Four African Americans Who Have Been Hired to Diversity Posts at Colleges and Universities

Pierre Morton was named chief diversity officer at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire, effective April 12. Pierre joined the Franklin Pierce community in July 2019 as the executive director of the Lloyd & Helen Ament Astmann ’69 Career Center. Earlier, Morton was the assistant director of employer relations at the University of New Haven in Connecticut.

Morton is a graduate of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut, where he majored in human resource management. He earned an MBA at the University of New Haven and is completing work on an educational doctorate at Willmington University in Delaware.

Harris Akinloye was appointed assistant vice president for community belonging at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She is currently a senior consultant for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Social Good Solutions, a consulting firm in Chatsworth, California, that works with philanthropic institutions, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and institutions of higher education. She is the former chief diversity officer at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California.

Dr. Akinloye holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and religious studies and a master’s degree in education from Pepperdine University. She earned a Ph.D. in education with a focus on cultural perspectives from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Mary J. Wardell-Ghirarduzzi was named the inaugural vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. She has been serving as the chief diversity executive at the University of San Francisco.

Dt. Wardell-Ghirarduzzi is a graduate of Pacific University. She earned a master’s degree in intercultural counseling and social justice education from San Diego State University and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University.

Constance Porter, assistant clinical professor of marketing in the Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston, has been named senior associate dean in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the business school. Dr. Porter joined the Rice University faculty in 2011 and teaches marketing, marketing research, and customer relationship management.

Dr. Porter earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in marketing from Georgia State University.

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