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 contact@jbhe.com.
A longtime member of the University of Arkansas community, Dr. Murphy-Erby was the first woman to serve as vice chancellor of diversity and inclusion at the institution. She was a full professor of social work who studied family well-being in underserved populations and the child welfare system.
A Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Boutte is a scholar of promoting anti-racism and pro-Blackness within education.
"Leading UAPB is more than a role - it is a calling - as the university has a proud legacy of producing transformative servant leaders. I look forward to elevating the UAPB brand, which is synonymous with excellence," said Dr. Graham.
Dr. Chavis currently teaches as an assistant professor of conflict resolution and serves as the founding director of the John Mitchell, Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
“I’m honored to take on this new role at AACTE, an organization with such a rich tradition of leadership, advocacy, and innovation,” Dr. Holcomb-McCoy said. She will assume her new role in January after eight years as dean of School of Education at American University.
Dr. Pitre-Martin currently serves as director of UNC Greensboro's SERVE Center. She has significant experience in North Carolina public service, previously serving in several roles within the Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.
Earlier in her career, Bonita Brown served as an assistant attorney with Winston-Salem State University. On July 1, she will return to the historically Black university as its fourteenth chancellor.
Dr. Dixon has spent the past eight years as chancellor of Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. During her tenure, the university experienced significant growth in enrollment, funding, and employee morale.
Taking on new administrative roles are Phillip D. Jones at Hampton University in Virginia, Karla C. Lewis at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Andrea Simpson at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Camacia Smith-Ross at Southern University New Orleans, and Zenobia Lane at Santa Clara University in California.
Gene Andrew Jarrett was appointed dean of the faculty at Princeton University in New Jersey. Debra J. Barksdale will be the next dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Keith A. Alford will become dean of the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work.
Fortune Mhlanga was named the founding dean of the School of Applied Computational Sciences at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. Debra J. Barksdale will be the next dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Roger A. Fairfax, Jr. has been named dean of the College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C.
Prior to coming to Clark State Community College in 2019, Dr. Hunter served at Florida State College-Jacksonville as the dean of education and human services and as a faculty member for more than seven years. Earlier, she worked for Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.
Graham was appointed assistant director of Greek life at Florida State in 2014. He was promoted to director of sorority and fraternity life in 2016. Graham is the first Black man and the youngest person ever elected president of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors.
After teaching in the public schools, Dr. Turner joined the faculty at Barber-Scotia College in Concord, North Carolina, and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. In 1971, she was the first African American to join the English department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Collecting for the project is ongoing, and the archive is particularly interested in photographs, video, protest signs, clothing, flyers, posters, and creative works. The material can be historic, originating with the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, as well as current.
The Digital Library on American Slavery at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has been recognized as the first online stop in the National Park Service's network of Underground Railroad historical sites.
Bunmi Olatunji was named associate dean of academic affairs at the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University. Monica Lynn Miles has been named associate director of the University at Buffalo’s Great Lakes Program and Pamela Johnson Rowsey was appointed to a named professorship at UNC-Greensboro.
Brown, the director of library services at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, is the first president of the American Library Association who is currently a librarian at a historically Black university. She is the sixth African American to hold the presidency of the ALA.
After 20 years in the public schools of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Dr. Scales joined the staff at historically Black Winston-Salem State University. She served as dean of women, director of student affairs and assistant vice chancellor of student affairs and development.