Beverly Wade Hogan has served as President at Tougaloo College since May 2002. She is the first woman and the 13th president to lead this historic institution.
Hogan is often described as a visionary, an “outside the box” thinker, and disciplined, compassionate, firm, fair, analytical and spiritual leader. Under her leadership, new degree programs in mass communications, hotel and hospitality management, and religious studies have been added. A new Honors Program and three centers have been established—the Center for Undergraduate Research, the Center for Continuing Education and Professional Studies, and the Center for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility as well as an Office of International Affairs. The College has also been designated as a Center of Excellence in Transportation Security by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security. Significant technological improvements have been made, including campus wide connectivity, smart classrooms and wireless networks and the construction of the Bennie G. Thompson Academic and Civil Rights Research Center.
Prior to becoming President, Hogan served as the College’s Interim President, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, founding director of the Owens Health and Wellness Center, and Executive Assistant to the President. An effective and committed leader, she served as the Commissioner for the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Federal State Programs and the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Hinds County and the state of Mississippi, respectively. She has been an adjunct instructor in leadership and public policy at Jackson State University and a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University. Additionally she has been involved with employment and educational training programs in Denmark, Sweden and West Germany in affiliation with the German Marshall Fund. She has been a scholar with the Kettering Foundation where her research focus was Higher Education and Civic Responsibility, a participant and presenter in the Oxford Roundtable at Oxford University in Oxford, England and a participant in leadership seminars at Harvard University.
A native Mississippian, Hogan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Tougaloo College and masters in public policy and administration from Jackson State University. She has done additional studies at the University of Southern Mississippi and University of Georgia. She is engaged in further doctoral studies in human development and organizational leadership at Fielding Graduate University. She holds Honorary Doctorates in Humanities from Wiley College and Rust College, Doctorate of Humane Letters from Benedict College and has earned numerous certificates in leadership development, organizational management and administrative law.
Hogan has received extensive recognition for her trailblazing contributions. She has authored and published works on topics such as “The Dissonance Analysis of the Viet Nam War,” “Comparable Worth—the Challenging Issue of Pay Equity,” Jobs and Economic Growth,” “Public Policy Implications of AIDS in the Workplace,” “Higher Education and Civic Responsibility” and “Gender and Race” as a chapter in a textbook, Leadership and Service, published in 2008.
Active in an array of professional and civic organizations, Hogan serves on various boards, including Bancorp South, Sanderson Farms, the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, National Issues Forum Institute, National Institute of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Advisory Council, William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and RAND’s Gulf States Policy Initiative. She is also a member of the national board of directors for the United Negro College Fund, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, Council of Independent Colleges, the National Association for Independent Colleges and the Leadership Alliance and serves as Chair of the Council for Higher Education of the United Church of Christ. Hogan was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs. Just recently, she was selected by the Department of Defense to serve on the National Committee for HBCU/MI Programs. Hogan is also a founding member and former president of the Central Mississippi Chapter, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the Links, Inc.
She and her husband Marvin have two adult sons and five grandchildren.