A Trio of Women Who Are Taking on New Roles in Higher Education Relating to Diversity

Vernese Edghill-Walden will be the inaugural vice president of equity and inclusive excellence at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, effective July 31. Edghill-Walden is currently vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Earlier in her career, she was the director of the Center for Black Culture and Multicultural Programs at the University of Delaware for 12 years.

Dr. Edghill-Walden earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with minors in counseling and human service systems from Bucknell University. She went on to earn a master’s degree in education from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in sociology from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Angela Byars-Winston, a professor of general internal medicine in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin, has been given the added duties as chair of the newly established Institute for Diversity Science at the university. She also serves as associate director in the Collaborative Center for Health Equity and as faculty lead in the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research.

Dr. Byars-Winston holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in counselor education from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Arizona State University.

Shawna Watkins is the new director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Tulsa campus of the University of Oklahoma. She was the director of workforce education at Texarkana College in Texas. Watkins has also been serving as the executive officer of the Northeast Texas Alliance of Black School Educators.

Watkins is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma, where she majored in criminal justice. She holds a master of public administration degree from Arkansas State University.