Cheryl Boone, Re-Elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (MICHAEL LEWIS)
According to Variety.com, on Tuesday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences re-elected Cheryl Boone Isaacs as its President. This upcoming year will mark her second term. (Officers, including the president, are elected for one-year stints, with a maximum of four consecutive terms in any one office.) Since her first election on July 30, 2013, Boone Isaacs has generally gotten favorable reaction for keeping the Academy on track during major changes and for working to expand its effectiveness.
While maintaining ongoing goals, including education, preservation and sci-tech advancement — as well as all things related to the all-important yearly Oscars broadcast — the Academy is moving ahead on several fronts. These include recent moves to open its museum (slated for 2017), and digital innovations such as the video series “Academy Originals,” consisting of documentary-style examinations of creativity and film history.
Jersey City Firefighter Tara Walker (Photo Credit: Reena Rose Sibayan) Tara Walker, 31, a high school girls basketball legend who scored 2,376 points in her Marist High School career, is now one of six women in the Jersey City Fire Department, and the first black female firefighter in the department’s 143-year history.
The diverse class includes two black men, four Hispanic men and an Asian man, city officials pointed out on Monday.
“Now today is really a great day because if you look at the 26 men and women sitting to my right, to your left, it really represents everything that is great about Jersey City,” Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said at the ceremony. “It is a diverse class, it is a young class, it is a motivated class, it is a class of people that have dedicated and lived their lives here in Jersey City.”
The new class brings the number of Jersey City firefighters to 557. City officials said that 47 members have been hired since Fulop took office. RELATED:Bronx Firefighter Danae Mines Becomes 1st Woman Featured In FDNY Calendar of Heroes
“Waited for it since I was a kid,” said Anthony Silleto, 26, after he was sworn in. “It’s great.”
Kevin Ramirez, 28, said he’s excited to become a part of the department and serve Jersey City.
“It’s a wonderful feeling, a great feeling,” he said. “We’ve lived our whole lives here. I’m happy, I’m excited to become a part of it and meet the rest of the family.”
The hiring of the firefighters was made possible by funds from a $6.9 million federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant. The grant is expected to fund up to 49 new firefighters in total.
The 26 firefighters trained for eight weeks at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy. article via forharriet.com and nj.com
According to usatoday.com, the National Basketball Association has hired longtime marketing executive Pamela El as its chief marketing officer, two years after she was named one of the 100 most influential women in advertising
El will join the league on Aug. 18 and be responsible for brand development and will oversee marketing and advertising for the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League. El has worked 30 years in marketing, most recently with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
“Having personally worked with Pam for many years on the NBA’s partnership with State Farm, she will be a huge addition as we work to build our brand on a global scale,” NBA Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum said in an e-mailed release.
The NBA had $5.5 billion in revenue last season. The league’s international presence includes games and programming in 215 countries and territories, according to the release.
El was named to Advertising Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising in 2012 after she helped State Farm through its first logo refresh in nearly 60 years. She has also served on the board for the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the LeBron James Family Foundation.
“I love the competitiveness of the game and admire the league’s world-class teams and passionate global fan base,” El said in the release. article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson and Lesa Lakin (follow @lakinhutcherson)
ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) — The United States Navy Vice Admiral Michelle Janine Howard earned promotion to the rank of four-star admiral today during a ceremony at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Admiral Howard is now the first female four-star in the 238 year history of the United States Navy.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus presided over the ceremony and administered the oath of office. “Michelle Howard’s promotion to the rank of admiral is the result of a brilliant naval career, one I fully expect to continue when she assumes her new role as vice chief of naval operations, but also it is an historic first, an event to be celebrated as she becomes the first female to achieve this position,” said Mabus. “Her accomplishment is a direct example of a Navy that now, more than ever, reflects the nation it serves – a nation where success is not borne of race, gender or religion, but of skill and ability.”
