Tag: Stanford University
Stanford Study Finds That Closure of Majority Black Public Schools Leads to Gentrification
Researchers combined U.S. Census data with national statistics on school closures to investigate whether the closures affected patterns of gentrification, a phenomenon marked by an influx of relatively affluent residents in previously disinvested neighborhoods. School closures increased gentrification, the study found – but only in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Bowie State University Scholar Shows How to Reduce Civilians Deaths During Police Encounters
Each year about 1,000 civilians are killed in the United States by law enforcement officers. Many of these people killed in these encounters are African Americans. Now, a new system developed by James Hyman, assistant professor of public administration at Bowie State University, may be used to help understand how and why deadly encounters occur.
In Memoriam: bell hooks, 1952-2021
The leading feminist scholar bell hooks, the Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College in Kentucky, died at her home in Berea on December 15 at the age of 69.
Lerone Martin Named Faculty Director of Stanford’s MLK Research and Education Institute
Dr. Martin is currently an associate professor of religion and politics in the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, as well as associate professor of African and African-American studies, and director of American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He will join the Stanford faculty in January.
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.
Andrew Agwunobi Appointed to Lead the University of Connecticut
Dr. Agwunobi is a pediatrician by training and has been serving as CEO of University of Connecticut Health since 2015. He will continue in that role while serving as interim president of the university. The board of trustees stated that it is in no rush to start the search process.
Five African Americans Who Have Been Hired to Diversity Positions in Higher Education
The five African Americans in new diversity roles are Anita Fernander at Florida Atlantic University, Patrick Dudley at Stanford University, Andrea Abrams at Cenre College in Danville, Kentucky, Amber Benton at Michigan State University and Gretchen Cook-Anderson at IES Abroad.
Nicole Fleetwood of Rutgers University Wins National Book Critics Circle Award
Dr. Fleetwod's book - Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration - which took nine years to complete, is based on scores of interviews with incarcerated people and their families, prison staff, activists, and other observers. It explores the importance of people in prison creating art as a means to survive incarceration.
A Trio of African Americans Who Have Been Named to Diversity Posts in Higher Education
Shirley J. Everett was named senior adviser to the provost on equity and inclusion at Stanford University. Emmanuel Adero is the new deputy chief officer for the Office of Equity and Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Torsheika Maddox was named chief of staff for the chief diversity officer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Stanford Moves to Establish African and African American Studies as an Academic Department
Persis Drell, provost at Stanford who favors the proposal, noted that it will not be until next year that the faculty who want to move to the department will develop a proposal that will be reviewed by the dean, advisory board, and, ultimately, the board of trustees, which must approve a new department.
How Hate Crimes in a State Impact Enrollments at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
The authors of the study, published by the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis, found that an increase in reports of state-level hate crimes predicted a 20 percent increase in Black first-time student enrollment at HBCUs.
John Dabiri to Receive the 2020 Alan T. Waterman Award From the National Science Foundation
Waterman awardees each receive $1 million over five years for research in their chosen field of science. Dabiri says the funding will allow him to pursue research into some of the ways climate change challenges and threatens modern life.
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.
Professor Claude Steele Honored for a Lifetime of Work in Social Psychology
The Legacy Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology honors figures whose career contributions have shaped the field. Dr. Steele, a professor emeritus at Stanford University, is perhaps best known for his work on the underperformance of minority students due to stereotype threat.
Blacks’ Greater Exposure to Excessive Heat May Impact the Racial Educational Gap
Researchers found that students throughout the world performed worse on standardized tests for every additional day of exposure to 80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. But in the United States, the researchers found that increased exposure to heat only impacted test scores for Black and Hispanic students.
The First Black Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Rochester
Dr. Mendes, who is from Jamaica and holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Florida, successfully defended her thesis, titled "The Kinetics of Microglial Ontogeny and Maturation in the Adult Brain."
Stanford University Scholars Develop a New Way to Measure Racial Segregation
The researcher compiled GPS data from smartphones to analyze movement patterns and compute what they call “experienced segregation” – the amount of people’s exposure to other races as they go about their daily lives.
Two Prestigious Universities Bestow Honors on African American Scholars
Stanford University has named a theater on campus in honor of Harry Elam Jr., who taught at Stanford for 30 years before becoming president of Occidental College in Los Angeles. Rice University in Houston has named a grove after Rev. William A. Lawson a civil rights leader and former professor at Texas Southern University.
