William R. Harvey, Chair
William R. Harvey has served as president of Hampton University since 1978. During his tenure, he has increased enrollment, raised the endowment, raised the average SAT scores for entering freshmen, and implemented innovative programs which have led to increased opportunities for Hampton graduates. Prior to joining Hampton, President Harvey worked in various roles at Harvard University, Fisk University, and Tuskegee University. He previously served on the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as the President’s National Advisory Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, the Commission on Presidential Scholars, and the U. S. Department of Commerce Minority Development Advisory Board. President Harvey is currently a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. He graduated from Talladega College and earned his doctorate in college administration from Harvard University.
Lawrence S. Bacow
Lawrence S. Bacow has served as the president of Tufts University from 2001 to 2011. He is a lawyer and economist whose research focuses on environmental policy. President Emeritus Bacow is also known as an advocate for broader access to higher education, the importance of need-based financial aid, and the role of civic engagement in colleges and universities. Prior to coming to Tufts, he was the chancellor and Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After stepping down as President of Tufts, Dr. Bacow became President-in-Residence in the Higher Education Program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education; he is serving in this role for a second year during 2012-13. He is also a Senior Advisor to Ithaka S+R and was one of the authors of its major 2012 study of the barriers to the adoption of online learning systems in U.S. higher education. Dr. Bacow is a member of the Harvard Corporation and serves on the boards of directors of Boston Properties, Liquidnet, and Loews Corporation. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well, he received his S.B. from MIT, J.D. from Harvard Law School, and M.P.P. and Ph.D. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Evelynn M. Hammonds
Evelynn M. Hammonds is Dean of Harvard College and the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She previously served as Harvard’s first senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity from 2005-2008. Her current work focuses on the intersection of scientific, medical, and socio-political concepts of race in the United States. Before joining the Harvard faculty, Dean Hammonds taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she was the founding director of the MIT Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and Medicine. She has published articles on the history of disease, race and science, African American feminism, African American women and the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, and analyses of gender and race in science and medicine. Dean Hammonds earned a Ph.D. in the history of science from Harvard University, an S.M. in physics from the MIT, a B.E.E. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in physics from Spelman College.
Demetria Henderson
Demetria Henderson is currently a 2010 Corps Member for Teach for America Inc. She is also a recent graduate of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU). While at FAMU, she served as an HBCU AmeriCorps member, helping to mentor incoming college freshman, and as a coach and mentor for teens in the Police Athletic League. She received her B.A. in Psychology from FAMU in May 2010.
Beverly Wade Hogan
Beverly Wade Hogan was named president of Tougaloo College in 2002. She previously served on the College’s Board of Trustees and as the interim president, executive assistant to the president, and vice president for institutional advancement. She was also the founding director of the Owens Health, Wellness & Human Resources Center. Additionally, she has taught courses on public policy at Jackson State University and is a frequent speaker at colleges and universities across the country and abroad. President Hogan has been a scholar with the Kettering Foundation where her research focused on higher education and civic responsibility. She received her B.A. from Tougaloo College and M.P.A. from Jackson State University. She is also the recipient of a number of honorary doctorates.
Milton Irvin
Milton Irvin is currently Chair of the Advisory Board for Castle Oak Securities, L.P. In January 2012, Mr. Irvin retired from UBS AG where he had been a Managing Director and the Americas’ Head of Diversity and Inclusion since 2002. Before working at UBS, Mr. Irvin served as President and COO of Imbot.com, from 2000 to 2002, and Blaylock & Partners L.P., from 1998 to 1999. Mr. Irvin began his career as a corporate lending officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, and then spent 20 years at Salomon Brothers, holding numerous positions including Managing Director and Head of Generalist Sales. Mr. Irvin currently serves on the Wharton Graduate Advisory Board, the Board of the Harlem School of the Arts, and LEAD, a non-profit that unites colleges and universities with corporations to encourage minority high school students to explore careers in business, science, engineering, and technology. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Mr. Irvin to the Advisory Committee of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for which he served as chairman from 1995 to 1997. Mr. Irvin earned his B.S. from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Edward Lewis 
Edward Lewis is the co-founder of Essence magazine and chairman and publisher emeritus of Essence Communications Inc., which is one of the largest African-American owned communications companies in the United States. For 35 years, he led the strategic direction of Essence and built it into the multi-media leader that it has become today. A frequent speaker at universities and business schools across the country, he is also the current chairman of Latina Media Ventures and former chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America. Mr. Lewis received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of New Mexico.
