Howard University Is the Top Feeder Institution for Black Doctoral Recipients in the Sciences and Engineering
The National Science Foundation has released data showing that for the five-year period from 2004 to 2008, 100 black students who earned doctoral degrees in science and engineering disciplines spent their undergraduate years at Howard University. Florida A&M University in Tallahassee ranked second sending 77 graduates on to science and engineering doctorates in the period. Spelman College in Atlanta ranked third, producing 71 graduates who went on to win a doctorate in science or engineering from 2004 to 2008.
The predominantly white undergraduate institution that produced the most black graduates who went on to earn a science or engineering doctorate in the five-year period was the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The University of Maryland at College Park ranked second, followed by the University of California at Berkeley.
Record Number of Students Apply to Historically Black South Carolina State University
Historically black South Carolina State University reports that it has received a record number of applications this year from prospective students. The university stated that it has received more than 6,000 applications this year, an increase of more than 12 percent from the 5,329 applications that came in last year.
Historically Black Meharry Medical College Benefits From the Settlement of a Class-Action Lawsuit
In 2010 Solvay Pharmaceuticals reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by women who had taken its Estratest medication, a hormone-replacement drug for the treatment of symptoms of menopause. As part of the settlement the manufacturer agreed to distribute $8.9 million to nonprofit organizations that are conducting research on menopausal or post-menopausal treatments.
Meharry Medical College, the historically black medical school in Nashville, Tennessee, has been selected to receive more than $1 million of the settlement money. Meharry will use the funds to support the operations at its Center for Women’s Health Research.
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Academic Advisor I (UCP 5),
The Academic Center for Exploratory Students
The Academic Center for Exploratory Students (ACES) at the University of Connecticut is seeking applicants for the position of Academic Advisor I. The successful candidate will work as part of a team of advisors who provide academic advising primarily for first and second year students. The population advised in ACES includes a significant number of students who are undecided about their majors as well as students who are planning to apply to one of UConn’s schools or colleges. ACES advisors provide individual advising, participate in First Year Experience courses, conduct and participate in workshops and other advising-related programs, and assist with outreach to prospective students, continuing students, faculty, and staff.
Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate field; one to two years experience advising students in a college or university setting; strong communication skills; willingness and ability to work occasional evenings and weekends.
Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree; experience teaching and/or conducting workshops; experience working with diverse populations.
This is a full time, one-year, end-date appointment which may be renewed annually based on funding. Salary is in the low 40’s and includes full benefits.
To Apply: Log onto Husky Hire and apply on-line at http://www.jobs.uconn.edu, submitting a cover letter, resume, and the names and contact information for three professional references. Screening will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The University of Connecticut is an EEO/AA employer. (Search # 2011495)
Alliance of Artists at HBCUs Joins the College Art Association
The College Art Association (CAA), based in New York City, was founded in 1911. The organization, which has 14,000 members, was created to promote excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts and in creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practices of art.
The CAA has dozens of what it calls “affiliated societies” whose goals to promote art education are similar to those espoused by the CAA. Recently the CAA approved the application of the National Alliance of Artists From Historically Black Colleges and Universities (NAAHBCU) as an affiliated society. The NAAHBCU was founded in 2000 on the campus of Morris Brown College in Atlanta to support artists and scholars of art at black colleges and universities. For more information on the group, click here.
Black Enrollments in Higher Education Predicted to Increase by 30 Percent by 2019
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education estimates that in the year 2019, there will be 3,370,000 African Americans enrolled in degree-granting higher education institutions in the United States. This would be a 30 percent increase in enrollments from 2008.
Overall enrollments in higher education are predicted to rise 17 percent by 2019. White student enrollments will increase 7 percent, according to the predictive model.
New Bachelor’s Degree Approved at Historically Black Alabama A&M
Historically black Alabama A&M University in Huntsville has been authorized to offer a new bachelor’s degree program in logistics and supply chain management through the institution’s School of Business. Previously, degree candidates in business administration could concentrate in logistics and supply chain management. About 15 students each year choose this curriculum track. Beginning next fall, students can elect to major in the discipline. The goal is to build the program to about 40 graduates each year. The plan is to have half the curriculum available online.
Blacks Are Nearly 12 Percent of Admitted Students at Harvard
Harvard University accepted only 6.2 percent of its nearly 35,000 applicants for the Class of 2015. Of the students Harvard accepted, 11.8 percent are African Americans.
