Top 25 Women in Higher Education and Beyond

In May 2011, Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier stepped in as Savannah State University’s interim president. Dozier, who was widely known among Georgia’s education leaders for her work on the state’s systemwide diversity initiative, left her post as associate provost and chief diversity officer at the University of Georgia, where she was also a tenured professor in the School of Social Work. Dozier’s rise to Savannah State’s presidential rank shows that the transition from diversity officer to chief executive officer is indeed possible. Dozier earned a bachelor’s degree from Fairleigh-Dickinson University, her master’s in social work from the Atlanta University School of Social Work (now, Clark Atlanta University) and a Ph.D. in social welfare from Hunter College at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Dr. Charlene M. Dukes is the first female president of Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md. Prior to heading to PGCC, Dukes served as dean of students at the Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny Campus. She also served as an adjunct faculty member for CCAC, PGCC and the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University. Why a community college career? “I saw what research confirmed — that community colleges were the new model for higher education,” says Dukes. “And community colleges off er an abundance of opportunities for leadership, particularly for women and minorities.” Dukes holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’s and doctorate in administrative and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

At the end of the day, when new doors open to make college access and opportunity possible, especially for underrepresented and underserved students, Lenora M. Green feels “fortunate and blessed” that her work at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) is helping to turn their dreams of higher education into reality. Today, Green, who began her career at ETS in Princeton, N.J., nearly 30 years ago, is living her dream and pursuing her passion. As ETS’s director of client relations, Green partners with national organizations and communities that represent underserved populations. And through the Social Investment Fund, ETS’s philanthropic arm, Green focuses on improving educational opportunities for African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American and Pacific Islander students and organizations. Says Green: “When deserving students don’t have someone early on in their lives to let them know what possibilities higher education holds, it is a loss for them and for society.” Green holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish language and literature from Rutgers University.

Poor Black girls from Tuskegee, Ala., don’t grow up to become physicians is what some teachers and counselors told Dr. Hilda Hutcherson when she shared her childhood dream. Today, Hutcherson is not only a clinical professor but dean of diversity and minority affairs at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Th e practicing ob-gyn is credited with boosting lagging minority enrollment at the college from 8 percent in 2002 to more than 20 percent over a three-year period. Getting there, she says, “took pounding the pavement, going to countless recruitment fairs and reaching out to high school students.” Hutcherson also has made “empowering women to take better care of themselves and their daughters” her mission beyond the classroom. Hutcherson earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School.

Nearly a century aft er the University of Arkansas admitted its first African-American law student in 1922, the School of Law appointed Cynthia (Cyndi) Nance dean from 2006 through 2011, a position that earned her the distinction of being the first African-American and first woman in the position. But Nance, a self-professed Lutheran, says she “wants to be known as a lawyer of faith.” Nance, an internationally recognized expert in labor law, urges students and others in the profession to “approach your life in the law with the heart of a servant.” Nance earned a bachelor’s degree from Chicago State University and a master’s in finance and law degree from the University of Iowa.

Dr. Barbee Oakes, assistant provost for diversity and inclusion at Wake Forest University, knows that “formulating strategies to decrease attrition among underrepresented students can be an elusive target.” But as the architect of Wake Forest University’s first strategic plan for diversity and inclusion, Oakes has made the work of fostering and maintaining cultural competence on campus a shared experience among faculty, staff and students. Oakes, who has the distinction of being the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the American College of Sports Medicine, also is using principles of exercise physiology and nutrition to undergird many of the university’s strategic diversity and inclusion initiatives. Oakes also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wake Forest.

When campus crisis and opportunity find their way to Arlethia Perry Johnson’s office at Kennesaw State University or greet her on the other end of the telephone on any given day, there is little that this veteran communicator hasn’t heard or done. That, says Perry-Johnson, vice president of external affairs, has come with amassing nearly three decades of communications and public affairs experience, with most in higher education. She joined Kennesaw State in 2006 when she was appointed special assistant to the president for external affairs. Perry-Johnson, the former chief spokesperson for the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, also directs the system’s African-American Male Initiative, now operating on 23 campuses. Perry-Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications from Point Park University (formerly Point Park College).

Dr. Janine Pease is proof that you can go home again. After spending more than 10 years elsewhere leading in higher education, the celebrated American Indian educator and advocate was appointed head of the Crow Nation’s Education Department in February 2011. Revitalizing the Crow language, especially among its children, is her priority, says Pease, who was most recently vice president for academic and vocational programs at Fort Peck Community College. In 1982, Pease, a former welfare recipient, transformed $50,000 in seed money from her tribe and an abandoned building into Little Big Horn College where she served as founding president for 18 years. Pease earned two bachelor’s degrees at Central Washington University and a master’s and Ph.D. from Montana State University.

When Dr. Lucy J. Reuben, professor of the practice of business administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, looked around but didn’t find enough young talented minority candidates interested in pursuing doctorate degrees in business disciplines, she created an innovative program to cultivate them. Now in its second year, Reuben directs the Ph.D. Pipeline Opportunity Program she founded, working with a network of other business faculty to increase diversity within their ranks. Reuben earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a master’s and Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Michigan.

In 2004, when Deborah Santiago co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Excelencia in Education, the time for talking about Latinos in higher education was over. Launching Excelencia signaled an opportunity for Santiago and her team to accelerate a comprehensive plan for supporting Latino student success in higher education while engaging the rest of higher education. Santiago, who also serves as vice president for policy and research at Excelencia, has worked for more than 15 years to improve educational opportunities and access for all students. Santiago earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mary Washington College and a master’s in urban affairs from Virginia Tech.

Those in higher education know the familiar acronym SACS – the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, but for Dr. Belle S. Wheelan, president of the accrediting body since 2005, it also means “Students Are Central to Success,” a fitting description for what motivates her on the job. Wheelan is the first African American and the first woman to lead SACS. In that role, the two-time community college president and civil rights activist also addresses the needs of small, private colleges striving to gain and maintain accreditation and the parity of women in higher education. Wheelan earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University, a master’s from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

When Dr. Phyllis Wise was selected in October 2011 to lead the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus (UI), she became the first female Asian-American chancellor to serve at a major research university. Before coming to UI, Wise, a Chinese American who immigrated with her parents to the United States, already was blazing higher education trails. She was named interim president at the University of Washington in 2010-2011, making her then, the first female Asian-American to hold that post. To UI President Michael Hogan, Wise, an active scientist, scholar, professor, and mentor, is “the full package.” Wise earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Michigan.