In 2011, 223,000 African American high school seniors took the American College Testing Program's ACT college entrance examination. This is an increase of 47 percent from 2007.
The ACT test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36. For blacks the average ACT test score in 2011 was 17.0. While there was a slight improvement from last year’s average score of 16.9, this year’s score is exactly the same average score that black students achieved in 2007.
For whites the average ACT score in 2007 was 22.6. By 2011 the average white score had improved a full point to 23.6. Thus, while whites are showing improvement, blacks are not and the racial gap in ACT scores is increasing.
African-American Progress in Dental School Enrollments Hits a Wall
In 2000 there were 632 African Americans enrolled in U.S. dental schools. They made up 4.8 percent of all U.S. dental students. By 2005, the number of blacks enrolled in dental schools increased to 1,060. That year, blacks were 5.7 percent of the total enrollments in U.S. dental schools.
But since that time, the progress has halted. In the 2009-10 academic year, blacks remained stuck at 5.7 percent of all dental school enrollments.
WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS
Fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson Center
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is pleased to announce the opening of its 2012-2013 Fellowship competition. The Center awards approximately 20-25 academic year residential fellowships to individuals from any country with outstanding project proposals on national and/or international issues. The Center accepts non-advocacy, policy-relevant, fellowship proposals that address key challenges of past, present, and future issues confronting the United States and the world. Applicants must hold a doctorate or have equivalent professional experience. The Center also supports projects that intersect with contemporary policy issues and provide the historical and/or cultural context for some of today's significant public policy issues.
Fellows are provided stipends (which include round trip travel), private offices, Windows based personal computers, loan privileges with the Library of Congress, and part-time research assistants.
Penn State Scholar to Lead the University of Belize
Cary F. Fraser, an associate professor of African and African-American studies at Pennsylvania State University, was named president of the University of Belize in Central America. The university has about 4,000 undergraduate students.
Dr. Fraser is a graduate of the University of Guyana. He holds a master’s degree from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago and a Ph.D. in international relations and history from the Graduate Institute for International Studies at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Dr. Fraser has been on the faculty at Penn State since 1996. He is the former director of Penn State’s Africana Research Center.
New Law School Scholarship Honors the First Black Federal Judge in Arkansas
The William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has established a new scholarship program to honor George Howard Jr., the first African-American federal judge in Arkansas.
The Judge George Howard Jr. Memorial Scholarship is funded by contributions from his widow and daughter, who is a professor at the law school.
Judge Howard, who died in 2007, was one of six African Americans who were the first to enroll at the law school of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He earned his law degree there in 1954 after completing undergraduate work at Lincoln University in Missouri. He was named to the federal bench in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.
The federal court house in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, is named in his honor.
Illinois Launches Official Investigation of Racial Disparities in Education and Other Facets of Life
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed legislation creating the Commission to End the Disparities Facing the African-American Community. The commission will conduct research on racial disparities in healthcare, employment, education, housing, and criminal justice. It will issue a report on its findings and make recommendations on how to eliminate the disparities by the end of 2013.
Staff and administrative support will be provided by the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
African Development Bank Program Aims to Increase the Number of Rwandan Women in the Sciences
In the African nation of Rwanda, girls make up nearly half of the total enrollments at the high school level. But only 14 percent of the students in higher education in Rwanda are women.
A new program funded by the African Development Bank is aiming to increase the number of women studying in science and technology disciplines. Students accepted into the program typically fall short of the qualifications for entry into higher education programs in these fields. But they are given a six-month, intensive training program in science with the hope that at the end of the program the women will qualify for university admission.
To date 191 women have been accepted into the program. Results for the first group of women who participated in the program show that they are able to gain admission and perform well once enrolled in higher education.
U.S. COAST GUARD ACADEMY
Assistant Professor/Associate Professor/Professor
of Mathematics
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy, located in New London, Connecticut, invites applications for a full-time ten-month tenure track faculty position in the Department of Mathematics for the academic year beginning 2012.
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is a highly selective federal military college providing a rigorous undergraduate program. In addition, the Coast Guard Academy provides the professional education and training required to prepare young women and men for careers as commissioned officers in the U. S. Coast Guard--the nation’s oldest continuous sea-going service--which is well-known for its humanitarian missions.
