Director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture

SEARCH FOR DIRECTOR, MARY LOU WILLIAMS CENTER FOR BLACK CULTURE

Duke University

Durham, North Carolina

Duke University, one of the nation’s leading research institutions, seeks nominations and applications for the position of Director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Reporting to Shruti Desai, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs for Campus Life, the next Director will be an experienced and committed leader and bring to Duke a strong commitment to advancing inclusion of Black students of all identities and socio-economic backgrounds. 

The Director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, affectionately known as “The Lou”, oversees all programs, services, and operations of the Center, applying forward-thinking leadership on behalf of students based on awareness of current and relevant topics within the Black and African diaspora communities on campus and in wider society that impact Duke students. The Director will play a critical role in connecting undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to one another and to the support and programmatic resources of the Division of Student Affairs, faculty, campus programs, and Duke and Durham leaders. The successful candidate will have deep experience in advancing an anti-racist, intersectionality-minded, and collaborative approach to leadership and student advocacy. They will also demonstrate a nuanced understanding of diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, faith, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds present in the Duke community. This role requires broad collaboration among faculty, staff, students, and community partners. 

A ten-member search committee composed of faculty, staff, and students has been formed to lead this important search. The committee is chaired by John Brown, Vice Provost for the Arts. Duke University has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist with this search. All inquiries, applications, and nominations for this opportunity should be directed to the search firm electronically at www.imsearch.com/7941. 

Keight Tucker Kennedy, Partner

Claire Hennessey & Sharon Hansen, Senior Associates

Duke University prohibits discrimination and harassment, and provides equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, age, or genetic information. Duke is committed to recruiting, hiring, and promoting qualified minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.