Tag: Harvard University

Four African American Scholars Who Are Taking on New Duties

Taking on new duties are Valerie Giddings at North Carolina A&T State University, Collin Stultz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Robin R. Davis at Virginia Union University in Richmond, and Giselle Armond Abron at the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine.

Report Finds That Remote Learning During the Pandemic May Widen Racial Gaps in Achievement

A new report finds that high-poverty schools both spent more weeks in remote instruction during the early pandemic and suffered large losses in achievement when they did so. Districts that remained largely in-person, however, lost relatively little ground.

Emery N. Brown Selected to Share the Gruber Neuroscience Prize

Awarded annually by the Gruber Foundation, the prize honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system. The prize, which includes a $500,000 award, will be presented to Dr. Brown and his co-recipients on November 13 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Five Black Scholars Who Have Been Assigned to New Positions or Duties

The five Black scholars who have been assigned to new roles or duties are Antwan Jones at George Washington University, Kiron Skinner at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, Marty Baylor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Bunmi Olatunji at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and James W. Mickens at Harvard University.

Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans

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 Troubling Decline of Black Men in Academic Medicine

A new study led by Sophia C. Kamran, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and a radiation oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, finds that over the past generation while female representation rose dramatically in U.S. medical schools, the number of Black men in academic medicine stagnated or decreased.

Rosephanye Powell Wins the Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award From Harvard University

Professor Powell teaches applied voice, art song literature and vocal pedagogy at Auburn University in Alabama. She also serves as the Women’s Chorus conductor and the Auburn University Gospel Choir’s co-conductor.

Harvard University Issues Extensive Report on Its Ties to Slavery

Harvard presidents and other leaders, as well as its faculty and staff, enslaved more than 70 individuals, some of whom labored on campus. Harvard is creating a $100 million endowment to help remedy past wrongs and the lingering effects of slavery on people of color.

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Honors Emery N. Brown

Emery N. Brown is the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Computational Neuroscience and Health Sciences and Technology in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT and the Warren M. Zapol Professor at Harvard Medical School.

New Scholarship Honors the First Black Woman Graduate of Yale Divinity School

A new scholarship at Yale Divinity School honors Rena Karefa-Smart, the first Black woman to graduate from the school. Dr. Karefa-Smart was also the first Black woman to earn a theology doctorate from Harvard Divinity School and the first female professor to earn tenure at the Howard University School of Divinity.

In Memoriam: Charles Vert Willie, 1927-2022

Charles Willie taught at Syracuse University from 1950 to 1974. He was the first Black faculty member to be awarded tenure at the university. He later served on the faculty at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Ruth Simmons Announces She Plans to Step Down as President of Prairie View A&M University

Ruth Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, has announced that she plans to retire but is willing to continue serving in the role until her successor is named. Dr. Simmons came out of retirement in 2017 to lead the historically Black university.

Two African Americans Who Have Been Named to Serve as Deans

Stephen L. Ball has been appointed dean of students at Harvard Law School and Lakesia Tucker has been appointed acting dean of the College of Graduate & Professional Studies at South Carolina State University.

University of Michigan Provost Susan Collins to Lead the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

When she takes office on July 1, Susan Collins will be only the second Black president and first Black woman to head one of the 12 Federal Reserve banks in the century-plus history of the institution.

Harvard Study Documents the Persisting Problem of Environmental Racism

The term "environmental racism" was first used about 40 years ago and brought attention to the fact that African Americans are more likely than their White peers to be exposed to air, water, and other types of pollution. New research shows that environmental racism is still very much an issue.

Four Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments at Major Universities

The Black scholars appointed to new posts are Deval L. Patrick at Harvard University, Kristie Soares at the University of Colorado Boulder, Kirsten Pai Buick at the University of New Mexico, and Jane Okech at the University of Vermont.

In Memoriam: Edward Daryl Irons, 1923-2022

Dr. Irons, the second Black person to earn a doctorate at Harvard Business School, was the founding dean of the business school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He later served as dean of the business school at Clark Atlanta University from 1990 to 1995.

In Memoriam: Gwendolyn Gordon, 1980-2021

Dr. Gordon was an assistant professor in the department of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in the School of Arts and Sciences’ department of anthropology. She held degrees from three different Ivy League universities.

