Three Universities Have Named African Americans to Provost Positions

Rondall E. Allen has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Dr. Allen joined the UMES faculty in July 2015 as dean of the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions and currently serves as interim vice president for strategic initiatives. Earlier, Dr. Allen was associate dean for academic quality at South University School of Pharmacy in Savannah, Georgia.

Dr. Allen earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Florida A&M University, He holds a pharmacy doctorate from Xavier University of Louisiana.

Mignon Jacobs is the new vice president of academic affairs and provost at Virginia Union University in Richmond. Dr. Jacobs joined the university in June 2021. She has been serving as associate provost and professor of Old Testament at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at the university. Prior to joining Virginia Union, Dr. Jacobs served as dean, chief academic officer, and professor of Old Testament studies at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio.

Dr. Jacobs is a graduate of Bethel University. She holds a master of divinity degree from the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Ph.D. in religion from Claremont Graduate University in California.

Marie Chisholm-Burns was appointed executive vice president and provost of Oregon Health & Science University. For the past 10 years, she has been dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She was the first African-American to hold the position in the college’s history. Earlier in her career, she was a professor and chair of the department of pharmacy practice and science at the University of Arizona. Before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona, she taught at the Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta and at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy.

Professor Chisholm-Burns holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Georgia. She earned a master of public health degree at Emory University in Atlanta.

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