Helene D. Gayle (Photo: Spelman College)
Historically Black College Spelman College is getting a new president. On April 28, Dr. Helene D. Gayle will be inaugurated as the 11th president of the Atlanta-based women’s school.
Rosalind Gates Brewer, chair of the Spelman College Board of Trustees and president and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, will preside over the inauguration, followed by Dr. Gayle’s inaugural address, according to a press release.
Here are three things to know.
Spelman College is a private, historically Black women’s liberal arts college that is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman received its collegiate charter in 1924. It is America’s second-oldest private historically black liberal arts college for women.
Dr. Gayle already began serving as the 11th president of Spelman College on July 1, 2022, following an extensive national search led by the Board of Trustees. She succeeds President Emerita Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., who served as president from 2015 – 2022.
Gayle previously served as president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations, from October 2017 to June 2022, HCBU Advocate reported.
Dr. Gayle was also the president and CEO of CARE, a leading international humanitarian organization. She is a pediatrician and public health physician with expertise in economic development, humanitarian, and health issues. She spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control, working primarily on HIV/AIDS. And, she led the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues. She is also on the foundation’s board.
Other boards she serves on include, the Coca-Cola Company, Organon, Palo Alto Networks, Brookings Institution, Center for Strategic and International Studies, New America and the ONE Campaign.
From Buffalo, N.Y., she earned a B.A. in psychology at Barnard College, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.P.H. at Johns Hopkins University. She had been a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences at Spelman College and has received 18 honorary degrees. She also holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington and Emory University.
Helene D. Gayle (Photo: Spelman College)
