Delaware State University names Wilma Mishoe interim president

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the length of late DSU President Luna Mishoe's tenure at the university. 

Delaware State University has named Wilma Mishoe — daughter of late DSU President Luna Mishoe and DSU's first female board chair — interim president. 

The current president, Harry Williams, recently announced he would be leaving DSU to serve as CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund in Washington, D.C. He will be the leader of what is commonly referred to as the "premier organization for advocating, supporting and investing in publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Colleges and Universities." 

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Mishoe will take his place starting Jan. 25, 2018. Devona Williams, who is currently vice chair of the DSU Board of Trustees, will serve as interim board chair. 

Mishoe and Devona Williams made history in August by being named the first board chairwoman and vice chairwoman, respectively, in the university’s 126-year history.

Calling her new appointment the beginning of a deliberate, orderly and transparent process to find the university's next great leader, Mishoe said in a statement: "Our priority is to keep the University moving forward with an intentional focus on student success. Under Dr. Harry Williams’ leadership, Delaware State University grew boldly and became one of the premier institutions of our kind in the nation. That momentum must continue; standing still while we search for our next great leader is not an option. We have to keep innovating and improving.” 

This is the second time Mishoe has stepped away from a university board to serve as acting president. After 11 years on the board of Wilberforce University, she was selected as acting president there in 2014 while a national presidential search was conducted.

Wilberforce, the oldest historically black private university in the country, was at risk of losing its accreditation from mid-2014 through most of 2015, due to declining enrollment.

She brought into the president’s office 35 years as a higher education administrator, mostly at Delaware Technical Community College, from which she retired in 2010, but also at then-Wilmington College from 1975-1980.

Mishoe’s connection with Delaware State University is one she has maintained since childhood. She is the daughter of the late Dr. Luna Mishoe, DSU’s second longest-serving chief executive, who led then-Delaware State College from 1960-1987, and is widely credited with laying the foundation for the institution’s dramatic growth in the decades that followed.

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"Dr. Mishoe does not simply possess a legendary last name, she is a university executive of the highest caliber who knows our institution personally, understands Delaware and all the communities we serve up and down the state and shares a vision for our future that demands excellence and attention to detail that our students, parents, alumni and stakeholders deserve," DSU Executive Vice President and Provost Tony Allen said. 

Devona Williams has been a member of the Board of Trustees since her early 2012 appointment by then-Gov. Jack Markell. She is the founder of Goeins-Williams Associates, a 27-year management-consulting group, and has been an integral part of the growth of DSU’s College of Business and international programs.

"Devona is one of our most treasured talents. She not only brings an intellectual savvy to some of the most complex problems facing boards in the higher education space, she also extends what we all need in moments of big transition, good ole fashion common sense," Harry Williams said. 

The Board of Trustees also named John Ridgeway as second vice chair. A trustee since June 2016, he is the corporate manager of Toyota’s Eastern Territory Service Center, which is based in Owings Mills, Maryland. He is also a Class of 1975 DSU alumnus.

A Presidential Search Committee is anticipated to be named in the coming weeks and will include a wide variety of university stakeholders. They will begin searching for Harry Williams replacement in January, according to the university. 

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies. Looking for more education news? Visit delawareonline.com/education.