Join Marybeth Gasman and Levon Esters for an engaging presentation and discussion of their book HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024). Explore the vital role of HBCUs in fostering educational equity, empowering Black excellence, and driving social change. Through powerful stories and research, the authors illuminate these institutions' enduring legacy and transformative impact on individuals and communities.
Marybeth Gasman is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education, a Distinguished Professor, and the Associate Dean for Research in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity & Justice and the Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. Prior to joining the faculty at Rutgers, Marybeth was the Judy & Howard Berkowitz Endowed Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author or editor of 35 books, including Educating a Diverse Nation (Harvard University Press, 2015 with Clif Conrad), Envisioning Black Colleges (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), Making Black Scientists (Harvard University Press, 2019 with Thai-Huy Nguyen), Doing the Right Thing: How to End Systemic Racism in Faculty Hiring (Princeton University, 2022), and her newest book HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024). Marybeth has written over 300 peer-reviewed articles, scholarly essays, and book chapters. She has penned over 650 opinion articles for the nation’s newspapers and magazines and is ranked by Education Week as one of the 30 most influential education scholars in the nation. Marybeth has raised over $24 million in grant funding to support her research and that of her students, mentees, and MSI partners. She has served on the board of trustees of The College Board as well as historically Black colleges – Paul Quinn College, Morris Brown College, and St. Augustine College. She considers her proudest accomplishment to be receiving the University of Pennsylvania’s Provost Award for Distinguished Ph.D. Teaching and Mentoring, serving as the dissertation chair for over 85 doctoral students since 2000. Marybeth loves to write, and believes balance and harmony are essential to achieving life goals.
Dr. Levon T. Esters is a nationally recognized scholar on mentoring, equity, and diversity in STEM-based agricultural and life sciences disciplines. His research focuses on the mentoring needs of Black graduate students, the STEM career development of students attending Historically Black Land Grant Universities, and educational and professional mobility and development of graduate students. Levon is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University and a Senior Research Associate at the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. Prior to joining Penn State, he served as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Faculty Affairs for Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute. Levon earned a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Florida A&M University, an M.S. in Agricultural Education from North Carolina A&T State University, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Extension Education from Penn State.
