Tag: University of Chicago
The New Director of the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University
Terri Francis joined the faculty at Indiana University in 2014. Earlier, she taught for nine years in the department of African American studies and the film and media studies program at Yale University. She is an expert on African American cinema and Jamaican film history.
Michelle Howard-Vital Named to Lead Florida Memorial University
In 2016, Dr. Michelle Howard-Vital was chosen to serve as executive vice president and provost at Florida Memorial University. From 2007 to 2014, she was president of Cheyney University in Pennsylvania.
New Administrative Duties for Four African Americans in Higher Education
Taking on new administrative duties are Karyn Scissum Gunn at California State University, Fullerton, Kenton W. Rainey at the University of Chicago, Damon L. Williams at Northwestern University in Illinois, and Charles Isbell at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
In Memoriam: Eddie Nathan Williams, 1932-2017
Eddie N. Williams was the long-time president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington and former administrator at the University of Chicago.
Rachel Lindsey Appointed to Lead Chicago State University
Dr. Lindsey has served as a professor of psychology and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Chicago State University. Earlier in her career, she taught at Northeastern Illinois University and Loyola University of Chicago.
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: Mark Q. Sawyer, 1972-2017
Dr. Sawyer joined the faculty at UCLA in 1999 as an assistant professor. He was instrumental in transforming the African American studies program into an academic department at the university.
A Major Celebration of the Life and Work of Gwendolyn Brooks
Brooks, who died in 2000, was the former poet laureate of the state of Illinois and in 1950 was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize. The University of Chicago is holding a major celebration of her life and works on the 100th anniversary of her birth.
Selwyn Rogers Named the Founding Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center
Dr. Rogers, who has been serving as vice president and chief medical officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch since 2014, will also serve as executive vice president for community health engagement at the University of Chicago.
John Rogers of Ariel Capital Management Makes Major Gift to the University of Chicago
The funds will be used to provide scholarship support at the Laboratory Schools, which Rogers has been involved with for more than 40 years and to establish and endow the Ariel Investments Internship Program in Finance.
University of North Alabama Honors its First Black Graduate
In a case that lasted only 10 minutes, Wendell Wilkie Gunn, with the help of famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray, obtained a court order demanding that he be allowed to enroll at what is now the University of North Alabama. He did so on September 11, 1963 and graduated in 1965.
Both of This Year’s Rhodes Scholars From Zimbabwe Have Ties to U.S. Universities
Ngoni Mugwisi is a senior at Arizona State University, who is majoring in electrical engineering. Lillian Dube is a 2015 graduate of the University of Chicago, who plans to pursue two master’s degrees at Oxford — one in education and the other in English.
The New President of Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio
Since 2015, Dr. Michael Joseph Brown has been serving as academic dean and interim president at the seminary. Previously, he was an associate professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Emory University in Atlanta.
University of Chicago Releases Results of Its Campus Climate Survey
Black staff members were far more likely than Black faculty or Black students to view the racial climate on campus as positive.
Research Finds That the Racial Earnings Gap for Men Has Returned to 1950s Level
The authors explain that the changing economy has been difficult for all workers with less than a high school education but has been particularly devastating for Black men. They found that in 1960, 19 percent of Black men were not working. By 2014, 35 percent of Black men were not employed.
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.
Five African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education
The appointees are Sentwali Bakari at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Michael A. Nutter at the University of Chicago, Sherie Cornish Gordon at Albany State University, Will Sutton at Grambling State University, and Darryl C. Wilson at the Stetson University College of Law.
The Higher Education Connections of the First African American Librarian of Congress
Carla Hayden, a former assistant professor of library science at the University of Pittsburgh, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 14th Librarian of Congress. She is the first African American and the first woman to hold the position.
Four African Americans Named to Dean Posts at Colleges and Universities
The new deans are Francine Conway at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Karlene Burrell-McRae at Colby College in Maine, DeMethra LaSha Bradley at Macalester College in Minnesota, and Logan Powell at Brown University in Rhode Island.
University of Chicago Historian Thomas Holt Elected to the American Philosophical Society
Thomas C. Holt is the James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Service Professor of American and African American History at the University of Chicago. Other African Americans elected members of the society are Roger W. Ferguson of TIAA-CREF and Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourney of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Long-Time Educator Wins $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
Ed Roberson is an artist-in-residence at Northwestern University. Roberson was a professor of literature and creative writing at Rutgers University and has also taught at the University of Chicago and Columbia College in Chicago.
Five Black Women Scholars Appointed to New Posts
Taking on new roles are Melissa Gilliam at the University of Chicago, June Manning Thomas at the University of Michigan, Yolanda Banks Anderson at North Carolina Central University, Cynthia A. Nance at the University of Arkansas, and Tomisha Brock at Mississippi Valley State University.
Craig Boise Named the Next Dean of the College of Law at Syracuse University
Since 2011, Professor Boise has been serving as dean of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University in Ohio. Earlier, he served on the law school faculty at DePaul University in Chicago and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Roland Anglin Named Dean of the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University
Dr. Anglin has been serving as senior adviser to the chancellor and director of the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at the Newark, New Jersey, campus of Rutgers University. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.
Three Black Scholars Appointed to Named Professorships at the University of Chicago
The three Black scholars appointed to named professorships at the University of Chicago are Daniel Abebe and Justin Driver at the University of Chicago Law School and Melissa Gilliam in obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics.
Higher Education Grants of Interest to African Americans
Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Michelle Howard-Vital Is the New Provost at Florida Memorial University
From 2007 to 2014, Dr. Howard-Vital was president of Cheyney University in Pennsylvania. Earlier in her career, she served as interim chancellor of Winston-Salem State University and as associate vice president for the University of North Carolina System.
In Memoriam: Chester Davis, 1927-2016
Dr. Chester Davis joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 1971. He chaired the Afro-American studies department there from 1985 to 1988.
University of Chicago’s Partnership With the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences
Under the partnership agreement, University of Chicago faculty and graduate students will spend time at five research centers in Africa to serve as teachers, tutors, and researchers.
The New Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education
James Cole Jr. has been serving as general counsel at the department and will continue to serve in that role. Earlier, he was deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
New Faculty Appointments at Major Universities for Five Black Scholars
Taking on new roles are Debra J. Barksdale at Virginia Commonwealth University, Michael A. Nutter at Columbia University, Theaster Gates at the University of Chicago, Chris Swan at Tufts University, and Engda Hagos at Colgate University.
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.
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.
Neil Roberts Elected President of the Caribbean Philosophical Association
Neil Roberts is an associate professor of Africana studies and chair of the department of religion at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He will become president of the association in January 2017.
In Memoriam: Diane Mae Stewart Pollard, 1944-2015
After serving on the faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Professor Pollard joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1976. She taught there for more than 30 years.
In Memoriam: Walter Wallace, 1927-2015
Walter Wallace taught sociology at Princeton University for 30 years. At Princeton, Professor Wallace was the faculty adviser for the senior thesis of Michelle Robinson, who is now First Lady of the United States.
