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| Johnnetta B. Cole | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 19, 1936 |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Anthropology |
| Institutions | Spelman College |
Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole (born October 19, 1936) is an American academic. Cole was the first African American female president of Spelman College from 1987- 1997. She was president of Bennett College from 2002-2007.
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Background
Cole is a descendant of Florida's first black millionaire Abraham Lincoln Lewis and Mary Kingsley Sammis, the great granddaughter of Zephaniah Kingsley, a slave trader and slave owner, and his wife and former slave Anna Madgigine Jai, whose Fort George Island home is protected as Kingsley Plantation.[1] Cole enrolled in Fisk University at age 15, but transferred to Oberlin College, where she completed a B.A. in sociology in 1957. She attended graduate school at Northwestern University, earning her masters (1959) and Ph.D. (1967) in anthropology. Cole received honorary degrees from Bates College in 1989, Mount Holyoke College in 1998, Mills College in 1999, Howard University in 2009.
Teaching
Cole taught briefly at the University of California, Los Angeles (1964) and directed the black studies program at Washington State University at Pullman (1969-70) before teaching in the department of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1970-83), where she also served as provost of undergraduate education from 1981 to 1983. While at UMass, she played a pivotal role in the development of the university's African-American studies program. In 1983, she joined the faculty of Hunter College, where she directed the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program. Cole also taught in the Anthropology department of Emory University where she is now Presidential Distinguished Professor Emerita.
Service
Cole has served at the Merck Board of Directors since 1994 – 14 years as a Merck Director.
Cole is currently the chair of the The Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute founded at Bennett College for Women.
As of 2006, Cole is the immediate past chair of the Board of Trustees of United Way of America and serves on the board of directors of the United Way of Greater Greensboro. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Quotes
I pose that question to myself, why, in the 107 years of the history of this historically Black college for women, there has not been an African-American woman president.
—Johnnetta B. Cole, [2]
This is a nation whose spoken and written vision is chillingly beautiful.
—Johnnetta B. Cole, [3]
The more we pull together toward a new day, the less it matters what pushed us apart in the past
—Johnnetta B. Cole, [4]
References
- ^ Jackson, Antoinette; Burns, Allan (January 2006). Ethnohistorical Study of the Kingsley Plantation Community, National Park Service, p. 24.
- ^ "Johnetta B. Cole, Ph.D.". Academy of Achievement. 2005-02-04. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/col0pro-1. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ "Keys to Success - The American Dream". Academy of Achievement. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/steps/amd?target=col1-001. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ "State of the City Address, Mayor Shirley Franklin". City of Atlanta Online. 2004-01-05. http://www.atlantaga.gov/media/speech_socaddress_010504.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
“The ultimate expression of generosity is not in giving of what you have, but in giving of who you are.”
External links
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