Applicants should be committed to outstanding undergraduate teaching in the Department of Mathematics, which offers courses in Mathematics, Operations Research, Statistics, and Computer Programming & Databases.
A Ph.D. in Operations Research, Statistics, or in a related academic discipline is strongly preferred, as is undergraduate teaching experience. Excellent interpersonal, teaching, and written and oral communications skills are essential. Minority and women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Amber Hunter was named director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She is the first African-American to hold the position and is the youngest admissions director in university history. For the past five years she has been associate admissions director. She has been on the admissions staff at the University of Nebraska since 2002.
Hunter is a graduate of the University of Kansas. She holds a master's degree from the University of Nebraska and is currently pursuing an educational doctorate at UNL.
• Valerie Williams, vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, was named chair-elect of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The AAMC represents all 134 accredited U.S. medical schools as well as 17 medical schools in Canada. Dr. Williams will serve one year as chair-elect and then serve as head of the association in 2013.
Dr. Williams has been a faculty member and administrator at the University of Oklahoma since 1989. Previously she was assistant to the president at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Syracuse University and a doctorate in allied health sciences from the University of Oklahoma.
• James W. Harrington Jr. was named vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Washington at Tacoma. He has been a professor of geography at the University of Washington since 1997.
A graduate of Harvard University, Dr. Harrington holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Washington.
• Sean L. Huddleston was named director of intercultural training at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. He is the founder of the Peerless Group, a management consulting firm.
Huddleston is a graduate of Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan.
• Beatrice Forniss is the new president-elect of the Alabama State University National Alumni Association. She is the director of the Resources and Economic Assistance Programs for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.
Forniss holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Alabama State University.
• Neil Henry, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, has announced he is stepping down to return to full-time teaching. He has led the school first as interim dean and then dean since 2007.
Dean Henry is the former Africa bureau chief for the Washington Post and was a staff writer for Newsweek. He has served on the Berkeley faculty since 1993.
A graduate of Princeton University, Henry earned a master’s degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
• William S. Kisaalita was appointed associate director of the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities at the University of Georgia. He is a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the university.
Professor Kisaalita has been on the faculty at the University of Georgia for 20 years.
Racial Disparity Found in Approvals of Grants by the National Institutes of Health
A new study led by Donna K. Ginther, a professor of economics at the University of Kansas and published in the journal Science, found that black scientists were 13 percentage points less likely than white scientists to win grants from the National Institutes of Health. The study, conducted with the cooperation of the NIH, found that about 30 percent of all grant applications were approved. The racial gap in approval rates results in the fact that whites are twice as likely to win approval of grant proposals than blacks.
NIH director Francis S. Collins issued a statement saying, “The data is deeply troubling. This situation is not acceptable.”
The authors of the study could not explain the racial discrepancy. Even when adjusting the data to take factors into account such as educational background, professional publishing record, and country of origin, a 10 percentage point racial gap remained. The authors concluded that the only remaining explanations could be differences in the quality of applications or some form of racial bias.
Professor Ginther stated, “In order to improve the health outcomes of all Americans, it’s important for the biomedical workforce to reflect the diversity of the population. As the population becomes increasingly diverse, we will continue to get further from that goal unless the community intervenes.”
Black Freshman Enrollments Are Up 8 Percent at the University of South Carolina: But the Record Over the Past Decade Is Poor
This fall, the University of South Carolina has the largest freshman class in its history. There are more than 4,550 first-year students on campus.
Black freshman enrollments are up about 8 percent from a year ago, when 287 black freshmen enrolled. While African Americans make up 28 percent of the college-age population in South Carolina, blacks make up only 7 percent of the first-year enrollments at the state’s flagship university. Women make up 55 percent of black first-year students.
The latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Education show that in 2009 blacks make up 11 percent of the total undergraduate enrollments at the University of South Carolina. This figure is likely to drop due to smaller percentage of blacks in the first-year classes in each of the last two years. In 2001, 18.7 percent of the undergraduate students at the University of South Carolina were black.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES
Senior Scientific Advisor for Clinical &
Translational Research in Digestive Diseases
Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition (DDDN) National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services
THE POSITION: The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is seeking an exceptional candidate to serve as the Senior Scientific Advisor for Clinical & Translational Research in Digestive Diseases. The incumbent is responsible for developing and maintaining a program of clinical and translational research in diseases of the digestive system, including the alimentary tract, hepatobiliary system, and exocrine pancreas, and multi-system diseases in which there is prominent involvement of the digestive system. He/she will be responsible for strategic planning and monitoring of research opportunities and assisting the Director, DDDN in setting digestive diseases priorities, development and implementation of clinical study protocols, administrative oversight of compliance with established Federal rules and other clinical study policies, and oversight of study budgets including developing methods to carefully monitor and adjust funding in programs with variable demands for resources such as occur in clinical networks. The incumbent will also be responsible for leading complex studies typically through a steering committee, as well as coordinating input from multiple ICs and NIDDK staff. Research in the digestive system constitutes the largest single component of the Division’s activities, which totaled over $400 million in awards in FY2010. In addition to these activities, the incumbent advises the Director, DDDN and Director, NIDDK, on scientific and medical issues related to diseases of the digestive system. He/she serves as a scientific resource for multi-Divisional working groups within NIDDK and in other ICs and agencies; responds to scientific and medical inquiries from investigators, other NIH Institutes, Agencies and Departments of government and from the Congress; is designated as the representative of NIDDK at meetings, workshops and conferences organized by other ICs, Agencies and Departments and outside professional organizations on topics related to digestive diseases.
QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED: Applicants must possess an M.D. or equivalent degree, with sub-specialization in Gastroenterology, national recognition for research in digestive diseases, and administrative experience. In addition, experience in translational and clinical research is highly desirable.
SALARY/BENEFITS: Salary is commensurate with experience and a full package of Civil Service benefits is available, including: retirement, health and life insurance, long term care insurance, leave and savings plan (401K equivalent). This position is subject to a background investigation.
HOW TO APPLY: Curriculum Vitae, Bibliography, and three letters of recommendation must be received by October 31, 2011. Application packages should be sent to National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), 31 Center Drive, MSC 2560, Building 31, Room 9A-27, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. For further information, please call Janice Balin on (301) 594-7772.
DHHS and NIH are Equal Opportunity Employers
Cornell University Reports Sharp Increase in Black Freshmen
Cornell University reports that there are 209 African-American freshmen on campus this fall, up from 172 last year. That is an increase of 21.5 percent from a year ago. Blacks make up 6 percent of this year’s entering class, an increase from 5 percent in 2010.
Two African-American Scholars to Lead the Advisory Committee of the New Institute on Civic Engagement and Governance
Dianne M. Pinderhughes, a professor of Africana studies and a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, was named co-chair of the advisory committee for the Civic Engagement and Governance Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. The new institute will focus on promoting broader citizen engagement and political participation. Co-chairing the advisory committee will be Kurt L. Schmoke, the former mayor of Baltimore who is currently dean of the Howard University School of Law.
Professor Pinderhughes is a graduate of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.
Dean Schmoke is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. In 1973 he was selected as a Rhodes Scholar.
Correction: A previous version stated that Professor Pinderhughes and Dean Schmoke were leaders of the new institute, not the advisory committee.
Notre Dame Scholar Wins Book Award From the American Political Science Association
Christian Davenport, a professor of peace studies, political science, and sociology at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, received the award for best book on race, ethnicity, and politics from the American Political Science Association. Professor Christian was honored for his book, Media Bias, Perspective, and State Repression: The Black Panther Party, which was published by Cambridge University Press. Professor Davenport’s first book was State Repression and the Domestic Democratic Peace (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
This fall Professor Davenport is teaching a course entitled "Death by Government." He is working on three additional book projects. The first, which he has completed but has not yet been published, is entitled, To Kill a Movement. This book chronicles how governments repress social movements. He is also working on a book on political violence in Rwanda and a book on the “Untouchables” in India.
