Maurice Gipson, J.D., Ph. D, Named Interim President of Philander Smith University

Following four years as vice chancellor of the Division of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at the University of Missouri, Maurice Gipson is leaving to become the interim president of  Philander Smith University is Little Rock, Arkansas  effective August 15, 2024.  Gipson previously served as vice chancellor of Diversity and Community Engagement at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Prior to that he served for two years as a special assistant to the vice president for Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also served as an institutional advancement and diversity consultant at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma.

Gipson holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, a juris doctorate from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a master’s degree in history from Missouri State University in Springfield and a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.