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Tressie McMillan Cottom, a professor with the Center for Information, Technology and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been selected as the 2023 winner of the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize was created in 2007 by the late Professor Joseph B. Gittler to recognize outstanding and lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic, and/or religious relations. The annual award includes a $25,000 prize and a medal.
“Through her work as a leading academic, sociologist, and writer, Tressie McMillan Cottom brings critical perspective and analysis to some of the greatest social challenges we face today,” said Brandeis University President Ron Liebowitz.
Before joining the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2020, Dr. McMillan Cottom was an associate professor in the department of sociology in the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She is the author of Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy (The New Press, 2017), and Thick: And Other Essays (The New Press, 2019).
Professor McMillan Cottom is a graduate of North Carolina Central University, where she majored in English and political science. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Emory University in Atlanta.
Patrena Benton Elliott is the new president of Halifax Community College in Weldon, North Carolina. The college enrolls just under 1,000 students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 45 percent of the student body.
Dr. Elliott had been serving as vice president of instruction and student support services at Robeson Community College in Lumberton, North Carolina. Previously, she was dean of the Graduate College at Hampton University in Virginia. Earlier, Dr. Elliott was the assistant vice president for academic affairs and director of the Edwin P. McCabe Honors Program at Langston University in Oklahoma.
“I feel honored to be chosen as Halifax Community College’s next president.” Dr. Elliott said. “I count it a blessing to have the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful institution. I am also so excited to have the chance to work with all stakeholders in advancing the work of the college and the greater community.”
Dr. Elliott holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned a Ph.D. in leadership studies at North Carolina A&T State University.
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