“Michelle’s many trailblazing accomplishments in her 32 years of naval service are evidence of both her fortitude and commitment to excellence and integrity,” said Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations. “I look forward to many great things to come from the Navy’s newest 4-star Admiral!”
Howard, the Deputy CNO for Operations, Plans, and Strategy, will relieve Adm. Mark Ferguson III as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) later this afternoon. Howard is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.
Conductor Thomas Wilkins has been a familiar face to classical music fans in Los Angeles since at least 2008, when he was appointed principal guest conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
On Thursday, Wilkins officially took on a new title with the orchestra — principal conductor — signaling a more permanent role in the institution. Wilkins made his Bowl debut in 2007 and has held a series of two-year appointments in his role as principal guest conductor.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, which made the announcement on Thursday, said that Wilkins has led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at 50 concerts during his periods as principal guest conductor.
The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra was led for many years by conductor John Mauceri, who stepped down in 2006.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Darrin P. Gayles reached an American milestone Tuesday when the U.S. Senate confirmed him as a federal judge, making Gayles the first openly gay black male jurist to sit on the bench.
The noon vote was 98-0.
Gayles has served on the Florida circuit court since 2011 and before on the Miami-Dade county court, beginning in 2004. He graduated from George Washington University School of Law.
In February, President Barack Obama nominated Gayles and White House officials noted that he would be the first openly gay male African-American federal judge. Click here for updates.
Clarinetist Anthony McGill (Hiroyuki Ito / Getty Images)
The great clarinetist Anthony McGill has made history by becoming the first African-American principal, or section leader, in the New York Philharmonic, effective this fall. His appointment is among several changes at the symphony reported by The New York Times.
McGill and bassist Timothy Cobb were both poached from New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where they served as first chairs. The Philharmonic will announce several more hires in the coming months, including a violinist to replace outgoing concertmaster Glenn Dicterow.
Although the Philharmonic is regarded as the standard bearer of American orchestras and has recently updated its image with contemporary repertoire and multimedia staging, under the leadership of young conductor Alan Gilbert, it has made slow progress in terms of racial diversity. In 1962, violinist Sanford Allen became the first full-time African-American member, and there have been few people of color, other than Asians or Asian-Americans, since.
According to Aaron P. Dworkin, president of the Sphinx Organization and a leading advocate for inclusion in classical music, McGill’s “talent and artistic excellence exemplify the future of America’s classical music landscape.” article by E. Tammy Kim via The Scrutineer
Emory University has announced that Erika Hayes James will be the next dean of the Goizueta Business School, making her the first African-American female dean in the school’s history. She’s also the first among top business school programs. James will assume her role on July 15.
James is a former senior associate dean for executive education at the Darden Graduate School for Business at the University of Virginia. She earned her PhD. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, and her expertise is intersecting that knowledge with executive leadership. She has consulted numerous Fortune 500 companies and typically focuses on three key areas: crisis leadership, women in leadership, and commuter relationships. MBA students at Darden and Harvard Business School, where James taught as a visiting professor, gave her high praise, according to the Emory announcement.
Although there are three other minority women who are deans at American colleges of business, James will be the first at the helm of a full-time MBA program at a top-25 business school. Claire Sterk, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory, insisted that James’ race and gender did not impact their decision to hire her, although it is certainly an added bonus to make history. “Erika James has all of the qualities that we want for a leader at Goizueta,” says Sterk, who led the international search. “She brings a background of impressive scholarship and strong skills in academic administration, and she will work collaboratively with faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters to take the school to the next level—all the while honoring the principled leadership of Mr. Goizueta’s legacy.” James hopes to strengthen the connection between Goizueta and Atlanta’s business community, as well as, make use of Emory’s expertise in health care to create business solutions for the national challenge of health care delivery systems. “I believe that the Goizueta Business School is a world-renowned school that is on the verge of greatness,” she said. “And I want to be a part of helping the school reach that greatness.” article by Natali Rivers via uptownmagazine.com
Roslyn Brock, right, chairman of the national board of directors for the NAACP, puts a NAACP pin on new national president and CEO, Cornell William Brooks on Saturday, May 17, 2014, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The selection of Brooks came as the United States marked the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which outlawed segregation in public schools. The lawsuit was argued by the organization’s legal arm. (AP Photo/NAACP, J. Adams)
WASHINGTON (AP) — As a Head Start and Yale Law School graduate, Cornell William Brooks calls himself a direct beneficiary of Brown v. Board Education. Now the lawyer and activist is taking over as the next national president and CEO of the NAACP, whose legal arm brought that landmark legal case challenging segregation in public schools.
