A Trio of African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions

Fred Aikens is the new interim dean of the College of Business at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.  Dr. Aikens has been a member of the Central State University faculty since 2009 and has served as department chair from 2012 to 2018. Before joining the academic world, Dr. Aikens worked with PepsiCo in its restaurant division during the acquisition of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut restaurants.

Dr. Aikens is a graduate of Central State University. He holds a master’s degree in management from Anrtioch University and earned a doctorate of management in organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix School of Advanced Studies.

Wanda C. Gonsalves was appointed interim dean of the College of Natural, Applied, and Health Sciences at Kentucky State University. She was a professor and vice chair of the department of family and consumer medicine at the University of Kentucky. She held those positions since 2013.

Dr. Gonsalves is a graduate of the University of Louisville. She earned her medical degree at the University of Kentucky.

Takita Felder Sumter is the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She is a professor of chemistry at the university and served as interim dean during the 2017-18 academic year. Most recently, she served as vice provost for faculty affairs. Dr. Sumter joined the faculty at the university in 2004.

Dean Sumter holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.