Three African Americans in Higher Education Honored With Prestigious Awards
The honorees are Francis A. Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, Janice R. Franklin, dean of library and learning resources at Alabama State University, and David Stovall, professor of Black studies and criminology, law, and justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
In Memoriam: Lucius Jefferson Barker, 1928-2020
Dr. Barker, a political scientist, began his academic career at the University of Illinois. He taught at the University of Illinois, Southern University in Louisiana, and Washington University in St. Louis. Professor Barker taught at Stanford University from 1990 until retiring in 2006 as the William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science, Emeritus.
Lynden Archer Named Dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell University
A Cornell faculty member since 2000, Dr. Archer directed the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from 2010 to 2016. In the fall of 2017, he was named the David Croll Director of the Cornell Energy Systems Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Stanford University Study Finds That “Driving While Black” Is Less Risky at Night
The results of the study of 95 million traffic stops between 2011 and 2018 showed that Blacks, who are pulled over more frequently than Whites by day, are much less likely to be stopped after sunset, when “a veil of darkness” masks their race.
Speech Recognition Systems Make Double the Mistakes on Words Spoken by Blacks
Research led by scholars at Stanford University found that on average, the speech recognition systems developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, and others misunderstood 35 percent of the words spoken by Blacks but only 19 percent of those spoken by Whites. Error rates were highest for African American men.
Na’ilah Suad Nasir Elected to Lead the American Educational Research Association
Since 2017, Dr. Nasir has been president of the Spencer Foundation, which has been a leading funder of education research since 1971. Earlier, she held the Birgeneau Chair in Educational Disparities and was vice-chancellor of equity and inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley.
In Memoriam: Katherine Williams Phillips, 1972-2020
Katherine W. Phillips was the Reuben Mark Professor of Organizational Character and the director of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at the business school at Columbia University in New York City.
Harry J. Elam Jr. Will Be the Next President of Occidental College in Los Angeles
Currently, Dr. Elam is vice provost for undergraduate education, vice president for the arts, and senior vice provost for education at Stanford University. He joined the university's faculty in 1990 as an associate professor in what is now the department of theater and performance studies.
Condoleezza Rice Appointed Director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University
Professor Rice joined Stanford University in 1981, where she served as provost from 1993 to 1999. She was national security advisor to President George W. Bush before serving as U.S. Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009.
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 First African American President of Rutgers University in New Jersey
Jonathan Holloway has served as provost at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois since 2017. Earlier, he was was dean of Yale College and the Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History and American Studies.
A Trio of African Americans Taking on New Administrative Roles in Higher Education
The three African Americans appointed to new administrative posts are James A. Felton III at The College of New Jersey, Nadirah Pippen at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Cheryl A. Brown at Stanford University.
Three African Americans Who Are Stepping Down From University Administrative Posts
Teresa Phillips, director of athletics at Tennessee State University, and E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life at the University of Michigan, are retiring. Harry Elam will step down from his post as vice provost for undergraduate education at Stanford University.
A Pair of African American Women Named to Dean Posts at Major Universities
Mona Hicks was named dean of students at Stanford University in California and Cora Thompson has been appointed interim dean for the College of Education at Savannah State University in Georgia.
Stanford University Presented an Interactive Art Exhibit on African American History
The main attraction involved a walk-through of 23 exhibits depicting various scenes throughout history. The exhibit used lights, sounds, smells and trained theater actors to bring these scenes to life.
In Memoriam: Ernest James Gaines, 1933-2019
Ernest J. Gaines, the celebrated author and long-time educator at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, died earlier this month at his home in Oscar, Louisiana. He was 86 years old.
Stanford University Study Examines School Enrollments in Gentrified Urban Areas
The study found that gentrified neighborhoods tended to show a reduction in public school enrollments in the 2000-to-2014 period. But neighborhoods that were gentrified by mostly Black or Hispanic college-educated families showed an increase in public school enrollments.
Targeted Educational Programs Can Improve Educational Outcomes for Black Males
A new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that targeted educational programs geared toward young Black males can have a significant positive impact on lowering their high school dropout rates and raising their high school graduation rates.
