Dr. Camille A. McKayle is Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI). Previous to this, she served as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. As Provost, she led the development of UVI’s first Ph.D. program in Creative Leadership for Innovation and Change, which graduated its first Ph.D. recipients in 2018.

She has successfully served as PI or co-PI on a variety of grant projects from the National Science Foundation, NASA, Department of Defense, and the Mathematical Association of America. Her grant projects have totaled more than $10 million for the university. She currently serves as PI for three National Science Foundation projects: The Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (CASL; collaborative with North Carolina A&T State University, Fielding

Graduate University, American Association of Colleges and Universities, and UVI as lead), UVI’s HBCU-Undergraduate Program grant, and Florida-Caribbean Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Regional Center of Excellence (collaborative with Santa Fe College). Together, these programs aim to broaden participation in the Nation’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) enterprise through focus on undergraduate STEM education and STEM leadership.

From 2005 – 2008, Dr. McKayle was Program Officer at the National Science Foundation for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program, in the Division for Human Resource Development in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

Dr. McKayle received her Ph.D. in Mathematics, from Lehigh University (Pennsylvania). Her undergraduate degree in Mathematics is from Bates College (Maine). She completed a Master’s Certificate in Creativity and Change Leadership from Buffalo State College’s International Center for Creativity Studies. Her current research interests are in the areas of Creativity Studies, Creativity and Leadership, STEM Education and STEM Leadership.

Dr. Orlando L. Taylor is the Distinguished Senior Advisor to the President at Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara California. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Prior to these appointments, he was the Founding President of the Washington, DC campus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and earlier a Graduate Professor at Howard University where he also served in several senior leadership positions, including Dean of the School of Communications, Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Research.

Dr. Taylor has been a national leader for many years on issues pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. He has been awarded over $50 million from federal agencies, foundations, and philanthropists to support research, education, and special initiatives that advance DEI in STEM and other fields that impact directly upon the education, health and related needs of diverse individuals, organizations and communities.

Dr. Margaret I.Kanipes, a Professor of Chemistry, serves as the director of the University Honors Program at NC A&T State University (NC A&T). Prior to joining the Honors Program, Dr. Kanipes served as the director of the STEM Center of Excellence for Active Learning at NC A&T where she provided leadership for evidence-driven STEM education to mathematics and science course redesign and implementation, as well as to teaching, learning and student success innovations/interventions. Prior to her current position, she served as the interim chair of Chemistry at NC A&T.

Dr. Kanipes has several publications in refereed journals, which also include her research efforts in biochemical food-borne pathogen detection and STEM education. Dr. Kanipes has secured an external portfolio of over 10 million dollars in grants from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Burroughs Welcome, HHMI, and GlaxoSmithKline as PI or Co-PI.

Dr. Kanipes earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T), Greensboro, North Carolina and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She did postdoctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Dr. Kanipes is the recipient of several recognitions and awards including, a Minority Access National Role Model Mentor Award; anAmerican Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education Fellow; and NC A&T Young Investigator of the Year Award.

Dr. Kelly Mack is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope, a non-profit organization focusing on undergraduate STEM education reform, at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 17 years.

Dr. Mack has been a champion for inclusive excellence in STEM higher education for several decades. She is responsible for leading externally funded initiatives related to this topic, securing over $20 million, from federal agencies and private foundations that include the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the Luce Foundation. During her tenure at NSF, Dr. Mack managed an annual budget of approximately $17 million, facilitated the inclusion of issues targeting women of color into the national discourse on gender equity in the STEM disciplines, and significantly increased the participation

of predominantly undergraduate institutions, community colleges and minority-serving institutions in the ADVANCE portfolio.

At UMES, Dr. Mack served in many capacities including Biology Program Director where she was responsible for providing leadership and strategic vision for the intellectual, educational, and professional development of biology majors and for the coordination of faculty in providing quality instruction, research, and development activities. She also served as Principal Investigator, Director, or Co-Director for externally funded projects that totaled over $12 million dollars, including the UMES ADVANCE, MARC, and MBRS Programs, which focused on issues related to the recruitment, persistence, and advancement of African Americans, especially women, in the STEM disciplines.

Dr. Mack earned a BS degree in Biology from UMES and, later, a Ph.D. degree from Howard University in Physiology. She has had extensive training and experience in the area of cancer research with her research efforts focusing primarily on the use of novel antitumor agents in breast tumor cells. Most recently, her research focus has involved the use of bioflavonoids in the regulation of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast tumor cell proliferation.

She has been noted as one of the top 25 women in higher education by Diverse Issues. She serves on numerous advisory committees and councils, contributing to the successful implementation of projects, programs, and initiatives aimed at broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM and advancing the careers of diverse faculty in those disciplines. She has also served as a member of the Board of Governors for the National Council on Undergraduate Research and the National Institutes of Health Review Subcommittee for Training, Workforce Development and Diversity; and is the former Executive Secretary for the NSF Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, which is the Congressionally mandated advisory body that focuses on efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in the STEM disciplines. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of Shimer College and a Fellow of Fielding Graduate Universities. Dr. Mack is also Chair of the Inclusive Excellence Commission, a strategic partnership between AAC&U and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.