In Memoriam
Robert L. Rollins (1929-2011)
Robert L. Rollins, who served as special assistant to the president, associate vice president for academic affairs, and assistant to the provost at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, died last month at his home. He was 81 years old.
Rollins attended high school in West Palm Beach, Florida, and was recruited to play football at Florida A&M. In 1952 he was a distinguished military graduate of the university and went on to serve in the U.S. Army for 20 years. During his tenure in the army, Rollins served in combat during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Appointments, Promotions, and Resignations
• Albert D. Sam II, a vascular surgeon and clinical assistant professor at the medical school of Louisiana State University, was named by Governor Bobby Jindal to the Louisiana Board of Regents. He is the only black member of the board.
Dr. Sam is a graduate of Morehouse College and the medical school at Duke University.
• Artis Hampshire-Cowan, senior vice president and secretary at Howard University, was appointed to the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Hampshire-Cowan is a graduate of Morris Brown College and the Temple University Law Center.
• Justin D. McKenzie was appointed associate provost and chief information officer at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. He was associate vice president and chief information officer at the Florida Institute of Technology.
McKenzie holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi. He holds an MBA and is currently working toward a doctorate from William Carey University.
• William C. Hunter, dean of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, has announced that he will retire at the close of the academic year. He has served as dean for the past five years.
A graduate of Hampton University, Dr. Hunter holds an MBA and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.
• Freddie L. Parker, interim chair of the department of history at North Carolina Central University, was named chair of the North Carolina African-American Heritage Commission.
Dr. Parker holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Carolina Central University and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Melvin McBean was appointed student activities supervisor at the St. Thomas campus of the University of the Virgin Islands. He was teaching English as a second language to students at the Wall Street Institute in Hamburg, Germany.
McBean holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• Norman Fortenberry, founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education at the National Academy of Engineering, was appointed executive director of the American Society for Engineering Education.
Dr. Fortenberry holds bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees from MIT.
• Valerie Montgomery Rice was named dean and executive vice president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She will assume her new position in June. Dr. Rice currently serves as professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Rice received her medical training at Harvard Medical School.
Grants and Gifts
• Historically black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina received a $120,000 grant from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation that will be used to fund student scholarships during the 2011-12 academic year.
• Virginia Tech was awarded a five-year, $1.47 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to establish university programs to manage agricultural production in southern Sudan. Historically black Virginia State University will participate in the grant program along with the University of Juba and the Catholic University of Sudan.
• Jackson State University, the historically black educational institution in Mississippi, was awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant, under the direction of Glake Hill, an associate professor of chemistry at Jackson State, will fund programs seeking to increase the number of students pursuing doctoral degrees in chemistry and biology.
Art Professor Chosen to Create a Monument to the First Black Student at the University of Arkansas
Bryan Winfred Massey Sr., a professor of art at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, has been selected to create a monument on the campus of the University of Arkansas to honor Silas Hunt, the first black student to enroll at the university. Hunt, a graduate of what is now the historically black University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, enrolled at the University of Arkansas law school in 1948. He died from tuberculosis a year later without completing his degree. The law school awarded Hunt a posthumous honorary degree in 2008.
Massey will create a nine-foot abstract sculpture made of steel, bronze, and limestone to honor Hunt. The sculpture, funded through private donations, is expected to be completed this coming fall.
Pennsylvania Community College Has Success in Boosting Retention Rate of Black Male Students
Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, like many of its peer institutions, has had poor retention and graduation rates, particularly for black men. Blacks make up about 9 percent of the 11,000-member student body at the two-year college. Only about 10 percent of black students who enroll obtain an associate’s degree at the college within three years.
In an effort to boost black male retention, the college established the Spartan Pros program. Participants in the program meet with a faculty adviser once every two weeks. In addition, the participants meet in a group to discuss any problems they confront.
The program has had initial success. Of the 22 black males who enrolled in the program, 20 are still enrolled at Northampton and one transferred to a four-year college. Only one of the 22 black males dropped out of school.
New Master’s Degree Program Established at Alabama State University
Historically black Alabama State University in Montgomery has received approval for a master’s degree program in prosthetics and orthotics. The field involves the evaluation and fabrication of artificial limbs and orthopedic braces.
