Virginia State University to Be the First HBCU to Host a 2024 Presidential Debate
Virginia State University is the first historically Black college or university ever selected to host a general election U.S. Presidential Debate. The debate, scheduled for October 1, 2024, is the second of three scheduled general election presidential debates. The debate will take place in the university's Multipurpose Center.
Deborah Dyett Desir Is the New President of the American College of Rheumatology
Dr. Desir has more than three decades of experience in clinical medicine. In 1993, she started a rheumatology private practice in Hamden, Connecticut. In 2019, Dr. Desir joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty.
Marcus L. Thompson Named the Thirteenth President of Jackson State University
Dr. Thompson has more than 20 years of leadership experience in early childhood, K-12 education, and higher education. He has been serving as the deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, where for over a decade he has been responsible for overseeing IHL staff.
The New Dean of Architecture and Engineering Technology at Florida A&M University
Andrew Chin is a tenured associate professor who has 32 years of experience in higher education. He has held several leadership roles within the school, including interim dean, associate dean, assistant dean, and program director for graduate and professional programs.
Darrin Martin Is the New Leader of Bluefield State University in West Virginia
Dr. Martin is a third-generation graduate of Bluefield State as both his mother and grandmother are alumnae. He has been serving as an associate professor of education, dean of academic support, and, director of graduate education studies.
The Next Leader of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M...
Dr. Emma Savage-Davis has been serving as dean for the College of Education, Leadership Studies and Counseling at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia. She will begin her new duties on January 1.
Cynthia Nance Once Again Named Dean of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School...
Professor Nance first joined the University of Arkansas School of Law faculty in 1994 as an assistant professor and served as the dean from 2006 to 2011. She then returned to the classroom as the Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law in 2012.
College of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University Has Named Tonya Peeples as Dean
Dr. Peeples joined Penn State in 2018 as a professor of chemical engineering and as the inaugural associate dean for equity and inclusion in the College of Engineering. Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Peeples was a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the College of Engineering of the University of Iowa.
Amid Accreditation Crisis, a Change in Leadership at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North...
Two days after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges voted to strip historically Black St. Augustine's University of its accreditation, president Christine McPhail was fired.
Two African Americans Who Have Been Appointed Deans at Historically Black Universities
Janet A. Guyden was appointed the interim dean of the Graduate School at Bowie State University in Maryland and Kareem Jordan has been named dean of the College of Juvenile Justice at Prairie View A&M University, effective June 1, 2024.
Adiam Tsegai Is the New President of Erie Community College in Buffalo
Dr. Tsegai previously served as the college’s Officer-in-Charge since 2022 and provost and vice president for academic affairs, a position she was appointed to in mid-2021. She joined SUNY Erie as the dean of engineering and technologies in 2018.
The New Leader of the University of Tennessee at Martin
Dr. Freeman has served at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for the past 25 years in various admissions, recruitment, and enrollment roles.
Marcus H. Burgess Is the New Leader of Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh
Dr. Burgess most recently served as vice president for institutional advancement at Claflin University In South Carolina. Before his return to Claflin in 2019, Dr. Burgess served several institutions in a leadership capacity, including York Technical College in Rockhill, South Carolina, Florida Memorial University, and Voorhees University in South Carolina.
Conrad Tucker Has Been Named Director of Carnegie Mellon University in Africa
Dr. Tucker is currently serving as interim director of the Kigali, Rwanda College of Engineering location. He is also a professor of mechanical engineering and holds courtesy faculty appointments in machine learning, robotics, and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
The New Provost at Clayton State University in Georgia
Dr. McLeod also holds the rank of full professor in the university’s department of psychology. She joined Clayton State following her role as vice president of economic and academic development at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
The First Black Dean of Loyola Law School in California
Brietta Clark is the new Fritz B. Burns Dean of Loyola Marymount University Law School in California. Clark, who is the nineteenth dean of the law school, is the first woman to hold the position and also the first Black dean in the law school's history.
Bertis English Is the New Editor of Journal of African American History
The Journal of African American History, formerly the Journal of Negro History, was established by Carter G. Woodson in 1916 and is an official publication of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
Roger Fairfax Will Be the Next Dean of the Howard University School of Law
Fairfax currently serves as dean of the American University Washington College of Law. Earlier he was senior associate dean for academic affairs, Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law, and founding director of the Criminal Law & Policy Initiative at George Washington University Law School.
