Leading Legacies: A History of Spelman College Presidents
Spelman College, a distinguished liberal arts college for women of African descent in Atlanta, Georgia, has a rich history shaped by visionary leaders. These presidents, each with unique backgrounds and accomplishments, have contributed to Spelman's legacy of academic excellence and leadership cultivation. This article explores the tenures of several key figures who have guided Spelman College, highlighting their contributions and impact on the institution.
Florence Matilda Read: Pioneering Leadership
Dr. Florence Matilda Read exemplified the leadership skills necessary to continue the vision of Spelman College's previous presidents. Her determination and strategic thinking continued to catapult the College into unprecedented territory. Born in 1886 in Delevan, N.Y., Read attended Mount Holyoke College, graduating in 1909. Before coming to Spelman, Read began working as the executive secretary for the Rockefeller Foundation's International Health Division in 1920. It was during this time that she learned of Spelman College via the Rockefeller affiliation. She held her position at the Foundation until 1927, when she became Spelman College's fourth president.
During her Spelman presidency, which began in 1927, Read also served as acting president for Atlanta University for over a year following the death of President John Hope in 1936. Read, along with the 19 other presidents of historically Black colleges and universities, established the United Negro College Fund in 1943. After 26 years, Read retired from Spelman College in 1953. She was named president emerita and chronicled a comprehensive history of the institution in the book, "The Story of Spelman College," published in 1961 during the College's 75th anniversary. She oversaw the organization of the Spelman College Glee Club and the First annual Spelman-Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert took place on Dec. In April 1929, the Agreement of Affiliation was signed with Morehouse College and Atlanta University, creating the foundation of the Atlanta University Center.
Donald M. Stewart: Expanding Academic Horizons
In 1976, Dr. Donald M. Stewart became Spelman College's sixth president. A Chicago native, Dr. Stewart graduated from Hyde Park High School before attending Grinnell College in Iowa, where he graduated in 1959 with a degree in political science. He continued his education, earning a master's degree in political science from Yale University in 1972; then a master of public administration in 1969; and a doctor of public administration in 1975 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1983.
Before coming to Spelman, Dr. Stewart held several positions at the University of Pennsylvania, including associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, director of the College of General Studies, and counselor to the provost. He also worked in the Overseas Development Division of the Ford Foundation.
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During his decade in office, Dr. Stewart continued the tradition of academic excellence and the cultivation of leaders. He ushered in many additions to the College's curriculum and expanded the academic offerings with new majors, minors, and the creation of new programs. A full-fledged Department of Chemistry and a Comprehensive Writing Program were established.
In 1986, Dr. Stewart retired from Spelman to become president of The College Board in New York where he would serve for more than 12 years. He spent a year at the Carnegie Corporation of New York where he served as senior program officer of the Education Division and special adviser to the president before taking the helm at the Chicago Community Trust as chief executive officer and president from 2000 to 2005. He returned to the classroom as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies from 2005-2011.
In 2010, he was appointed to the Commission on Presidential Scholars by President Barack Obama. Dr. Stewart is the recipient of numerous awards and is an adviser and board member for several organizations.
Johnnetta Betsch Cole: A Trailblazing Leader
In 1987, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Ph.D., became Spelman College's seventh president and the first Black woman to lead the College that was founded specifically for the education of women of African descent. Born in 1936 in Florida, Dr. Cole started her higher-education at the young age of 15 with early admission to Fisk University. She would later transfer and graduate from Oberlin College in 1957. She earned her master's and doctorate degrees in anthropology from Northwestern University in 1959 and 1967 respectively. She held teaching positions at several schools, including Washington State University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Hunter College, where she was professor of anthropology and director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program until her departure in 1987 when she took the helm of Spelman College.
After a decade of service to Spelman, Dr. Cole remained in Atlanta while returning to the classroom at Emory University as the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women's Studies and African-American Studies. In 2002, she became the president of Bennett College in North Carolina, the only other HBCU dedicated to educating Black women. She retired in 2007 and continued to serve as chair of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute in Atlanta. In 2009, she was named director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, a position she currently holds.
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The recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees and numerous accolades, Dr. Cole has served on many boards including Home Depot and Merck. In 2004, Dr. Cole became the first African-American chair of the board of United Way of America. During her Spelman presidency, she was the first woman elected to serve on the board of Coca-Cola Enterprises. She currently chairs the board of the National Visionary Leadership Project and is on the Advisory Committee of America's Promise and the Points of Light Foundation. Dr. Cole is married to James D. Staton Jr.
Up to that time, she lead the College's most successful capital campaign, "The Spelman Campaign: Initiatives for the 90s," which raised $113.8 million for the endowment. In 1992, the College announced the receipt of $37 million from the DeWitt Wallace/Readers Digest Fund - the largest gift ever given to a historically Black college. Several centers and programs were established under Dr. Cole's administration, including the Spelman College Mentorship Program, the International Affairs Center, and the Office of Community Service. In 1991, two years after its launch, the Community Service Program was designated White House Point of Light #563. Spelman soared to the top of several high-powered rankings, including being named the No. News & World Report in 1992. In 1994, the Association of Medical Colleges ranked Spelman No. In 1989, the Living & Learning Center II was erected and was dedicated the Johnnetta Betch Cole Living & Learning Center in her honor on her 70th birthday Oct.
Audrey Forbes Manley: An Alumna Returns to Lead
Dr. Audrey Forbes Manley became the first alumna to lead her beloved alma mater when she was appointed Spelman College's eighth president in 1997. Dr. Manley's unwavering dedication, experience, and intimate knowledge of the institution served Spelman well as she successfully guided the College into the New Millennium. Dr. Manley was born in Mississippi in 1934. She spent her early years there before moving to Chicago, where she graduated from Wendell Phillips High School in 1951. She earned her bachelor’s degree as a member of Spelman's Class of 1955, and immediately continued her education at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. After receiving her medical degree in 1959, she returned to Chicago, where she completed her residency at Cook County Children's Hospital in 1963. At 27, she was the first woman, the second African-American, and the youngest person to be named chief resident physician at the hospital’s pediatric division.
