A study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, MIT , Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Korea reports on a discovery that may help physicians treat those who suffer from sickle cell disease.
Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Glenn C. Loury, the Merton P. Stolz Professor of the social sciences and professor of economics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association.
The appointees are Timothy Dunn at Trinity College in Connecticut, Eboney Hearn at MIT, Latonya Guillory at the University of Southern Mississippi, Tracy Dildy at Chicago State University, and Getchel L. Caldwell at Clark Atlanta University.
James E. Clark was named the 12th president of South Carolina State University. Clark, a successful businessman, has been a member of the board of trustees of South Carolina State University for the past year. He has also been chair of the University of South Carolina Research Foundation for the past three years.
John Urschel, an offensive guard for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League, recently completed his first semester in the mathematics Ph.D. program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He took four courses and had a 4.0 grade point average.
Robbin Chapman is the former manager of diversity recruiting at the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT and also served as the inaugural assistant associate provost for faculty equity at the university. She joined the administration of Wellesley College in suburban Boston in 2011.
A new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Georgia State University, finds that tablet computers loaded with literary applications and issued to students in low-income areas can produce dramatic results without any instruction whatsoever.
Appointed to new administrative positions are Judy Jackson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aramis Watson at the University of Kansas, Cameron J. Hall at Augustana College in Illinois and Dale R. Hendricks at the University of Massachusetts.
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are given out in six categories with five finalists in each category. Several of the finalists are African Americans who currently hold academic posts at American colleges and universities.
Dr. Achille Messac, educated at MIT, has been serving as dean of engineering and professor of aerospace engineering at Mississippi State University. Previously, he served on the faculties at Syracuse University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Cato T. Laurencin has been selected by President Obama as one of seven winners of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. He is the only African American among the seven winners of the award this year.
Curtis B. Charles served as president of Tiffin University for only six months. The board of trustees stated that Dr. Charles’ resignation was due to “a difference in views on strategic vision.”
President Obama has chosen nine individuals to receive the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony early in 2016. Among the nine winners, one is an African American.
Scientists at the University of Connecticut, Yale University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new method of detecting sickle cell disease that can be used in remote areas that do not have advanced medical technology.
Ta-Nehisi Coates won the National Book Award in the nonfiction category. He has taught at MIT and the City University of New York. Robin Coste Lewis, a Provost’s Fellow in the creative writing and literature doctoral program at the University of Southern California, won the National Book Award in the poetry category.
Purdue University has initiated the new Diversity Transformation Award program that will enlist current faculty and staff members to come up with strategies to further increase the diversity of the faculty and the student body.
Latanya Sweeney was appointed editor-in-chief of Technology Science, a new journal published by the Data Privacy Lab at Harvard University. During 2014, she served as the chief technology officer for the Federal Trade Commission.
Taking on new faculty roles are Yosvany Terry at Harvard University, Darrick Hamilton at The New School, Paula T. Hammond at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Eugene T. Parker III at the University of Kansas.
Marcus Thompson was given the title of Institute Professor at MIT. Alana Gunn was appointed an assistant professor of social work at Binghamton University, and Damion Waymer was named associate professor of communication at the University of Cincinnati.
The four Black women in new faculty posts are Nomsa E. Geleta at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Sheridan Wigginton at California Lutheran University, Sharon A. Brangman at the Sunny Upstate Medical University, and Helen Elaine Lee at MIT.
Melissa Nobles was named as the next dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1995 and holds an endowed chair in political science.
Since 2012, C. Reynold Verret has served as provost and chief academic officer at Savannah State University in Georgia. On July 1, he will replace Norman C. Francis who has led Xavier University since 1968.
Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Curtis B. Charles currently serves as senior associate vice chancellor for institutional transformation at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. He will begin his duties as Tiffin University president on July 1.
Emery N. Brown, the Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
The authors compared U.S. infant mortality rates to those in two European countries. They found that the reason infant mortality is lower in Europe is simply because these countries take better care of their low-income citizens than is the case in the United States.
Michael Carbin will be joining the electrical engineering faculty at MIT. Constance Iloh will join the School of Education faculty at the University of California, Irvine, and Nana Amoah was promoted to associate professor of accounting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
In 1892 Robert Robinson Taylor was the first Black graduate of MIT. He spent most of his career at what is now Tuskegee University and designed more than 20 buildings on its Alabama campus.
While people of any race can have the sickle-cell trait, the disease is far more common among African Americans than it is among Whites. A new device may be able to notify doctors when painful incidents brought about by sickle cells being trapped in blood vessels are likely to occur.
The four Black scholars in new teaching positions are Samory Kpotufe at Princeton University, Nadine Finigan-Carr at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, Kami Chavis Simmons at Wake Forest University’s School of Law, and Charlotte Braithwaite at MIT.
Evelynn M. Hammonds, who holds an endowed professorship at Harvard University, was appointed by President Obama to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
The study by scholars at MIT, Columbia, and Northwestern found that homogenous groups may produce an artificially low level of conflict, not a normal level of conflict. The authors state that homogeneity reduces the likelihood that people recognize differences of opinion that exist.
Dr. Reid has been serving as senior vice president of research, innovation, and member college engagement for the United Negro College Fund. Earlier he was associate dean for undergraduate education at MIT.
While the academy does not release data on the race or ethnicity of its members, after an analysis of the list of 84 new members by JBHE, it appears that only one of the new members is an African American.
Currently, Dr. Francisco is the William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Chemistry at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He will take on his new duties on July 1.
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