Tag: University of Illinois
Four Black Scholars Selected for Dean Positions
The dean appointments are Chukwuka Onwumechili at Howard University, Myra Bozeman at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, Joan Tilghman at Coppin State University in Baltimore, and Omolola Eniola-Adefeso at the University of Illinois.
African Literature and Culture Society Honors Duriel Harris for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry
Dr. Harris has served as a professor of poetry and poetics at Illinois State University for the past 15 years. Her teaching and academic interests include poetry writing, poetics, and African American literature.
White People More Likely to Stand Up to Racism on Social Media When Setting Social Norms
A new study from the University of Illinois and the University of California, Santa Barbara found that White people were more likely to confront racism on social media if their goal was to set social norms rather than change the author's personal beliefs.
Three African American Faculty Members Appointed to New Positions
Cynthia Oliver has been named to a Gutgsell Endowed Chair at the University of Illinois. Najja Baptist was named director of African and African-American Studies Program in the history department at the University of Arkansas and associate professor BJ Arnett was appointed chair of the department of art and fashion at Clark Atlanta University.
A Trio of African American Scholars Taking on New Faculty Roles
The three Black scholars in new roles are Nikia A. Laurie at North Carolina Central University, Christopher Freeburg at the University of Illinois, and Dawn M. Turner at Oakwood University in Alabama.
Conrad Tucker Has Been Named Director of Carnegie Mellon University in Africa
Dr. Tucker is currently serving as interim director of the Kigali, Rwanda College of Engineering location. He is also a professor of mechanical engineering and holds courtesy faculty appointments in machine learning, robotics, and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Two African Americans Appointed to University Dean Positions
Jamelle Sharpe is the new dean of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law and Natasha Hutson has been appointed as dean of University College at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.
The Next Leader of the School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago
Nadya Mason has been serving as the Rosalyn S. Yalow Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also served as the director of the University of Illinois' Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.
Lorrie Frasure to Lead the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA
Dr. Frasure joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007. She was the first woman of color and the first Black woman to earn tenure and promotion to full professor in the political science department at the university. As the new director of the center, she will hold the inaugural Ralph J. Bunche Endowed Chair.
Three African Americans Taking on New Diversity-Related Roles in Higher Education
Taking on new administrative roles relating to diversity are Nicholas M. Creary at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Vermont, Nicole Del Castillo at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Marc Reed at Grinnell College in Iowa.
Vanderbilt University Scholar Has Established the “Possibilities Project”
The Possibilities Project, under the direction of Chezare Warren, an associate professor of leadership policy, and organizations at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development “is an arts-informed knowledge hub committed to improving Black students’ well-being in education and beyond.”
Land Conservation Measures May Be Widening the Racial Wealth Gap
A new study by researchers at the University of Rhode Island and the University of Illinois finds that protecting open space from development increases the value of surrounding homes. But a disproportionate amount of that newly generated wealth goes to high-income White households.
Sean Edmund Rogers Named Dean of the College of Business at the University of Rhode Island
Currently, Dr. Rogers serves as vice president for community, equity, and diversity at the University of Rhode Island. He also holds two faculty appointments — professor of management and the Spachman Professor of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Dr. Rogers joined the university's faculty in 2018.
In Memoriam: Doris Adelaide Derby, 1939-2022
Dr. Derby, a noted photographer of the civil rights era, went on to teach African-American studies and anthropology at the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
In Memoriam: Clarence Shelly, 1931-2022
In 1968, Clarence Shelly was hired as the inaugural director of the Special Education Opportunities Program at the University of Illinois, one of the nation’s earliest and largest recruitment efforts of Black and students of color.
Jennifer Brown Will Be the Next Provost at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Dr. Brown is currently the vice provost and dean for undergraduate education at the University of California, Riverside. Prior to joining the University of California, Riverside in 2018, Dr. Brown served as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at Oregon State University. She began her faculty career at Purdue University in 2004. She will begin her new duties on April 1.
Serena Eley Wins Award for Scholarship, Mentoring, and Service in the Field of Physics
Serena Eley, an assistant professor of physics at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, studies the dynamics of vortices in superconductors and skyrmions (nanoscale whirlpools of magnetic moments) in magnetic materials.
