CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
T he way Norfolk State University students go on about her sneaker game, and how students and faculty refer to her as “Dr. J,” one would think Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston was a high-scoring player of the year. The truth of the matter is, while Dr. J’s current role does not include being athletically inclined, per se, she has brought game-changing excellence to NSU since she was named president in June 2019. “She is a master team builder,” said Devon M. Henry, NSU Rector of the Board of Visitors and class of 1999 alumnus.“She has the uncanny ability to bring dynamic professionals together, develop them into exceptional leaders, get them to buy into a vision and then allows everyone to execute at the benefit of the students and greater NSU community. “It is also important for the world to know that Dr. J is a budding sneaker aficionado, and has been seen sporting some very fashionable sneakers, to include a pair of Green & Gold Jordans and a pair of NSU designed Nike Air Force 1’s,” added Henry. “This is one of many reasons the students love Dr. J.” From PWI to HBCU As president of the largest HBCU in Virginia, and a four-time Top 20 HBCU designated by U.S. News and World Report, Dr. Adams-Gaston has taken NSU to new heights in a short period of time. Enhancing the institution’s programming, community culture, finances and technology are just a few areas where Dr. Adams-Gaston has used her skillset to build out the university as a competitive institution in both HBCU and PWI categories. While the core of her experience as a scholar and faculty member has been at PWI’s, Dr.
Adams-Gaston understands the HBCU experience, challenges and heritage.
Prior to joining Norfolk State University, Dr. Adams-Gaston was named the first African American woman senior vice president in 2009 at The Ohio State University. She led 40 departments in the Office of Student Life touching the lives of more than 66,000 students. She also served in administrative and faculty positions at the University of Maryland- College Park including associate dean of academic affairs, executive director of the Career Center, equity administrator, and psychologist. She also was the institution’s first African American woman assistant athletic director and was an Athletic Certification Peer Reviewer for the NCAA. Coupled with additional faculty positions at each of these institutions, in addition to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Dr. Adams-Gaston came fully prepared to transform NSU. All she needed to do was get through a pandemic. Creating a ‘Culture of Care,’ and a Connected Community “Nine months in, and then COVID,” said Dr. Adams-Gaston. “It totally changed the direction of what we were doing to start rethinking the notion of culture care for the university. We really pivoted to how we ensure our community is as safe as it could be and not overwhelmed. It really worked well because I had the right people in place.” From dismissing students to spend the remainder of the spring 2020 semester at their respective homes, to reminding the few who remained on campus to cover their nose with their masks during her daily campus walks with her husband Dmitri; to quickly starting partnerships with companies like Apple to ensure students were well equipped with technology to continue their studies virtually, Dr. Adams-Gaston worked in rapid-response fashion to ensure her faculty, students and staff
“Part of my background is in creating living-learning environments, like bringing classrooms to residence halls. Having the opportunities for faculty to conduct seminars to challenge how we rethink and understand world issues such as field-to-table,” said Dr. Adams-Gaston, who is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. “We’ve got a lot of Black farmers and they’re struggling. Mixing academic and experiential opportunities learning about the science and social science of food and nutrition, where our food comes from, and who has the ability to access support to make our food available is what it takes to provide the needed resources to our Black farmers, then the dining hall becomes part of the learning environment. That’s what an HBCU has historically done, and continues to do.” Dr. Adams-Gaston earned her bachelor's degree in biology, psychology, and general science, at the University of Dubuque; a master's degree in psychology at Loras College; and a Ph.D. in psychology at Iowa State University. She is a psychologist, and has held positions as associate dean in academic affairs, assistant athletic director, equity administrator, graduate faculty member and educator. As NSU president, she is able to use each of those experiences to run a competitive research university with a remarkable calm, according to her colleagues. “Coming from such a large institution such as Ohio State University, the board was very interested in how Dr. J would adapt to a smaller but very community- centric university,” said Henry.
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