UT-Austin Names Interim VP For Diversity And Community Engagement

AUSTIN, TX — The University of Texas at Austin has named an interim vice president for diversity and engagement, officials at the school said on Tuesday.

Leonard N. Moore was named to head the position. He has served the office of Diversity and Community Engagement as senior vice president since 2013 and will helm the office in an interim role as the university conducts a national search to fill the position, university officials said.

Moore fills the spot in the wake of the departure of Dr. Gregory J. Vincent who accepted the job of president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in April.

“As a scholar, Dr. Leonard Moore has boldly studied the intersections of race, history, race and politics in groundbreaking ways,” UT-Austin President Fenves said. “As a teacher, he has challenged UT students to understand their world, to answer difficult questions and to seek truth in their studies and in their lives. And now, as interim vice president for diversity and community engagement, Dr. Moore will apply his expertise to strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion on campus and throughout the city of Austin. He is the ideal person for this job during an important time of transition for the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement.”

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A faculty member at Texas since 2007, Moore in his current role manages about 30 programs and initiatives in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE). He regularly teaches hundreds of students per semester, including a class on the Black Power movement and a course titled “Race in the age of Obama.” He has received numerous teaching awards and also directs study abroad programs in Beijing and Cape Town that have become national models for diversifying global education.

“I was born to be a teacher," Moore said. "Whenever I walk into a classroom at UT and see so many students from different backgrounds, I am reminded what a unique, diverse, and life-changing campus this is. In my new role, I hope to reach even more students and to maintain and elevate the university’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community engagement at this vital moment in the history of our nation.”

Moore will begin as interim vice president on July 17 and serve through the 2017-2018 academic year. He will replace Gregory J. Vincent, the university’s first vice president for diversity and community engagement, who is leaving to become president of his alma mater, Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York. The university will assemble a broad-based committee to identify and review candidates and consult with Fenves in the search for a permanent vice president, Fenves said.

UT Austin is a nationally recognized leader in promoting diversity in higher education,officials said. It was one of 13 U.S. universities honored as a 2016 Diversity Champion by INSIGHT into Diversity magazine. Earlier this year, the university developed a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan that will serve as a blueprint for creating a more inclusive campus culture and embedding those efforts in all areas of university life.

Central to those initiatives, university officials said, is DDCE’s work in advancing socially just learning and working environments and fostering a culture of excellence through diverse people, ideas, and perspectives on campus. DDCE also develops community-university partnerships that foster connections between Austin and the university.

Moore is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his BA from Jackson State University in 1993 and his PhD from The Ohio State University in 1998. He was a history professor at Louisiana State University from 1998-2007, where he also directed the African and African American Studies Program and the Pre-Doctoral Scholar’s Institute.

At UT Austin, he serves as the George W. Littlefield Professor in American History and is also a Fellow of Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Chair in African American Studies.

He is the author of two books. His third book, The Defeat of Black Power: Civil Rights and the National Black Political Convention of 1972, will be published in early 2018. Moore currently serves as chair of the board of directors for the Austin Area Urban League.

>>> Photo of Leonard M. Moore courtesy of UT-Austin