The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869. In 2006, the museum established the Richard Gilder Graduate School which includes a Ph.D. granting program in comparative biology within the museum. It also offers a master’s degree in teaching program. Sean Decatur, president of Kenyon College in Ohio, will begin leading the museum in April.
Knable joined the staff at Tufts University in 1970 beginning as an instructor in the English department. In 1980 she was appointed dean of students and remained in that role until her retirement in 2000.
Richard Baker was named senior vice dean of medical education for the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Imani N. S. Munyaka is a new assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and Ted Evans is the new director of entrepreneurship and an instructor in business at Oberlin College in Ohio.
President Carmen Twillie Ambar said that “this new center will ensure that Oberlin is consistently contributing to the national conversation on race. The center will bring together academic opportunities, co-curricular experiences, career programming, mentorship, community building, and civic engagement.”
The leading feminist scholar bell hooks, the Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College in Kentucky, died at her home in Berea on December 15 at the age of 69.
Taking on new positions are Bianca Baldridge at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Stephen Buckley at Duke University in North Carolina, Joshua Bartholomew at the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas, Emily Greenwood at Princeton University in New Jersey, Warrick Moses at Syracuse University in New York, and Charles Peterson at Oberlin College in Ohio.
J. Lee Brown III is the new dean of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Ramona Denby-Brinson has been appointed dean of the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Karen C. Goff was appointed dean of students at Oberlin College in Ohio.
Dr. Christie-Mizell is a professor of sociology and had been serving as dean for undergraduate education in the College of Arts and Science at the university. He joined the faculty in 2010. Previously, he taught at the University of South Carolina, the University of Akron, and Kent State University.
Dr. Darrick Hamilton will hold an endowed chair and serve as a University Professor and the founding director of the newly created Institute for the Study of Race, Stratification and Political Economy at The New School.
Recently, the Humanities Center at Syracuse University partnered with the Colored Conventions Project to host a local transcribe-a-thon of the writings of Anna Julia Cooper. The community service project’s goal was to transcribe the writing of Dr. Cooper and create a digital archive of her work.
After concluding his career as an opera performer, Ray taught for 10 years at the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1992, Ray became director of the voice program at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Dorman most recently served as a senior consultant for the American Cancer Society. Earlier in his career, Dr. Dorman was director of student support services at Temple University in Philadelphia.
In 1969, Dr. Sudarkasa joined the faculty at the University of Michigan. She was the first tenured African American faculty member at the university. In 1986, she was appointed the eleventh president of historically Black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, and served in that role for 12 years.
Evidence presented at the trial showed that the dean of students at the college created a flyer that told students to boycott Gibson’s Bakery, claiming the local business had a history of racial profiling.
Dr. Cole is being honored as a role model and leader for others through her personal achievements and excellence in a chosen field; commitment to human, civil rights, and social issues; and contributions to the betterment of society.
Taking on new roles are Gloria Boutte at the University of South Carolina, Katherine Jolly at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, Cedric M. Bright at East Carolina University, Ulysses Owens Jr. at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, and Allan Richards of the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Walker composed nearly 100 pieces over his lifetime. One of his most famous is Lyric for Strings which was inspired by the death of his grandmother, a former slave. In 1996, he became the first African American recipient of the Pulitzer Price for Music.
Mary Church Terrell, was born in in 1863, the daughter of former slaves. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1884 and went on to become an educator, author, civil rights leader, and feminist activist.
Donica Thomas Varner was named general counsel at Oberlin College in Ohio. Genyne Royal was appointed assistant dean for student success at Michigan State University and Jermaine Truax will be the next director of athletics and recreation at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Shane McCrae is an assistant professor of writing in the School of the Arts at Columbia University in New York City. McCrae joined the faculty at Columbia University in 2017 after teaching for three years at Oberlin College in Ohio.
After teaching at Florida A&M University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Dr. Wilson joined the music department faculty at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. He retired from teaching in 2002.
Beginning in spring 2018, Oberlin jazz studies majors may audition for the Oberlin Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble. Students selected must dedicate at least two semesters to performing in the ensemble. They must also complete a winter-term project that embodies Rollins’ spirit of giving.
Taking on new roles are Pamela Wimbush at Hampton University in Virginia, Eddie Gisemba at Oberlin College in Ohio, Ivory W. Lyles at the University of Nevada, Reno, Eunice Tarver at Tulsa Community College in Oklahoma, and Zillah M. Fluker of Miles College in Alabama.
Yeworkwha Belachew served as assistant dean, ombudsperson, and founder of the Dialogue Center at Oberlin College. She retired in 2015 after more than 35 years of service to the college.
Since 2008, Dr. Ambar has been serving as president of Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is widely regarded as having done a remarkable job leading the woman’s college. Earlier in her career, she was the youngest dean in the history of Rutgers University.
Johnnetta B. Cole, the former president of Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, was recognized by having a dormitory named in her honor on the college’s campus. The Johnnetta Betch Cole Honors Hall will be reserved for students with at least a 3.0 grade point average.
Oberlin College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in Ohio, recently dedicated a new African art installation at its Allen Memorial Art Museum. The museum has 107 African art objects in its collection.
D. R. Butler, the associate director of athletics for academics and intercollegiate athletics at George Mason University, and Glenda Hammond, the director of the Upward Bound program at Michigan State University are retiring. Joy Karega was dismissed from the faculty at Oberlin College in Ohio.
La Tanya Hall is teaching jazz voice at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Michele Foster was named to an endowed chair at the University of Louisville and Jason Geary is the new director of the School of Music at the University of Maryland.
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.
Here is this week’s roundup of Black faculty members from colleges and universities throughout the United States who have been appointed to new positions.
Mary Church Terrell was the daughter of former slaves. She was a 1884 graduate of Oberlin College and went on to become an educator, civil rights activist, and a proponent of women’s suffrage.
Marcus Belgrave, an accomplished trumpet player, taught at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Ohio from 2001 to 2010. Earlier, he launched the jazz program at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
In 1964, more than 20 Oberlin College students and three faculty members traveled to Mississippi during Christmas break to help the congregation rebuild a church that had been burned to the ground by arsonists.
Hinton, a native of Mississippi, had a jazz career that spanned more than 70 years and his music can be heard on more than 1,000 recordings. In addition to his music, Hinton was an avid photographer.
After police said the series of racial incidents last spring were hoaxes, the college issued a statement that read in part, “These actions were real. The fear and disruption they caused in our community were real. We will not tolerate acts of hatred and threats of violence regardless of motivation.”
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