Professor Davenport is a graduate of Clark University. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from Binghamton University. Prior to coming to Notre Dame in 2008, he taught at the University of Maryland, the University of Houston, and the University of Colorado.
In Memoriam
Etta B. Stinson Williamson (1905-2011)
Etta B. Stinson Williamson, the oldest graduate of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, died last month at the age of 106.
Stinson was born in 1905 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. As a young girls she moved to Jackson, Tennessee. She graduated from Lane College in 1928 and had a 48-year career as a teacher in the public schools.
Wesley C. McClure, the current president of Lane College, had Williamson as his first-grade teacher.
EMERSON COLLEGE
Professor and Department Chair, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Emerson College seeks a senior faculty member with primary expertise in the area of Speech-Language Pathology to serve as Department Chair beginning in August, 2012. Required qualifications include: 1) a completed doctorate in Speech and Hearing Science, Communication Disorders, or a related discipline, 2) a demonstrated record of excellence in teaching, 3) an established research record, 4) full professor ranking or demonstrated capacity to achieve full professor within a short period of time after arrival, 5) demonstrated administrative leadership capacity, and 6) commitment to diversity. ASHA Certification (CCC) in Speech-Language Pathology preferred.
Inquiries and applications, including a cover letter, curriculum vita, and names of three references, should be directed to Dr. Daniel Kempler, Department Chair, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116, Daniel_Kempler@emerson.edu, 617-824-8302. You must also fill out an online application form in addition to submitting your application materials directly to the department. Please visit our faculty employment web page at http://www2.emerson.edu/hr/Employment.cfm to view the full position description before submitting your information. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until an appointment is made. For best consideration, please submit applications by November 1, 2011.
Honors and Awards
• Sade Kosoko-Lasaki, associate vice president for health sciences, multicultural and community affairs at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, was named Physician of the Year in Surgery by the American Academy of Specialists in Surgery, an affiliate of the American Association of Physician Specialists. Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki is professor and chair of the ophthalmology department and professor of preventive medicine and public health at the medical school.
Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki received her medical training at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
• Theodore R. Life Jr., an assistant professor in the department of radio, television, and film at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was presented with the Best Film/Video Documentary at the 26th Black International Cinema Berlin Festival. He was awarded for his documentary, Reason to Hope, about two journalists who spent a month in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake.
Readers can view a section of the film in the accompanying video.
• Carolyn Mosley, dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, will receive the 2011 National TRIO Achiever Award, from the Council for Opportunity in Education at the group’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. on September 27.
Dr. Mosley holds a Ph.D. in nursing from Texas Woman’s University.
• Brenda Y. Cartwright, associate professor of kinesiology and rehabilitation in the College of Education at the University of Hawaii, received the Virgie Winston-Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Multicultural Rehabilitation Concerns.
Dr. Cartwright is a graduate of McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and an educational doctorate from George Washington University.
Grants and Gifts
• The University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health received a five-year, $2,860,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study HIV/AIDS in the African-American male population. The grant will be used to develop and test a clinic-based safe-sex program for young black males.
• Parsons The New School for Design in New York City received an $186,000 grant from the New York Community Trust to help minority students in high school and college develop their design portfolios.
Past Issues - JBHE Weekly Bulletin (select from menu below)
In 2011, 223,000 African American high school seniors took the American College Testing Program's ACT college entrance examination. This is an increase of 47 percent from 2007. 
In 2000 there were 632 African Americans enrolled in U.S. dental schools. They made up 4.8 percent of all U.S. dental students. By 2005, the number of blacks enrolled in dental schools increased to 1,060. That year, blacks were 5.7 percent of the total enrollments in U.S. dental schools.
Cary F. Fraser, an associate professor of African and African-American studies at Pennsylvania State University, was named president of the University of Belize in Central America. The university has about 4,000 undergraduate students.
Judge Howard, who died in 2007, was one of six African Americans who were the first to enroll at the law school of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He earned his law degree there in 1954 after completing undergraduate work at Lincoln University in Missouri. He was named to the federal bench in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed legislation creating the Commission to End the Disparities Facing the African-American Community. The commission will conduct research on racial disparities in healthcare, employment, education, housing, and criminal justice. It will issue a report on its findings and make recommendations on how to eliminate the disparities by the end of 2013.
