About Us

Breadcrumbs

In 2018 the HBCU Council of Past Presidents approached Clark Atlanta University about the possibility of establishing a program to prepare future HBCU Presidents. The CAU School of Education in collaboration with the Online Learning and Continuing Education office wrote a planning grant to develop the HBCU Executive Leadership Institute. With the support of our distinguished Advisory Board and the HBCU ELI Team, the program is ready to welcome our Inaugural Community of Fellows in May 2021.

The HBCU Executive Leadership Institute aims to establish a sustainable model for increasing the quality and supply of qualified candidates to serve as HBCU presidents and other executive level leaders. The Institute will support the design of a leadership development program that will focus on the preparation and development of HBCU presidents and executive leaders. The vision is to develop a performance-based leadership preparation program that will engage aspiring and new HBCU Presidents in an extended learning network that provides opportunities to practice and demonstrate proficiency in real time, in the real HBCU working environment.

The HBCU Executive Leadership Institute will address the following four components:

Well-defined competency model (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) for effective HBCU leadership.
A high-quality performance-based preparation program that engages participants in a combination of face-to-face and online learning experiences.
A well-defined approach for recruitment of potential participants that includes selection criteria and protocols.
A model for ongoing evaluation and support of aspiring and practicing HBCU leaders.

HBCU Executive Leadership Institute Advisory Board

Louis W. Sullivan (Chair)- Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, President Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine
Johnny Parham (Co-chair)- Retired Executive Director, Thurgood Marshall Fund
Thomas Cole- President Emeritus, Clark Atlanta University, Former President, West Virginia State College
Errol Davis- Former Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, and Former Chancellor of the University System of Georgia
Stephen Dolinger- President, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
Barbara Hatton- Former President, Knoxville College; Former President, South Carolina State University
Fredrick Humphries- President Emeritus, Florida A&M University and President Emeritus, Tennessee State University
Ronald Johnson- Former President, Clark Atlanta University and Chairman of the Consumer Advisory Board of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Walter Kimbrough- President, Dillard University and Former President, Philander Smith College
George Ross- President Emeritus, Central Michigan University and Former President, Alcorn State University
Ruth Simmons- President, Prairie View A & M and Former President, Brown University
Richard Taylor- Founding Director of the Center for Real Estate at Suffolk University, Former Vice President for Development for the Fidelity Mutual Fund
J. Fidel Turner, Jr., Ex-Officio Board Member, Dean, School of Education, Clark Atlanta University