Ronald Mason, Jr.
Ronald Mason, Jr., is president of the Southern University System. Previously, he served as president of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, from 2000 to 2010. Earlier in his career, he founded and was the executive director for Tulane and Xavier Universities’ National Center for the Urban Community. During his 18-year tenure at Tulane, President Mason held appointments as senior vice president and general counsel and as vice president for finance and operations. He began his career as a lawyer with the Southern Cooperative Development Fund, Inc. President Mason has served on the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, and the American Council on Education Board of Directors. He received his B.A. and J.D. from Columbia University.
Renée Mauborgne
Renée Mauborgne is the co-director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute and Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, the world’s second largest business school located in Fontainebleau, France. Previously, she held the title of the INSEAD Distinguished Fellow of Strategy and Management and Senior Research Fellow also at INSEAD. Professor Mauborgne is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum at Davos. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Nobels Colloquia Prize for Leadership on Business and Economic Thinking 2008 and the Eldridge Haynes Prize, awarded by the Academy of International Business and the Eldridge Haynes Memorial Trust of Business International, for the best original paper in the field of international business. Professor Mauborgne is the co-author of the international bestseller Blue Ocean Strategy (Harvard Business Press), which is being published in 42 languages. She has published numerous articles on strategy and managing the multinational which can be found in: Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of International Business Studies, Harvard Business Review, and Sloan Management Review.
Helen T. McAlpine
Helen T. McAlpine has been the president of J. F. Drake State Technical College since 2000. President McAlpine has over 38 years of experience in the field of education. Her prior positions include assistant superintendent of the Huntsville City School System and several positions with the Gadsden City School System. She has also taught at the secondary and post-secondary levels, including at Jacksonville State University. She received her B.A. in English from Talladega College, her M.S. from Jacksonville State University, and her Ed.D. from the University of Alabama.
Valerie Mosley
Valerie Mosley is a senior vice president, partner, and portfolio manager for Wellington Management Company, LLP, a $540 billion global investment firm. She also serves on two of the firm’s fixed-income strategy groups, and has chaired the firm’s Industry Strategy Group. Before joining Wellington Management in 1992, Mosley worked at Chase Manhattan Bank, Kidder Peabody, and P.G. Corbin Asset Management. She speaks frequently on issues related to the economy and investments, personal empowerment, and financial literacy. In addition, she is working with high schools to develop a financial education program that can be scaled nationally. Val Mosley received her B.A. from Duke University and her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Willie Pearson, Jr.
Willie Pearson, Jr., is a professor of sociology at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of History, Technology, and Society. He specializes in the sociology of science and sociology of the family. His research focuses primarily on broadening participation in science and engineering and the careers of African-American Ph.D. scientists. He is the author or co-editor of numerous books and articles, including Beyond Small Numbers: Voices of African American PhD Chemists (2005). Professor Pearson is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and former chair of the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, Office of the Director, National Science Foundation. He received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, an M.A. in sociology from Atlanta University, and a B.A. from Wiley College.
Alma Powell
Alma Powell is the Chair of America’s Promise Alliance, which seeks to enhance partnerships to ensure that students are prepared for college and work. She also chairs the advisory board for the Pew Center for Civic Change. From 1989 to 2000, she served as the chairman of the National Council of the Best Friends Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of young girls. She graduated from Fisk University and studied at Emerson College.
John Rice
John Rice founded Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) in 1994 and has served as its CEO since 2001. MLT works to develop the next generation of African American, Hispanic, and Native American leaders in major corporations, non-profit organizations, and entrepreneurial ventures. Prior to MLT, he was an executive with the National Basketball Association, where he served as managing director of NBA Japan from 1998-2000 and as director of marketing for Latin America from 1996-1998. Before joining the NBA, he spent four years (1992-1996) with the Walt Disney Company in new business development and marketing for both the Disney Vacation Club and Disney Consumer Products Latin America. From 1988 to 1990, John Rice worked as an account executive with AT&T. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.A. with honors in Latin American Studies from Yale.
