After a national search, Bryan Samuel has been selected as Kansas State University’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, effective March 2018.
Samuel is the director of the Office of Equity and Diversity at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, where he has been a leader in diversity and inclusion initiatives since 2009. In his new position at Kansas State University, he will report to the university president and serve on the President’s Cabinet.
“Bryan Samuel’s leadership experiences and extensive professional qualifications give him the tools he will need to effectively lead Kansas State University toward greater diversity and inclusion,” said President Richard Myers. “We hope to build on the momentum from our KSUnite efforts and become a model campus.”
Samuel will lead Kansas State University in facilitating best practices and resources that will continue to strengthen the university’s culture of inclusion. He will focus on employee recruitment and retention; institutional equity; and faculty development and curriculum. In addition, he will partner with the university’s new associate vice president for student life, Adrian Rodriguez, to strengthen student recruitment and retention.
“It is a distinct privilege to serve as a member of the Kansas State University community and I am excited to work with all campus constituents,” Samuel said. “Joining a nationally recognized institution with such an unswerving commitment to diversity and inclusion is indeed an honor. I look forward to working alongside President Myers and his cabinet as we move K-State forward in our ongoing efforts to meet the needs and interests of a global and diverse society.”
In addition to his current position, Samuel has served as director of multicultural affairs and affirmative action programs at Western Connecticut State University from 2006-2009; director of the office of multicultural affairs at the University of Nebraska, Kearney from 2004-2006; executive assistant to the vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney from 2000-2002; and coordinator for scholastic enhancement from 1998-2000 and coordinator of support services from 1996-1998 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In addition, he was an Equity in Opportunity Presidential Fellow at the University of Nebraska Central Administration from 2002-2003.
Samuel has received several awards and honors, including the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga’s Student Support Service Outstanding Contributions Award, the Kappa Leadership League Scholarship Debonair Service Award, the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga Horace Traylor Diversity Leadership award, the Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel TRIO Achiever Award and the Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Award.
A member of the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, or NCORE, National Advisory Council, Samuel serves on the Chief Diversity Officer Executive Leadership Committee. In addition, he is an adviser to several student organizations and a member of numerous employee and diversity committees. Samuel also has served as an instructor for social work courses during his tenure at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.
Samuel has a doctorate in educational leadership and higher education administration from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a Master of Education in community counseling and a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. Samuel also is a designated Cornell Certified Diversity Practitioner/Advanced Practitioner awarded by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
