Lilly Endowment Offers $100 Million to Boost Endowments of Private HBCUs
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has announced that is has received $100 million from the Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis that will be used to bolster the endowment for the 37 historically Black colleges and universities that form UNCF's membership, with the goal of boosting the schools' long-term financial stability.
Racquel Oden Is the First Woman Board Chair of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund
Racquel Oden, is the head of the U.S, for HSBC Bank, a London-based financial giant. Oden leads the wealth and personal banking division which includes the private bank, wealth management, and the retail business for all the United States.
Connie Walton Is the New Leader of Grambling State University in Louisiana
Dr. Walton has been serving as the institution’s provost and vice president for academic affairs and has worked at Grambling for over 30 years. Dr. Walton has been a professor of chemistry at the university. Her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of molecules that exhibit liquid crystalline behavior and polymer synthesis. She holds two U.S. patents.
Claudia V. Schrader Is the New Leader of York College of the City University...
A longtime member of the CUNY family, Dr. Schrader has served as president of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn New York, since September 2018. She has held leadership roles in three CUNY schools and has worked for more than 20 years in the system.
Barbara J. Johnson Will Be the Next Dean of Perimeter College at Georgia State...
Dr. Johnson currently serves as executive vice president and provost at Talladega College in Alabama, where she oversees the college’s academic affairs, including the institution’s academic mission, teaching, research, and service. Prior to joining Talladega College in 2022, Dr. Johnson served as vice president for academic affairs and professor of student services administration at Arkansas Tech University.
Monique Guillory Will Be the Next Provost at Dillard University in New Orleans
Most recently, Dr. Guillory has been chief of staff and senior vice president for the University of the District of Columbia. She previously worked at Morehouse School of Medicine as the chief of staff and chief administrative officer for the Office of the President and Dean.
Claudine Gay Resigns as President of Harvard University
Dr. Gay had served as president of Harvard University for only six months. She was the first African American and the second woman to lead Harvard in its nearly 400-year history.
Roger Fairfax Will Be the Next Dean of the Howard University School of Law
Fairfax currently serves as dean of the American University Washington College of Law. Earlier he was senior associate dean for academic affairs, Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law, and founding director of the Criminal Law & Policy Initiative at George Washington University Law School.
Bertis English Is the New Editor of Journal of African American History
The Journal of African American History, formerly the Journal of Negro History, was established by Carter G. Woodson in 1916 and is an official publication of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
The First Black Dean of Loyola Law School in California
Brietta Clark is the new Fritz B. Burns Dean of Loyola Marymount University Law School in California. Clark, who is the nineteenth dean of the law school, is the first woman to hold the position and also the first Black dean in the law school's history.
Conrad Tucker Has Been Named Director of Carnegie Mellon University in Africa
Dr. Tucker is currently serving as interim director of the Kigali, Rwanda College of Engineering location. He is also a professor of mechanical engineering and holds courtesy faculty appointments in machine learning, robotics, and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Marcus H. Burgess Is the New Leader of Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh
Dr. Burgess most recently served as vice president for institutional advancement at Claflin University In South Carolina. Before his return to Claflin in 2019, Dr. Burgess served several institutions in a leadership capacity, including York Technical College in Rockhill, South Carolina, Florida Memorial University, and Voorhees University in South Carolina.
Two African Americans Who Have Been Appointed Deans at Historically Black Universities
Janet A. Guyden was appointed the interim dean of the Graduate School at Bowie State University in Maryland and Kareem Jordan has been named dean of the College of Juvenile Justice at Prairie View A&M University, effective June 1, 2024.
The New Provost at Clayton State University in Georgia
Dr. McLeod also holds the rank of full professor in the university’s department of psychology. She joined Clayton State following her role as vice president of economic and academic development at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
The New Leader of the University of Tennessee at Martin
Dr. Freeman has served at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for the past 25 years in various admissions, recruitment, and enrollment roles.
Adiam Tsegai Is the New President of Erie Community College in Buffalo
Dr. Tsegai previously served as the college’s Officer-in-Charge since 2022 and provost and vice president for academic affairs, a position she was appointed to in mid-2021. She joined SUNY Erie as the dean of engineering and technologies in 2018.
The Next Leader of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M...
Dr. Emma Savage-Davis has been serving as dean for the College of Education, Leadership Studies and Counseling at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia. She will begin her new duties on January 1.
College of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University Has Named Tonya Peeples as Dean
Dr. Peeples joined Penn State in 2018 as a professor of chemical engineering and as the inaugural associate dean for equity and inclusion in the College of Engineering. Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Peeples was a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the College of Engineering of the University of Iowa.
