Gladys Mitchell-Walthour was appointed to the Dan Blue Endowed Chair of Political Science at North Carolina Central University. Her research focuses on racial politics in Brazil, affirmative action, and the intersection of social welfare, race, and gender. Dr. Mitchell-Walthour is the author of the forthcoming book The Politics of Survival: Black Women Social Welfare Beneficiaries in Brazil and the United States (Columbia University Press, 2023) and The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Dr. Mitchell-Warner is a graduate of Duke University. She holds a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.
Jonathan Livingston was named the Benjamin S. Ruffin Distinguished Professor of Civic Education and Social Justice Professor in the department of psychology. His current research focuses on social and psychological factors associated with positive health and mental health outcomes for African Americans. Dr. Livingston is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He holds a master’s degree from Florida A&M University and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
Zelda Lockhart was named the Distinguished Endowed Associate Professor of Creative Writing and African American Literature in the department of language and literature. She has written numerous novels, including Fifth Born (Atria, 2002) and Cold Running Creek (Lavenson Press, 2006). Dr. Lockhart is a graduate of Norfolk State University, where she majored in English language and literature. She holds a master’s degree in literature from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and a doctorate in expressive art therapies from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Lydia Lindsey is the Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor in Liberal Arts in the department of history. Her current research focuses on the everyday lives of Black women workers in Birmingham, England, after World War II. Dr. Lindsey holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in European history from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in British Empire and Commonwealth history and modern European history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Charles Williams was named the SunTrust Endowed Professor in the department of art and design. He is a contemporary visual artist from South Carolina. Most recently, Williams displayed his work at the Aqua and Scope Art Fair at Art Basel in Miami, Florida, and the Texas Contemporary Art Fair in Houston. Williams holds a bachelor’s degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia and a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
