Category: Firsts
BU Opens New Global Development Policy Center
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the opening of BU’s new Global Development Policy Center, housed at the Pardee School of Global Studies. The center’s mission is “to advance policy-oriented research on financial stability, human well-being, and environmental sustainability across the globe,” says center director Kevin P. Gallagher, a Pardee School professor of global development policy.
NEIDL BSL-4 Lab Gets Green Light
The University receives final approval from the Boston Public Health Commission to conduct research at Biosafety Level 4 at BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories. This authorization paves the way for BU researchers to study Ebola, Marburg, and other BSL-4 pathogens at the Medical Campus facility.
BU Announces First Associate Provost for Diversity & Inclusion
BU names award-winning poet Crystal Ann Williams to the newly created position of associate provost for diversity & inclusion. Charged with promoting diversity among the University’s ranks, Williams’ goals include helping Provost Jean Morrison develop practices and programs to further diversify BU’s faculty.
First Cancer Research and Teaching Lab Created
Boston University is the first university to combine a cancer research and teaching laboratory.
First Black Dean Named
Howard Thurman is named Dean of Marsh Chapel, becoming the first black dean in a predominantly white University.
Public Relations Degree First Offered
Boston University is the first university to offer a college degree in public relations at its newly founded School of Public Relations. As related programs are added, this school changes names several times, becoming the College of Communication in 1984.
First Evening Courses in New England Offered
On January 4, 1921, the College of Liberal Arts offers New England’s first evening courses leading to AB and BS degrees.
LAW Graduate Is First Female to Try Jury Case in Massachusetts
Anna Christy Fall graduates from Boston University School of Law, later becoming the first woman to try a case before a jury in Massachusetts. She wins the case and a $700 verdict for her client.
First Female LAW Graduate
Lelia Josephine Robinson becomes the first female graduate of Boston University School of Law and succeeds in getting a bill passed allowing women to join the Massachusetts Bar. In 1882, she becomes the first woman admitted to the bar in Massachusetts.
First PhD Awarded to a Woman
Boston University is the first university to award a PhD to a woman, Helen Magill White.