Gene Wade to Lead the Propel Center, a Hub for HBCU Innovation and Learning

Gene Wade most recently served as founder and CEO of Honors Pathway in Oakland, California, a social venture that enables low-income students to attend their first year of college at no cost while receiving over 500 hours of in-person coaching and mentoring.

Kimberlé Crenshaw Receives the Top Honor From the Association of American Law Schools

Kimberlé W. Crenshaw is the Promise Institute Professor of Human Rights at the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia University. She was honored by the Association of American Law Schools for her work on critical race theory and intersectionality."

In Memoriam: Carol Lani Guinier, 1950-2022

Lani Guinier was the first woman of color to be a tenured professor at Harvard Law School. Earlier, she taught for 10 years at the law school of the University of Pennsylvania.

Anita Allen Wins the APA’s Highest Honor for Service to Philosophy

Professor Allen is an internationally renowned expert on philosophical dimensions of privacy and data protection law, ethics, bioethics, legal philosophy, women’s rights, and diversity in higher education. In 2018-19, she was the first Black woman to serve as president of the American Philosophical Association.

In Memoriam: Tyler Stovall, 1954-2021

Tyler Stovall was a renowned historian of modern Europe, professor, and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. From 2014 to 2020, he was dean of humanities at the University of California, Santa Cruz

Vincent Brown Wins the Frederick Douglass Book Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Center

Vincent Brown, a professor of African and African American studies and American history at Harvard University, will share the Frederick Douglass Book Prize. The prize is awarded each year to the “best book(s) written in English about slavery, abolition and their legacies across all borders and all time.”

Teenagers Largely Reflect Their Parents Views on Race

Researchers found that on some issues, partisan gaps among teens were larger — though not much larger — than those among adults. This larger gap is mainly driven by teenagers from Republican families having on average more right-leaning perceptions than their parents.

Colleges and Universities Announce the Hiring of Five African American Administrators

Appointed to new administrative posts are Danielle Sims Brooks at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, Horace D. Ballard at Harvard University, Camaron Loritts at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, Rondall E. Allen at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Dominique Moye at California State University, Northridge.

Six Black Scholars Who Have Been Given New Faculty Assignments

Taking on new positions are Bianca Baldridge at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Stephen Buckley at Duke University in North Carolina, Joshua Bartholomew at the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas, Emily Greenwood at Princeton University in New Jersey, Warrick Moses at Syracuse University in New York, and Charles Peterson at Oberlin College in Ohio.

Western Michigan University Honors Its First Black Bachelor’s Degree Recipient

Merze Tate, the first Black student to earn a bachelor's degree from Western State Teachers College (now Western Michigan University) will have University College - the academic home for exploratory majors - named in her honor.

In Memoriam: Robert Parris Moses, 1935-2021

After winning a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award" in 1982, Dr. Moses used the fellowship money to begin the Algebra Project, which uses mathematics as an organizing tool for quality education for all children in America involving their parents, teachers, and the community to boost mathematics proficiency.

Eight African Americans Who Will Be Taking on New Administrative Duties

Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Temple University in Philadelphia Names Jason Wingard as Its Next President

In 2015, Dr. Wingard was appointed dean of the School of Continuing Education at Columbia University in New York City. He also held the rank of professor at the school. Previously, Dr. Wingard was the chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment firm.

Higher Education Leads to Better Health, But Not So Much for Black Men

Studies show life expectancy is higher for educated Black men — those with a college degree or higher — compared with those who have not finished high school. But the increase is not as big as it is for Whites. The findings suggest that the power of discrimination to harm Black men’s lives may be more persistent than previously understood.

New Study Finds Huge Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Rates

Men are more likely to be infected by COVID-19 and have higher death rates. But that data obscures the fact that Black women are up to four times more likely to die of COVID-19 than White men and three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than Asian men.

Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to University Administrative Positions

Yulander Wells, Jr. has been named deputy athletic director at Harvard University. Enku Gelaye was promoted to senior vice president and dean of campus life at Emory University in Atlanta and Wendell Williams will be the next associate chancellor of enrollment management at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

New Administrative Appointments in Higher Education for a Quartet of African Americans

Taking on new administrative positions are Laura Colson at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, Freddie W. Wills Jr. at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Marie Williams at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Victor Clay at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Patricia Ramsey Appointed President of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York

Dr. Ramsey, whose appointment is effective May 1, will be the first woman to serve as the president of Medgar Evers College. A biologist by training, she comes to CUNY from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Earlier, she was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

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