Board Members

Leadership History of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education.

The American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE) is the successor organization to the former Black Caucus. The Black Caucus was established in 1980 as a component of the former American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) by Dr. Alvin McNeil, Wendell G. Rayburn Sr., and Gloria Scott, with Dr. McNeill serving as its founding chair. The AAHE Black Caucus was formed in response to the feeling of many African American AAHE members that the amount of programming devoted to African American educational issues during AAHE’s annual higher education conferences was inadequate.

After AAHE closed its doors in 2005, a few Black Caucus members gathered for an informal meeting to discuss its future as a freestanding association. A transitional board, with Dr. Roland B. Smith, Jr. as charter president, was established to oversee the change, including incorporation and obtaining non-profit status, with the intent of preserving the founding principles and philosophy of the Black Caucus as it sought to develop a new vision. Below are the leaders, including dates in office and institutional affiliation at the time of service.