JBHE: Latest News for 5/5/11

Honors and Awards

• William F. Owen Jr., president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, received the Distinguished Alumni Award from National Medical Fellowships (NMF), the nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of minority physicians and medical researchers.

Dr. Owen received support from NMF when he studied at the Tufts University School of Medicine, after earning his undergraduate degree at Brown University.

• Elizabeth Wilson, a junior in the Honors College at the University of South Carolina was named the Outstanding Woman of the Year for 2011 by the university. Wilson is a quintuple major, studying international business, finance, management science, marketing, and real estate. She is also studying three foreign languages and maintains a 3.982 grade point average.

• Phyllis Lewis-Hale, an instructor of voice and director of the Opera Workshop program at Jackson State University, received the 2010 Teacher and Scholar Award from the Mississippi Humanities Council.

• Sheryl R. Gripper, founding director of the Black Women Film Network, received the inaugural Moving Image Award from the Digital Moving Image Salon at Spelman College in Atlanta. Gripper is a 1972 graduate of Spelman.

• Debyii L. Sababu Thomas, a communication department faculty member at Howard University, received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Phi Sigma Pi, Alpha Tau Chapter Endowment Fund.

• Curtis Austin, associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi, received the Mary McLeod Bethune and Carter G. Woodson Award for Outstanding Service in the Promotion of Social Responsibility in Africana Studies Award from the National Council for Black Studies.

Dr. Austin holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Ph.D. in history from Mississippi State University.

• Diane Campbell, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, received the university’s 2011 Linda Allred Profiles in Leadership Award. Dr. Campbell was honored for her work in HIV/AIDS outreach programs.

• Crystal L. Taliefero-Pratt, a musician and vocalist who has toured with Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John, received the Herman C. Hudson Alumni Award from the African American Arts Institute at Indiana University. The award is given annually to Indiana University alumni who have made outstanding contributions in the arts.