Central State University, the historically Black educational institution in Wilberforce, Ohio, has announced four candidates for president.
Johnson Akinleye is the associate vice chancellor for academic programs at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He has held that post since 2007. Previously, he was vice president for administration at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida, and associate provost and dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Dr. Akinleye holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Alabama A&M University. He earned a Ph.D. in communications studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Cynthia Jackson-Hammond is the former provost and vice president of academic affairs at Coppin State University in Baltimore. Previously, she was dean of the School of Education and Human Performance at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina and dean of the College of Education and Human Performance at Delaware State University. For the past year she has served as the lead consultant for higher education for H&H Educational Consultants.
Dr. Jackson-Hammond is a graduate of Grambling State University. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a doctorate in education from Grambling.
Helen E. Jones-Kelley is on the faculty of the Public Policy Institute’s Center on Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. From 2009 to 2011 she was the special assistant to the president for external relations at Central State University.
Jones-Kelley is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and the University of Dayton School of Law.
Maurice C. Taylor is vice president for university operations at Morgan State University in Baltimore. From 2001 to 2008, he was dean of the School of Graduate Studies and a tenured professor of sociology at Morgan State. He is the former provost at St. Augustine’s College.
Dr. Taylor is a graduate of Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a law degree from Duke University.
