Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® International President and CEO Dr. Glenda Glover selected as Vice Chair of President Joe Biden’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs
CHICAGO – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® International President and CEO Dr. Glenda Glover has been appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as the Vice Chair of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Board will advance the goal of the HBCU Initiative, established by the Carter Administration, to increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education to their students and continue serving as engines of opportunity.
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting the vital mission of HBCUs. Through the American Rescue Plan and by forgiving capital improvement debt of many of these institutions, the Biden-Harris Administration has already committed more than $4 billion in support.
Re-establishing the White House HBCU Initiative – and placing strong leadership at the head of the Board – will allow the administration to build on that financial commitment with continued institutional support.
Dr. Glover serves as the eighth President of Tennessee State University, a position she has held since January 2013. Under her leadership as the university’s first female president, TSU has experienced a significant increase in alumni and corporate giving, research funding, and academic offerings. The University has also received the Carnegie R2 “high research activity” designation with Dr. Glover at the helm. In 2020 during the pandemic, TSU set a school record with nearly $71 million in research funding.
Her commitment and advocacy of HBCUs spans nearly four decades, including the work she has done as International President and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Through the sorority and as president of TSU, Dr. Glover has engaged in groundbreaking work to elevate the stature of HBCUs with historic fundraising efforts and marketing. Through her work as international president of AKA, she implemented a fundraising campaign to raise $1 million in one day for HBCUs. She exceeded this goal for four consecutive years raising more than $1 million in one day, which culminated in $2.5 million this past September. This massive fundraising effort resulted in the establishment of endowments at each of the 96 four-year HBCUs, including her alma mater, TSU.
Dr. Glover’s educational development began as a student at TSU, where she majored in mathematics. After graduating with honors with a Bachelor of Science degree, she pursued the Master of Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University. She then completed her doctorate in business from George Washington University, and later completed her law degree from Georgetown University. She is also a certified public accountant and is one of only three African-American women to hold the Ph.D-CPA-JD combination in the United States.
Her career also includes serving on boards of publicly traded corporations Pinnacle Financial Partners, The Lenox Group, Citigroup-Student Loan Corporation, and First Guaranty Bancshares. Dr. Glover currently serves as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.
The appointment comes as Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrated a historic fundraiser in support of HBCUs on September 20. The sorority set a new record and raised more than $2.5 million during its HBCU Impact Day to benefit these institutions. Impact Day is one part of a four-year $10 million fundraising goal set by Dr. Glover under the HBCU for Life: A Call to Action initiative. Glover implemented the program when she took over leadership of the sorority in 2018. The sorority has successfully reached and surpassed the $1 million goal each year of the one-day fundraising initiative.
“In the fourth and final year of our HBCU Impact Day Initiative, I am pleased, honored, and excited to report that we doubled our giving, exceeding the $2 million mark, an historic moment for Alpha Kappa Alpha, our members, other donors, and the institutions that will benefit from these funds,” commented Dr. Glover. “This means even more support for our HBCUs!”
