Clayborne Carson Wins the 2023 Freedom Award From the National Civil Rights Museum
In 1985, Professor Carson was asked by Coretta Scott King, Dr. King’s widow, to direct The King Papers Project with the mission of assembling and publishing the collected papers of her late husband.
A Trio of Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to New Positions
Darian Longmire is a new assistant professor of art practice at the University of California, Berkeley. Associate professor Michelle Richardson was named faculty athletics representative at Coppin State University in Baltimore and Jallicia A. Jolly is a new assistant professor of American studies and Black studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
University of Mississippi’s Viola Acoff Honored for Her Policymaking Role in Materials Engineering
Dr. Acoff became dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi on July 1. She is the first woman and first African American to hold the position. From 2014 to 2023, she was the associate dean for undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Alabama.
Three African Americans in New Administrative Roles in Higher Education
Monique D’Almeida was appointed the Deknatel Curatorial Fellow in Japanese Works on Paper at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on the campus of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Torin Moore was named assistant dean for student affairs for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and Christian Mills was named director of the Quality Enhancement Plan at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.
Monica Walker Has Received the 2023 Anna Julia Cooper Excellence Award
Monica W. Walker, dean of instruction at the Community College of Baltimore County, recently received the 2023 Anna Julia Cooper Excellence Award from the Society for Experiential Education. The award recognizes Dr. Walker’s outstanding leadership of initiatives that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in experiential education.
New Roles for a Trio of Black Scholars
Jordan Ealey is a new assistant professor of Black studies at the University of Rochester in New York. G. Preston Wilson Jr. was appointed director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers at Fisk University in Nashville and Linda Greene, who became the inaugural dean of the Michigan State University College of Law in 2020, is stepping down from her post to take a faculty position at the university.
Cornell’s Riché Richardson Wins Book Award From the Society for the Study of Southern...
Riché Richardson, professor of African American literature in the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University in Ithaca New York, has been awarded the C. Hugh Holman Award from the Society for the Study of Southern Literature. The award will be presented to Professor Richardson at the Modern Language Association conference in January 2024.
Three African Americans Who Are Taking on New Higher Education Administrative Positions
Kenyon Bonner has been appointed as vice president and chief student affairs officer at the University of Virginia. J. David Bratton was named director of choirs at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jamila Lee-Johnson is the inaugural assistant dean of inclusive excellence for the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Five Black Scholars Who Have Been Given New Assignments
Taking on new positions or duties are Carol Y. Bailey at Amherst College in Massachusetts, Ebonya L. Washington of Columbia University, Philip V. McHarris at the University of Rochester in New York, Fayron Epps at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, and Mya Roberson in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Patricia Hill Collins Awarded the $1 Million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture
The prize is given annually to an individual whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world. Professor Collins joined the faculty at the University of Maryland in 2005. Earlier, she was the director of the African American Center at Tufts University and spent more than 20 years on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati.
UCLA’s Alvine Kamaha Honored by the American Physical Society
Alvine Kamaha, assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, won the 2024 Edward A. Bouchet Award from the American Physical Society for her leadership and accomplishments in the experimental search for dark matter in the universe and advancement of underrepresented minority scientists.
Three HBCUs Have Announced the Appointments of New Administrators
Vernon Siders Jr. was named chief of police and security at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ruthie Little-Berry was appointed chief student development and success officer for the University of the District of Columbia, and Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, has announced that De'Shawn Barnes is its new director of alumni affairs.
A Quartet of Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments
Taking on new roles are Taofeek K. Owonikoko at the University of Maryland, Felicia Jefferson at the University of Nevada Reno, Amanda Awadey at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and Tomisha Brock at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
New University Administrative Posts for Four African Americans
Taking on new administrative duties are Shannon Frank Reeves, Sr. at Alabama A&M University, Ayanna McConnell of the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, Deborah Alston at Virginia Union University, and Leon Lewis, Jr. at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. Honored by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
The James Dent Walker Award is the highest national award that can be bestowed by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society upon a person who has exhibited distinguished accomplishments through a significant and measurable contribution to the research, documentation, and/or preservation of African American history.
Four African Americans Who Have Been Hired to Diversity Positions in Higher Education
The new diversity officers are Chancey Page at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, S. Brooke Vick at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, Donyale R. Padgett at Wayne State University in Detroit. and Laura Renée Chandler at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
A Quartet of Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Duties
The four Black scholars in new roles are Fred D. Archer, III at the University at Buffalo, Jennifer Joe in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, Mesmin Destin at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and Stephanie Harris at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.
Clemson’s Chris Reid Honored by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Dr. Reid, who is the immediate past president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, was honored for his sustained contributions to both the HFES and the broader discipline, marking him as an influential figure in the human factors and ergonomics community.
