In a letter to the campus community, Juliette B. Bell announced that she will step down as president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on June 30. The university is located in Princess Anne near the border with southern Delaware. It enrolls about 3,300 undergraduate students and more than 600 graduate students, according to the latest U.S. Department of Education data. Women make up 55 percent of the undergraduate student body.
In her resignation letter to the campus community, Dr. Bell wrote that “serving as president of this great university has been an honor, privilege, and blessing. I am incredibly proud of all that we have accomplished together.” President Bell plans to write a book on her journey from the cotton fields of Alabama to the presidency of a state university and to spend time with her grandchildren.
Dr. Bell became president of the university on July 1, 2012. From 2009 to 2012, Dr. Bell was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Prior to joining the administration at Central State University, Dr. Bell was interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. From 1992 to 2008, she served as a faculty member and administrator at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
A native of Talladega Alabama, Dr. Bell earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Talladega College. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Atlanta University and did postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.