Ben Vinson III

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Ben Vinson III
President Ben Vinson, Howard University (54338317386) (cropped).jpg
Vinson in 2025
18th President of Howard University
Incumbent
Assumed office
September 1, 2023
Thesis Bearing arms for his Majesty: The free-colored militia in colonial Mexico  (1998)
Doctoral advisor Herbert S. Klein

Ben Vinson III is an American historian, currently serving as the 18th president of Howard University since September 2023. He served as provost of Case Western Reserve University from 2018 to 2023 and as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University from 2013 to 2018.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

Vinson is originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, [1] [2] and spent part of his childhood on military bases in Italy. [3] His father was a master sergeant in the United States Air Force, [2] [3] and his mother was an elementary school teacher. [3] He attended Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and graduated in 1988. [1] He received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1992. [1] [4] [5] Vinson earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1998. [1] [4]

Career

Vinson served on the faculties of Barnard College and Pennsylvania State University before joining Johns Hopkins University as a professor of history and served as the Herbert Baxter Adams Professor of Latin American History and vice dean of centers, interdisciplinary studies and graduate education. He also helped found Johns Hopkins' Center for Africana Studies and served as its founding director. [6] [7]

In 2013, Vinson was appointed as dean of George Washington University's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. [8] [9] As dean of GWU's Columbian College, he led the integration of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design into the college and opened a $275 million interdisciplinary science and engineering building. [10] He also spearheaded diversity initiatives including the Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute that provides funding for high school juniors from their undergraduate to post-doctoral studies. [2] [11]

Reception

Vinson has been chairman of the board of the National Humanities Center since 2018. [12] [13] He is also a vice president of the American Historical Association [14] and president of the Conference on Latin American History. [15] [16]

Vinson's scholarship focused on the African presence in colonial Mexico and has authored books on the African American experiences in Mexico and Afro-Mexican experiences in the United States. [8] His book Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico, won the 2019 Howard Cline Book Prize in Mexican History for the best work on Mexico by the Latin American Studies Association. [17]

Personal

Family

A resident of the Washington, DC area, [3] Vinson is married to Yolanda M. Fortenberry, Ph.D. He has three children, Allyson, Ben IV, and Brandon Vinson. [18] Two of his cousins are W. Toni Carter, former county commissioner of Ramsey County, Minnesota, [19] and her son, Melvin Carter III, the first Black mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. [20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Anderson, Nick (May 2, 2023). Howard University names scholar of the African diaspora as its new president. Washington Post.
  2. 1 2 3 "Taking the Long View on Academic Leadership: Historian and Case Western Provost Ben Vinson III". Mellon Foundation. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Howard Newsroom Staff (May 2, 2023). Ben Vinson III PhD, 18th President of Howard University.The Dig.
  4. 1 2 "Ben Vinson III Is the New Dean of Columbian College at George Washington University". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  5. ↑ Hall, Courtney (May 17, 2023). Give a Rouse for Ben Vinson III ’92. Dartmouth Alumni and Families.
  6. ↑ "Johns Hopkins names Vinson first director for Africana Studies Center". Washington Examiner. 2006-07-22. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  7. ↑ "November 2006 – Center for Africana Studies". krieger.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  8. 1 2 "Ben Vinson III To Be Next Dean of Columbian College | Columbian College of Arts & Sciences | The George Washington University". Columbian College of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  9. ↑ "A new era for Columbian College". The GW Hatchet. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  10. ↑ Karen Farkas, cleveland com (2018-03-12). "CWRU names new provost and executive vice president". cleveland. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  11. ↑ "CCAS Dean Named Provost of Case Western Reserve University | GW Today | The George Washington University". GW Today. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  12. ↑ "Ben Vinson, III, 2005–2006". National Humanities Center. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  13. ↑ NHC (2018-08-08). "National Humanities Center Board Elects New Chairman and Vice Chairman". National Humanities Center. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  14. ↑ "Ben Vinson III | AHA". www.historians.org. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  15. ↑ "Provost and Executive Vice President Ben Vinson III elected to executive committee of the Conference of Latin American History". The Daily. 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  16. ↑ "Conference on Latin American History | AHA". www.historians.org. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  17. ↑ "LASA2022 / Polarización socioambiental y rivalidad entre grandes potencias". Latin American Studies Association. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  18. ↑ Sanders, Larry J. (November 16, 2023). Photo Essay: The Presidential Inauguration of Dr. Ben Vinson III. Caption: Dr. Yolanda Fortenberry stands with her and Dr. Vinson's three children, Ben IV, Allyson, and Brandon. Howard University.
  19. ↑ W. Toni Carter. Sankofa Leadership Network.
  20. ↑ Howard Magazine (Winter 2024). Howard University Inaugurates Ben Vinson III as 18th President.
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