February 23, 2010 — Rita Dove, Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia, is featured in an article in this month's Essence magazine, "Celebrating Black History Now: 40 Firsts In 40 Years."

Dove, whose photo is No. 15 in the series, is recognized for being America's first African-American woman U.S. Poet Laureate, a post she held for two years from 1993 to 1995.

Dove joined the U.Va. faculty in 1989. Her ninth and most recent poetry collection is "Sonata Mulattica."