Amid Accreditation Crisis, a Change in Leadership at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North...
Two days after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges voted to strip historically Black St. Augustine's University of its accreditation, president Christine McPhail was fired.
Cynthia Nance Once Again Named Dean of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School...
Professor Nance first joined the University of Arkansas School of Law faculty in 1994 as an assistant professor and served as the dean from 2006 to 2011. She then returned to the classroom as the Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law in 2012.
Darrin Martin Is the New Leader of Bluefield State University in West Virginia
Dr. Martin is a third-generation graduate of Bluefield State as both his mother and grandmother are alumnae. He has been serving as an associate professor of education, dean of academic support, and, director of graduate education studies.
The New Dean of Architecture and Engineering Technology at Florida A&M University
Andrew Chin is a tenured associate professor who has 32 years of experience in higher education. He has held several leadership roles within the school, including interim dean, associate dean, assistant dean, and program director for graduate and professional programs.
Marcus L. Thompson Named the Thirteenth President of Jackson State University
Dr. Thompson has more than 20 years of leadership experience in early childhood, K-12 education, and higher education. He has been serving as the deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, where for over a decade he has been responsible for overseeing IHL staff.
Deborah Dyett Desir Is the New President of the American College of Rheumatology
Dr. Desir has more than three decades of experience in clinical medicine. In 1993, she started a rheumatology private practice in Hamden, Connecticut. In 2019, Dr. Desir joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty.
Virginia State University to Be the First HBCU to Host a 2024 Presidential Debate
Virginia State University is the first historically Black college or university ever selected to host a general election U.S. Presidential Debate. The debate, scheduled for October 1, 2024, is the second of three scheduled general election presidential debates. The debate will take place in the university's Multipurpose Center.
Southern University to Reorganize Its Leadership Structure
For the past eight years, the president of the Southern University System and the chancellor of the flagship campus of the system in Baton Rouge has been the same person. The positions were combined due to severe financial constraints on the system's budget. Now the Southern University System board of supervisors has voted to split the positions once again.
Two African American Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans
Danielle Lauria is the new dean of nursing, health, and wellness at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California, and Sarah Price was appointed dean of the College of Education at Florida A&M University.
Tuskegee University President Charlotte Morris Announces Her Retirement
President Morris has served the university for almost 40 years in different capacities including chief of staff to the president and secretary to the board of trustees. Dr. Morris also served as the director of the university’s Title III program and has acted as interim and associate dean in the Brimmer College of Business and Information Science.
Heidi Lewis Is the New President of the National Women’s Studies Association
Heidi Lewis, an associate professor of feminist and gender studies at Colorado College, has been elected president of the National Women’s Studies Association. Established in 1977, the NWSA prioritizes promoting and supporting knowledge about women and gender through teaching, learning, research, and service in academic settings.
Sean Johnson to Lead Entrepreneurship Center at North Carolina A&T State University
Sean Johnson has been appointed director of the Center of Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at North Carolina A&T State University. He was senior project manager in the Workforce Development Center at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College.
Howard University’s New President Organizes His Top Staff
Paul Tiyambe Zeleza was named senior advisor for strategic initiatives and Allison Morgan Bryant will stay on as a member of the cabinet as the vice president of the Office of Corporate Relations. Calvin J. Hadley was named assistant provost for academic partnerships and student engagement and Latrice Byam was appointed executive director of academic planning and curriculum for the Office of the Provost.
Jamila Michener to Lead the Cornell Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures
Dr. Michener is an associate professor of government in the College of Arts and Sciences and senior associate dean of public engagement at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She will begin her new duties in September.
The Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University Names Bernard Banks as Its...
Dr. Banks comes to Rice from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he has been serving as associate dean for leadership development and inclusion and clinical professor of management and organizations. Earlier, he was chair of the department of behavioral sciences and leadership at the U.S. Military Academy.
Black Representatives Establish the Congressional Predominantly Black Institutions Caucus
Unlike historically Black colleges and universities, predominantly Black institutions were founded after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and therefore are unable to take advantage of federal programs earmarked for HBCUs.
Grambling State University President to Lead the University of Louisiana System
Since 2016, Rick Gallot has been president of Grambling State University. He previously represented Grambling and northeast Louisiana in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. Gallot will begin his new role in January.
Sherwin K. Bryant to Lead the Center for African and African American Studies at...
Dr. Bryant currently serves as an associate professor of Black studies and history at Northwestern University. He is the former director of Northwestern’s Center for African American History.
