Five African American Educators Who Are Taking on New University Assignments

La Toya Hart was appointed assistant professor of educational administration and assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness and research at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Dr. Hart has been serving as institutional effectiveness and assessment director and institutional accreditation liaison at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. She previously served on the faculty at Jackson State from 2009 to 2012.

Dr. Hart holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the Univerity of Southern Mississippi. She earned an MBA at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Ivory W. Lyles has been named Oregon State University’s new vice provost for extension and engagement and director of the OSU Extension Service. He had served as associate dean for engagement and director of extension for the University of Nevada, Reno. Earlier, he was professor, dean, and director of land grant programs at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

Dr. Lyles earned his bachelor’s degree at Alcorn State University. He holds a master’s degree from Mississippi State University and a doctorate in agricultural education, community and rural development from Ohio State University.

Erin H. Moore is the new executive director of the Center for Racial and Social Justice at Shaw Univerity in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a former assistant professor of history at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Dr. Moore earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Spelman College in Atlanta. She holds a master’s degree in African American studies from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in African American studies from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Leon C. Prieto, has been appointed director of the Center for Social Innovation & Sustainable Entrepreneurship at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia. A member of the faculty since 2012, Dr. Prieto is an associate professor of management.

Dr. Prieto holds a bachelor’s degree from Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He earned an MBA from Georgia Southern University, a master’s degree in liberal arts from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.

Nicholl Montgomery joins Simmons University as a lecturer in children’s literature. She is completing a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Boston College with a dissertation on the work of Black writer Jacqueline Woodson.

Montgomery earned a bachelor’s degree at Boston College, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in teaching from Northeastern University in Boston and a master of fine arts degree in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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