Daria J. Willis is an American academic administrator and historian. She is the president of

Howard Community College Howard Community College (HCC or Howard CC) is a Public college, public community college in Columbia, Maryland. It offers classes for credit in more than 100 programs, non-credit classes, and workforce development programs. In addition to the ...

. Willis was president of

Everett Community College Everett Community College (EvCC) is a public community college in Everett, Washington. EvCC educates more than 19,000 students every year at locations throughout Snohomish County, Washington, with most students and faculty at the main campus in ...

from 2019 to 2021. She is the first African American president at both institutions. Willis was an assistant professor in history in the

Lone Star College System Lone Star College (LSC) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. In 2017, it enrolled about 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woo ...

Education

Willis is from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. When she was six, her father died from

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. She completed high school in three years. Willis completed a bachelor's in African American studies and a master's degree in applied social science at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

. She earned a Ph.D. in history from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. Her 2012 dissertation about Adella Hunt was titled ''The life and times of Adella Hunt Logan: Educator, mother, wife, and suffragist, 1863–1915''. Maxine D. Jones was Willis' doctoral advisor.

Career

Willis was an adjunct professor of history at Tallahassee Community College. With the

, she was an assistant professor of history, faculty senate president, department chairwoman, and executive dean of centers. Willis was dean of academic studies at

Lee College Lee College is a public community college in Baytown, Texas. Lee College's main campus occupies near downtown Baytown and extension campuses throughout its service area. The school has an enrollment of over 7,773 total students as of Fall 2018 ...

. Willis joined the faculty at

Onondaga Community College Onondaga Community College (OCC) is a public community college that serves Onondaga County and Central New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. OCC's 280-acre main campus is located in the Town of Onondaga, which ...

in July 2016. At Onondaga, she was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. In 2018, Willis received a 40 under 40 award from the American Association for Women in Community Colleges. She chaired the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

education committee. On July 1, 2019, Willis became president of

, succeeding Dave Beyer. She was the institution's first African American president. On November 5, 2021, Willis was announced as the incoming president of

(HCC). She succeeded Kathleen Hetherington and interim president Lynn Coleman on January 10, 2022. Willis is the first African American to hold this position.

Personal life

Willis had a daughter when she was 19. At the age of 21, she divorced her first husband. Willis is married to Isiah David Brown. They met in Tallahassee, FL. Willis has two daughters and a son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Daria Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) People from Atlanta 21st-century American historians Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Women heads of universities and colleges African-American historians African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American academic administrators Onondaga Community College faculty 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers Florida A&M University alumni Florida State University alumni 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics