Administration

Dr. Esther Terry ’61 was appointed to the position of Interim President of Bennett College by the Board of Trustees, making her the first alumna to ever lead the College.

Dr. Terry's appointment follows her three year stint as the College's provost and vice president for academic affairs. During those three years, she is credited with having led in the redesigning of the General Education Curriculum, and for establishing the Honors Program that in its first year saw one of Bennett's students become a finalist as a Rhodes Scholar. Her strong emphasis on strengthening the College's offerings in mathematics and the sciences that undergird the STEM professions, and on encouraging faculty to advocate and support student interest in those professions led her to successfully apply to the National Organization of Delta Sigma Theta for a two-year $200,000.00 grant.   Graduation rates, as well as graduate school matriculation, increased under her tenure as provost.

As interim president, in addition to guiding the day-to-day operations of the College, Dr. Terry hopes to build stronger external relationships - particularly with the Triad community, emphasizing Bennett College’s influence on Greensboro’s history. 

Prior to joining Bennett as its provost, Dr. Terry dedicated nearly four decades as a faculty member and administrator at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At UMass Amherst, she was a founding member of the Department of Afro-American Studies and had an unprecedented 19-year tenure as its chair; she established the Department's graduate program, which offers the master’s and doctoral degrees and is universally cited for the quality of its graduates; she served as the University's Associate Chancellor, Associate Provost for Faculty Relations, and as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life. At UMass, she was named Distinguished Graduate by the English Department, Distinguished Alumnus by the alumni association, and nominated as Distinguished Teacher by her students. Dr. Terry was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus to note the end of her UMass career.

In addition to her B.A. degree in English from Bennett College, Dr. Terry holds a M.A. degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Massachusetts. She and her late husband, Eugene Terry (who also held a Ph.D. in English) are the proud parents of their only son, Dr. Jules Michael Terry, a linguist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Office of the President, Global Learning Center
Phone:336-517-2225 and 336-517-2226
Fax: 336-370-8688

Dr. Esther Terry, Interim President
eterry@bennett.edu

Dr. James Dixon, Executive Vice President
jdixon@bennett.edu

Dr. Joyce Blackwell, Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs
jblackwell@bennett.edu

Dr. Millicent Rainey,Senior Associate Provost
mrainey@bennett.edu

Dr. Stanley Viltz, Associate Provost for Student Affairs
sviltz@bennett.edu

Mr. LeRoy Summers, Interim Vice President, Business & Finance
lsummers@bennett.edu

Mrs. Iris Ramey, Vice President for Institutional Advancement
iris.ramey@bennett.edu

Mr. Les Ferrier, Vice President of Enrollment Management
lferrier@bennett.edu

Ms. Andrena Coleman, Vice President for Administrative Services
acoleman@bennett.edu

Maya Angelou

Rick Anicetti

Charles Barrentine (Chair)

Arnetta Beverly

Christy Clayton

Michelle Gethers Clark

Gracie Coleman

Sally S. Cone

Joyce Martin Dixon

Deborah Foster

Larry Goodpaster

Cynthia Hardy

Andrea Harris

Annie Tyson Jett

Carolyn Johnson

Lisa Johnson

Giselle Jones-Jones

C. Ray Kennedy

Robbie Perkins

Debra Plousha Moore

Trudie Kibbe Reed

Esther Terry

Luke Visconti

Eric Watson