A new program funded by the African Development Bank is aiming to increase the number of women studying in science and technology disciplines. Students accepted into the program typically fall short of the qualifications for entry into higher education programs in these fields. But they are given a six-month, intensive training program in science with the hope that at the end of the program the women will qualify for university admission.
The JBHE Weekly Bulletin regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. Here are the latest selections.
• Amber Hunter was named director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She is the first African-American to hold the position and is the youngest admissions director in university history. For the past five years she has been associate admissions director. She has been on the admissions staff at the University of Nebraska since 2002.
• Valerie Williams, vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, was named chair-elect of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The AAMC represents all 134 accredited U.S. medical schools as well as 17 medical schools in Canada. Dr. Williams will serve one year as chair-elect and then serve as head of the association in 2013.
• James W. Harrington Jr. was named vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Washington at Tacoma. He has been a professor of geography at the University of Washington since 1997.
• Sean L. Huddleston was named director of intercultural training at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. He is the founder of the Peerless Group, a management consulting firm.
• Beatrice Forniss is the new president-elect of the Alabama State University National Alumni Association. She is the director of the Resources and Economic Assistance Programs for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.
• Neil Henry, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, has announced he is stepping down to return to full-time teaching. He has led the school first as interim dean and then dean since 2007.
• William S. Kisaalita was appointed associate director of the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities at the University of Georgia. He is a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the university.
A new study led by Donna K. Ginther, a professor of economics at the University of Kansas and published in the journal Science, found that black scientists were 13 percentage points less likely than white scientists to win grants from the National Institutes of Health. The study, conducted with the cooperation of the NIH, found that about 30 percent of all grant applications were approved. The racial gap in approval rates results in the fact that whites are twice as likely to win approval of grant proposals than blacks.
This fall, the University of South Carolina has the largest freshman class in its history. There are more than 4,550 first-year students on campus.
Cornell University reports that there are 209 African-American freshmen on campus this fall, up from 172 last year. That is an increase of 21.5 percent from a year ago. Blacks make up 6 percent of this year’s entering class, an increase from 5 percent in 2010. 
Dianne M. Pinderhughes, a professor of Africana studies and a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, was named co-chair of the advisory committee for the Civic Engagement and Governance Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. The new institute will focus on promoting broader citizen engagement and political participation. Co-chairing the advisory committee will be Kurt L. Schmoke, the former mayor of Baltimore who is currently dean of the Howard University School of Law. 
Professor Pinderhughes is a graduate of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.
Christian Davenport, a professor of peace studies, political science, and sociology at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, received the award for best book on race, ethnicity, and politics from the American Political Science Association. Professor Christian was honored for his book, 
This fall Professor Davenport is teaching a course entitled "Death by Government." He is working on three additional book projects. The first, which he has completed but has not yet been published, is entitled, To Kill a Movement. This book chronicles how governments repress social movements. He is also working on a book on political violence in Rwanda and a book on the “Untouchables” in India.
Etta B. Stinson Williamson, the oldest graduate of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, died last month at the age of 106. 
• Sade Kosoko-Lasaki, associate vice president for health sciences, multicultural and community affairs at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, was named Physician of the Year in Surgery by the American Academy of Specialists in Surgery, an affiliate of the American Association of Physician Specialists. Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki is professor and chair of the ophthalmology department and professor of preventive medicine and public health at the medical school.
• Theodore R. Life Jr., an assistant professor in the department of radio, television, and film at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was presented with the Best Film/Video Documentary at the 26th Black International Cinema Berlin Festival. He was awarded for his documentary, Reason to Hope, about two journalists who spent a month in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake.
• Carolyn Mosley, dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, will receive the 2011 National TRIO Achiever Award, from the Council for Opportunity in Education at the group’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. on September 27. 
• Brenda Y. Cartwright, associate professor of kinesiology and rehabilitation in the College of Education at the University of Hawaii, received the Virgie Winston-Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Multicultural Rehabilitation Concerns.