Atlanta — August 27, 2001

Three finalists for president of Fort Valley State University were announced today by the Board of Regents and University System of Georgia Chancellor Stephen R. Portch.

The finalists, in alphabetical order, are as follows:

• Dr. Joseph L. Boyd, Distinguished Professor of Accounting at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., since July 2000. Boyd arrived at Benedict College in 1998 as senior vice president for academic affairs. From 1983 to 1998, he served as dean of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Norfolk State University. Beginning in 1978, he spent five years as head of the accounting department at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Before that, he held teaching posts at the University of Illinois and Johnson C. Smith University. A CPA, Boyd was selected by the governor of Virginia as one of nine trustees to manage the Virginia Retirement System, the nation’s ninth largest public retirement system, with more than $22 billion in assets. He holds a B.S., a master of accounting degree and a Ph.D., all in accounting and all from the University of South Carolina.

• Dr. Michelle R. Howard-Vital, vice chancellor for public service and extended education and associate provost for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Howard-Vital has 26 years of experience as a faculty member and senior administrator at various colleges and universities. In addition to her current positions at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she has worked for nearly eight years, she served as associate vice president for academic programs and dean of University College at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania from 1991-1993, and dean of continuing education and non-traditional programs, and assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the School of Education at Chicago State University from 1986-1991. Howard-Vital held a variety of teaching and administrative positions at other Chicago educational institutions during the late 1970s and 1980s, including six years spent at Central YMCA Community College. She holds a B.A. in English literature and language and a master of arts in teaching,, both from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in public policy analysis and educational policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

• Dr. Kofi Lomotey, senior vice president and provost at Medgar Evers College of The City University of New York in Brooklyn, N.Y. Lomotey has been the chief academic officer at Medgar Evers College since 1998, having spent a year as vice president and provost. He was chair of the Department of Administrative and Foundational Services in the School of Education at Louisiana State University from 1992-1997. His administrative experience dates back to time spent as the founder and principal of two private elementary schools (Shule Ya Taifa in East Palo Alto, Calif., from 1981-1987, and Shule Ya Kujitambua in Oberlin, Ohio, from 1973-1977). In addition, Lomotey has taught at a number of colleges. He earned a B.A. in economics at Oberlin College, a master of education in curriculum and instruction at Cleveland State University, and an M.A. in educational administration and policy analysis, and a Ph.D. in educational administration and policy analysis, both at Stanford University.

The Board of Regents is expected to make the presidential appointment during its Sept. 12 meeting.

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