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Apr 20, 2017

Dr. Gregory Vincent Named President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Chair of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Board of Trustees Thomas S. Bozzuto today announced that the Board has unanimously voted to approve Dr. Gregory Vincent the 27th President of Hobart College and the 16th of William Smith College.

A national expert on civil rights, social justice and campus culture, Vincent currently serves at The University of Texas at Austin as Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement, W. K. Kellogg Professor of Community College Leadership and Professor of Law. He is a member of St. James, Austin and was featured in the June, 2014 issue of the diocesan magazine, Diolog.

“Dr. Vincent is an exemplary educator, scholar and leader whose experiences in higher education administration and community engagement are an ideal fit for Hobart and William Smith,” Bozzuto said. “Selected from a large number of very qualified applicants, Greg’s character, vision and expertise were obvious. He has dedicated his life to ensuring access to education and to providing opportunities for students to succeed. We are thrilled to welcome him and confident in his ability to lead the Colleges into a new era of achievement.”  

“I am deeply honored to be selected as the president of Hobart and William Smith,” Vincent said. He is the first alumnus in the Colleges’ history to serve in the role. “I know first-hand the transformative power of an HWS education. Hobart and William Smith laid the intellectual foundation for my own life of consequence, and I intend to continue to make that a reality for future generations of HWS students.”

Vincent attended public schools in New York City where he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. A Statesman on both the Hobart basketball and cross-country teams, he majored in history and economics at Hobart, served as a resident advisor and was presented the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award at graduation. He earned a law degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and his doctorate from The University of Pennsylvania.

Vincent’s extensive career is distinguished by his commitment to equity and justice, both in education and in the wider public arena. Since joining UT-Austin in 2005, Vincent has presided over the university’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, now regarded as a national model. Under Vincent’s leadership, the division has grown to encompass a $50 million budget with more than 400 employees and 50 units, as well as 400 local and regional partners, who help connect the university’s resources to communities across the state, particularly those facing significant challenges in accessing education. 

Under Vincent’s leadership, the University of Texas at Austin has been recognized through the INSIGHT into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award annually since 2012, and in 2016 was named an INSIGHT into Diversity Champion. The division and UT have been named to the 2015 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction in Education and Interfaith Community Service, and the Carnegie Foundation’s 2015 Community Engagement Classification.

As Ohio’s assistant attorney general in the early 1990s, Vincent successfully argued several major civil rights cases before that state’s Supreme Court. He was promoted to director for regional and legal affairs at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in Cleveland and later served as vice president and lead counsel for Bank One.

His return to education began with an appointment as assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was then named vice provost for academic affairs and campus diversity and law professor at Louisiana State University, and then vice provost for institutional equity and diversity and law professor at the University of Oregon.  

Vincent is married to Kimberly Wilson Vincent, an attorney in private practice. She serves as a pro bono attorney and volunteer, and donates generously of her time and resources as the former chancellor of the St. James’ Episcopal School. Kim Vincent is highly involved in court-appointed work, child protective services, mentoring young women and art education in the local public schools. The Vincent’s adult children are graduates of Xavier/ Louisiana State University, Spelman College and the University of Texas-Austin. They also have two children heading off to the Berklee College of Music and Morehouse College in the fall and a budding middle school cello player.