Tag: Cornell University

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.

How Artificial Intelligence Can Identify Biases in the Jury Selection Process

Using natural language processing tools to analyze transcripts from 17 South Carolina capital cases, researchers determined that prosecutors asked questions with significant differences in the length, complexity, and tone of the questions to potential African-American jurors versus those posed to potential White jurors.

A Quartet of Black Scholars in New Faculty Positions

Taking on new duties are Ruth L. Okediji at Harvard University, Milton S.F. Curry at Cornell University, Felicia McGhee at Florida A&M University, and Summer Perry at Columbus State University in Georgia.

In Memoriam: Micere Githae Mugo, 1942-2023

A native of Kenya, Dr. Mugo fled her native land to political turmoil and taught at St. Lawrence University. After returning to Africa to teach in Zambia and Zimbabwe, in 1992 she was named a visiting professor at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University. A year later, she joined the department of African American studies at Syracuse University where she served for 22 years.

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.

Francine Conway Named Chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Francine Conway is the new chancellor of the flagship campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has led Rutgers–New Brunswick under the hybrid title of “chancellor-provost” for the past two years. The separation of responsibilities between chancellor and provost mirrors the leadership structures of Rutgers’ other campuses.

Regardless of Where They Live, Blacks Still Face Discrimination in Labor Markets

In a study by researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Cornell University found that Black families — regardless of where they lived — still ended up in similar economic circumstances as they moved into adulthood and entered the workforce. “Race, not class origins, is the dominant factor governing the economic mobility of Black individuals,” the researchers wrote.

Yolanda Pierce Honored by the American Academy of Religion

Yolanda Pierce, who is the new dean of the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has won the 2023 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. From 2017 to 2023, she wad dean of the Howard University Divinity School.

New Assignments for Five Black Faculty Members at Universities

Taking on new roles or duties are Brian Burt at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kimberley McKinson at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Amber Wiley at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania, Eljenette West at the Mississippi University for Women, and Chelsea Mikael Frazier at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Six Colleges and Universities Announce the Hiring of Black Faculty Members

Here is this week’s roundup of Black faculty members who have been appointed to new positions or given new duties at colleges and universities throughout the United States. If you have news for our appointments section, please email the information to contact@JBHE.com.

New Assignments for Six Black Faculty Members at Colleges and Universities

Here is this week’s roundup of Black faculty members who have been appointed to new positions or given new duties at colleges and universities throughout the United States. If you have news for our appointments section, please email the information to contact@JBHE.com.

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.

Six African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Higher Education Administrative Posts

Taking on new assignments are Branden Grimmett at Emory University, Allison Morgan Bryant at Howard University, Christine D. Lovely at Cornell University, Tauheedah Jackson at Harvard University, Norbert Rome at Dillard University in New Orleans, and Breanna McKnight at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Once Again, Robert Smith Takes a Major Step to Help Blacks in Higher Education

Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, announced a gift of $15 million to the College of Engineering at Cornell University. The funds will be used to establish an endowed scholarship fund to provide financial aid for Cornell engineering students from urban high schools and graduates of HBCUs.

New Cornell University Fellowship Honors The First Black Student to Earn a Ph.D. in Botany

The Thomas Wyatt Turner Fellowship will support up to 10 graduate students from 1890 institutions, which are historically Black colleges and universities that are land-grant universities. They will spend the 2022-23 academic year on the Cornell University campus.

Howard University Establishes the Toni Morrison Endowed Chair in Arts and Humanities

The Toni Morrison Endowed Chair in Arts and Humanities will be established utilizing $3 million of the $40 million gift that philanthropist Mackenzie Scott donated to Howard in 2020. Professor Morrison, who won the Nobel Prize in literature, was a graduate of Howard University and also taught there.

Cornell University Scholar Wins the Best Book Prize From the African Studies Association

Dr. Naminata Diabate is an associate professor of comparative literature at Cornell. The prize recognizes the most important scholarly work in African studies published in English and distributed in the United States during the preceding year.

In Memoriam: Gwendolyn Gordon, 1980-2021

Dr. Gordon was an assistant professor in the department of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in the School of Arts and Sciences’ department of anthropology. She held degrees from three different Ivy League universities.

