Tag: Harvard University
Black Authors Named Finalists for National Book Critics Circle Awards
Included among the 30 finalists are Jesmyn Ward an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama. Hilton Als and Chimanmanda Ngozi Adichie, who have both taught at U.S. universities, are also finalists.
Herbie Hancock Named the 2014 Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University
As the Norton Professor, Hancock will give a series of six lectures entitled "The Ethics of Jazz" during the spring semester. Among the previous holders of the post are T.S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky, and Leonard Bernstein.
Early Admission of African Americans to Leading Colleges and Universities
Several of the nation’s highest ranked colleges and universities have reported data on students they have accepted under early decision or early action admissions plans. Some have provided data broken down by race.
Phyllis Curtis-Tweed Takes on New Assignment in Bermuda
The Harvard-educated woman who is currently a dean at Oakland Community College in Michigan, will become the seventh principal of The Berkeley Institute, a highly selective preparatory school in Bermuda.
Harlem Charter School Gets Results
A paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that students in a Harlem charter school performed better academically and had fewer societal problems than their peers who attended regular public schools.
In Memoriam: Mitchell Wright Spellman, 1919-2013
Dr. Spellman served on the faculty at the medical schools of Howard University, Charles R. Drew University, the University of Southern California, UCLA, and from 1978 to 2004 at Harvard Medical School.
African American Entrepreneur Creates New Fellowships at Harvard
Sheila C. Johnson, the CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, has pledged to donate $5 million over five years to create fellowships for students who are dedicated to improving the lives of African Americans.
Two Black Men Named to High-Level Diversity Officer Positions
Reg Chhen Stewart was promoted to chief diversity officer at the University of Nevada at Reno and Norm J. Jones, formerly dean of institutional diversity at Dickinson College, was appointed associate chief diversity officer at Harvard University.
Higher Education Grants of Interest to African Americans
Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Making Racial Health Disparities an Issue of Social Justice
The Social Equity Leadership Mobilization Alliance is a consortium established to mobilize the next generation of leaders in the public health field. Harvard, Brown, and Morehouse are members of the alliance.
Gender Differences in Acceptance of Black Students at Predominantly White High Schools
The research found that stereotypes about African American boys' prowess in sports and their general perception as being "cool or street smart," helps them cope in social situations better than African American girls.
How Racial Bias Affects the Perception of Fairness in Economic Decisions
In an ultimatum game, participants were more likely to regard low financial offers from Black proposers as unfair and were thus more willing to "punish" the Black proposer by leaving them with no money.
Harvard Study Finds Different Neural Activity When Subjects View Black and White Faces
Researchers in the department of psychology at Harvard University have found a region of the brain where neural patterns changed when test subjects viewed either a Black or White face.
University of South Carolina Creates Exhibit to Honor Its First Black Faculty Member
The University of South Carolina has recently acquired and placed on displayed the law school diploma of Richard Theodore Greener its first Black faculty member who taught philosophy, Greek, and Latin during the Reconstruction period.
Winthrop University Scholar Discovers the Identity of an Early Black Woman Novelist
Gregg Hecimovich, chair of the English department at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has discovered new evidence on the identity of the author who is believe to have written the earliest novel by an African American woman.
Major Gift Endows a New Center for Black Studies at Harvard
Henry Louis Gates Jr., who has led the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for more than 20 years, was named the founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.
Harvard Study Finds African Americans Sleep Less Than Whites
A new study led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health finds that African Americans tend to sleep less than White Americans. The racial differences in sleep duration are particularly pronounced among professionals.
Harvard-Trained Doctor Named to Head United Nations Effort on HIV/AIDS in Africa
Dr. Speciosa Wandira-Kasibwe is a senior adviser to the president of Uganda on population and health. From 1993 to 2004, she served as vice president of Uganda, the first woman in Africa to hold such a position.
Bridget Terry Long Named Academic Dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
Dr. Long joined the faculty at the school in 2000 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 2009. Her research deals with the transition from high school to college focusing on college access, financial aid, and academic preparation.
13 Blacks Receive Honorary Degrees From Ivy League Schools
The eight Ivy League universities gave out 52 honorary degrees this commencement season. Of the 52 honorary degrees awarded this year at Ivy League schools, 13, or 25 percent, went to Blacks.
First African American Dean of Harvard College to Step Down
Evelynn Hammonds, the first woman and first African American to serve as dean of Harvard College, has announced that she will step from her post on June 30. She will take a sabbatical and then return to the university to head up a new program on the Study of Race and Gender in Science and Medicine.
Three African American Women Scholars Named AAAS Fellows
The Black women with ties to the academic world who recently were named as fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are Paula Hammond of MIT, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot of Harvard University, and Natasha Threthewey of Emory University.
Researchers Find That Lack of Exercise Is Not a Major Contributor to the Racial Health Gap
The study examined the daily routines of more than 80,000 people and found that both Whites and Blacks spent at least 60 percent of their waking day in sedentary activities.
Soledad O’Brien Named Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Harvard for the 2013-14 Academic Year
Emmy Award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien was named a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she will explore a wide variety of topics related to public education in America.
Blacks Make Up 11.5 Percent of Admitted Students at Harvard University
Harvard chooses not to disclose how many Black students submitted applications for admission. But it does release data on admitted students. This year, 11.5 percent of all admitted students are African Americans.
Instilling Racial Pride Can Help Black Students Do Better in School
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University finds that African American adolescents do better in school if their parents instill in them a strong sense of racial pride.
Harvard Student From Zimbabwe Named an International Rhodes Scholar
Dalumuzi Mhlanga, a senior at Harvard University, was named a Rhodes Scholar as part of the international contingent of Rhodes Scholars. He is a native of Zimbabwe.
Patricia King Stepping Down From the Harvard Corporation
The Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Medicine, Ethics, and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center has served on the principal fiduciary governing authority of Harvard University for the past seven years.
Three African American Women Win Rhodes Scholarships
Among this year's 32 American Rhodes Scholars are three African American women: Joy A. Buolamwini of Georgia Tech, Rhiana E. Gunn-Wright of Yale, and Nina M. Yancy of Harvard.
Karine Gibbs of Harvard University Wins Packard Foundation Fellowship
An assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, Dr. Gibbs will receive a total of $875,000 over the next five years to use in any way she wants to further her research.
Online Publication Identifies Its Choices for the Best Law Schools for Blacks
Harvard Law School is rated as the best for Black students. The law school at historically Black Howard University ranks second and the Georgetown University Law Center is third.
In Memoriam: Andrew Felton Brimmer Jr. 1926-2012
The son of a sharecropper, he was the first African American to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He also taught at Harvard Business School and chaired the board of trustees at Tuskegee University for 28 years.
Scholarly Study Finds Signifcant Racial Bias in Criminal Sentencing
The authors found a mean incarceration rate of 51 percent for Blacks and 38 percent for Whites. But they found a significant racial gap in incarceration rates between judges that increases the racial gap by as much as 18 percentage points.
Study Finds Black Students Who Used School Vouchers Are More Likely to Attend College
The results showed that African American students who went to private or parochial schools under the voucher program were 24 percent more likely to enroll in college.
Two Faculty Appointments of Note
Cornel West was named professor emeritus at Princeton and Ousame Kane was named to an endowed chair at Harvard Divinity School.
Ten African Americans Named to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education
Carlton Brown, Gerald Coleman, Kimberly Hilliard, Tijuana Hudson, Sheilah Vance, Vanidy Bailey, Patric Simon, Kevin Banks, Ron Price, and Ruffin Bell are all taking on new roles.