Earl W. Stafford
Earl W. Stafford is Chief Executive Officer of The Wentworth Group, LLC, a position he has held since February 2009. Mr. Stafford is also Chairman of The Stafford Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization he founded in 2002. From 1988 to 2009 he was Chairman and Chief Executive of Universal Systems & Technology, Inc. Previously, Mr. Stafford served in the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1987. He currently serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Horatio Alger Association, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Wesley Theological Seminary, and the Venture Philanthropy Partners. Mr. Stafford holds a B.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University. He is a graduate of the Owner/President Management Executive Program at Harvard Business School, and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Virginia State University.
Dianne Boardley Suber
Diane Boardley Suber is the tenth president of Saint Augustine’s College. She assumed the presidency of the college in December 1999. President Suber is an experienced educator and administrator with 35 years of teaching, consulting and administrative experience in preschool and higher education. She has served as a classroom teacher, elementary and middle school principal, university professor and consultant to several national educational organizations. She received a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education from Hampton Institute, a master’s of education degree in curriculum development from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and a doctorate of education degree in educational administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Beverly Daniel Tatum
Beverly Daniel Tatum became the ninth president of Spelman College in 2002. During her tenure, the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (LEADS) was created and its annual Women of Color Leadership Conference was established as a national professional development resource. She has also increased scholarship support for students and supported innovative programs such as the construction of an LEED-certified “green” residence hall. She previously served as a faculty member at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Westfield State College, and Mount Holyoke College, where she also served as dean and acting president. In 2005, President Tatum was awarded the prestigious Brock International Prize in Education for her innovative leadership in the field. Formerly a member of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, she also serves on the boards of the Institute for International Education, the Council of Independent Colleges, Teach for America, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She earned a B.A. degree in psychology from Wesleyan University, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan. President Tatum also holds a M.A. in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary.
Kenneth Tolson
Kenneth Tolson is the executive senior vice president and chief operating officer and iInnovation transformation officer for the Emerging Technology Consortium, a division of TBED21. TBED21-ETC is a non-partisan research and educational institute whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and economic productivity in America. Tolson has served in various senior information technology and management focused roles for both the public and private sectors. As a chief information officer and chief technology officer, he has managed large-scale technology implementation programs for the federal government and other agencies. He is a member of the National Society for Black Engineers and multiple technology industry associations. Tolson also founded The Melvin B. Tolson Foundation in honor of his grandfather who was a noted African American poet and educator. He received his B.S. from Morehouse College and is a former United States Marine Corps Reserve Officer Candidate.
George Walker
Rev. George B. Walker, Jr. is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Victory Institute (“Victory”), a position he has held since October 2011. From 2008 to 2011, he was the Vice President of Leadership Initiatives at Victory. Before joining Victory, Mr. Walker worked at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy as the Development Director from 2006 to 2008; the Human Rights Campaign as Major Gifts Officer from 2004 to 2006; and the Center for Community Change, where he was Deputy Operations Director from 2003 to 2004 and Director of Evaluation from 2001 to 2003. From 1994 to 1996, he worked as a volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps and later served as Associate Director of the Peace Development Fund from 1998 to 2001. George Walker is the recipient of the U.S. Peace Corps’ Franklin H. Williams Award, the German Marshall Memorial Fellowship, and the Pipeline Project’s 21st Century Leadership Fellowship. He holds a B.A. from Morehouse College and an M.Div. from the Divinity School at Duke University.
David Wilson
David Wilson, president, Morgan State University, has over 31 years of experience in higher education from leading colleges and universities across the country. President Wilson was previously the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension. His other administrative positions include serving as vice president for university outreach and associate provost at Auburn University and associate provost of Rutgers University. He received his B.S. in political science and an Ed.M. from Tuskegee University. He also earned an Ed.M. in educational planning and administration and a doctorate in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University
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