Tag: Harvard University

Black Men Clean Up at the National Book Awards

The National Book Foundation recently announced the winners of the National Book Awards in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature. African American men were winners in three of the four categories.

Rutgers University Scholar Wins Prestigious Literary Award

John Keene, associate professor of English and chair of the African and African American studies department at the Newark campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2016 Lannan Literary Award for fiction.

Danielle Allen Named University Professor at Harvard University

Danielle Allen was appointed the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, effective January 1. This is the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member at Harvard. Currently there are 24 University Professors at Harvard.

Harvard Looks to Take the Next Diversity Step: From Inclusion to Belonging

Harvard University is taking the next step by forming the Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging. The task force will study and make recommendations on how to make Harvard a more welcoming place for all students from underrepresented groups.

Six Black Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments in Academia

Taking on new roles are Mae C. Jemison at Indiana University, Amanda B. Mbuvi at High Point University, Sarah Lewis at Harvard University, Lauren Sudeall Lucas at Georgia State University, Robert M. Sellers at the University of Michigan, and Norma Schropshire at Wayne State 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.

New Discovery May Improve Treatment for Those Who Suffer From Sickle Cell Disease

A study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, MIT , Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Korea reports on a discovery that may help physicians treat those who suffer from sickle cell disease.

In Memoriam: Edwin Smith, 1950-2016

Edwin Smith was the Leon Benwell Professor of Law, International Relations, and Political Science at the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern, California. He was the first African American tenured faculty member at the law school.

In Memoriam: James Alan McPherson, 1943-2016

In 1978, Professor McPherson was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. At the time of his death he was professor emeritus at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Professor Glenn Loury Honored by the American Economic Association

Glenn C. Loury, the Merton P. Stolz Professor of the social sciences and professor of economics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association.

The Next Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Young has been serving as the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University in Atlanta. He also served as curator of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library and curator of literary collections at the newly named Rose Library at Emory.

Study Finds That Mandatory Diversity Training Is Ineffective

The authors suggest that managers who are obliged to undergo training have a natural tendency to resent it. People don't like to be told how to behave. They outline other strategies that may be more effective in reaching diversity goals.

Harvard University Receives the Vast Archives of Televangelist Carlton Pearson

Carlton Pearson, a former Pentecostal televangelist, has donated his personnel archives to the Andover-Harvard Theological Library. The archives include thousands of hours of raw and produced footage from Pearson's days as a televangelist.

New Provosts for Two Historically Black Universities

Patricia Pierce Ramsey, chair of the department of natural sciences at Bowie State University in Maryland, will become provost at The Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Peter O. Nwosu, a professor and administrator at California State University, Fullerton, will be provost at Clark Atlanta University.

Spoken-Word Poetry Address by Black Student at Harvard Becomes an Internet Sensation

Donovan Livingston's speech, given at the convocation ceremonies of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, examined the obstacles faced by African Americans in pursuing an education in the United States.

Four Black Scholars in New Faculty Roles

Appointed to new positions are Cheryl Taylore Lee at Ohio State University, Shelby R. Chipman at Florida A&M University, Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong at Harvard University, and Renee Cottle at Clemson University.

A Record Percentage of Black Students in Harvard’s 2016 Entering Class

Black students make up 11.4 percent of all students in the Class of 2020. This is the highest percentage of Black students in any entering class in Harvard's 380-year history.

Harvard University Honors Its First African American Graduate

Harvard University recently unveiled a portrait of Richard Theodore Greener that will hang in Annenberg Hall along with other luminaries of Harvard's past. Prior to 2005, only two of the university's approximately 750 portraits were of people of color.

New Duties for Two African American Faculty Members

Marla Frederick, professor of African and African American studies and the study of religion, was named a Harvard College Professor and Nicole T. Jenkins was named the executive associate dean in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky.

The First Portrait of a Person of Color in Harvard’s Faculty Room

Peter J. Gomes was pastor of Memorial Church at Harvard University for more than 40 years before his death in 2011. Among the nearly 40 notable figures from Harvard's past whose portraits now hang in the Faculty Room, Gomes is the first person of color among the esteemed group.

Orlando Patterson Honored for Lifetime Achievement by the Cleveland Foundation

Orlando Patterson, the John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards that will be presented this September in Cleveland.

Black Students Accepted for Admission at High-Ranking Colleges and Universities

Recently, the nation's highest-ranked colleges and universities informed applicants if they had been accepted for admission. Some of the nation's most selective institutions provided acceptance data broken down by race and ethnic group.

Harvard University President Commits to Studying the University’s Ties to Slavery

As a first step, President Faust said that the university is installing a plaque on Wadsworth House on the Harvard campus. The plaque recognizes four enslaved persons who lived and worked in the building for two Harvard presidents during the eighteenth century.

Valerie Montgomery Rice Honored by Georgia-Pacific Corporation

Valerie Montgomery Rice is president and dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She was honored by Georgia-Pacific Corporation for being strong and resilient in a traditional male occupation.

The Inaugural Director of the Center on Race, Law, and Justice at Fordham University

Robin A. Lenhardt has taught at the Fordham University School of Law in New York City since 2004. The new center will be a platform for cutting-edge interdisciplinary scholarship on race, structural inequality, and racial justice.

Harvard Law School Seeks to Distance Itself From a Legacy Tied to Slavery

The current seal is modeled after the family crest of Isaac Royall, the son of an Antiguan slave owner. Funds from Royall's estate were used to established Harvard Law School.

Toni Morisson Delivering the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University

The lecture series was endowed in 1925 with the honoree designated as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry for the duration of the six-lecture series. Toni Morrison, the Nobel laureate and professor emerita at Princeton University, is this year's honoree.

African Americans Are More Than 10 Percent of Harvard’s Record Applicant Pool

A full quarter of all applicants to Harvard this year had their application fee waived due to financial hardship. Some 10.6 percent of all applicants are African Americans.

Michelle Williams to Lead the Harvard School of Public Health

Since 2011, Dr. Williams has served as the Stephen B. Kay Family Professor of Public Health and chair of the department of epidemiology at the school. Earlier she taught at the University of Washington.

Paula Johnson Will Be the First African American President of Wellesley College

Dr. Johnson is a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. She is the founder and executive director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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.

In Memoriam: Bryan R. Washington, 1958-2015

Bryan Washington was an associate professor emeritus of English at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He joined the faculty at Lafayette College in 1987 and was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in 1994.

Alice Randall’s Class at Vanderbilt University Explores the History of Blacks in Country Music

Alice Randall, the award-winning author, songwriter, and writer-in-residence in African American and diaspora studies, taught a class that used mapping technology to trace the progress of African Americans in country music.

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.

Steven Nelson to Lead the African Studies Center at UCLA

Dr. Nelson is a professor of African and African American art and architectural history at the university. Professor Nelson is currently working on books about the Underground Railroad and the history of the city of Dakar.

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.

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