New Administrative Positions in Higher Education for Seven African Americans

Patricia Williams Lessane was appointed associate vice president for academic affairs at Morgan State University in Baltimore. She has been serving as associate dean for strategic planning and community engagement for university libraries and as executive director of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Dr. Williams Lessane holds a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Fisk University in Nashville, a master’s degree in liberal studies, African-American/Black studies, and Black feminist studies from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

J. Steven Barnes has been named associate vice president for health development and alumni affairs at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Most recently, he served as associate dean for development and alumni relations at Vanderbilt University.

Barnes holds a master’s degree in mass communications from Middle Tennessee State University.

Geoffrey E. Eaton has been named director of community affairs and diversity at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine and Touro College of Pharmacy in New York City.

Eaton has served as the first vice president of the New York State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and as chief of staff for long-serving Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel.

Kamesia House, has been named president-elect of the North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. She is the executive director of scholarships and financial aid at Fayetteville State University.

House is a graduate of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Chris Lewis has been named vice president of community outreach and strategic partnerships at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. He previously served as interim president of J.F. Drake State Community & Technical College in Huntsville, Alabama.

Dr. Lewis is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he majored in finance. He holds an MBA from Troy University in Alabama and a Ph.D. in adult and continuing education administration from Auburn University in Alabama.

TaJuan Wilson has been named associate vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Iowa. He currently serves as executive director of student programs and diversity and as an assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Wilson holds two bachelor’s degrees in political science and communication from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, a master’s degree in public administration and government management from the Keller Graduate School of Management in Oklahoma City, and a doctorate in higher education administration and instructional leadership from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

Deirdre Pitts has been named interim associate dean for academic and faculty affairs and diversity and inclusion at William Beaumont School of Medicine at Oakland University in Michigan. She has been serving as assistant dean for faculty affairs and professional development at the medical school since 2015.

Dr. Pitts is a graduate of Central Michigan University where she majored in business administration. She holds a master’s degree in organizational management from Spring Arbor University in Michigan and a Ph.D. in education and education leadership from Oakland University.

Gregory Perrin was appointed associate vice president for development at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. He was associate vice president and executive director in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement and the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

Perrin holds a bachelor’s degree in drama and a master of fine arts degree in theater from the University of Houston.

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