Grady-Willis appointed director of Black Studies Program

Dear Members of the Skidmore Community:
  
I am delighted to announce that Winston Grady-Willis, professor of black studies and director of the School of Gender, Race and Nations at Portland State University, has been appointed as the inaugural director of the Black Studies Program at Skidmore College. As many of you know, Winston is already familiar with Skidmore, having previously served here as the director of intercultural studies and associate professor of American studies in 2008-11.
  
As director of the School of Gender, Race and Nations at Portland State, Winston provided leadership for black studies, Chicano/Latino studies, indigenous nations studies, and women, gender and sexuality studies. During his tenure at Portland State, Winston oversaw the development of a new major in indigenous nations studies, helped develop a proposal for a master’s degree in intersectional social justice studies and taught courses in black studies.

Before joining Portland State, Winston served for five years as professor of Africana studies and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado. During his tenure at Metropolitan State, Winston coordinated a major revision of the Africana studies curriculum, and the department saw the doubling of the number of majors and minors.

During his earlier appointment at Skidmore in 2008-11, Winston taught in the Department of American Studies and served as co-chair of the Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding and as a member of the Institutional Policies and Planning Committee (IPPC). Before joining Skidmore, Winston was a faculty member for nearly a decade at Syracuse University, where he served in the Department of African-American Studies.

Winston holds a B.A. in history from Columbia University, an MPS in Africana studies from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Emory University.
  
I would like to express my deep appreciation to the members of the search committee, including Kristie Ford (co-chair), Gwen D’Arcangelis, Mason Stokes and Joshua Woodfork. I am also grateful to all those who attended the candidate presentations and provided helpful feedback. In addition, I would like to acknowledge our national search firm, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, for identifying and presenting a very strong candidate pool. Finally, I would like to thank the many campus groups that have worked to lay the foundations for this appointment, including the Black Faculty and Staff Group (BFSG), the Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding (CIGU), the Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP), the CEPP Black Studies Subcommittee and the Curriculum Committee.
  
Winston’s deep knowledge of the field of black studies, his extensive experience as a program director and department chair, his knowledge of Skidmore, and his outstanding record as a faculty member will serve the College well as we develop and launch our new program in black studies.

Please join me in welcoming Winston Grady-Willis to Skidmore.
  
Sincerely,
Michael T. Orr
Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs