Tatia Daniels Granger has been named the seventeenth president of Averett University in Danville, Virginia. Upon assuming her new role on August 1, she will become the university’s second woman and first Black president in its 167-year history.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Averett University enrolls more than 1,200 undergraduate students, 51 percent of whom are women. The university also has a graduate population of some 200 students.
Dr. Granger comes to her presidency with more than three decades of academic and administrative experience in higher education. Most recently, she was a clinical associate professor of organizational behavior at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She previously served as the college’s inaugural ombuds from 2008 to 2016. Her administrative background includes prior service as vice president for enrollment services at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina; chief of staff to the chief financial officer at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; director of the Center for Multicultural Student Services at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia; and assistant dean for undergraduate admission at the University of Virginia.
“I am honored to join the Averett University community as its next president,” said Dr. Granger. “Averett’s history is one of resilience and reinvention, a legacy I intend to build on as we write the university’s next chapter together. I look forward to partnering with our talented faculty to advance academic innovation, deepening our ties with the Danville community and the surrounding region, and ensuring every student receives what they need to lead with impact. Together with our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners, we will strengthen Averett’s place as a university where ambition meets opportunity.”
A three-time graduate of the University of Virginia, Dr. Granger holds a bachelor’s degree in French, a master’s degree in the social foundations of education, and a Ph.D. in higher education and leadership.