Portia Holmes Shields is an American academic administrator who served as the seventh president of

Albany State University Albany State University is a Public university, public Historically Black College and University, historically black university in Albany, Georgia, United States. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become ...

from 1996 to 2005. She was its first female president. Shields was the interim president of

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

from 2011 to 2012.

Life

Holmes earned a B.S. in education from the District of Columbia Teachers College. She completed a M.A. in education at the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

. She earned a Ph.D. in early childhood and elementary education at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

. Her dissertation was titled, ''The Relationship Between the Use of Black and Standard English Features in a School Setting and the Oral Reading, Silent Reading, and Listening Comprehension Levels of Black Title One Third Grade Children''. From 1989 to 1993, Holmes was the director of medical and biomedical communications at the

Howard University College of Medicine The Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM) is an academic division of Howard University that grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Ph.D., M.S., and the M.PH. HUCM is located at the Howard University Health Sciences Center in Washington, D ...

. She served as the dean of the Howard University school of education from 1993 to 1996. On July 9, 1996, she became the seventh president and the first female president at

. She served in the role until June 30, 2005, when she became a consultant with the

University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates gener ...

. From 2007 to 2009, she was the chief executive officer and chief academic officer of

Concordia College Alabama Concordia College Alabama was a Private historically black college associated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and located in Selma, Alabama. It was the only historically black college among the ten colleges and universities in the C ...

. Shields was appointed as interim president of

effective January 2, 2011. She succeeded

Melvin N. Johnson Melvin N. Johnson is an American academic administrator. He served as the seventh president of Tennessee State University, a historically black public university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 2005 to 2011. Early life Johnson grew up in Savannah ...

. Under the terms of her contract, she was not allowed to apply for the permanent position of university president. Shields made sweeping changes to the university which led to a more involved and active alumni and staff. She served until 2012 and was succeeded by

Glenda Glover Glenda Baskin Glover is an American educator who was the president of Tennessee State University. She is a certified public accountant and an attorney, and is one of two African American women in the nation to hold the Ph.D-CPA-JD combination. E ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Portia Holmes Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) University of the District of Columbia alumni George Washington University alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Howard University faculty Albany State University faculty Concordia College Alabama faculty Presidents of Tennessee State University African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American academic administrators 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century American women academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century American women academics Women heads of universities and colleges