Tagged: Georgia State University

The Data Mining and Mapping Antebellum Georgia project, led by Elizabeth West, the John B. and Elena Diaz-Verson Amos Distinguished Chair in English Letters at Georgia State University, aims to create an online, public database of the names and locations of thousands of enslaved people across the state of Georgia.

Prior to joining the Georgia State University faculty in 2020, Dr. Johnson spent several years as a law enforcement officer in Memphis, Tennessee. For his expertise in racially disparate justice outcomes, the Western Society of Criminology has presented him with the 2025 W.E.B. Du Bois Award.

The appointments are Joyelle Harris at Georgia State University, Candace Jones at Long Beach Community College in California, Christopher Ackerman at George Mason University in Virginia, and JL Porter at Denmark Technical College in South Carolina.

Monic Ductan was honored for her first book, Daughters of Muscadine: Stories. She currently teaches creative writing and literature at Tennessee Tech University.

The appointments are Charles Bell at Illinois State University, Danielle Wood at MIT, Robert Gooding-Williams at Yale, and Maurice Dawson Jr. at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Dr. Drake brings over 40 years of experience to his new role, having held leadership positions in both higher education and private sectors. He recently served as interim president of historically Black Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Qiana Cutts Givens of Mississippi State University has received an award from the Lillian E. Smith Center at Piedmont University in Georgia providing her the opportunity to work on her manuscript focused on the creative artistry of rural Black girls.

Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new faculty positions at universities throughout the United States. If you have news for our appointments section, please email the information to contact@jbhe.com.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve at Clayton State in this interim capacity, and I hope that my contributions will aid in the success of its students, faculty and staff," said Dr. Fountain, currently the associate provost for faculty affairs at Georgia State University.

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

The Association of University Programs for Health Administration has honored Kimberly Enard, associate professor at Saint Louis University, with the 2024 John D. Thompson Prize, making her the first African-American to receive the award.

Dr. Fedrick has been president of historically Black Albany State University since 2018. She will step down from her role on July 1 to serve as executive vice president and chief of staff to the president at Georgia State University.

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.

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

The department of Africana studies at Georgia State University has announced the establishment of the Jacqueline Rouse-Doris Derby Africana Studies Fellowship program. The program honors two women who played a significant role in the development of the Africana studies program at the university.

Natalie King, an associate professor of science education at Georgia State University, and Asegun Henry is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will each receive a grant of $1,000,000 over a five-year period for scientific research or advanced study in science and engineering disciplines.

In 2020, Black adults were imprisoned at 4.9 times the rate of White adults, down from 8.2 times in 2000. Much of the decline was due to a reduction in prison time for drug-related offenses. However, in 2020, Black individuals comprised approximately 13 percent of U.S. residents but accounted for 56 percent of homicide victims and 39 percent of those arrested for homicide.