Four African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to University Diversity Positions

James McShay was appointed assistant vice president for student affairs and the inaugural director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Maryland College Park, effective October 2. He has been serving as vice chancellor for equity & inclusion at the University of Washington-Tacoma.

Dr. McShay is a graduate of the State University of New York-Oswego. He holds a Ph.D. in education, multicultural, and international curriculum studies from Iowa State University.

Dominique A. Quarles has been named assistant vice president for access, diversity, and inclusion at Mississippi State University. He has served as director of diversity and inclusion at the University of Georgia since 2017.

Dr. Quarles earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in higher education from Georgia Southern University. He holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Georgia.

Sharnnia Artis has been appointed vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, effective September 1. She has been serving as assistant dean of access and inclusion in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences and the Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Artis received bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech.

Mel Williams Jr., associate dean of engineering at the Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C., was given the added duties as special assistant to the president of the university for diversity and inclusion initiatives. Williams is a retired admiral of the U.S. Navy and was one of the first African Americans to captain a Navy submarine.

Williams is a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he majored in mathematics. He holds a master’s degree in engineering from the Catholic University of America

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