Dorothy Cowser Yancy (born April 18, 1944) is an American academic, professor, and administrator. Her contributions to academia established her legacy of scholarship among African-American women. During college, Yancy participated in civil rights organizations, earned several degrees, including a Ph.D. in political science, and completed the Fulbright Program. She went on to teach at the School of Social Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology, becoming the first African-American to become a tenured full professor. She left Georgia Tech in 1994 to become the president of Johnson C. Smith University, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2009, Yancy became the 14th president of Shaw University and was elected to the position again in 2011 as the 16th president. She received many awards and honors for her dedication to higher education.
Early life
Dorothy Cowser Yancy was born on April 18, 1944, and raised alongside her 3 siblings on their family-owned farm in Cherokee County, Alabama, to parents Howard Cowser and Linnie Bell Covington Cowser. Her parents did not complete school, but they encouraged all of their children to get college degrees. After graduating from the segregated Hatcher High School in 1960, Yancy matriculated to Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
While attending JCSU, she was an active member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Student Government Association. Yancy also joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first historically African-American Greek-lettered sorority. In addition to these groups, she was a participant in the civil rights movement in North Carolina, attending protests in the area.
Originally intending to become a research chemist, Yancy would later discover a passion for history and go on to receive a Master of Arts in History from the University of Massachusetts in 1965, while studying to receive a management development certificate from Harvard University. In 1978, she earned her Ph.D. in political science from Atlanta University on the same weekend as her daughter's kindergarten graduation.
Career
Yancy served as instructor of history at Albany State College in Albany, Georgia, from 1965 to 1967. She continued teaching history at Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, as an instructor from 1965 to 1967. From 1971-1972, Yancy served as director of the Afro-American Studies program at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois. In 1972, Yancy moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology where she served as professor of History, Technology and Society and in the School of Management. Yancy became Georgia Tech's first African-American full professor. In 1988 and 1990, she assisted with labor delegations for the Soviet Union as well as Europe.
In 1994, Yancy became interim president at Johnson C. Smith University, making her the university's first woman president. At JCSU, she helped rebuild Biddle Hall and raised over $145 million for the university, which contributed to her recognition as a financial champion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Yancy also started the technology program and in 2000 testified before Congress about technology's importance in higher education. Through her work, applications to JCSU increased, and the United Negro College Fund Technology Initiative was able to lease laptops, computer servers, and hardware for the university through the IBM ThinkPad program. As of 2003, the only historically black institution in the IBM ThinkPad program was Johnson C. Smith University.
Yancy became the first female member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association board (CIAA) and served as its first woman president. She compared her work in the CIAA to being a member of a basketball team where she and the other members must work together for the board to function.
Yancy retired from JCSU in 2008 and began to work with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service as an arbitrator and as a consultant in higher education. Yancy appeared before the Committee on Education and Labor on March 13, 2008, to discuss HBCUs, in particular Johnson C. Smith University, and the importance of university funding from the government. In 2009, Yancy became the 14th president of Shaw University and was named to that position again in 2011, after a tornado damaged the campus. During her final tenure at Shaw, she helped the school get five accreditation reviews.