Tag: University of California Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley Acquires Its First Archival Collection of a Black Photographer
The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has acquired more than 5,000 negatives and photographic prints from 91-year-old photographer David Johnson. He was the first African American student of legendary photographer Ansel Adams.
In Memoriam: Olly W. Wilson, 1937-2018
After teaching at Florida A&M University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Dr. Wilson joined the music department faculty at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. He retired from teaching in 2002.
Princeton University’s Plan to Deal With the Legacy of Woodrow Wilson
At Princeton, Woodrow Wilson had refused to consider the admission of Black students. As President of the United States, he racially segregated the federal government workforce and appointed White supremacists to his cabinet.
Berkeley’s First Tenured Black Scholar Has a Building Named in His Honor
Dr. David Blackwell, an accomplished statistician, joined the mathematics department at Berkeley in 1954 and stayed on the faculty there until retiring in 1988. In 1965, he was the first African American to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
Study by Ohio State University Economists Shows Black Politicians Matter
A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Trevon Logan, a professor of economics at Ohio State University, finds that when Blacks hold political power their economic status rises. But when they lose political power, their economic fortunes dwindle.
Study Finds Widespread Discrimination Against Older Black Adults With Chronic Disease
A new study finds that one of five elderly patients with chronic disease reported that they had experienced discrimination by health care providers. Blacks reported higher rates of discrimination but the racial gap has narrowed.
In Memoriam: Todd Jason McCallum
Todd McCallum was an associate professor in the department of psychological sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He joined the faculty there in 2002 and was promoted to associate professor in 2007.
In Memoriam: Jospeh Muriuki Wahome, 1962-2017
A native of Kenya, Joseph M. Wahome was a former associate professor of biology and chair of the department of natural sciences and environmental health at Mississippi Valley State 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.
Black Scholar at the California College of the Arts Returning to Her Roots
After serving on the faculty at the California College of the Arts for nearly a quarter century, Professor Opal Palmer Adisa is returning to her native Jamaica to serve as the director of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies.
Ernest Morrell Appointed to an Endowed Chair at the University of Notre Dame
Professor Morrell will also serve as the inaugural director of the Center for Literacy Education in the university’s Institute for Educational Initiatives. He will hold joint appointments in the Department of English and the Department of Africana Studies.
Sabrina Strings Wins a Hellman Fellowship to Complete a Book on Fat Stigma
Sabrina Strings is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine. She will use the fellowship to complete work on her book, Thin, White & Saved: Fat Stigma and the Fear of the Big Black Body.
Jackson State University Partners With the School of Pharmacy at Ole Miss
Under the agreement, pre-pharmacy students at Jackson State University who meet certain qualifications will get preferred admission status at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi.
Berkeley Psychologist Looks to End Bias in School Discipline
Jason Okonofua, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley has developed an online intervention program that allows school teachers to examine their implicit racial bias before handing out punishment for students in need of discipline.
The Next Dean of the School of Engineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas
Currently, Dr. Reginald DesRoches is the chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. A native of Haiti, he joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 1998 and was promoted to full professor in 2008.
Gary May Appointed the Seventh Chancellor of the University of California, Davis
Dr. May currently serves as dean of the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He was appointed to this post in July 2011. He also is a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech.
Kimberly White-Smith Is the New Leader of the College of Education at the University of La Verne
Before coming to the University of La Verne, Dr. White-Smith was professor of education, associate dean of the College of Educational Studies and director of the Donna Ford Attallah Educator Development Academy at Chapman University in Orange, California.
University Researchers Make a Breakthrough in Finding a Cure for Sickle Cell Disease
Scientists have used gene editing to fix the mutated gene responsible for the disease in stem cells from the blood of affected patients. In tests with mice, the genetically engineered stem cells remained for at least four months after transplantation.
In Memoriam: Daniel O. Bernstine, 1947-2016
Daniel O. Bernstine was president of the Law School Admission Council. Earlier in his career, he served for 10 years as president of Portland State University in Oregon.
Study Examines Whether African Students at Western Universities Return to Africa
The return rate to Africa has been declining. In the 1970s, 65 percent of the African scholars who earned degrees at Western universities returned to Africa. Since 2010 the rate is only 40 percent.
T. Geronimo Johnson to Receive the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
T. Geronimo Johnson, who teaches creative writing at the University of California, Berkeley, is being honored for his 2015 novel Welcome to Braggsville. The novel tells the story of four Berkeley students who stage a protest at a Civil War reenactment event in Georgia.
Prestigious Honors for Two African American Professors
The honorees are Wayne J. Dawkins, professor of professional practice in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University in Virginia, and Gibor Basri, professor of astronomy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.
A New African American Center Planned at the University of California, Berkeley
The new center will be named after Fannie Lou Hamer, the voting and civil rights activist. The agreement to establish the center comes after a year of talks among the administration, the Black Student Union and other campus African American groups.
In Memoriam: Cedric James Robinson, 1940-2016
Professor Cedric James Robinson joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1978. He chaired both the department of Black studies and the department of political science.
Yale University Names a Residential College in Honor of Pauli Murray
Yale is keeping the name of slavery proponent John Calhoun for one of its residential colleges but a new college will be named for Pauli Murray, the civil rights pioneer who earned a doctorate at Yale Law School in 1965.
The Next Dean of Students at the University of Colorado-Boulder
Akirah J. Bradley was appointed dean of students and associate vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has been serving as assistant dean of students at the University of California, Berkeley.
Claude Steele Stepping Down From Provost Position at the University of California, Berkeley
Claude Steele was appointed executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California, Berkeley in 2014. He is stepping aside to deal with the health problems of his wife. He will remain at Berkeley as a professor of psychology.
Seven African American Scholars Taking on New Faculty Assignments
Here is this week’s roundup of Black faculty members from colleges and universities throughout the United States who have been appointed to new positions.
In Memoriam: S. Rudolph Martin Jr., 1935-2016
In 1970, Martin was one of 18 founding faculty members at Evergreen State College. During a 27-year career at Evergreen State, Dr. Martin served as academic dean and taught classes in the humanities and the arts. He retired in 1997.
Fielding Graduate University Names New Center for Marie Fielder
Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, has announced the establishment of the Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education, a multidisciplinary research and advocacy center aimed at advancing diversity and inclusion throughout society.
Morgan State University Announces Its First Endowed Faculty Chair
The Endowed Chair in Internet of Things Security was established by a $1 million grant from the Maryland Department of Commerce. The first holder of the endowed chair will be Kevin T. Kornegay, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Morgan State.
Three African Americans Among the Top 10 Most Influential Scholars in Education
Linda Darling Hammond of Stanford University was rated as the most influential university-based education scholar in the United States. Also among the top 10 influential scholars are Gloria Ladson-Billings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Claude Steele, provost at the University of California, Berkeley.
Four African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties in Higher Education
The appointees are Evelyn P. Leathers at Bennett College in North Carolina, Clothilde Hewlett at the University of California, Berkeley, Kendall D. Isaac at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, and Mohamed Ali at Iowa State University.
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.
T. Geronimo Johnson to Receive the 2015 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
T. Geronimo Johnson, a visiting professor at the Iowa Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa, is being honored by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation for his 2015 novel Welcome to Braggsville.
Two Major Research Universities Join the Creating Connections Consortium
The Creating Connections Consortium seeks to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who are hired to tenure-track faculty positions. The University of Chicago and the University of Michigan are the consortium's newest members.
