Pinder Named Vice Provost for Internationalization & Equity

Dear Faculty and Staff,

It is with great pleasure that Lee and I announce that Dr. Anthony (Tony) Pinder has agreed to step into the inaugural role of Vice Provost for Internationalization & Equity within Academic Affairs as of May 1, 2021.  In this role, Tony will continue to serve as Emerson’s chief international officer (CIO), while taking on additional coordination and leadership responsibilities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within Academic Affairs.

In addition to Kasteel Well, Tony provides leadership to the offices of International Student Affairs (OISA); Education Abroad & Domestic Programs; English Language Learning (ELL), and initiatives that support international fellowships/awards, international visitors/scholars, and international faculty support services.  Under his leadership, Emerson won the prestigious 2020 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization, awarded by NAFSA, the largest leading association worldwide for international educators in higher education.

Tony’s commitment to DEI is the result of a three-decade career devoted to efforts in this area. He has written and presented extensively on the internationalization of Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs). Prior to Emerson, he served as CIO and Assistant Professor of Education at Georgia Gwinnett College, Morehouse College, and Dillard University, where, in addition to leading internationalization, he was responsible for advancing diversity and inclusive good practices. A pivotal responsibility was to ensure that diverse students had equitable access to and maximized the interpersonal, academic, and career benefits afforded through global education. Critical to this work has been his leadership in facilitating climates of belonging for international students on these campuses, and creating greater awareness of how their intersectional identities affected their experiences on campus.

As Vice Provost, he will provide coordination and leadership for DEI initiatives within Academic Affairs (AA). Working with the Provost, deans, and academic colleagues, he will strengthen academic collaboration with faculty, staff, and students to ensure programming and initiatives support AA’s DEI values and goals.  He will summarize annual progress that Academic Affairs is making toward DEI goals on the website, coordinate and assess efforts to eliminate barriers that limit progress in DEI, and work with the Assistant Provost to enhance the NEXUS faculty mentoring program to provide for additional support and retention of BIPOC faculty.  Finally, he will collaborate with all campus DEI leaders to help provide a vibrant, welcoming, and inclusive climate within Academic Affairs for all students, faculty and staff on all Emerson campuses.

We look forward to the College’s next level of success in diversity, equity, inclusion and internationalization at Emerson.

Sincerely,
Lee and Michaele