When Prof. Emeritus Josephine Allen, policy analysis and management, joined Cornell in the fall of 1977, she went on to become the first Black woman professor to be tenured at the University. Disheartened by the lack of diversity she saw among professors, she spent much of her career advocating for the hiring of more Black women as faculty.
Prof. Josephine Allen, policy analysis and management/Courtesy of Cornell University
But 44 years after Allen first joined, a lack of representation, and the ripple effects that come with it, persist at Cornell.
According to a 2019 National Center for Education Statistics survey, Cornell had 703 tenured full professors for the 2019-2020 school year. Just nine were Black women. Since the survey was conducted, two Black women professors have left, two are retiring and two more have been promoted to full professorships as of July 1.