Alabama State will be the only university in the state to offer a master’s degree program in this field and one of only 11 programs in the United States. The university plans to enroll the first students in the program in the fall of 2012.
Five American Universities Form Partnerships With Five Ethiopian Universities
The U.S. State Department in conjunction with the Institute of International Education has provided grants to foster cooperative partnerships between five universities in Ethiopia and five counterparts in the United States. The partnerships will involve academic research, curriculum development, and student and faculty exchange programs.
The five American universities participating in the program are Langston University, the historically black educational institution in Oklahoma, the University of Florida, Cornell University, Washington State University, and the historically black University of the District of Columbia.
Fostering Ties Between HBCUs and Brazilian Universities
On his recent trip to Brazil, President Obama made a pledge to strengthen ties between Brazilian and American universities. As part of the plan, a delegation from Brazil will attend a conference in Washington this coming September with leaders of American historically black colleges and universities. The goal is to foster ideas of how black colleges and Brazilian universities can cooperate to increase educational opportunities for disadvantaged groups in both countries.
Ronald E. Peters Takes the Helm of the Interdenominational Theological Center
Tomorrow, Ronald Evers Peters will be inaugurated as the eighth president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. A native of New Orleans and ordained in the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Peters is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He holds a master of divinity degree from the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and an educational doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
New Center on Race and Democracy Launched at Arizona State University
Arizona State University has announced the establishment of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy on its Tempe campus. The new center will include scholars from several departments and schools including law, political science, English, sociology, anthropology, and religion. As a kickoff event, the center held a conference late last month entitled “Barack Obama and American Democracy.”
The founding director of the new center is Matthew C. Whitaker, an associate professor of history at Arizona State, where he has been on the faculty for the past decade. Professor Whitaker has bachelor’s degrees in sociology and U.S. history and a master’s degree in history from Arizona State Universit. He has a Ph.D. in history from Michigan State University. His latest book is Hurricane Katrina: America's Unnatural Disaster (University of Nebraska Press, 2009).
Recent Books That May Be of Interest to African-American Scholars
The JBHE Weekly Bulletin regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. Here are the latest selections.Click on any of the titles for more information or to purchase via Amazon.
• Caesar Andrews, Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics at Arizona State University, received the 2011 Robert G. McGruder Award from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University for his efforts to increase diversity in journalism. A graduate of Grambling State University in Louisiana, Andrews is the former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press.
• Ken Ofori-Atta, cofounder and executive chair of Databank Financial Services in Ghana, received the John Jay Award from Columbia University for his efforts to build the investment banking industry in Ghana.
Ofori-Atta is a 1984 graduate of Columbia University and holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
• Samuel R. Moore, a former public school teacher in West Virginia and current secretary of the Black Pastors Ministerial Association, received the Community Achievement Award from the Marshall University Alumni Association.
• This past Tuesday, Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, received the John Jay Justice Award for National Leadership from John Jay College of the City University of New York.
• The Equal Opportunity in Engineering Program at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas received the Engineering Impact Award for its efforts to increase diversity in engineering education. The award was presented by ExxonMobil and the National Society of Black Engineers.
Past Issues - JBHE Weekly Bulletin (select from menu below)
The National Science Foundation has released data showing that for the five-year period from 2004 to 2008, 100 black students who earned doctoral degrees in science and engineering disciplines spent their undergraduate years at Howard University. Florida A&M University in Tallahassee ranked second sending 77 graduates on to science and engineering doctorates in the period. Spelman College in Atlanta ranked third, producing 71 graduates who went on to win a doctorate in science or engineering from 2004 to 2008. 
Historically black South Carolina State University reports that it has received a record number of applications this year from prospective students. The university stated that it has received more than 6,000 applications this year, an increase of more than 12 percent from the 5,329 applications that came in last year. 
The College Art Association (CAA), based in New York City, was founded in 1911. The organization, which has 14,000 members, was created to promote excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts and in creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practices of art.
Historically black Alabama A&M University in Huntsville has been authorized to offer a new bachelor’s degree program in logistics and supply chain management through the institution’s School of Business. Previously, degree candidates in business administration could concentrate in logistics and supply chain management. About 15 students each year choose this curriculum track. Beginning next fall, students can elect to major in the discipline. The goal is to build the program to about 40 graduates each year. The plan is to have half the curriculum available online.
Robert L. Rollins, who served as special assistant to the president, associate vice president for academic affairs, and assistant to the provost at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, died last month at his home. He was 81 years old.
