Robert M. Dixon has been selected to serve as the interim president of Rust College in Holly Spring, Mississippi. He has been serving as interim vice president for academic affairs.
Historically Black Rust College enrolls about 750 students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 98 percent of the student body.
“I am proud to lend my talents and expertise to such a historic and prestigious institution such as Rust College. I look forward to following in the traditions of past exceptional leaders who have served this institution during its 157 years,” said Dr. Dixon.
Dr. Dixon has worked as a faculty member and administrator at six HBCUs over the past half-century as a provost, vice president, dean, department chair, and professor. He is a physicist and may have trained more African American physics undergraduates than anyone else in the country. He also is a director of a private-sector engineering firm.
Dr. Dixon earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1964. He went on to earn a master’s degree in nuclear physics in 1966 from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics from the University of Maryland in 1977.
