Following three months of interim service, Calvin White Jr. has been officially named chancellor of Arkansas State University. He is the first African American to serve in the role.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, Arkansas State University enrolls nearly 10,000 undergraduate students and more than 5,700 graduate students. Black students represent 15 percent of the undergraduate population.
Dr. White joined Arkansas State University in 2023 as executive vice chancellor and provost. He was also the first African American to serve in that capacity at the university. Before Arkansas State, Dr. White spent 16 years on the faculty of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he ultimately served as associate dean of humanities in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. As a scholar, he is known for his research on the African American experience in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. He is the author of numerous publications, including The Rise to Respectability: Race, Religion, and the Church of God in Christ (University of Arkansas Press, 2012).
“I am grateful to the ASU System board of trustees for their confidence in me and to [System President] Todd Shields for his trust and support,” said Dr. White. “It is an extraordinary privilege to serve as chancellor of Arkansas State University, and I accept this responsibility with tremendous respect for the people who make this university special. A-State has incredible momentum, and I look forward to working alongside our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters to build on that momentum, expand opportunity and continue moving this university forward.”
Dr. White holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Central Arkansas. He earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Mississippi.
