Barbara McKinzie spotlights a handful of women who kicked down the school house door and paved the way for black women in the world of higher education.

1. BLACK WOMEN AND THE
ADVANCEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Barbara McKinzie

2. TIME AND
TIME AGAIN
it has been proven that educated citizens can
tremendously impact society in a positive
way, and there has been a push for
governments, both on state and national
levels, to pledge their commitment to
ensuring educational opportunity for all.
Michelle Obama, Princeton University & Harvard Law Graduate

3. PREDOMINANTLY
the opportunity for education needs to be present
for those whom that opportunity has been elusive
throughout history

4. WOMEN OF COLOR
haven’t been afforded the same opportunities for higher education, despite a rich
history of their groundbreaking contributions to the cause of education in America

5. HERE ARE JUST A FEW
WOMEN OF COLOR
who have kicked in the schoolhouse door.

6. DR. JOHNETTA
COLE
When Dr. Cole was named president of
Spelman College in 1987, she became the
first black female President of the small
liberal arts women’s college, also one of the
oldest historically black colleges (HBC) for
women in America. Under her leadership,
the SAT scores of incoming freshman
consistently ranked higher than any other
HBC in the nation, earning the college the
title as one of the top regional liberal arts
colleges in the South by U.S. News and
World Report magazine.

7. After becoming the first black woman to earn
her Ph.D. in Mathematics from The Catholic
University in Washington, D.C. in 1943,
Dr. Haynes then went on to establish the first
mathematics department at Miner Teachers
College, known today as the District of
Columbia Teachers College, and serve as
Chair of the Division of Mathematics and
Education. In 1966, she played an
instrumental role in integrating the DC
public school system as the first woman to
chair the District of Columbia School Board.
DR. MARTHA
EUPHEMIA LOFTON
HAYNES

8. PRESIDENT
SHIRLEY
JACKSON,
PH.D.Adding to the list of notable women of color who’ve made
significant strides for the cause of education, Dr. Jackson was
the first black female to receive a doctorate in physics from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973.
Twenty-two years later, she was named the first black person
and first woman to serve as chairman of the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, and was also the first black woman
elected to the National Academy of Engineering. To top off her
list of impressive firsts, Dr. Jackson became the first black
female to lead a major technological institute when in 1999
she was named the President of Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, a position she holds to this day.

9. TO LEARN MORE, VISIT BARBARA’S
EDUCATION BLOG AT
http://barbaramckinzie.org/