Board of Directors | Dr. Kassie Freeman
In July 2007, Kassie Freeman, Ph.D., became the third System Vice-President for Academic and Student Affairs for the Southern University and A &M College System and Professor of Education. Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Freeman served as the first Dean for Academic Advancement at Bowdoin College where she served as a member of the President’s senior cabinet and was responsible for assisting the College with developing programs to ensure that all students reach their academic potential.
From 2000 to 2005, she served as Dean of the Division of Educational and Psychological Studies and Professor of Education at Dillard University. Under her leadership, the teacher education program received national accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and was the only program in the State to receive four consecutive years of exemplary ratings from the Louisiana Department of Education. During the five years of her leadership, external funding to the Division increased from approximately $100,000 to over $6 million dollars, and student enrollment doubled.
Having studied at the University of Oslo, Norway, and at the University of Vienna, Austria, she is considered a leader and scholar in the field of comparative and international education. She is a past President of The Comparative and International Education Society (only the second African American to be elected to this position). She has twice received the Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungariae Foundation Award, an award from the Hungarian government, to be a visiting Professor and Scholar at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (currently renamed Corvinus University).
In addition to comparative and international education, her research interests include African Americans in higher education, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and teacher education. She is the author/editor of three books, including African Americans and College Choice: The Influence of Family and School (SUNY Press), African American Culture and Heritage in Higher Education Research and Practice (Praeger Press), and Black Colleges: New Perspectives on Policy and Practice, with M. Christopher Brown, II (Praeger Press). Her scholarship has been published in some of the leading journals in the field.
Dr. Freeman was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities from 1994-2000.