Dr. Walter Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, will be the guest speaker at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at a program sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Services at Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia. The presentation, “Brother Where Art Thou?” will be held in Foundation Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center located on the University campus.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
At 39 years of age, Kimbrough serves as the 12th president of Philander Smith College and is the first college president from the hip-hop generation. He is presently the youngest president of an historically black college and university and one of the youngest college presidents in the nation.
Prior to Philander Smith College, he served in administrative capacities at Albany State University, Old Dominion University, Georgia State University, and Emory University.
After graduating from the Benjamin E. Mays High School and Academy of Math and Science in Atlanta as the salutatorian and student body president, Kimbrough earned a bachelor of science in agriculture degree in biology from the University of Georgia in 1989. He continued his education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, completing a master of science degree in college student personnel services in 1991, and in 1996 he earned a doctor of philosophy degree in higher education from Georgia State University.
Kimbrough has maintained active memberships in several higher education organizations, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, Association of Fraternity Advisors, and Brothers of the Academy. He has served as a reviewer for the NASPA Journal, an associate editor for the College Student Affairs Journal, and a 2001 Senior Scholar for AFA.
Locally, he is a member of the board of directors for the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Heart of Arkansas United Way. He was named one of the people who made a difference in Arkansas in 2005 by the Arkansas Times and named by Powerplay magazine in 2006 as one of the 25 influential African Americans in Arkansas.
