Tag: Johns Hopkins University
In Memoriam: Andre Watts, 1946-2023
Andre Watts was a professor of piano who held the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He joined the faculty there in 2004. Professor Watts began playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 9.
Seven African Americans in New Administrative Posts in Higher Education
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. If you have news for this section, please send an email to info@jbhe.com.
Four African American Women Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions
The new deans are Patricia Timmons-Goodson at North Carolina Central University, Badia Ahad at Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta, Brittini Brown at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Tiyahri Wilson at Texas Southern University in Houston.
A Snapshot of the Racial Diversity of the Faculty at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University reports that in 2021, there were 281 Black or African American faculty at the university. They made up 5.4 percent of the more than 5,200 faculty members. In 2017, Blacks were 4.3 percent of all faculty at Johns Hopkins.
Johns Hopkins University Obtains an Archive of Materials on the Early Life of Billy Holiday
The new collection includes the earliest known photo of Billie Holiday—a posed studio shot taken in 1917 when she was 2 years old — ephemera such as programs from clubs, hand-written set lists, and a grocery shopping list. The collection also includes 140 taped interviews with friends and colleagues of Holiday.
Five African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties in Higher Education
Newly appointed to administrative posts are Wanda A. Wright at Arizona State University, Shawan Baptiste at Texas College in Tyler, Chancey Page at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey, Branville Bard Jr. at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Evelyn Rucker at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
In Memoriam: Fannie Gaston-Johansson, 1938-2023
Dr. Gaston-Johansson was a member of the University of Nebraska Medical Center faculty from 1985 to 1993. She joined the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1993. In 1998, Professor Gaston-Johansson became the first Black woman to become a tenured professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Ron Darbeau Is the New Chancellor of the Altoona Campus of Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Darbeau was vice president for faculty affairs and academic operations at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, the integrated institution of Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield universities that was established in July 2022. Earlier, he served as interim dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas—Fort Smith.
Four Black Women Share an Award From the Association for Women in Mathematics
The four women mathematicians sharing the award are Erica J. Graham, an associate professor of mathematics at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Raegan Higgins, an associate professor of mathematics at Texas Tech University, Candice Price, an associate professor of mathematics and statistics at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Shelby Wilson, a senior professional at the Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Academic Study Finds Significant Racial Bias in Artificial Intelligence Programs
The research, led by Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Washington researchers, is believed to be the first to show that robots loaded with an accepted and widely-used model, operate with significant gender and racial biases.
Helene D. Gayle Appointed the Eleventh President of Spelman College in Atlanta
Dr. Gayle is currently president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation's oldest and largest community foundations. Earlier, she was CEO of the international humanitarian organization CARE and spent 20 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Three Black Scholars Who Have Been Assigned to New Positions or Duties
Ralph Etienne-Cummings, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University, has been given the added duties as vice provost for faculty. Ruth Simmons, who is stepping down as president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, will take a faculty post, and Major Jackson, a professor of English and director of the creative writing program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, was named to an endowed chair.
Six African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to University Administrative Positions
Taking on new administrative duties are Toya Corbett at the University of Virginia, Josiah J. Sampson, III at Jackson State University in Mississippi, Manica J. Finch at South Carolina State University, Pierre D. Joanis at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Akirah J. Bradley-Armstrong at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Ava Willis-Barksdale at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
Five Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Roles at Major Universities
The five Black faculty members taking on new duties are Judith Green McKenzie at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Frederick Evans at South Carolina State University, Jennifer Swann at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Ruth Opara at Syracuse University in New York, and Bocar Ba at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Five African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties in Higher Education
The five African Americans appointed to new administrative posts are Branville G. Bard Jr. at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Samantha Rogers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Guy J. Albertini at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Bobby L. Cummings at Delaware State University, and Carolyn Carter at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh.
Defense Department Funds HBCU Centers of Excellence in Biotechnology and Materials Science
After considering proposals from many institutions, the Army Research Laboratory chose to fund the Center for Biotechnology at North Carolina A&T State Univerity in Greensboro and the Center for Advanced Electro-Photonics with 2D Materials at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
New Administrative Duties for Six African Americans in Higher Education
Appointed to new administrative posts are Harriet Hobbs at Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Joshua E. Humbert at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Travis Chambers at Georgia State University, Tonya G. McCall at Mississippi State University, Branville Bard Jr. at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Ngozi F. Anachebe at Wright State University in Ohio.
