Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran (born November 14, 1947) is the 17th President of Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...

, succeeding Dr. James F. Jones

James F. Jones

James F. Jones, Jr., is the 21st president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Jones is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He and his wife, Jan, have three children.- Education :...

. She is the first female president, as well as the first African-American president of the school.

Education

A native of Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, Wilson-Oyelaran earned her B.A. in sociology from Pomona College

Pomona College

Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...

, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in education from the Claremont Graduate University. She was no stranger to international education, having completed an undergraduate study abroad experience in England where she studied the education of immigrant children. She was also the recipient of the Thomas J. Watson Traveling Fellowship, which enabled her to execute independent research in Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, and Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.

Academic career

After completing her doctoral work in early childhood development, she accepted her first academic position at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria, teaching in both the departments of education and psychology. Ife, where she served as a department chair and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, would be her academic home for 14 years.

Wilson-Oyelaran's scholarly focus is in child development and education in cross-cultural context, and she has published widely in this area. While in Nigeria she served as a consultant for UNICEF (Nigeria) and designed a series of baseline surveys that became the model for assessing the status of children under five throughout the country.

In 1988 when her family left Nigeria for the United States, Wilson-Oyelaran became visiting scholar in education at North Carolina Wesleyan College

North Carolina Wesleyan College

North Carolina Wesleyan College is a private four-year coeducational, liberal arts college, located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Founded in 1956, the school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offers a number of preprofessional programs...

 and then associate professor and chair of the department of education at Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University , a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.Winston-Salem State has been...

. In 1995, she became Dean of the College at Salem College

Salem College

Salem College is a liberal arts women's college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina founded in 1772. Originally established as a primary school, it later became an academy and finally a college. It is the oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college...

, and rose to the position of Vice President of Salem Academy and College and Dean of the College. She also served as acting president of Salem College for a brief period.

Honors

Her honors and awards include the Kent Fellowship, American Council on Education Fellowship and the Visionary Leadership Award presented by the Claremont Colleges Intercollegiate Office of Black Studies. A proponent of equity and inclusion, Wilson-Oyelaran has been honored for her work on behalf of young women and girls. She is the recipient of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) Gender Equity Architect Award, the Salvation Army's Strong, Smart, and Bold Award, and the YWCA Woman of Vision. In 2007 Mortar Board

Mortar Board

Mortar Board is an American national honor society whose purpose is to recognize outstanding students dedicated to the values of scholarship, leadership, and service. The Cornell University Der Hexenkreis chapter, founded in 1892, is the oldest and predates the national society's founding in 1918...

National College Senior Honor Society presented her with the Alumni Achievement Award.

She is married to Dr. Olasope Oyelaran and they have raised four children - Adedoyin, Oyindasola, Omosalewa, and Oyeyinka.