Joe B. Whitehead, Jr. has taken office as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at N.C. A&T. 

On Aug. 12, Whitehead replaced interim provost Winser E. Alexander who also served as a professor and interim dean for the College of Engineering.

Whitehead has an extensive background in the STEM (Science, Math, Engineering, and Mathematics) field. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. where he also played tight end on the football team. He later earned his master’s and doctoral degree in physics from Kent State University.

After obtaining his doctorate, he worked as a research scientist at the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology. 

Prior to A&T, the Picayune, Miss. native served as the dean of the College of Science and Technology at the University of Southern Mississippi. He was also chairman of the physics and astronomy department. 

“As the new chief academic officer, Dr. Whitehead brings a wealth of expertise in the field of higher education, where he has served as professor, researcher and administrator,” said Chancellor Harold L. Martin on the school website.  “I am confident that he will be a significant asset to N. C. A&T and will provide the visionary leadership needed to forge our university to Preeminence 2020.”

Preeminence 2020 is a long-term strategic plan established by the administration in 2011 to enhance diversity, research, scholarship, and community engagement for both the undergraduate and graduate programs by the year 2020.

Although A&T is mainly known for its engineering program, producing more African-American engineers than any other historically black college or university in the United States, Whitehead expects to improve every program at the university so it can be one of the top contenders for higher education.

“When there is a conversation about where a person would like to attend college, we want to be in the conversation with Chapel Hill and N.C. State,” he said. “The plan is all about moving A&T to the next level.”

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• KARMEN ROBINSON, Interim Editor-in-Chief