Tag: Columbia University
In Memoriam: Benjamin Franklin Payton, 1932-2016
Dr. Payton served as president of Tuskegee University in Alabama from 1981 to 2010. Earlier in his career, Dr. Payton was president of Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.
Three Black Academics Awarded MacArthur Foundation Fellowships
Of this year’s 23 MacArthur Fellows, four are African Americans and three have current ties to the academic world.
Two African American Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards
Rickey Laurentiis was selected as the winner of the 2016 Levis Reading Prize presented by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and Bridgette Peteet, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati, was honored by the American Psychological Foundation.
Angela Flournoy to Receive the 2016 Cabell First Novelist Award
The Cabell First Novelist Award is presented by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Flournoy has taught at the University of Iowa, The New School, and Columbia University.
Black Americans in the 2016 Class of Truman Scholars
This year, 54 Truman scholars were selected from 775 candidates nominated by 305 colleges and universities. Of this year’s 54 Truman Scholars, it appears that nine, or 16.7 percent, are Black Americans.
In Memoriam: James Bell, 1925-2016
After teaching at several HBCUs, James Bell joined the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona in 1968. Four years later, he was the first African American to be appointed a vice president in the California State University System.
Claude Steele Stepping Down From Provost Position at the University of California, Berkeley
Claude Steele was appointed executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California, Berkeley in 2014. He is stepping aside to deal with the health problems of his wife. He will remain at Berkeley as a professor of psychology.
Two African American Academics Win National Book Critic Circle Awards
This year, two of the six winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards are African Americans with current academic affiliations. They are Ross Gay who teaches in the creative writing program at Indiana University and Margo Jefferson who teaches at Columbia University and The New School.
Camille A. Nelson Named Dean of the Law School at American University
Professor Nelson was dean of the Suffolk University Law School in Boston from 2010 to 2015. Earlier, she taught at the law school of Saint Louis University. A native of Jamaica, Professor Nelson was the first Black woman to clerk for Canada's highest court.
New $48 Million Scholarship Program for African Americans in STEM Fields
The Fund II Foundation of Austin, Texas, led by Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, has teamed up with the United Negro College Fund to establish a $48 million scholarship program for African Americans in STEM fields.
Columbia University Makes David Dinkins Archive Available to Researchers
The archives includes 10 hours of oral history interviews with Professor Dinkins as well as speeches, fundraising letters, campaign materials, position papers, and correspondence. He was the first and only African American mayor of New York City.
Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw Honored by the American Bar Foundation
Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a professor of law at Columbia University and a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles, will receive the Outstanding Scholar Award from the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
New Faculty Appointments at Major Universities for Five Black Scholars
Taking on new roles are Debra J. Barksdale at Virginia Commonwealth University, Michael A. Nutter at Columbia University, Theaster Gates at the University of Chicago, Chris Swan at Tufts University, and Engda Hagos at Colgate University.
Study Finds Racial Gap in Salaries of Business School Graduates
The data showed that Black and White graduates of business schools earned similar salaries in their first jobs after graduating from business school. But six to eight years after leaving business schools a significant racial gap had opened up.
African American Finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are given out in six categories with five finalists in each category. Several of the finalists are African Americans who currently hold academic posts at American colleges and universities.
Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Research Universities
Slightly more than a decade ago in 2004, only two of the nation’s highest-ranked universities had incoming classes that were more than 10 percent Black. This year there are eight.
Two Black Women Named Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Maryland Baltimore County
Three women make up the third cohort of the Postdoctoral Fellows for Faculty Diversity at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Black women are two of this year's three fellows: Keisha McIntosh Allen in education and Nkiru Nnawulezi in psychology.
Two Major Research Universities Join the Creating Connections Consortium
The Creating Connections Consortium seeks to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who are hired to tenure-track faculty positions. The University of Chicago and the University of Michigan are the consortium's newest members.
In Memoriam: Walter Wallace, 1927-2015
Walter Wallace taught sociology at Princeton University for 30 years. At Princeton, Professor Wallace was the faculty adviser for the senior thesis of Michelle Robinson, who is now First Lady of the United States.
Prudence Carter Appointed Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Berkeley
Dr. Carter currently serves as the Jacks Family Professor of Education and the faculty director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University.
Vanderbilt Honors the Man Who Integrated Southeastern Conference Athletics
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, is establishing the Perry E. Wallace Scholarship to honor the first African American to play a varsity sport in the Southeastern Conference.
How Anti-Affirmative Action Admissions Laws Impact Campus Diversity Efforts
The authors found a reluctance by administrators who are charged with diversity missions at universities prohibited from using race in admissions decisions to deal specifically with race in their efforts to create a more welcoming campus.
Higher Mortality Rates for All Races in Communities With High Levels of Racial Prejudice
The data showed that communities with a higher level of anti-Black prejudice had a death rate for people of all races that averaged 24 percent higher than in communities with low levels of racial prejudice.
Jennifer Baszile Named Director of the Consortium on High Achievement and Success
Jennifer L. Baszile was named director of the nation's oldest and largest organization dedicated to the success of underrepresented students on liberal arts college campuses nationwide. She previously served on the faculty at the University of Connecticut and Yale University.
In Memoriam: Mary Lynn Jones Walker Huntley, 1946-2015
Lynn Walker Huntley served as president of the Southern Education Foundation from 2002 to 2010. Earlier she was an attorney for the Legal Defense Fund and a deputy assistant attorney general in the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Barnard College Scholar Co-Authors the Libretto for a New Opera
Yvette Christianse, a professor of English and Africana studies at Barnard College in New York City, is the co-author of the libretto for the opera Cities of Salt that debuted recently at the Royal Opera House in London.
Tracy Smith to Lead the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University
Professor Smith has taught creative writing at the university since 2005. Earlier, she taught at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University. In 2012, she won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Claudia Rankine to Join the Faculty at the University of Southern California
Claudia Rankine was appointed to the Aerol Arnold Chair of English in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Professor Rankin will begin teaching at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2016.
Two African American Men Appointed to New Faculty Positions
Desmond U. Patton was appointed an assistant professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Brandon Ofem was named an assistant professor in the College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Columbia University Acquires the Archives of Dancer Arthur Mitchell
Included in the collection are the administrative papers, grant proposals, financial records, teaching materials and other documents from the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Also included in the archive are some of Mitchell's personal papers and correspondence.
Book on the Racial Integration of College Basketball Wins the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award
The biography of Perry Wallace, who played basketball for Vanderbilt University from 1967 to 1970, is the first book dealing with sports to be honored in the 35-year history of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.
Xavier University of Louisiana Names Its Next President
Since 2012, C. Reynold Verret has served as provost and chief academic officer at Savannah State University in Georgia. On July 1, he will replace Norman C. Francis who has led Xavier University since 1968.
Gregory Pardlo Wins the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Gregory Pardlo, both an instructor and a student at Columbia University in New York City, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He is also completing work on his doctoral dissertation at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Six African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties in Higher Education
Taking on new roles are Leykia Brill at the University of Massachusetts, Deidre Labat at Xavier University, Christopher L. Brown at Columbia University, Undi Hoffler at North Carolina Central University, D'Andre Fisher at the University of Oklahoma, and Archie Griffin at Ohio State University.
Five Black Scholars Elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Through an analysis of the list of new fellows conducted by JBHE, it appears that eight of the new members of the AAAS are Black. Five of the eight have current ties to the academic world.
Sjohnna McCray Wins the 2015 Walt Whitman Award
The adjunct instructor in the department of English at Savannah State University in Georgia is being honored by the Academy of American Poets.