University of Illinois Scholar Cynthia Oliver Named a Doris Duke Artist
Cynthia Oliver is an award-winning dancemaker, performer, and a professor of dance at the University of Illinois. She also serves as associate vice chancellor for research and innovation in the humanities at the university.
Three African American Women Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions
Venetria K. Patton was appointed the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Michelle Corley was named dean of the College of Engineering, Science, Technology, and Agriculture at Central State University in Ohio and Toneyce S. Randolph was appointed dean of academic services at Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
CalTech’s Ibrahim Cissé Awarded the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science
The $100,000 prize is awarded annually to young immigrant scientists living and working in the United States "whose early-career work exemplifies outstanding scientific accomplishment, and presents a significant contribution to their field of study."
Black Women Who “Hunker Down” in High Violence Areas Have Altered Genes in Immune Cells
The chronic stress of living in neighborhoods with high rates of violence and poverty alters gene activity in immune cells, according to a new study of low-income single Black mothers on the South Side of Chicago conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Kentucky and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Esther Ngumbi Honored for Work to Enhance Public Engagement With Science
Esther Ngumbi, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Illinois, is the 2021 recipient of the Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science, an annual award given out by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Previous winners have included Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Trevor Bates Is the New President of Wilmington College in Ohio
Dr. Trevor Bates was the vice president of academic affairs, dean of faculty, and professor of health sciences at Mercy College of Ohio, which has campuses in Toledo and Youngstown. He is the nineteenth president in the 150-year history of Wilmington College.
Cornell’s Derrick Spires Wins First Book Award From the Modern Language Association
In the book, Dr. Spires, an associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, examines the parallel development of early Black print culture and legal and cultural understandings of U.S. citizenship between 1787 and 1861.
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.
Racial Microaggressions May Be Pushing Black Students Out of STEM Disciplines
The study by researchers at the University of Illinois found when students of color in STEM majors felt excluded, invisible, or isolated on their college campus because of their race, sometimes combined with discouraging experiences in academic settings, they were less likely to continue in STEM.
Four African American Scholars Who Have Been Hired or Promoted to New Positions
Taking on new roles are Reuben A. Buford May at the University of Illinois, Sidney Edwards at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, Franciska Coleman at the University of Wisconsin Law School, and Therí Pickens at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Northwestern University’s Carol D. Lee Selected to Lead the National Academy of Education
Dr. Lee served as Edwina S. Tarry Professor of Education and Social Policy and as a professor of African American studies at Northwestern University. She became professor emerita in 2019. Professor Lee will serve a four-year term as president of the National Academy of Education beginning in November 2021.
A Trio of African American Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments
Taking on new roles at Cynthia Oliver, a professor of dance at the University of Illinois, Bradford Grant a professor architecture at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Alexander X. Byrd, an associate professor of history at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
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.
Cornell University’s Derrick Spires Wins the St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize
The award, given by the Bibliographical Society of America, honors research in the bibliography of American literature and history. Dr. Spires is an associate professor of English at Cornell University. He joined the faculty last fall after teaching at the University of Illinois.
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.
In Memoriam: Ivery Dwight Clifton, 1943-2020
Ivery Clifton was a professor emeritus in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia. In 1994, he was the first African American in the university's history to serve in the role of dean.
In Memoriam: James A. Donaldson, 1941-2019
Dr. Donaldson joined the faculty at Howard University in 1971. He chaired the Howard University mathematics department from 1972 to 1990. In this position, he developed the first doctoral program in mathematics at a historically Black university.
Five Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments in the Academic World
Taking on new roles are L. Trenton S. Marsh at the University of Central Florida, Nadya Mason at the University of Illinois, Ariel James at Malcaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota, Keena Arbuthnot at Louisiana State University, and Trevon Logan at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Noose Found in a Residence Hall on the Campus of the University of Illinois
The on-campus group Black Students for Revolution issued a statement expressing disappointment that two days after the noose was found campus officials had not made any statement about the incident.
