James K. Duah-Agyeman named SU chief diversity officer, represents University to new diversity organization

James K. Duah-Agyeman named SU chief diversity officer, represents University to new diversity organizationApril 12, 2007Matthew R. Snydermrsnyder@syr.edu

James K. Duah-Agyeman, director of Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), has been appointed by Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor to serve as the University’s chief diversity officer and to represent SU to the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE).

In this role, Duah-Agyeman communicates all NADOHE matters to Barry L. Wells, senior vice president and dean of student affairs. Duah-Agyeman attended NADOHE’s first national conference in February in Washington, D.C., during the annual meeting of the American Council on Education (ACE), of which Cantor is the immediate past chair.

NADOHE (http://www.nadohe.org) is a national organization that was established in 2006 as an affiliate of ACE, in response to the growing need for higher education to leverage and maximize investments in diversity initiatives, to provide opportunities for cross-institutional exchange and fertilization of ideas, and to enhance professional standards among diversity workers. SU is a charter institutional member of NADOHE.

“Dr. Duah-Agyeman plays a crucial role in expanding Syracuse University’s increasingly sophisticated approach to making diversity a central part of the educational experience,” says Wells. “He is a strong proponent for co-curricular experiences that reinforce diversity in the classroom and an outstanding choice to be an ambassador for Syracuse University to this important national organization.”

Duah-Agyeman was appointed director of student support and diversity education/multicultural affairs in the Division of Student Affairs in 2001. He has administrative oversight of the Student Support and Diversity Education (SSDE) cluster, composed of three departments in the Division of Student Affairs: the Slutzker Center for International Services (SCIS), the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center and OMA.

As the director of OMA, Duah-Agyeman and his staff work to support and promote the academic achievement, multicultural competence, social development, civic engagement and retention of students from historically underrepresented populations. Duah-Agyeman is also an adjunct assistant professor of cultural foundations of education and teaches a course, Intergroup Dialogue on Race and Ethnicity, that is part of the national Multiversity Intergroup Dialogue Research Project.

Duah-Agyeman came to SU in 1982 and has served in a broad range of leadership positions within the University, including assistant director/counselor in the Office of Supportive Services; director of the Center for Academic Achievement; and interim associate vice president and director of the Division of Student Support and Development, which included Summer Institute for Incoming First-Year Students, the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, Learning Disability Services, the University-wide Tutoring Center, the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and Student Support Services Program (SSSP).

He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics education.