New Assignments for Six African American Faculty Members
Taking on new assignments are Kamilla Alexander at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Kenneth Anderson at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Lisa Armstrong at the University of California, Berkeley, Lenora Green-Turner at the University of Arkansas, Brian Simmons at Texas Southern University, and Rachel E. Bernard at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Nashville’s Dixie Street Renamed to Honor a “Janitor” Who Pioneered Surgical Techniques
Vivien Thomas, who dropped out of college during the Great Depression, developed and refined a corrective cardiac surgical technique to treat “blue baby syndrome” at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1940s. Thomas did not receive due credit for the lifesaving advance for decades.
Selwyn M. Vickers Is the New President of the American Surgical Association
In 1994, Dr. Vickers joined the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an assistant professor in the department of surgery. After serving as an endowed professor at the University of Minnesota from 2006 to 2013, he returned to Alabama to take the position of dean of the medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Linda Thompson Will Be the Twenty-First President of Westfield State University in Massachusetts
Dr. Thompson has served as dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston since 2017 and previously held a similar position at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Earlier, she served as provost and vice-chancellor at historically Black North Carolina A&T State University and dean of nursing at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
Jessica Marie Johnson Honored for Her Book on Black Women in the Colonial Atlantic World
Jessica Marie Johnson, an assistant professor of history at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has won the Kemper and Leila Williams Prize in Louisiana History. The honor is bestowed by The Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana Historical Association.
A Major Gift Aimed to Address the Huge Racial Gap in STEM Doctoral Programs
Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg Philanthropies have announced the launch of a $150 million effort to directly address historic underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Five partnering HBCUs will receive funding to build pathways toward doctoral degrees in STEM
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.
In Memoriam: Miriam DeCosta-Willis, 1934-2021
Nearly, a decade after she was not allowed to enroll at what is now the University of Memphis because of the color of her skin, Dr. Decosta-Wilis was hired as the university's first Black faculty member. She also taught at Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Howard University in Washington, D.C., George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
A Trio of African American Faculty Members Who Have Been Named to New Posts
Odis Johnson was named a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University. Christopher Freeburg was named University Scholar at the University of Illinois, and Professor Ronald Williams was appointed chief of staff to the president of Columbus State University in Georgia.
New Evidence Discovered That Shows Johns Hopkins Owned Slaves
Johns Hopkins, the founder of the university in Baltimore that bears his name, has been thought of as a staunch abolitionist. But new evidence has come to light that one enslaved person was listed in his household in 1840 and four enslaved people were listed in 1850.
How Mental Health Practitioners Failed Former Enslaved African Americans
Victoria Robinson, a senior at Dillard University in New Orleans who is majoring in psychology has published a new study on the mental health of enslaved African Americans after they were emancipated following the Civil War.
The First African American Woman to Chair a Department at Johns Hopkins Medical School
Namandjé Bumpus was appointed chair of the department of pharmacology and molecular sciences. She is the first African American woman to chair an academic department at the medical school and the only African American woman currently chairing a pharmacology department at any medical school in the nation.
Three African American Women Faculty Taking on New Assignments
Namandje Bumpus was named chair of a department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Cassandra Extavour was named a Harvard College Professor and associate professor Amoaba Gooden was appointed interim vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Kent State University in Ohio.
Black Workers’ Perceptions of Racial Discrimination Differ by Job Status
A new study led Aida Harvey Wingfield, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis, finds that wherever Black workers are positioned in an organization — top, middle or bottom — informs and shapes their impressions about workplace racial discrimination.
In Memoriam: William Benjamin Ray Sr., 1925-2019
After concluding his career as an opera performer, Ray taught for 10 years at the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1992, Ray became director of the voice program at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Eight African Americans Who Have Been Selected for New Administrative Positions in Academia
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.
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.
Alicia Harvey-Smith Selected as the New President of Pittsburgh Technical College
Currently, Dr. Harvey-Smith serves as the executive vice chancellor at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. Earlier in her career she served as president of River Valley Community College in Claremont, New Hampshire, and as vice president of student affairs at Baltimore City Community College.
A Trio of African American Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments
Taking on new faculty roles are Laquita Blockson at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, Richard D. Johnson at the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Pearl K. Dowe at Emory University in Atlanta.
