Tagged: Swarthmore College

Dr. Thomas has over two decades of experience in higher education leadership, including her current role as president of HERS, a professional development organization for women and gender-diverse leadership in higher education.

Cacey Bester was promoted to associate professor at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and Tonya Peeples was named a special adviser to the provost at Pennsylvania State University. North Carolina A&T State University's James Daniels was appointed the second Poet Laureate for the city of Greensboro, North Carolina.

Dr. Smith was named the first Black president of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 2015. Before her presidency, she was dean of the college and the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton University.

Mercy Mumba was named a Distinguished Research Professor of Nursing at the University of Alabama. Krystle McLaughin was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor of chemistry at Vassar College in New York and Nsoki Mavinga was promoted to professor of mathematics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Legesse taught anthropology and Black studies at Swarthmore College for over two decades. Throughout his career, he conducted extensive research in Eritrea and advocated for the campaign against South Africa's apartheid system.

The Frederick Douglass Book Prize is presented annually by Yale University in honor of the preceding year's best book on topics of slavery, resistance, or abolition. Dr. Edwards, associate professor at the University of Virginia, was honored for her latest book, Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank (W.W. Norton and Company, 2024).

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

The American Philosophical Society (APS), the oldest learned society in North America, has announced the election of 38 new members. Of the 28 new members from the United States, three are African Americans with current ties to the academic world.

Swarthmore's vice president of DEI, Brooke Vick stated, "Forward steps, especially in the march toward racial justice and liberation, are often met with backward steps, frequently driven by a backlash rooted in fear. They want people to believe that diversity work is about exclusion. But this is what it’s about. It is about creating spaces where representation not only matters but is delivered."

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

The faculty appointments are Natalie Sowell at Spelman College in Atlanta, Cheryl Jenkins at Talladega College in Alabama, and Isaiah Wooden at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Valerie Smith was named president of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 2015. She will continue in her role through at least June 2027.

The new appointees are Elisa A. Mitchell, Keisha Green, Hayden Dawes, Sherritta Michelle Williams, Walter Lee, Breonte Guy, and Quin'Nita Cobbins-Modica.

The faculty appointments are Jude Sandy at Swarthmore College, Jean Beaman at CUNY's Graduate Center, Seth Gaiters at North Carolina State University, Andrew Waaswa at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Alex Alston at Bryn Mawr College.

Vance served as director of student disability services at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania for the past six years. In this role, she focused her efforts on DEI initiatives, student accessibility, and disability rights.

Christopher Edley had an extensive career in both academia and public service. He served as a professor with Harvard Law School for 23 years and held senior advising roles for five presidential campaigns, including for his former student, Barack Obama.

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.

Taking on new faculty roles are Michael Carbin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Judith Casselberry at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, Yvonne Chireau at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, Tesfaye Mengiste at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Rae Shaw at San Francisco State University.