TheHBCUNation

Dr. Vann R. Newkirk, Sr., a native of Elizabethtown, North Carolina, was named the 17th President of Fisk University by the Board of Trustees on February 15, 2021. He served as Fisk’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs from 2018 until his Presidential appointment. Dr. Newkirk has an extensive leadership record with proven evidence of effectiveness on many levels. For instance, he has a 25-year career in creating innovative educational programs which, have enhanced enrollment, at each institution in which he was formerly employed. Over his career he also built and managed off-campus degree programs, enhanced sponsored programs productivity, and played major roles in the administration of institutional research and effectiveness. Newkirk has worked with organizations such as the SACS Consulting Network, the Capacity Building Institute of the UNCF, and the Patterson Research Institute. In these roles he led more than a dozen colleges and universities through initial accreditation or through reaffirm