Tag: University of Maryland

University of Maryland Reports on Its Historic Ties to Slavery

"This new research report is an important first step in confronting and disrupting the narrative of our shared history. It challenges us to see through the privileged half-truths we’ve long held as a university and to create a more inclusive and truthful documented history," said Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, co-chair of The 1856 Project.

Five Black Leaders Appointed to Administrative Positions

Here is this week’s roundup of African American 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.

Julius B. Fleming, Jr. Selected to Receive the Hooks National Book Award

Julius B. Fleming, Jr., assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, is the winner of the Hooks National Book Award from the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis.

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.

In Memoriam: John Brooks Slaughter, 1934-2023

John B. Slaughter was the former chancellor of the University of Maryland and former president of Occidental College in Los Angeles. He also served as the director of the National Science Foundation.

In Memoriam: Julius Wesley Becton Jr., 1926-2023

After a 40-year career in the U.S. Army, in 1985, General Becton was appointed by President Reagan to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Then in 1989, he was appointed the fifth president of Prairie View A&M University. He served in that role until August 31, 1994.

Patricia Hill Collins Awarded the $1 Million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture

The prize is given annually to an individual whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world. Professor Collins joined the faculty at the University of Maryland in 2005. Earlier, she was the director of the African American Center at Tufts University and spent more than 20 years on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati.

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.

A Quartet of Black Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments

Taking on new roles are Taofeek K. Owonikoko at the University of Maryland, Felicia Jefferson at the University of Nevada Reno, Amanda Awadey at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and Tomisha Brock at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Three African Americans Taking on New Administrative Duties at Universities

Jeremy Toulon is the newly appointed director of student transition and success at Binghamton University in New York. Valencia Jordan is the new director of athletics at Fisk University in Nashville and Sharcus Steen is the new chief investment officer for the University System of Maryland Foundation.

Phyllis Curtis-Tweed Appointed Provost at Queensborough Community College in New York

“I am thrilled to join the Queensborough Community College as provost and vice president of academic affairs, and to return to CUNY, where our very prescient mission remains to provide high-quality public education for all students," said Dr. Curtis-Tweed.

Lorrie Frasure to Lead the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA

Dr. Frasure joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007. She was the first woman of color and the first Black woman to earn tenure and promotion to full professor in the political science department at the university. As the new director of the center, she will hold the inaugural Ralph J. Bunche Endowed Chair.

Robert M. Dixon Is the New Leader of Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi

Dr. Dixon has worked as a faculty member and administrator at six HBCUs over the past half-century as a provost, vice president, dean, department chair, and professor. He is a physicist and may have trained more African American physics undergraduates than anyone else in the country.

Robert M. Dixon Is the New Leader of Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi

Dr. Dixon has worked as a faculty member and administrator at six HBCUs over the past half-century as a provost, vice president, dean, department chair, and professor. He is a physicist and may have trained more African American physics undergraduates than anyone else in the country.

Willie May Named President-Elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Since 2018, Dr. May has served as vice president of research and economic development and professor of chemistry at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Previously, he served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Yolanda Wilson Will Be the First African American President at the College of Southern Maryland

Dr. Wilson has been serving as vice president of instruction at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. She has been a professor and administrator in the North Carolina and South Carolina community college systems for more than 22 years.

Sylvia Trent-Adams Appointed President of the University of North Texas Health Science Center

Before joining the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth in 2020, Dr. Trent-Adams was the first Black woman to serve as Deputy Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps., then the first Black woman to rise to the level of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health.

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.

Study Finds Little Progress for African Americans in Academic Radiology

In academic radiology in 2019, Blacks were 3 percent of the assistant professors and 2 percent of the associate professors and full professors. The proportion of Black or African American department chairs was 5 percent in 2019. These percentages have not changed significantly since 2010.

How State Lotteries Prey on Low-Income African Americans

An investigation of state lotteries by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland found that high school dropouts spent four times more per year on the lottery than college graduates. Black people spent, on average, nearly five times as much as White people.

University of Maryland Study Finds Wide Political Divide on Views of Racial Discrmination

The study found that less than half of all American believe that there is more discrimination direct against African Americans than was the case five years ago. Some 40 percent of all respondents stated that they believed there was more discrimination directed against Whites than was the case five years ago

Three Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions

Kimberly White-Smith is the new dean of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. Ngonidzashe Munemo was named dean of the faculty at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and Kimberly Griffin was appointed dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland College Park.

Rochelle Ford Selected as the Next President of Dillard University in New Orleans

Since 2018, Dr. Ford has been serving as dean of School of Communications at Elon University in North Carolina. Before becoming dean at Elon, she was a professor of public relations in the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in New York.

The University of Portland Names Robert Kelly as Its Twenty-First President

Robert Kelly has been appointed the twenty-first president of the University of Portland in Oregon. When he takes office in August, Dr. Kelly will be the first layperson and the first African American to hold the position in the 121-year history of the educational institution.

Three Universities Announce the Appointments of Black Scholars to Dean Positions

Stephanie Shonekan was named dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. Bimbola Akintade was named dean of the College of Nursing at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and Troy McKenzie was appointed dean of the New York University School of Law.

Mark Melton to Serve as Provost at Saint Augustine’s University

Dr. Melton has been serving as a professor of biology and dean for the School of Sciences, Mathematics, and Allied Health at the university. During his tenure at the university, Dr. Melton has been chair of the department of biological and physical sciences and director of the honors program.

The Long-Term Effects of Redlining on Public Health in Black Neighborhoods

A new study by researchers at the University of Maryland shows that people in areas long ago labeled as “red” (hazardous) or “yellow” (definitely declining) on infamous government housing maps in the 1930s, today have about a five-year shorter life expectancy than those living in areas that had been categorized as favorable for home mortgage lending.

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.

The Next Chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District in California

Byron D. Clift Breland has been serving as chancellor of the San Jose – Evergreen Community College District located in Silicon Valley. From 2013 to 2018 he was president of San José City College. He will begin his new job on January 18.

Don Essex Is the New Dean of Lyman Beecher Brooks Library at Norfolk State University

Before coming to Norfolk State, Dean Essex was an associate professor and director of the Theofield G. Weis Library at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland, for nearly seven years. Earlier, he served for 13 years as a legislative information specialist for the Washington office of the American Library Association.

In Memoriam: Patricia V. Richie

Patricia Richie began working at then Palm Beach Community College in 1994 as director of continuing studies and was promoted three years later to dean of Career and Technical Education, becoming the college’s first African American female dean.

In Memoriam: Genevieve Madeline Knight, 1939-2021

Dr. Knight taught at Hampton University in Virginia from 1963 to 1966 and from 1970 to 1985. She then taught mathematics at Coppin State University in Baltimore for more than two decades.

Four African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to University Diversity Positions

The African Americans assigned to new diversity posts are James McShay at the University of Maryland College Park, Dominique A. Quarles at Mississippi State University, Sharnnia Artis at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and Mel Williams Jr. at the Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C.

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.

A Trio of African Americans Who Have Been Appointed Deans

Karen Brown was appointed dean of the School of Education at the University of the Virgin Islands. Samuel Graham, Jr. will be the next dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland and Tamika Wordlow Williams is the new dean of students at Belmont University in Nashville.

Jessica Marie Johnson Honored for Her Book on Black Women in the Colonial Atlantic World

Jessica Marie Johnson, an assistant professor of history at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has won the Kemper and Leila Williams Prize in Louisiana History. The honor is bestowed by The Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana Historical Association.

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