Three African Americans Appointed to New Higher Education Administrative Roles
Taking on new administrative duties are Braylin Laster at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, Kristina Londy at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California, and Gillian McKnight-Tutein at the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Three African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties at Universities
Jeremy Toulon is the newly appointed director of student transition and success at Binghamton University in New York. Valencia Jordan is the new director of athletics at Fisk University in Nashville and Sharcus Steen is the new chief investment officer for the University System of Maryland Foundation.
Stanford’s Tirin Moore Wins the Andrew Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences
Established by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as part of its centennial celebration, the prize recognizes trailblazers in the brain and behavioral sciences whose research has helped advance the field and its applications.
Two Black Scholars Appointed to Endowed Professorships
Christopher Emdin was named to the Maxine Greene Chair for Distinguished Contributions to Education at Teachers College at Columbia University and Karen Cook-Bell, a professor in Bowie State University’s history and government department, has been awarded a University System of Maryland Wilson H. Elkins Professorship.
Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Diversity Posts in Higher Education
Nicole Belisle is the new chief diversity officer at Palomar College in San Marcos, California. Rosevelt Noble has been named associate dean of students for equity, diversity, and inclusion at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Tracye Y. Davis is the inaugural executive director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan.
Five Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments at Universities
The faculty members in new roles are Earl Graham, Jr. at Philander Smith University in Little Rock, Arkansas, Sharon Uwanyuze at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Stephen M. Avery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Antron Mahoney at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and Carmen Lanos Williams at Arkansas State University.
Four Universities Announce the Appointments of African American Administrators
Wendy Pearson was appointed vice president for strategic initiatives at Stony Brook University in New York and Pamela Baldwin was promoted to associate vice chancellor for student success at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Edward Morris was named interim director of counseling services at North Carolina A&T State University and Constance Meadors was appointed the first associate director of the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium.
Robin Nelson Wins the Sussman Award From the American Association for the Advancement of...
Robin Nelson, an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, is being recognized for “her outstanding contributions to understanding human relationships and their evolutionary impact.”
Three Black Scholars Who Have Been Named to Endowed Professorships
Michael Steele has been appointed to the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Chair Endowed Chair in Public Policy at Howard University. Jamel K. Donnor was appointed the Fred Huby Memorial Professor of Education at the College of William and Mary and Sheila Otieno has been honored with the Distinguished Emerging Scholar in Religious Studies professorship at Elon University in North Carolina.
Elementary School in Richmond Renamed to Honor Howard University Professor Emerita
Lois Harrison-Jones, professor emerita in the School of Education at Howard University in Washington, D.C., has been honored by the Richmond, Virginia School Board with the renaming of an elementary school in her honor. The school was previously named for a colonel in the Confederate Army.
New Teaching Assignment for Three Black Scholars
Alton B. Pollard III will re join the faculty of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he taught from 1988 to 1998. Renata Arrington Sanders was named chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, a teaching facility for the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Kristina Kersey is a new assistant professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Morgan State University President to Receive the 2023 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in...
President Davis WIlson, who is the first president of a historically Black college or university to earn this distinguished honor, was selected for the overall transformation he has led at Morgan State, including historic advancement in retention and graduation rates and the university’s engagement with adult learners. He was also recognized for his vigorous national advocacy on behalf of HBCUs and support of degree attainment for Black students.
Five African Americans in New Administrative Roles at Colleges and Universities
Taking on new administrative roles are Danielle Huff at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, James T. Overton at Delaware State University, Sharron Taylor Burnett at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, Terrell Smith at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, and Kizito Mukuni at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Diversity Posts in Higher Education
Terrence Mitchell was appointed executive director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. Faye Belgrave has been named vice president and chief diversity officer at Virginia Commonwealth University and Tammy Bennett is the inaugural vice president for inclusive excellence in philanthropy at the University of Cincinnati Foundation.
A Trio of Black Scholars in New Faculty Roles at Universities
The City College of New York has appointed Jervette R. Ward as director of the Black Studies Program. Scotti Branton is a new assistant professor of communication at the University of Arkansas, and professor Danille Taylor was appointed director of the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum.
Savannah State University’s Mulatu Lemma Named Top Professor of the Year
Professor Lemma has taught mathematics for more than 30 years, including the last 28 at Savannah State University. He has been selected as the 2023 Top Professor of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals
New Administrtive 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.
University of Georgia’s J. Marshall Shepherd Honored by the Environmental Law Institute
Dr. Shepherd is a professor of geography, the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor, and the director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of Georgia. Before joining the faculty at the University of Georgia, he was a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. Shepherd is an expert in the fields of weather, climate, and remote sensing.
