Three African Americans Appointed to Diversity Posts at Colleges and Universities

Altheia Richardson has been named the inaugural chief diversity officer and vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Newberry College in South Carolina. She currently is associate vice president for strategic diversity leadership at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Dr. Richardson is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She holds an MBA and a doctorate in educational leadership from Clemson University.

D’Angelo Taylor has been named vice president for hope, unity, and belonging at Belmont University in Nashville. As part of this work, Dr. Taylor will lead the university’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives. He has been serving as vice president for student affairs at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Earlier, Dr. Taylor was the associate director of the Multicultural Center at the University of Southern Indiana.

Dr. Taylor holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Western Illinois University. He earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of New England.

Monae Roberts is the inaugural chief diversity officer for the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis. Roberts previously served as director of the LGBTQIA Resource Center and as a program coordinator at the Cross Cultural Center at the university.

Davis is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Davis holds a master’s degree in health and physical education from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in African American studies from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Colleges and Universities Appoint Four African Americans to Dean Positions

Douglas LaVergne will be the next dean of the College of Agriculture, Environmental and Human Sciences at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. He is currently serving as associate dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Dr. LaVerge will begin his new duties on April 1.

Dr. LaVergne grew up in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana snd spent his summers working in his father’s rice fields. He holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Southern University A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a master’s degree in agricultural and extension education from the University of Arkansas. In 2008. Dr. LaVerge received his Ph.D. in agricultural education from Texas A&M University in College Station.

Alma Littles has been named interim dean of the Florida State University College of Medicine, effective February 1. She has been serving as the senior associate dean for medical education and academic affairs. Earlier, Dr. Littles was the founding chair of the department of family medicine and rural health at the College of Medicine.

Dr. Littles is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned a medical doctorate at the University of Florida.

Dorothy E. Mosby will serve as the dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, effective June 1. She most recently completed a two-year term as interim dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she has been a faculty member since 2003 in the department of Spanish. She is the author of Quince Duncan. Writing Afro-Costa Rican and Caribbean Identity (University of Alabama Press, 2014).

Dr. Mosby is a graduate of Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. She earned a master’s degree in Spanish and a doctoral degree in romance languages from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Michael Bradford was appointed vice provost and dean for undergraduate education at the University of California, Davis, effective February 21. Since 2020, he has been serving as the vice provost for faculty, staff, and student development at the University of Connecticut. Prior to his current position, Bradford was head of the department of dramatic arts at the university from 2017 to 2020 and director of the university’s theatre studies program from 2010 to 2016. Bradford joined the faculty at the university in 2000 as an assistant professor of dramatic arts.

Bradford earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies with an emphasis in English literature from the University of Connecticut. He holds a master of fine arts degree in playwriting from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.