• Albert D. Sam II, a vascular surgeon and clinical assistant professor at the medical school of Louisiana State University, was named by Governor Bobby Jindal to the Louisiana Board of Regents. He is the only black member of the board.
• Artis Hampshire-Cowan, senior vice president and secretary at Howard University, was appointed to the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
• Justin D. McKenzie was appointed associate provost and chief information officer at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. He was associate vice president and chief information officer at the Florida Institute of Technology.
• William C. Hunter, dean of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, has announced that he will retire at the close of the academic year. He has served as dean for the past five years. 
• Freddie L. Parker, interim chair of the department of history at North Carolina Central University, was named chair of the North Carolina African-American Heritage Commission.
• Melvin McBean was appointed student activities supervisor at the St. Thomas campus of the University of the Virgin Islands. He was teaching English as a second language to students at the Wall Street Institute in Hamburg, Germany.
• Norman Fortenberry, founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education at the National Academy of Engineering, was appointed executive director of the American Society for Engineering Education.
• Valerie Montgomery Rice was named dean and executive vice president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She will assume her new position in June. Dr. Rice currently serves as professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
• Jackson State University, the historically black educational institution in Mississippi, was awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant, under the direction of Glake Hill, an associate professor of chemistry at Jackson State, will fund programs seeking to increase the number of students pursuing doctoral degrees in chemistry and biology.
Bryan Winfred Massey Sr., a professor of art at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, has been selected to create a monument on the campus of the University of Arkansas to honor Silas Hunt, the first black student to enroll at the university. Hunt, a graduate of what is now the historically black University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, enrolled at the University of Arkansas law school in 1948. He died from tuberculosis a year later without completing his degree. The law school awarded Hunt a posthumous honorary degree in 2008. 
Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, like many of its peer institutions, has had poor retention and graduation rates, particularly for black men. Blacks make up about 9 percent of the 11,000-member student body at the two-year college. Only about 10 percent of black students who enroll obtain an associate’s degree at the college within three years. 
Historically black Alabama State University in Montgomery has received approval for a master’s degree program in prosthetics and orthotics. The field involves the evaluation and fabrication of artificial limbs and orthopedic braces.
The U.S. State Department in conjunction with the Institute of International Education has provided grants to foster cooperative partnerships between five universities in Ethiopia and five counterparts in the United States. The partnerships will involve academic research, curriculum development, and student and faculty exchange programs.
On his recent trip to Brazil, President Obama made a pledge to strengthen ties between Brazilian and American universities. As part of the plan, a delegation from Brazil will attend a conference in Washington this coming September with leaders of American historically black colleges and universities. The goal is to foster ideas of how black colleges and Brazilian universities can cooperate to increase educational opportunities for disadvantaged groups in both countries. 
Tomorrow, Ronald Evers Peters will be inaugurated as the eighth president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. A native of New Orleans and ordained in the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Peters is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He holds a master of divinity degree from the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and an educational doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Arizona State University has announced the establishment of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy on its Tempe campus. The new center will include scholars from several departments and schools including law, political science, English, sociology, anthropology, and religion. As a kickoff event, the center held a conference late last month entitled “Barack Obama and American Democracy.”
The founding director of the new center is Matthew C. Whitaker, an associate professor of history at Arizona State, where he has been on the faculty for the past decade. Professor Whitaker has bachelor’s degrees in sociology and U.S. history and a master’s degree in history from Arizona State Universit. He has a Ph.D. in history from Michigan State University. His latest book is 
The JBHE Weekly Bulletin regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. Here are the latest selections.Click on any of the titles for more information or to purchase via Amazon.
• Caesar Andrews, Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics at Arizona State University, received the 2011 Robert G. McGruder Award from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University for his efforts to increase diversity in journalism. A graduate of Grambling State University in Louisiana, Andrews is the former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press.
• Ken Ofori-Atta, cofounder and executive chair of Databank Financial Services in Ghana, received the John Jay Award from Columbia University for his efforts to build the investment banking industry in Ghana. 
• Samuel R. Moore, a former public school teacher in West Virginia and current secretary of the Black Pastors Ministerial Association, received the Community Achievement Award from the Marshall University Alumni Association.
• This past Tuesday, Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, received the John Jay Justice Award for National Leadership from John Jay College of the City University of New York.
