Equity Award Recipients
Equity Awards recognize and publicize individuals and institutions that have achieved excellence in recruiting and retaining underrepresented racial and ethnic groups into the historic profession. Two equity awards are given annually: one for individuals and another for academic units. The award can be conferred for new initiatives or for sustained efforts. These equity awards are meant to recognize and publicize individuals and institutions that have achieved excellence in recruiting and retaining underrepresented racial and ethnic groups into the historic profession. While the awards are honorary and have no monetary component, winners receive a certificate of recognition that specially honors their efforts to secure and sustain diversity in the profession.
2015 Equity Awards
Individual Award: Víctor Macías-González, Univ. of Wisconsin-La Crosse
The Committee on Minority Historians is very pleased to confer the 2015 Equity Award on Víctor Macías-González, associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. As numerous letters from colleagues and former students make clear, Professor Macías-González has been tireless in his efforts to mentor underrepresented students and open the historical profession, and academia in general, to peoples of all backgrounds. A prominent scholar of Latino/a history, his many achievements include directing the Institute for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, and creating the Eagle Mentoring Program.
Institutional Award: Jacqueline Looney, senior associate dean for graduate programs and associate vice provost for academic diversity, Duke University Graduate School
Over the past 25 years, primarily under the leadership of Jacqueline Looney, Duke University Graduate School has succeeded in recruiting and retaining students from historically underrepresented minority groups, more than tripling the percentage of enrolled graduate students of color. In the history department this has resulted in more than 23 black PhD recipients since 1998, most of whom are now tenured at colleges and universities across the globe.