Dwight A. McBride, the Gerald Early Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences and a senior advisor to the chancellor, is now executive director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2), Washington University in St. Louis announced. His appointment took effect July 1.
McBride, a nationally recognized scholar of race and literary studies, joined the WashU faculty in 2023 with an appointment in the Department of African and African-American Studies in Arts & Sciences. Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2022, McBride is co-founder and co-editor of the annual open-access journal James Baldwin Review. He is also a founding co-editor of “The New Black Studies” series at the University of Illinois Press, which has published more than 50 titles.
He is also a founding co-director of the Academic Leadership Institute, a partnership between Washington University and the University of Michigan that supports the development of academic leaders — who are potentially future college and university presidents and provosts — committed to advancing diversity and inclusion.
McBride served as president at The New School in New York City from 2020-23. Prior to his presidency, he was provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University and held various leadership roles at Northwestern University and at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“Dwight brings a wealth of experience and an unwavering commitment to advancing scholarship and advocacy in the fields of race, ethnicity and equity,” said Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “His innovative, interdisciplinary approach to university leadership and his research will be a vital asset to the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity.”
CRE2, founded in 2020, brings the research force of Washington University to study how race and ethnicity are integral to the most complex and challenging issues of our time.
“This is crucial work, especially so in our current political context,” McBride said. “WashU’s scope and depth of research has the potential to be transformative across our campuses, in our community and beyond. I can’t wait to get started and to help grow CRE2’s vital mission and vision into the future.”
Learn more about the center’s work on its website.
