Yolanda Pierce to be installed as Dean of the Howard University School of Divinity

(BlackPRWire) –  The installation of Dr. Yolanda Pierce as the 16th Dean and first woman to hold the position is a watershed moment in the life of Howard University and Howard University School of Divinity

Yolanda Pierce is set to be installed as the Dean of Howard University’s School of Divinity – the first woman to hold the position.

The installation service will take place on Thursday, November 9, at 11 a.m., in Dunbarton Chapel in Houston Hall on the West Campus.

“We are excited to have Dr. Pierce installed as the 16th dean and first woman to serve as the dean of the School of Divinity,” said Provost Anthony Wutoh. “We look forward to the working together to further the legacy of the Divinity program.”

Before her appointment to professor and dean at Howard, she was the Elmer G. Homrighausen Associate Professor of African American Religion and Literature and the director of the Black Church Studies Program at Princeton Theological Seminary and director of the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The speaker for the installation service is author and political commentator Melissa Harris-Perry – the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair, executive director of the Pro Humanitate Institute and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center at Wake Forest University.

“The installation of Dr. Yolanda Pierce as the sixteenth dean and first woman to hold the position is a watershed moment in the life of Howard University and Howard University School of Divinity”, said Renee K. Harrison, Ph.D., associate professor of African American and U.S. Religious History. “Dr. Pierce’s leadership, scholarship, and religious commitments are emblematic of those clouds of women witnesses, often hidden or overlooked, that trail-blazed, sacrificed, and contributed to the life of the Academy, Church, and human communities from American slavery to present. Dr. Pierce’s presence arches us closer toward the mark of honoring women in leadership and also becoming more intentional about women serving in significant decision-making positions in the Academy and Church in the 21st century. We have been gifted with the leadership of an innovative woman activist-scholar of faith and excellence forging us, in truth and service, into the millennium in light of the current and impending socio-political and economic climates.”

About Yolanda Pierce: Yolanda Pierce is an ordained Christian minister, dedicated mentor, community activist, board member of a foster care agency and cable news commentator. She maintains a public intellectual presence through her blogs, frequent appearances on television and radio and writings for magazines and newspapers.
Believing that teaching and scholarship are meaningful only if they truly enhance people’s daily lives, she works tirelessly to bridge the gaps between pulpit, pew and academy.
A native New Yorker, Pierce was raised in the Church of God in Christ and still maintains a close connection to her Pentecostal roots.

Pierce holds a Ph.D. and two M.A. degrees from Cornell University and a B.A. degree from Princeton University. Her research specialties include African American Religious History, Womanist Theology, African American Literature, and Race and Religion.

About Howard University: Founded in 1867, Howard University is a historically black research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges.
Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.
Since 1998, the University has produced 2 Rhodes Scholars, 2 Truman Scholars, a Marshall Scholar, 30 Fulbright Scholars and 11 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on campus African American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.

For more information on Howard University, visit the University’s Web site at https://www2.howard.edu.