With over thirty years of experience in Higher Education and leadership, Dr. Sheila Smith McKoy brings a wealth of experience in leading change and transformation in higher education. She has served in the highest levels of academic leadership including at the provost’s level. She has contributed as a transformational leader at Research I, comprehensive universities and at smaller universities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In 1994, Smith McKoy was the first African American to earn a PhD in English from Duke University. Her leadership experience and engagement began early in her career when she served as an academic lead at Vanderbilt University where she earned tenure as only the second Black woman to be tenured in her college in 2001. She is a recognized thought leader on the histories of race, social justice, African, American, African American, Caribbean and other African Diasporan literatures and cultures.

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Smith McKoy is published widely in the areas of race and difference, mentorship, literature and culture, and mentorship. Dr. Smith McKoy is a skilled facilitator and strategic planning expert. As a trained mediator, Smith McKoy specializes in restorative justice practices. She brings this lens to her ombuds work with colleges and universities. The insights she has gained from serving as a faculty member and higher education leader have enabled her to build consensus while addressing grievances. She also regularly contributes to peace-making efforts in the communities that she serves. As a certified coach, she serves leaders in higher education, in the corporate sector and at non-profits. As a Black woman who has served in leadership positions for decades, she is skilled at coaching leaders who embrace transformation and change in the midst of resistance. She works with clients to create a professional environment that aligns with their values. She is especially committed to working with leaders of color, women leaders, and people who embrace cultural inclusion and engaged leadership.

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Dr. Smith McKoy values the art of storytelling in the process of institutional and social change. Smith McKoy is author/editor of eight books, including the seminal text in understanding white race riots, When Whites Riot: Writing Race and Violence in American and South African Cultures, which has been continuously in publication since 2001. She is co-editor of The Wisdom of Ifá: An Ancient Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century and Beyond (2025) and Recovering the African Feminine Divine in Literature, the Arts, and Performing Arts: Yemonja Awakening (2020). She is the editor of The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: Writing Self, Writing Nation (2016) and The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: Artistry, Culture and Commerce (2017). In addition to her scholarly work, Smith McKoy is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker. She is the recipient of the 2020 Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Prize in poetry. She is author of The Bones Beneath (2024), co-author of an award-winning anthology, One Window’s Light: A Haiku Collection and editor emeritus of Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora. She has written, produced, and directed three films including Maama Watali and Luwero: A Conversation about War, Peace and Gender (2017). Smith McKoy’s latest publications also include "The Specter and the Speculative: Afterlives and Archives in the African Diaspora " in The Specter and the Speculative: Afterlives and Archives in the African Diaspora (2024) and Teaching Literature and Writing in Prisons (2023) among others.

 

Dr. Smith McKoy holds a PhD in English from Duke University, and Master’s Degree in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a  Bachelor’s Degree in English, Writing and Editing from North Carolina State University.