Monthly Archives: August 2022

New Administrative Duties in Higher Education for Seven African Americans

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 this section, please send an email to info@jbhe.com.

Texas Southern University Enters Into a Partnership With Houston Community College

The agreement will help graduates from the community college's drafting and design engineering technology program transfer into the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Texas Southern University to obtain a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology.

Charles Dumas Wins the Living Legend Award at the National Black Theatre Festival

Professor Dumas, who has written, directed, produced or acted in more than 300 plays, joined the faculty at Penn State in 1995 and now holds the status of professor emeritus. He is presently a professor in residence at the African-American Theatre Program at the University of Louisville.

Meharry Medical College to Launch a Physician Assistant Sciences Program

The medical ollege is actively recruiting for the first cohort of 25 students, who will enter into one of the nation’s fastest growing professions that is projected to grow 31 percent by 2030. These students will receive training onsite at Meharry’s campus in Nashville, as well as with partnered clinical sites across the nation

A Quartet of Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Diversity Positions

The four new diversity officers are Jonathan Glenn at Alma College in Michigan, Joyce Sackey at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Algerian Hart at Missouri State University in Springfield, and Stephanie Potts at Danville Area Community College in Illinois.

In Memoriam: James E. Turner, 1940-2022

Professor Turner served as director of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University from 1969 to 1986 and returned for a five-year term from 1996 to 2001.

Why I Am “Critical” of Critical Theory

Bakari K. Lumumba, a doctoral candidate at Ohio University's Patton College of Education's Higher Education Student Affairs program, examines Critical Theory and its unwillingness to center the work of scholars and theorists outside the Western / European sphere of influence.

The Academy for Diverse Emerging Nurse Leaders to be Held in Nashville in November

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is creating a new leadership development program for nurses new in health care leadership and academic positions who are from groups historically underrepresented in nursing and/or those who support them.

Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

In Memoriam: Reaner Shannon, 1936-2022

Dr. Shannon began her career at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine as the main research lab technologist. In 1990, she left the lab to become director of the minority affairs office at the school, becoming the school’s first associate dean for minority affairs in 1998, a post she held until she retired in 2008.

Black Bibliography Project Gets Increased Funding to Expand Its Database

Meredith McGill, chair of the department of English at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Jacqueline Goldsby, a professor of English, African American studies, and American studies at Yale, are developing a digital database dedicated to the study of Black-authored and Black-published books, magazines, and newspapers.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

Research Shows Racial Disparities in Funding Rates by the National Science Foundation

The research found that during the years analyzed between 22 percent and 34 percent of all proposals received funding. But they discovered that the funding rate for White scientists was 8 percent above the average and the funding rate for Black researchers was 8 percent below the average.

Robert Carr Selected to Serve as Provost at Historically Black Fisk University in Nashville

Dr. Robert Carr comes to Fish University from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff where he has served since 2017 as provost and the chief academic officer. Earlier, he was a professor and dean of the School of Education and Psychology at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

Survey Finds Differing Views on Best Ways of Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color

More than 50 percent of the students in public school classrooms across the United States identify as people of color, while only 20 percent of their teachers do. The gap between the two has grown since the 1980s. A new report shows how recruitment and retaining of teachers of color may be enhanced.

Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University Names Its Next Leader

Ange-Marie Hancock is a Dean’s Professor in the department of political science and international relations and the department of gender and sexuality studies at the University of Southern California.

Study Finds Teachers’ Biases and Fears Limit Needed Discussions About Race in the Classroom

Analyzing data from two large surveys, each including responses from more than 1,000 K-12 teachers, researchers at the Unversity of Massachusetts found that teachers’ implicit racial biases and their explicit fears of being perceived as racist both independently contributed to lower intentions to talk about race with their students.

Octavia Peck Palmer Chosen to Lead the American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Dr. Peck Palmer is an associate professor of pathology, critical care medicine, and clinical and translational sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She also serves as the division director of clinical chemistry and as medical director of UPMC Presbyterian and Shadyside hospitals and automated testing laboratories.

Clark Atlanta University to Lead the New National Data Science Alliance

the National Data Science Alliance, funded by a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation, aims to increase the number of Black people earning data science credentials by at least 20,000 by 2027 and expand data science research that advocates for social justice and will strive to eliminate bias.

Seven African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts

Taking on new duties are Curtis Burton at Lincoln University in Missouri, Tracy Worthy at Winston-Salem State University, J. Rex Tolliver at the University of South Carolina, Joy Hill at Virginia Union Unversity, Constance Cannon Frazier at Dillard University in New Orleans, Hampton Cantrell at Caltech, and A. Roxanne Gregg at the University of Nortre Dame.

Virginia State University Program to Address Teacher Shortage in Local School Districts

In the new teacher residency program, graduate students will co-teach and earn a master's degree in education within one year at no charge. Upon successful completion of the program, they must commit to full-time teaching positions for three years in schools where the district's population has a least a 30 percent poverty rate.

Carlotta Berry Wins the Distinguished Educator Award From the Society of Women Engineers

Carlotta A. Berry is the Dr. Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. She has helped start two advocacy organizations, Black In Engineering and Black In Robotics, to bring awareness to systemic racism in STEM.

College of Business at Jackson State University to Offer New Online Degree Programs

The College of Business at historically Black Jackson State University in Mississippi will offer a master of professional accountancy degree and a bachelor of business administration degree online.

Four African Americans Who Have Been Assigned to Diversity Roles in Higher Education

Taking on new administrative positions relating to diversity are Tina Simpson at Tulane University in New Orleans, William Smith at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah, Greneda Johnson at the University of Arkansas School of Law, and J. Camille Hall at the University of Missouri Kansas City.

In Memoriam: Carey Harvey Latimore IV, 1975-2022

Carey Latimore was a Baptist minister and an associate professor of history at Trinity University in San Antonio. Dr. Latimore joined the Trinity University community in 2004. He served as the chair of the department of history from 2011-2020 and was the co-director for the African American studies minor.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

Emory University Offering the First Ph.D. Program in Black Studies in the Southeastern United States

Carol Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler Professor and chair of the African American studies department at Emory University in Atlanta, has announced that the first cohort of Ph.D. students in African American studies will begin the program in the fall of 2023. It will be the first doctoral program in the field in the southeastern United States.

Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Black Staffer at the University of Arkansas Files a Race Discrimination Lawsuit Over Unequal Pay

Synetra Hughes, managing director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that she was paid less than White colleagues in similar roles at the university.

In Memoriam: Marie Valentine McDemmond, 1946-2022

Marie McDemmond was the first woman to lead Norfolk State University and the first African-American woman to serve as president of a four-year college in Virginia.

New UNCF Report Finds That HBCUs Stlll Need Additional Funding Support

A new report from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) finds that despite the influx from the past two years of federal government funding and private donations to the nation's historically Black colleges and universities, it has not been enough to make up for decades of neglect.

Ronald Mason to Step Down as President of the University of the District of Columbia in June 2023

Ronald D. Mason Jr., president of the historically Black University of the District of Columbia, announced that he will step down from his post...

Racial Differences in Attrition Rates at Medical Schools in the United States

The study found that students who were from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, and also from a low-income family who lived in an underresourced neighborhood had a dropout rate that was nearly four times the rate of White students who were not from a low-income family and did not live in an underresourced neighborhood.

James L. Moore III to Lead the NSF’s Directorate for Education and Human Resources

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources, or EHR, supports research that enhances learning and teaching, and broad efforts to achieve excellence in STEM education at all levels and in all settings. Since 2018, Dr. Moore has been vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Ohio State University.

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