PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Dr. Yolanda Williams-Page has been named dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB).
Formerly, she was Chair of the Department of English, Theatre and Mass Communications where she increased enrollment and retention of majors; successfully revived two dormant programs: the debate team (now recognized as 12th in the nation), and the theatre program which won 1st place for its production of Home at the 2008 National Association of Dramatic Speech Arts (NADSA) Conference; and increased the offering of online courses by 100 percent.
For 17 years, Dr. Page has served the academe in various roles, including instructor, director, department chair and assistant dean. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Business Management from Dillard University and her Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in American and African American Literature from Louisiana State University. Prior to her employment at UAPB, she worked at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and Dillard University.
Listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, she has studied abroad in Ghana as a UNCF/Mellon International Faculty Seminar Fellow, is a certified Supplemental Instruction Supervisor, and has worked extensively with learning communities and high-risk students.
She is a member of a number of professional organizations and honor societies including the College Language Association, Modern Language Association, Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, and Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society.
Dr. Page has presented literary papers, published chapters in books, and written several articles about African American literature. A sourcebook that she edited, Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007) was named a New York Library Association Best of Reference. She is currently editing Icons of African American Literature (forthcoming December 2011, ABC-CLIO).
Committed to mentoring and community service, Dr. Page has been a mentor for the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Pulaski County; the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program; the Little Rock School District, and the Female Rites of Passage Program at St Mark Baptist Church, Little Rock, AR; she is also an active volunteer at eStem Elementary Public Charter School. In the community, she is a founding member of the Arkansas Chapter of the Dillard University Alumni Association, a member of the Beta Pi Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and a member of St. Mark Baptist Church. In the past, she has been a member of the South Central Arkansas Education Renewal Zone Advisory Board and the Jefferson County Banner Board of Advisors.
“I am pleased to be named Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at [UAPB],” said Dr. Page. “I look forward to continuing the legacy of outstanding leadership that was established by former pioneering deans such as Chancellor Lawrence A. Davis, Jr.
Dr. Page is married to David D. Page, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Philander Smith College, and the mother of two children, William and Brooke.
UAPB News 