Wilma Mishoe named president of Delaware State University

Delaware State University has named Wilma Mishoe — daughter of late DSU President Luna Mishoe and DSU's first female board chair — its 11th president, effective July 1. 

DSU made the announcement late Friday, after the university's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Mishoe to the position. She had been serving as interim president since January, when former president Harry Williams left to serve as CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund in Washington, D.C.

"At the board level, we are pleased but not surprised by Dr. Mishoe’s leadership," said Devona Williams, who has been named DSU's next chairwoman. 

"She has dedicated her life to higher education for those too often overlooked and often marginalized and has story after story of student achievement that in large measure can be attributed to her leadership." 

Mishoe said she was honored to take on the role and continue in her father's footsteps. Luna Mishoe was a man of few words, she said, but would be brimming ear to ear if he could see her now. 

"I’m up there in the clouds somewhere right now," Wilma Mishoe said Friday night. "I think it’s been less than an hour since they made that announcement, and I’m not numb, but I’m floating in the clouds right now. I am honored, but it’s also an awesome, awesome responsibility.

"I love working with the students, they are what get me up in the morning and put a smile on my face." 

Mishoe and Williams made history in August 2017 by being named the first board chairwoman and vice chairwoman, respectively, in the university’s 126-year history.

From there, Mishoe went on to become interim president. She oversaw a comprehensive review of every policy and practice at the university this spring, and also led discussions about better customer service, student life, teaching and instruction, athletics, and budgeting and accounting. The university has made 10 new hires since January, in various strategic positions. 

In May, Mishoe asked the Delaware General Assembly for an eye-popping $100 million for capital funding, more than twice the capital appropriation the Dover-based university has received in the last 10 years — combined. 

And at DSU graduation this year, the entire university celebrated as Gov. John Carney formally signed legislation to strengthen the Inspire Scholarship, which offers assistance for qualifying high school students to attend Delaware State University, Executive Vice President and Provost Tony Allen added. 

The program was extended to eight continuous semesters — from six — allowing eligible students to benefit throughout their college career.

In addition to serving on DSU's board since 2015, Mishoe was previously an administrator and acting president at Wilberforce University in Ohio, one of the oldest historically black universities in the country.

She also worked for 30 years at Delaware Technical and Community College, before retiring in 2010. 

From 1975-1980, Mishoe served as the dean of students and director of financial aid at then-Wilmington College, working under the school founder Donald E. Ross. A longtime resident of Dover, Mishoe was a member of the Capital School District Board of Education from 1994-1999, and its board president from August 1997 to July 1999.

She has served on numerous state and local boards, including the Delaware Public Integrity Commission, the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, the Delaware Foster Care Board, the Dover Housing Authority Board of Directors and many others.

Her father, Luna Mishoe, was president of Delaware State College from 1960 to 1987, an era of growth and transformation for the institution.

Debbie Harrington, a trustee and chair of DSU's Student Success Committee, said in some ways, Wilma was raised to lead the university. She and her sister, Rita, both had a strong presence on campus during their father's 27-year tenure.

“She was prepared specifically for this time and this position, as early as her beginning childhood," Harrington said. "I just think that's extraordinary, and I think the community here loves her.”

John Ridgeway, who graduated from DSU himself in 1975 and was named the Board of Trustee's new vice-chair Friday, said he received an overwhelming number of phone calls and requests to name Mishoe president. 

“I think it’s going to be very favorably received by the alumnus," he said. 

Devona Williams said Mishoe was a good fit because she shares the Board of Trustee's vision for the future: to make DSU the No. 1 Historically Black College and University in the country, and the No. 1 choice for Delaware high school students. 

"In short order, she has repositioned the focus of the institution squarely on our students, requiring that we all — trustees, faculty, and staff — look through the lens of the student in everything we do," Williams said.

The day before Mishoe was named president she went to Washington, D.C., with rising DSU senior Fatima Edwards for Beating the Odds, an annual summit held by Michelle Obama for first-generation college students. 

Edwards, who spoke on a panel at the event, said Mishoe had heard she was going and wanted to be there. 

“She’s really about her students, so she wanted to show her support," Edwards said. 

Edwards said Mishoe is the perfect fit for DSU President "not just because she was raised on campus and her dad was president, but her natural desire to help the students.”

Within 30 days of Mishoe being named the interim president, she met with students and asked for their honest opinions on DSU, Edwards said. She also went around campus, asking students questions. 

Edwards said she took all their feedback and relayed it back to DSU's various department heads, eager to improve the students' experience. 

"I am honestly really overjoyed," Edwards said about Mishoe being named president. "I love Dr. Mishoe. She's so nice. She has such a big heart." 

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Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.