Tagged: University of Memphis

Rogers walked-on to the football team at what was then Memphis State University in 1968, making him the institution's first Black football player. After graduating in 1972, he spent the next four decades as a coach and administrator with Memphis-area schools.

Dr. Comer has extensive experience as an advocate for HBCUs and African American business education serving on the board of trustees for Stillman College and LeMoyne-Owen College. He will assume his new duties on August 1.

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 five Black scholars who aer taking on new roles are Khadene Harris at Rice University in Houston, Nakia Melecio at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Bettina Drake at Washington University in St. Louis, Arlette Ngoubene Atioky at Goucher College in Maryland, and Kandi Hill-Clarke at the University of Memphis.

Taking on new administrative roles are Keith Humphrey at the University of Memphis, DeMarcus Hopson at Georgetown College in Kentucky, Sonja Brown at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, Denisha Hendricks at Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, and CJ Charlton at Delaware State University.

“I am indeed honored to receive this prestigious award named for a person who meant so much to the study of Communication," said Dr. Johnson. “My aim is to continue to serve and work in ways that not only highlight and center Africana communication but also to continue to build on the legacy of Dr. Orlando Taylor.”

Julius B. Fleming, Jr., assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, is the winner of the Hooks National Book Award from the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis.

Leslee Battle has been appointed dean of the School of Health Sciences at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. Okenwa Okoli will be the next dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Memphis and Paula Montgomery is the new interim dean of the College of Education at the University of Louisiana Lafayette.

Professor Allen joined the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2021 as associate dean for research and faculty development and professor of law. She was named interim dean of the law school earlier this year.

Alena Allen, associate dean for research and faculty development and professor of law, has been named interim dean of the law school. Before joining the Arkansas faculty in 2021, she taught for 10 years at at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis has named Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as the 2020 Hooks National Book Award Winner for her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America.

David H. Jackson Jr. has been appointed provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at North Carolina Central University.

The prestigious Grammy Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools.

Nearly, a decade after she was not allowed to enroll at what is now the University of Memphis because of the color of her skin, Dr. Decosta-Wilis was hired as the university's first Black faculty member. She also taught at Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Howard University in Washington, D.C., George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Historically Black Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and the University of Memphis today announced a new multi-level collaboration to expand opportunities for education, training, and research for Black medical students and the communities they serve in West Tennessee.

Jervette R. Ward is an associate professor of English at Mississippi State University. Founded in 1937, the College Language Association is comprised of English and world language educators and publishes scholarly books of critical essays and bibliographical references.

Dr. Wells began teaching criminal justice at the University of Memphis in 2013. Before coming to Memphis, he was appointed by the governor to serve as the Parole Board Chief in Wisconsin. He also served as a lieutenant with the Milwaukee Police Department for 27 years.

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis has created two endowed funds which will enable the Institute to further the work of social change championed by Benjamin L. Hooks and his wife Frances Dancy Hooks, two stalwarts of the civil rights struggle.

Starting in middle school, the initiative will identify, recruit, and induct African American male students into a culture of inclusive excellence. These students will be set on a path toward college completion.

Mary Schmidt Campbell's An American Odyssey is a telling biography of the artist Romare Bearden, whose iconic collages conveyed the richness and complexity of African American life in the civil rights era.