Three Black Women Appointed Chief Academic Officers at HBCUs

Angela W. Peters has been named provost and vice president of academic affairs at Voorhees University in South Carolina.

With over three decades of higher education experience, Dr. Peters has held several leadership roles with HBCUs in Georgia and South Carolina. She most recently served as chief academic officer, provost, and vice president of academic affairs at Albany State University. Earlier in her career, she spent 18 years with Claflin University in South Carolina. During her long tenure with the university, she held various academic and leadership roles including vice provost of academic programs, chair of the chemistry department, and professor of chemistry.

Dr. Peters earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in chemistry from Hampton University in Virginia. She received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina.

Denise Jones Gregory has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at her undergraduate alma mater Jackson State University in Mississippi.

For the past two decades, Dr. Gregory has held faculty and administrative positions with Samford University in Alabama. She most recently served as associate provost of student success. She is also a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, focusing her research on the bioremediation of pharmaceutical drugs found in wastewater. Earlier in her career, she served as a chemistry lecturer at Tuskegee University in Alabama and a postdoctoral fellow in catfish genetics at the United States Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Gregory is a magna cum laude graduate of Jackson State University, where she majored in chemistry. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

April Massey has been appointed as the permanent chief academic officer at the University of the District of Columbia.

Dr. Massey has served as interim chief academic officer since September 2023. Before her interim appointment, she served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for nine years. As an administrator, she prioritizes supporting faculty across the career lifecycle and promoting high-impact learning opportunities for students. In addition to her academic endeavors, she is a trained speech-language pathologist.

Dr. Massey is a graduate of Ohio State University, where she majored in speech and hearing science. She holds a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in child language and sociolinguistics from historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C.