer. In effect, Dr. Lyons will serve as interim president of the historically Black educational institution for the next six months.

The New Miss USA Is an African American Nuclear Scientist

Kara McCullough earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry with a concentration in radiochemistry from South Carolina State University. This allowed her to get a job in the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C.

Former Assistant Attorney General Named to Lead the John Jay College of Criminal Justice

When she takes office on August 1, Karol V. Mason will be the first woman and the first person of color to serve as president of the college. She served as an assistant attorney general during the Obama administration and was the director of the Office of Justice Programs.

The Next Dean of the College of Education at the University of Rhode Island

R. Anthony Rolle has been serving since 2014 as a professor and chair of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Houston. Earlier, he taught at Texas A&M University and the University of South Florida.

Ty Stone Appointed the Sixth President of Jefferson Community College in Watertown, New York

Dr. Ty Stone has been serving as vice president for strategic initiatives as Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, the third largest community college in the state. She has been on the staff at the college since 2010.

Aminta Breaux Will Be the Next President of Bowie State University in Maryland

For the past three years, Aminta Hawkins Breaux has served as vice president for advancement at Millersville University, a campus of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. She was vice president for student affairs at Millersville University from 2008 to 2014.

The Next Provost at Emory University in Atlanta

Dr. Dwight McBride is the Daniel Hale Williams Professor of African American studies, English, and Performance Studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. There, he also serves as dean of the Graduate School and associate provost for graduate education.

African Americans Named President at Two Community Colleges in New York

Michael A. Baston was appointed president of Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, and Orinthia T. Montague was appointed the fourth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden, New York. Both new presidents will take office in July.

Felicia Davis to Lead Olive-Harvey College in Chicago

Davis is a former Chicago police detective and served as deputy chief of staff to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She has been serving as director of the Public Building Commission for the City of Chicago.

Cynthia Warrick Named the Seventh President of Stillman College in Alabama

Dr. Warrick has been serving as interim president since the beginning of the year. In recent years, Dr. Warrick has twice filled the role of interim president at historically Black universities; South Carolina State University and Grambling State University in Louisiana.

University of Houston Has a New Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and...

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Tillis was the dean of the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Earlier, he served as Distinguished International Visiting Scholar at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.

Wendell Pritchett Appointed Provost at the University of Pennsylvania

Wendell Pritchett currently serves as the Presidential Professor of Law and Education at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He served as interim dean of the law school during the 2014-15 academic year and is the former chancellor of the Camden campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey.

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