“We’re living in a time when there are forces that are seeking to remove African American history and documentation from the public record. The time to commemorate the legacy of Black Philly music is right now," said Frank Johnson, co-developer of the new Philadelphia Black Music Archive at Temple University.
Norsworthy, an assistant professor at Temple University, is being recognized for her work elevating faith-based recording artists to mainstream media outlets.
Alexia Hudson-Ward, associate director for research and learning at MIT Libraries, will serve as the president-elect of the Association of College and Research Libraries beginning on July 1. This will be followed by a one-year term as president beginning July 1, 2026.
Major Jackson, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, was honored by Yale's Beinecke Library for his recent book, Razzle Dazzle: New and Selected Poems 2002-2022.
Dr. Maparyan, a distinguished academic and prolific scholar, had been serving as the executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women and a professor of African Studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
Dr. Avilez's background includes teaching and academic leadership appointments with the University of Maryland, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Yale University. His scholarship focuses on Black Diasporic literature and visual culture.
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 our appointments section, please email the information to [email protected].
The faculty appointments are Lauren Bullock at Temple University in Philadelphia, Margo Brooks Carthon at the University of Pennsylvania, and Munene Mwaniki at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
James Frazier has decades of experience in higher education and professional dance performance. He currently serves as a full professor of dance and dean of the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University.
JoAnne A. Epps, acting president of Temple University in Philadelphia, collapsed on stage during a celebration of life ceremony for Charles L. Blockson on September 19, where she was scheduled to speak. She was taken from the stage to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. President Epps was 72 years old.
Newly appointed to dean positions are Monika Williams Shealey at Temple University in Philadelphia, Kenyatta R. Gilbert at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Jonathan Bailey Holland at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Sharonda Ragland at Virginia Union University, and Twinette Johnson at the University of the District of Columbia.
Charles Blockson traveled the world and amassed a huge collection of more than 700,000 books, papers, photographs, newspaper articles, journals, sheet music, posters, artifacts, and memorabilia. His collection, now housed at Temple University in Philadelphia, spans from 1581 to the present day.
Since August 2012, Dr. Lee-Pruiit has served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the university. Previously, she served at Mississippi Valley State University as dean of University College and was a tenured professor in the department of social work.
Dr. Gilbert currently serves as the senior vice provost for student academic excellence at Ohio State University. Prior to this position, Dr. Gilbert served for five years as the dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Toledo.
Professor Epps joined the Temple faculty in 1985. She was named associate dean of academic affairs at the law school in 1989. She was promoted to full professor in 1994. In 2016, Epps was appointed provost at the university.
Theresa A. Powell was vice president for student affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia. Dr. Powell came to Temple in 2002 after serving as vice president of student affairs at Western Michigan University.
Taking on new teaching assignments are Ericmoore Jossou at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Audrey Sorrells at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Chaudron Carter Short at Temple University in Philadelphia, and Francis Annan at the University of California, Berkeley.
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.
Since 2019, Dr. Williams has been serving as president of Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York. Earlier, he was vice president for student affairs at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Massachusetts. Before that, he held various administrative posts at Northeastern Illinois University.
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the fine arts, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and a world-class collection of American art. Since 2015, Pryor has served as president of the Harlem School of the Arts in New York City.