Bonita Brown

Bonita Brown
Brown in 2026
Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 2024
Preceded byElwood L. Robinson
Interim President of Northern Kentucky University
In office
January 2023 – October 2023
Preceded byAshish Vaidya
Succeeded byCady Short-Thompson
Personal details
Children2
EducationWake Forest University (BA, JD)

Bonita J. Brown is an American lawyer and academic administrator who is currently the fourteenth Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University, as of July 1, 2024.[1] Her formal investiture ceremony was held September 19, 2025.[2]

Life

Brown was raised in Welcome, North Carolina.[3] She earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University in 1995 and J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1997.[4][5]

Brown worked as a staff attorney in Washington, D.C. in corporate legal work after graduating from law school.[3]

In 2001, she returned to North Carolina and joined the staff at Livingstone College as an assistant to its leadership team.[3] She was as the chief of staff at the University of North Texas.[4] Brown then was the vice chancellor and chief of staff at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro[4] before moving to Winston-Salem State University where she served as an assistant attorney for the university.[4] She was later general counsel of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, also located in Winston-Salem.[6]

Brown also worked in non-profit organization, including a position as the director of the higher education practice at Education Trust in Washington, D.C.[6] She later worked for the nonprofit, Achieving the Dream, as its vice president for network engagement.[6]

Brown joined Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in May 2019 as its vice president and chief strategy officer.[7] Following Ashish Vaidya's departure in 2022, she was selected as the interim president of NKU in January 2023.[6] Cady Short-Thompson succeeded Brown in October 2023.[8]

In late May 2024, Brown was announced as the fourteenth Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University.[9] She is the first woman to lead WSSU and succeeded Elwood Robinson, who retired in June 2023.

Personal life

Brown is married to Wesley Brown.[6] They have a son and daughter.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Office of the Chancellor: Bonita Brown". WSSU. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  2. ↑ Diaz, Amy (2025-09-19). "Bonita J. Brown formally installed as WSSU's first permanent female chancellor". WFDD. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  3. 1 2 3 Nguyen, Mildred (February 24, 2023). "Three things you might not know about Interim President Bonita Brown". The Northerner. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kyaw, Arrman (2023-01-20). "Bonita Brown Appointed Interim President of Northern Kentucky University". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  5. ↑ "Deacon Spotlight: Bonita Brown". Alumni Personal & Career Development Center. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bonita Brown Selected As NKU Interim President". www.nku.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Madeline (January 18, 2023). "'It's not an easy job.' NKU board of regents appoints Bonita Brown to interim president". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  8. ↑ Nguyen, Mildred; Sisk, Emily (September 13, 2023). "NKU announces Cady Short-Thompson as seventh president". The Northerner. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  9. ↑ Ford, David (2024-05-29). "First woman to be named chancellor at WSSU begins in July". WFDD. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.