Cynthia Bond Hopson Is the New Leader of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas

Cynthia Bond Hopson has been appointed interim president of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Philander Smith College enrolls just over 700 students, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Education data. Women make up 64 percent of the student body.

Dr. Hopson has been serving as chief equity officer and assistant general secretary of the Black College Fund at the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville. In this role, she has managed funding for the 11 United Methodist-related historically Black colleges and universities. Earlier, she served on the faculty of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, Murray State University in Kentucky, and the University of Memphis.

Dr. Hopson is the co-author of I Do . . . Everyday, Wisdom for Newlyweds and Not-So Newlyweds (Abingdon Press, 2011). And she co-hosts the podcast Three Stores, Two Cotton Gins, and One Remarkable Life: The Journey from There to Here.

Dr. Hopson earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from what is now Clark Atlanta University. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Murray State University and a Ph.D. in journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.