Adrienne Morgan has been named vice president for equity and inclusion and Richard Feldman Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Rochester, effective immediately. University President Sarah Mangelsdorf announced Morgan’s appointment following a national search and Board of Trustees approval. A leader devoted to promoting diversity, inclusion, and justice in both healthcare and higher education, Morgan has been serving as interim vice president and chief diversity officer since August 2022. She will also continue to serve as senior associate dean for equity and inclusion for the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD).
“Our University community has benefitted greatly from Adrienne’s experience and her ability to bring people together around complex issues,” said Mangelsdorf. “I believe she is the right leader to further the University’s commitment to being truly welcoming and supportive to all.”
The role of vice president for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer ensures equity across the institution; fosters a culture of respect and inclusion for all faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the community; oversees compliance in this area and works with campus diversity leaders to ensure the University’s alignment with federally mandated anti-discrimination policies; and advocates for the role that diversity and equity initiatives play in achieving institutional excellence.
Serving as the University’s chief diversity officer and reporting to the president, this leadership role directs the Institutional Office of Equity & Inclusion (IOEI) and works to enhance diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in all aspects of the University’s mission. The vice president also works closely with deans and other senior leaders and campus constituencies to create, implement, and lead an institution-wide diversity strategic plan that includes recruitment, training, communication, policy, and metrics. In addition, Morgan will serve as senior adviser on equity and diversity matters to the president, provost, and other University officers, and continue to be a member of the president’s senior leadership group.
“Adrienne has a deep understanding of how institutions can successfully unify and work to create an inclusive culture that prioritizes the well-being, development, engagement, and success of our diverse workforce and student population,” Mangelsdorf added. “I want to sincerely thank the search committee for their dedication to identifying the strongest individual for this leadership position from a highly qualified pool of candidates. I am in complete agreement that the best candidate was the one who had already chosen to make a career here at Rochester.”
In August 2022, Morgan was named to the interim role of vice president. At the time, she was serving as the vice president for equity and inclusion at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and as a senior associate dean for equity and inclusion at the School of Medicine and Dentistry. At the Medical Center, Morgan led the values-driven development of the Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan and built an infrastructure to address issues of equity and inclusion for faculty, students, and staff. She and her team have created a toolkit to support equitable faculty recruitment efforts and have established an infrastructure for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training. In partnership with the Association of College and University Educators, she developed training across the campus to lead to more inclusive and equitable learning environments.
More recently as interim vice president, she collaborated with Jackie Beckerman, chief patient experience officer at the Medical Center, to launch the Live the Six movement—an institution-wide, six-word anti-racism and kindness initiative in response to the hate crime murders at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo. The words “Stop Hate, End Racism, Choose L.O.V.E (Live Our Values Everywhere)” is a call to honor our values, take action, and proclaim in one voice that the University of Rochester stands against all forms of hatred and racism. Live the Six also addresses concerns about a deteriorating culture of respect and lack of civil discourse seen both locally and nationally. The initiative will be expanded this fall with opportunities for education, restorative justice, and community building for the entire institution.
Morgan is an associate professor in the Department of Health Humanities and Bioethics at the Medical Center and an associate professor at the Warner School of Education. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s degree in cross-disciplinary professional studies from RIT, and a PhD in higher education from Rochester.
