[HBCU Presidents] Dr. Donna Oliver: Mississippi Valley State University
Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by Leshell Hatley in Scholarly Celebrations
Dr. Donna H. Oliver is the sixth president and first woman to lead MississippiValley State University. Prior to appointment, Dr. Oliver served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs (chief operating officer) at Edward WatersCollege. She has a distinguished career as a K-12 public school biology and chemistry teacher, a college professor and K-16 administrator that spans 30 years. She is the 1986 North Carolina Teacher of the Year and the 1987 National Teacher of the Year having been selected from among America’s 2.5 million K-12 teachers.
Education
Oliver began her college studies at Elon College where she completed her undergraduate degree in biology and education. After teaching five years at the high school level, she earned a master’s of education degree in biology and curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After being named the North Carolina Teacher of the Year she earned a master of science degree in educational administration with licensure as a K-12 principal from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University. After she began her career as a college teacher educator, she returned to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and teaching with a concentration in multicultural education and began to conduct research in the areas of teacher education and multicultural education. In 2004 as a Bush Scholar, she completed the Higher Education Institute for Educational Management Certification at Harvard University. She continues her research today by having students identify what they perceive to be barriers to their education. She has published numerous articles on multicultural teacher education in professional journals and has presented her research at numerous national professional meetings and conferences. She continues to conduct workshops for public schools and university teacher education faculty.
Honors & Awards
She was presented the Crystal Apple Award by President Ronald Reagan during an Oval Office Ceremony in the White House, which included the U.S. Secretary of Education, Bill Bennett, and the White House Press, led by Helen Thomas. Dr. Oliver’s congressman, Howard Coble, honored her during a Congressional Luncheon at which time she was presented to Congress and the proceedings are written up in the Congressional Record 1987. Dr. Oliver is also recognized in the 1987 Annual Edition of Britannica Encyclopedia and Scholastic Magazine as an outstanding teacher and during this same year traveled to Madrid, Spain to serve as an educational consultant and lecturer at the American School. In 1988 she was selected to be a member of the first official United States Delegation of Educators in 12 years to study and speak in China-Taiwan, Taipei.
In addition to the national teaching award, Dr. Oliver has received numerous awards including the Alamance Burlington NAACP Educators Award, Democratic Women of Alamance County Woman of Achievement Award, the Bennett College Faculty Service Award and the Belle Ringer Award, the National Science Teacher Association Biology Honors Teaching Award, the Governor’s Teaching Award in Science and Mathematics, the Burlington Jaycees Outstanding Young Educator Award and the UNC-Greensboro Alumni Distinguished Service Award.
Made History
Dr. Oliver made history in 1987 by becoming the first African American to receive the Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year Award at Elon College, now Elon University. During that same year she was recognized by Howard University as an outstanding African American Woman of Achievement, was named to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the White House Commission for a Drug Free America. In 1995 she was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education as the weekly Profile for the January 28 volume. She has been recognized in more than 40 of the United States and three foreign countries for her contributions as a teacher, administrator, and educator. She is the recipient of the Kentucky Colonel Award, the Arkansas Traveler Award presented by former President Bill Clinton, and Keys to the City in 10 different states. She has received more than 100 Outstanding Educator Awards from local, state, national and international civic, education, community and religious organizations.
Service & Organizational Memberships
Dr. Oliver has been an active participant in numerous community and civic organizations including the Elon Homes For Children Board of Directors, the Board of Visitors of Elon University, and the Triad Private Colleges North Carolina Piedmont Automated Library System Consortium Board of Governors. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Tri Beta Psi Honorary Biological Society and is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of America, having served three full terms on the Tarheel Triad Girl Scout Board of Directors – the maximum term allowed. She is also a past chair of the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Piedmont Automated Library Services for Private Colleges. Dr. Oliver has also served on many state boards, commissions and task forces. She served two terms on the Governor’s School Advisory Board having served as vice chair for two years, the North Carolina State Education Committee Review Board, and she served as a member of the transition team for a former State Superintendent of Public School, Bob Etheridge, who is now a United States Senator.
Dr. Oliver and her husband, James C. Oliver, have one daughter, Rachel Oliver-Cobbin, the 1987 Miss Black America and R&B recording artist with Atlantic Starr; son-in-law, Keith James Cobbin, who is a financial and estate planner; a four-year-old grandson, Cameron James Oliver Cobbin; and two-year-old granddaughter, Raina Lael Oliver Cobbin.
Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are former life-time members of Wayman’s Chapel A.M.E. Church in Graham, N.C. where Dr. Oliver served as church organist for more than 25 years, was a member of the Steward’s Board, a former class leader, vice chair of the Layman’s Society, assistant church secretary, co-chair of the church’s 100 Year Celebration Steering Committee, and choir director for the Senior and Gospel Choirs.
Dr. Oliver continues speaking, consulting and engaging in community service while continuing her work atMississippi Valley State University.
More information about Dr. Oliver and Mississippi Valley State University can be found on the school’s website – http://www.mvsc.edu.
More Related posts:
- [HBCU Presidents] Horace Mann Bond: 1st Black President of Fort Valley State College & Lincoln University
- [HBCU Presidents] Dr. Melvin N. Johnson: Tennessee State University
- [HBCU Presidents] Dr. Hazo W. Carter Jr: West Virginia State University
- [HBCU Presidents] Dr. Norris Edney (Interim President): Alcorn State University
- [HBCU Presidents] Dr. Helen T. McAlpine: J.F. Drake State Technical College
Leshell Hatley
27. Aug, 2010
Dr. Donna Oliver hardly had time to savor her rise to the top ranks of higher education as a college president when she got the sobering news from her new bosses: cut the school’s budget by 5 percent immediately and be prepared for more cuts later.
“My mouth dropped open,” says Oliver, president for the past 18 months of Mississippi Valley State University, recalling the startling news she faced two weeks into her freshman year as a college president. The 60-year-old veteran higher education executive expected challenges, “but not instant budget cuts.”
The budget cutting was done, however, as have several subsequent cuts, she says. They have been achieved without major damage to the school’s core programs or employment rolls, she says, and with input from a university community advisory group she appointed. The group has helped her navigate the school through its tough economic times, challenges mirrored at colleges and universities across the state and nation.
Oliver is among a corps of career academicians making up the growing ranks of first-time presidents at historically Black colleges and universities. They are taking on the challenge of championing HBCUs for the 21st century as the schools face a growing chorus of politicians and others questioning their continued value as demands grow for the schools to beef up their academic performance and needed funds — from public and private sources — become harder to come by.
“They are very difficult jobs and more requirements are being placed on them,” says Dr. Frederick Humphries, former president of Tennessee State University and Florida A&M University, where he is now a Regents Professor.
More: http://diverseeducation.com/article/14059/
musa zubairu
30. Aug, 2010
I am encouraged by your academic attainment hoping to emulate you in contributing to the progress of humanity.
You are distinctively appreciated