Radically "Moving the Needle": Shaping Equity, Diversity, Inclusive Excellence, and Belonging at UC Merced

Dr. Terrell Strayhorn is Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Urban Education in the Evelyn Reid Syphax School of Education at Virginia Union University, where he also serves as Director of the Center for the Study of HBCUs. An internationally-recognized education equity expert on issues of inclusion and belonging in corporate and education industries, Strayhorn’s research focuses on the social psychological determinants of student success for minoritized and other vulnerable populations. His pioneering research on college students’ sense of belonging has informed state policies, transformed campus/school practices, STEM contexts, and academic intervention testing. With over 15 years of 

professional experience as a university professor, and publicly-engaged scholar, Strayhorn is Associate Editor of Social Sciences & Humanities, Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers in Education, and author of 11 books and 150+ journal articles and reports. A member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, Strayhorn is a faculty affiliate at Rutgers University’s Center for MSIs, Fellow of the Association of Governing Boards Leadership Institute, Member of the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools Research Advisory Committee, and several other research institutes. He has been named one of the country’s top diversity scholars by Diverse Issues, “Top 20 to Know in Education,” and “Top 40 under 40,” by BusinessFirst, to name a few awards.