Three African American Women University Presidents Announce Their Retirements

Wilma Mishoe has announced her intention to retire as president of Delaware State University, effective December 31, 2019. Dr. Mishoe made the announcement on her 70th birthday. Her 40-year career in higher education will end where it started. Dr. Mishoe’s father, Luna Mishoe, was the president of what is now Delaware State University from 1960 to 1987.

Dr. Mishoe was serving as the first female chair of the board of trustees at the university in October 2017 when then-president Harry Williams announced his departure to become CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The board announced Dr. Mishoe as interim president in January 2018, a position made permanent that June, installing her as the first woman chief executive in the university’s history. Prior to her tenure at Delaware State University, Mishoe was a long-serving academic administrator at Delaware Technical Community College.

Dr. Mishoe holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in student personnel administration, guidance, and counseling both from Howard University. She earned a doctorate in adult/vocational education from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Lucille H. Maugé, who served until recently as the interim president of Clark Atlanta University, announced that she will retire from the university before the end of the year.

“I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to have served CAU and its students during this exciting time in its history,” said Maugé. “Leading this institution has been one of the great highlights of my career, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished together in setting CAU on a strong and sustainable path for the future.”

Before being named interim president, Maugé had been serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer at the university. She previously served as the university’s vice president for finance and business services and chief compliance officer. Before joining the staff at the university, Maugé was a banking executive.

Cynthia Jackson-Hammond president of Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, announced that she will step down at the end of the 2019-20 academic year. She has served as president of the historically Black university for the past eight years. She is the first woman to serve as president of the university.

Mark Hathcer, chair of the board of trustees at Central State University issued a statement that read in part: “President Jackson-Hammond’s tenure has undoubtedly marked a period of growth and prosperity for our University and we are all eternally grateful for the course on which we have been set because of her leadership and vision. Dr. Jackson-Hammond started her tenure as president with a goal of making Central State a beacon of academic excellence and a citadel for growth opportunities for our students to thrive in a campus environment where they are immersed in scholarship, increased research opportunities and the arts in preparation for future success. To that end, the Central State University Board of Trustees declares to our beloved “Madam President,” mission accomplished!”

Earlier in her career, Dr. Jackson-Hammond was provost and vice president of academic affairs at Coppin State University in Baltimore, dean of the School of Education and Human Performance at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina and dean of the College of Education and Human Performance at Delaware State University.

Dr. Jackson-Hammond is a graduate of Grambling State University in Louisiana. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a doctorate in education from Grambling State University.