Kimberlé Crenshaw Receives the Top Honor From the Association of American Law Schools

Kimberlé W. Crenshaw is the Promise Institute Professor of Human Rights at the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia University. She was honored by the Association of American Law Schools for her work on critical race theory and intersectionality."

New Cornell University Fellowship for Students From Francophone Africa

Awards are for one year of study in the Cornell Law School LLM program or the Global Development program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The fellow receives a $20,000 stipend and a college tuition waiver. David Arnaud Ngam à Kibeng from Cameroon is the inaugural fellow.

Crystal Williams Will Be the Eighteenth President of the Rhode Island School of Design

President-elect Williams has been serving as a professor of English and vice president and associate provost for community & inclusion at Boston University. She began her academic career at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She later served as associate vice president for strategic initiatives at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

East Carolina University Names Robin Coger as Provost/Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Dr. Coger is currently the dean of the College of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at North Carolina A&T State University. Earlier, she was a faculty member in the department of mechanical engineering and engineering science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 1996 to 2011. She will take on her new job in July 2022.

Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed Deans at Universities

Marla Love has been named the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Asquith S. “Sean” Armstrong has been named dean of University College at Washington University in St. Louis and Arlene J. Montgomery is the new interim dean of the School of Nursing at Hampton University in Virginia.

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.

Two African American Women Appointed to Diversity Positions

Tekita R. Bankhead has been named executive director for support programs in the Division of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion at Mississippi State University and Sonia Rucke was appointed the associate vice president of the department of inclusion and belonging at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

A Quartet of African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions

The four African Americans who have been appointed to dean positions are Phylicia Rashad at Howard University, Eve De Rosa at Cornell University, Battinto Batts Jr. at Arizona State University, and Linda Thomas at James Madison University.

Five Universities That Have Announced the Appointments of Black Administrators

Taking on new administrative roles are Donica Thomas Varner at Cornell University in New York, Godlove Fonjweng at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, Lawrencina Mason Oramalu at Texas Woman's University, Gerald Lewis Jr. at the University of Connecticut, and Alicia Dorn at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Charter Schools’ Impact on Racial Segregation in K-12 Education

According to the study, led by a sociologist at Cornell University, the average district to expand charter school enrollment between 2000 and 2010 experienced a 12 percent increase in White-Black school segregation and a 2 percent decrease in White-Black residential segregation.

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.

Six African Americans Appointed to Administrative Posts at Major Universities

Taking on new duties are Dawn L. Ridley at Howard University, Cedric Gathings at Mississippi State University, Danielle Haynes at Cornell University, Michèle G. Turner at the University of Southern California, Lonnie Cockerham at North Carolina A&T State University, and Franklin Ellis Jr. at Vanderbilt University.

Four African American Appointed to Diversity Roles at Colleges and Universities

The four African Americans appointed to diversity positions are Jarvis Marlow-McCowin at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Eric Reed at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Elizabeth Tovar at the University of Iowa, and Brian Harper at the New York Institute of Technology.

Cornell’s Derrick Spires Wins First Book Award From the Modern Language Association

In the book, Dr. Spires, an associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, examines the parallel development of early Black print culture and legal and cultural understandings of U.S. citizenship between 1787 and 1861.

In Memoriam: Leith Patricia Mullings, 1945-2020

After teaching for six years at Columbia University, Dr. Mullings joined the faculty at the City University of New York in 1983. There she eventually became a distinguished professor of anthropology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.

Francine Conway Is the New Provost at Rutgers University in New Jersey

A native of Guyana, Dr. Conway had been serving as dean of the Graduate School of Applied Psychology. She was the first Black scholar to hold that position. Dr. Conway joined the faculty at Rutgers in 2016 after teaching for 13 years at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

In Memoriam: Gary Lynn Harris, 1953-2020

Gary L. Harris was professor of electrical engineering, former dean of the Graduate School and associate provost for research at Howard University. He was one of the first two African Americans to earn a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Cornell University.

College of Engineering at Cornell University Honors Its Former Dean, Lance R. Collins

Dr. Collins served as the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell University from 2010 to 2020. On August 1, 2020, he became the inaugural vice president and executive director of Virginia Tech’s new Innovation Campus in Alexandria, Virginia.

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