Five African Americans Who Have Been Appointed Deans at Universities

Monika Williams Shealey was appointed dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University in Philadelphia. She previously served as senior vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion and dean of the College of Education at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. Earlier, Dr. Williams Shealey served as associate dean for teacher education at the School of Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Dr. Williams Shealey holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She earned her doctorate at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Kenyatta R. Gilbert has been named dean of the School of Divinity at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Since 2006, Dr. Gilbert has been a professor of homiletics at the divinity school. He is a nationally-recognized expert on African American preaching. He is the author of four books including A Pursued Justice: Black Preaching from the Great Migration to Civil Rights (Baylor University Press, 2017).

Dr. Gilbert earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He holds a master of divinity degree and a Ph.D. in practical theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey.

Jonathan Bailey Holland has been named dean of the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, effective September 1. He has been serving as the Jack G. Buncher Head of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music in Pittsburgh. Earlier, he served on the faculties of the Berklee College of Music, the Boston Conservatory, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Dr. Holland received a bachelor’s degree in music from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He earned a Ph.D. in music from Harvard University.

Sharonda Ragland will serve as the acting dean for the School of Arts and Sciences at Virginia Union University in Richmond. She is an assistant professor of mathematics and interim chair of mass communications at the university. Earlier, she was assistant dean for undergraduate studies in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Ragland holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in applied and computational mathematics from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is completing work on a doctorate in education from Regent University in Virginia Beach.

Twinette Johnson was named dean of the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. She has been interim dean since August 2022. Prior to joining the faculty in 2017, Professor Johnson was an associate professor of law and director of the Academic Success Program at Southern Illinois University School of Law. Professor Johnson’s research interests include higher education access policy and learning theory models in legal education.

Dr. Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University. She earned a juris doctorate at Tulane University in New Orleans.

University of the District of Columbia Partners With Michigan Technological University

The University of the District of Columbia, a historically Black educational institution in Washington,  has entered into an agreement with Michigan Technological University. The agreement calls for:

• Student exchanges and graduate study articulations,
• Faculty collaborations and visiting professorships
• Joint funding proposals and philanthropy.

According to the agreement, Michigan Technological University will provide mentorship in helping the University of the District of Columbia attain R2 status within the Carnegie Classification system for research universities. In return, UDC will provide cultural responsiveness mentorship to MTU.

The agreement encourages individual colleges and departments within each university to collaborate on mutually supportive endeavors. Colleges, departments, and faculty will be able to create sub-agreements underneath the umbrella of the overall partnership.

Ronald Mason Jr., president of the University of the District of Columbia, the agreement is an incredible opportunity for both universities to expand their global reach.“We look forward to seeing how our partnership impacts not only our respective schools but the world,” he said. “This collaboration is a collective commitment to go beyond common boundaries.”

Michigan Technological University in Houghton enrolls nearly 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 1,200 graduate students, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. Blacks make up just one percent of the undergraduate student body.