Monique Guillory Will Be the Next Provost at Dillard University in New Orleans
Most recently, Dr. Guillory has been chief of staff and senior vice president for the University of the District of Columbia. She previously worked at Morehouse School of Medicine as the chief of staff and chief administrative officer for the Office of the President and Dean.
Claudia V. Schrader Is the New Leader of York College of the City University...
A longtime member of the CUNY family, Dr. Schrader has served as president of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn New York, since September 2018. She has held leadership roles in three CUNY schools and has worked for more than 20 years in the system.
Barbara J. Johnson Will Be the Next Dean of Perimeter College at Georgia State...
Dr. Johnson currently serves as executive vice president and provost at Talladega College in Alabama, where she oversees the college’s academic affairs, including the institution’s academic mission, teaching, research, and service. Prior to joining Talladega College in 2022, Dr. Johnson served as vice president for academic affairs and professor of student services administration at Arkansas Tech University.
Claudine Gay Resigns as President of Harvard University
Dr. Gay had served as president of Harvard University for only six months. She was the first African American and the second woman to lead Harvard in its nearly 400-year history.
Racquel Oden Is the First Woman Board Chair of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund
Racquel Oden, is the head of the U.S, for HSBC Bank, a London-based financial giant. Oden leads the wealth and personal banking division which includes the private bank, wealth management, and the retail business for all the United States.
Connie Walton Is the New Leader of Grambling State University in Louisiana
Dr. Walton has been serving as the institution’s provost and vice president for academic affairs and has worked at Grambling for over 30 years. Dr. Walton has been a professor of chemistry at the university. Her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of molecules that exhibit liquid crystalline behavior and polymer synthesis. She holds two U.S. patents.
Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed Deans
Daryl D. Green is the new dean of the School of Business at Langston University in Oklahoma. Shalei Simms has been named dean of the School of Business at the State University of New York at Old Westbury and Jelani Jefferson Exum has been appointed the next dean of St. Johns University School of Law in Queens, New York.
Cecil Howard Takes on New Role at the Florida A&M University College of Law
Cecil Howard is the new associate provost for academic programs at the Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando. He will play a key role in the strategic planning, management, and oversight of diverse academic initiatives for the college.
Lilly Endowment Offers $100 Million to Boost Endowments of Private HBCUs
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has announced that is has received $100 million from the Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis that will be used to bolster the endowment for the 37 historically Black colleges and universities that form UNCF's membership, with the goal of boosting the schools' long-term financial stability.
North Carolina Central University Chancellor to Step Down in June
Dr. Johnson Akinleye joined NCCU as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs in February 2014, then assumed the role of acting chancellor in August 2016 and interim chancellor in December 2016, before his appointment as chancellor in 2017.
Emory University’s Jericho Brown Appointed Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets
Dr. Brown joined the faculty at Emory University in 2012. He currently is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in the poetry category, and the American Book Award for poetry.
Loyola University of Maryland Publishes Report on Its Ties to Slavery
Over the past two decades, many of the nation's leading university's have issued reports on their historical ties to slavery. Now, Loyola University of Maryland in Baltimore has issued its findings.
The First Black Women to Serve as President of the American Historical Association
Thavolia Glymph is the Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History and professor of law at Duke University. She is the past president of the Southern Historical Association.
Alicia Fontnette Appointed Executive Director of the National Council for Black Studies
The National Council for Black Studies has selected Alicia Fontnette as the organization's executive director. Dr. Fontnette is an assistant professor in the department of African studies at the University of Delaware, which will serve as the council's new headquarters.
Roscoe Jones Jr. Becomes First-Ever Black Dean at Drake University
Roscoe Jones Jr. has been appointed dean of the Drake University Law School, making him the first-ever Black dean across all schools at Drake University. Jones currently serves as a practicing attorney in Washington D.C., and as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law school.
Rhea Ballard-Thrower Named President-Elect of the Association of Research Libraries
Rhea Ballard-Thrower, Dean of Libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago, has been named vice president of the Association of Research Libraries. As vice president, Ballard-Thrower also serves as president-elect, and will be elevated to president of the organization in 2025.
University of California San Francisco Names Nicholas Holmes President of Benioff Children’s Hospital
Dr. Nicholas Holmes has been appointed president of the Benioff Children's Hospital at the University of California San Francisco. He comes to the university from Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego were he serves as senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Keith Elder Appointed President of Saint Xavier University
"I am honored to serve as the next president of Saint Xavier University and look forward to working with this remarkable student-centered, mission-focused community," said Dr. Elder, currently the executive vice president at Mississippi College.
