Education 2025: ADAMS-GASTON, JAVAUNE

Under Adams-Gaston’s leadership since 2019, Norfolk State has racked up achievements ranging from regularly ranking among U.S. News & World Report’s top 20 historically Black colleges and universities to attaining a 10-year reaffirmation of accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

The public university attracted big-dollar donations, from grants of more than $53 million for scholarships and student support and a $40 million gift from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2021. The HBCU also launched a campaign to raise a $90 million endowment by its 90th anniversary this year.

Adams-Gaston has led NSU’s online curriculum expansion to include master’s degrees in cybersecurity and cyber psychology. She played key roles in forging partnerships with companies like Netflix, Apple and Amazon.

She served on former President Joe Biden’s HBCUs advisory board and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Her term on the NCAA Board of Governors ended in 2024.

Before joining NSU, Adams-Gaston was senior vice president for student life at Ohio State University and held executive positions at the University of Maryland. She holds a doctorate from Iowa State University.

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