After working at the North Lawndale Neighborhood Health Center, Dr. Manley served two years as the assistant medical director at the Woodlawn Child Heath Center; then relocated to San Francisco where she practiced pediatric medicine at Mt. Zion Medical Center. She also held several faculty positions at the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, and the University of California.
In 1966, Dr. Manley was elected to Spelman’s Board of Trustees and served from 1966 to 1970. In 1991 she received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Spelman College.
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In 1970, she married Dr. Albert Manley, Spelman College's fifth president, and became the first lady of her alma mater until her husband's retirement in 1976. As first lady, she initiated the Health Careers Office and chaired the Health Careers Advisory Committee. She also served as an organizer and consultant of the Family Planning Program and Initiative for College Personnel in Family Planning and as medical director of the Family Planning Program for the Atlanta University Center.
During this time, her medical career continued to flourish. She served as chief of medical services at Grady Memorial Hospital's Emory University Family Planning Clinic in Atlanta. Public Health Service and in 1987 earned a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. Public Health Service. surgeon general from 1995 to 1997. Following Dr. Albert Manley's death in 1997, she returned to Spelman - this time as president. She led the College for five successful years before retiring and becoming president emerita.
Under Dr. Manley's administration the College had a balanced budget and an increased asset growth of more than $30 million; and a physical plant growth of more than $50 million. In 1998, Spelman was awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's premier honor society. The College continued to receive several top rankings including No. 1 by Black Enterprise as best environment for Black collegians; No. 2 on the fifth annual list of Top Ten Activist Schools by Mother Jones Magazine in 1998; and No. Professor Ayoka Chenzira, internationally noted filmmaker and visual artist, was the first recipient of the William and Camille Cosby Endowed Professorship in the Fine Arts in 2001. Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, C'70, cultural historian and founder of the legendary a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, was named the 2002 Cosby Professor in the Fine Arts, and Dr. Spelman hosted the 25th International Association of Philosophy and Literature Conference in May 2001. Several renovations took place on the campus including Upper and Lower Concourses and Dining Services in the Manley College Center, and The Albro Falconer Manley Science Center, which was dedicated in 2002. The Science Center was named partly in Dr.
Mary Schmidt Campbell: A Champion of the Arts
On August 1, 2015, Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell began her tenure as the 10th president of Spelman College. Prior to arriving in Atlanta, Dr. Campbell was a major force in the cultural life of New York City. Her career in New York, which included various challenging roles, began at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she served for 10 years. Her role there began at a time when the city was on the verge of bankruptcy and Harlem was in steep decline. However, the museum was transformed under her leadership from a rented loft to the country’s first accredited Black Fine Arts Museum. Dr. Campbell also established herself as a stalwart supporter who championed the need for professional development opportunities for women and people of color in the arts.
When she left the Studio Museum of Harlem in 1987, the organization was recognized as a linchpin in the economic revitalization of the 125th Street corridor and a major center for the study of the visual arts of the Black Atlantic.
New York’s late Mayor Edward I. Koch invited Dr. Campbell to serve as the city’s cultural affairs commissioner in 1987. In this role, she led the Department of Cultural Affairs, which oversees the operations and capital development of the city’s major cultural institutions. As a commissioner, she gained a reputation as an indefatigable advocate for large and small arts organizations throughout all five boroughs.
Dr. Campbell returned to the private sector to become dean of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the fall of 1991. In her more than two decades as dean, the Tisch School gained a reputation for producing artistic trailblazers in theater, film and interactive media. Tisch students, faculty and alumni have won virtually every major award in the arts, including the Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Grammy, Emmy, Peabody, Golden Globe, Guggenheim Fellowship and more. As dean, Dr. Campbell diversified the student body and the faculty fourfold, and she incubated several new arts and technology divisions within the school and the university. Among the new academic programs she developed the NYU Game Center, The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, The Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, and a joint MBA/MFA Graduate Film and Business program.
Additionally, she doubled the size of the school’s Interactive Telecommunication Program. She founded and chaired Tisch's Department of Art and Public Policy, which examined the intersection of art, politics and public policy as it impacts individual artists and the institutions that support them in a democratic culture.
In September 2009, former President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Campbell as the vice chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a nonpartisan advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural matters. As vice chair, Dr. Campbell actively reaffirmed the arts as an essential ingredient of effective public school education. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was elected to the Unity Technologies Board in September 2020. She served as a member of the Alfred P. Sloan Board from 2008-2020. She currently sits on the boards of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, as well as on the Advisory Boards of the Bonner Foundation and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
Dr. Campbell is a contributor to several publications, including Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis; New York Reimagined: Artists, Art Organizations, and the Rebirth of a City (Oxford University Press, 2016); Four Generations: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art, Foreword (Gregory R. Miller & Co., 2016); co-editor of Artistic Citizenship: A Public Voice for the Arts, (Routledge, 2006); co-author of Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America (Harry N. In 2018, she completed a book, An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden, for Oxford University Press. For this work, Dr. Campbell received the 2018 Hooks National Book Award from the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. In 2019, she was a finalist for the 55th Georgia Author of the Year Award in the category of biography. Also, the Museum of African American History selected "An American Odyssey" as a finalist for the for 2019 MAAH Stone Book Award.
Dr. Campbell received her B.A. in English literature from Swarthmore College. She earned her master’s in art history as well as her Ph.D. in humanities from Syracuse University.
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