On the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision that said separating black and white children was unconstitutional, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization announced Brooks’ selection. The NAACP’s board made the final decision Friday night, and chair Roslyn Brock told The Associated Press about Brooks’ new position on Saturday morning. Brooks will be formally presented to the Baltimore-based organization’s members at its national convention in Las Vegas in July.
“I am a beneficiary, an heir and a grandson, if you will, of Brown versus Board of Education,” Brooks told the AP.
“My life is the direct product, if you will, of the legacy of the blood, sweat and tears of the NAACP and so today I’m particularly mindful that the NAACP has made America what it is, and certainly made my life possible and we are all grateful heirs of that legacy.”
Brooks, 53, of Annandale, New Jersey, will become the NAACP’s 18th national president, replacing interim leader Lorraine Miller. Miller has served in that position since Benjamin Jealous ended his five-year tenure last year.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to be entrusted with the opportunity to lead this powerful historic organization,” Brooks said in an interview. “In our fight to ensure voting rights, economic equality, health equity, and ending racial discrimination for all people, there is indeed much work to be done.”
Brooks, a minister, is originally from Georgetown, South Carolina. He currently is president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, a Newark, New Jersey-based urban research and advocacy organization. He graduated from Jackson State University, received a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology and got his law degree from Yale.
Brooks has worked as a lawyer for the Federal Communication Commission and the Justice Department. He also ran for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia in 1998. He still owns a home in Woodbridge, Virginia.
“Mr. Brooks is a pioneering lawyer and civil rights leader who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the association,” Brock said. “We look forward to leveraging his legal prowess, vision and leadership as we tackle the pressing civil rights issues of the 21st century.”
The organization had hired The Hollins Group Inc., of Chicago to lead its search for a new CEO, and Brooks was selected from more than 450 applications, Brock said. The organization held more than 30 interviews, she said.
Brooks said he would start talking to and listening to the NAACP’s membership to plan for the organization’s future.
He said he would present his vision for the NAACP at the organization’s convention after he’s held conversations with the members.
“As long as America continues to be a great, but imperfect nation, there will be a need for the NAACP,” Brooks said.
Jealous called Brooks’ selection “the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for the NAACP.” article via newsone.com
Dean Baquet, managing editor of the New York Times and former top editor at the Los Angeles Times, was named Executive Editor on Wednesday after Jill Abramson stepped down from the New York newspaper’s top editorial job. Baquet, 57, becomes the first African American in the job.
“It is an honor to be asked to lead the only newsroom in the country that is actually better than it was a generation ago,” he said in a New York Times account of the development, “one that approaches the world with wonder and ambition every day.”
Baquet’s ascension was big news for black journalists, whose ranks have been buffeted by newspaper staff contractions and indifference to diversity concerns.
“He has reached a height many can only dream about,” messaged Don Hudson, the executive editor of the Decatur (Ala.) Daily who tracks the number of black top editors for the National Association of Black Journalists. “He’s an inspiration to all of us editor types out here in the trenches. I know I’m proud of him.”
Hudson added, “It’s a good day. God is good. First a president and now the top journalist.”
According to 
Dean Baquet, managing editor of the New York Times and former top editor at the Los Angeles Times, was named Executive Editor on Wednesday after Jill Abramson stepped down from the New York newspaper’s top editorial job. Baquet, 57, becomes the first African American in the job.