The Johnson C. Smith University Board of Trustees selected Valerie Kinloch as the university’s 15th president.
Kinloch currently serves as dean of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh, where she oversees 300 full- and part-time faculty and staff, and nearly 1,000 students. She has led academic transformation, recruited top faculty, exceeded fundraising goals, overhauled operations, and overseen more than $9 million in capital projects and renovations.
A graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and a member of its board of trustees, Kinloch has deep insight into the strengths and challenges of the 156-year-old college, university leaders said.
“Valerie’s proven leadership, deep background in academia, and intimate knowledge of Johnson C. Smith University gives her the expertise and credibility to continue our transformation,” board chair Steven L. Boyd said. “She is a dynamic leader and change agent pure and simple. She will help us continue to elevate the quality of education we provide as we deliver on our promise to mold the next generation of leaders for this community and beyond.”
Kinloch succeeds Clarence D. Armbrister, who successfully led the university for more than five years, helped to raise the university’s public profile, and secured the single largest financial commitment of more than $80 million through the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative to help fund the strategic plan adopted by the board in 2021.
Kinloch wants to build on the university’s growing community support and raise its national profile with students, families, and funders by “telling the stories” of all the inspiring work happening at Johnson C. Smith. She also will look inward to reimagine academic offerings, elevate faculty and staff, increase alumni engagement, and “keep students at the center of everything” the university does.
“We need to make space for innovation and for different types of learning – not just inside of classrooms but also through internships, experiential engagements, and job placements with businesses, organizations and community groups with whom we have deep relationships,” Kinloch said. “We have to support critical thinking and provide an education that prepares students for the careers they want and that the community needs. We also have to encourage students to pursue even higher forms of education.”
A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Kinloch holds a bachelor’s degree from JCSU as well as a master’s degree and a doctorate from Wayne State University. Education Week named her to its 2023 list of the nation’s most influential scholars. She also successfully served as president of the National Council of Teachers of English.
“It’s a dream come true to be invited to lead one of the finest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America – and at the same time come home,” Kinloch said. “My years at JCSU were some of the best of my life. This university set me on course to grow beyond anything I could imagine, so it is incredibly gratifying to return and give back to the institution that helped make me who I am.”
Kinloch will officially begin her role Aug. 1.
