For Immediate Release 
August 15, 2011
Contact: Sherri Fillingham
Phone: 919-546-8250/919-623-9494: Mobile
sfillingham@shawu.edu 

  

Yancy To Return As Shaw Interim President  

  

(RALEIGH, NC) – Shaw University Chairman of the Board of Trustees Willie E. Gary today announced that Dorothy Cowser Yancy would once again assume the mantle of Interim President – the second time she will serve in that capacity for the school.  Gary made the announcement at a press conference followed by a staff and faculty meeting where the announcement was greeted with applause.

“The Shaw family is excited about the prospect of having Dr. Yancy come back to lead us through the SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) re-accreditation and beyond,” said Gary.  “There is jubilation in the air and excitement all over campus.  We’ve had a great faculty and staff meeting and we all look forward to an outstanding 2011-2012 academic year.

“We want to thank our family and all our local friends who have helped since the tornado,” he continued.  “We are up and running and starting classes on schedule.”

Yancy replaces Irma McClaurin who resigned last Tuesday.  According to Gary, Yancy has agreed to serve as Interim President for “up to two years.”  During that time, he says the University will conduct a search for a permanent replacement.   

Yancy held the post of interim president from June 2009 until September 2010, when McClaurin was named president.  When named interim president in 2009, Yancy became the first woman to hold that title at the HBCU.

Yancy served 14 years as the president of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC.  While there, she ran two successful capital campaigns, and raised over $145 million for the University.  She also increased the institution’s endowment from $14 million to $53 million.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and social science from Johnson C. Smith University, a Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Ph.D. in political science from Atlanta University (Georgia), with further study at the University of Singapore, Hampton University, Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago), Northwestern University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Shaw University was founded in 1865 and is the oldest historically black university in the south. Shaw University is a private, co-educational liberal arts University, that awards degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The primary mission of Shaw University is teaching with the commitment to maintain excellence in research and academic programs that foster intellectual enhancement and technological skills.