Dr. Linda Strong-Leek joined the Haverford College community as the Provost in August 2020. She is a Professor of Africana and Gender and Sexuality Studies. Before joining Haverford, she served as the Provost of Berea College. She also served as the first Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Berea, as well as the Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs for seven years. In this capacity, she worked directly with the directors of Berea’s five Centers: the Carter G. Woodson Center for Interracial Education, the Black Cultural Center, the Center for Transformative Learning, the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center, and the Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service. She also supervised the Berea College Farm and Farm Store, and the Child Development Laboratory. She joined Berea College’s faculty as an Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies in 2002.

Dr. Strong-Leek has traveled abroad extensively, particularly in the Caribbean and Africa. She also enjoys traveling with students, and has, in conjunction with Berea College faculty and staff, traveled with students to Ghana and Jamaica. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, in 1998.

Dr. Strong-Leek participated in several leadership seminars, including the HERS (Higher Education Resource) Services at Bryn Mawr, PA in 2012, the Council for Independent College Presidential Vocation and Mission Institute in Woodstock, Vermont and Atlanta, GA, in 2016-17, and the Harvard Executive Leadership Seminar for Senior Academic Leaders in the summer of 2019.

Dr. Strong-Leek graduated from North Carolina Central University with a BA in English and an MA in English and Educational Administration (1988 and 1990, respectively). She received her Ph. D. in English from Michigan State University in 1994.