Anthony L. Jenkins, President, Coppin State University

Anthony L. Jenkins, Ph.D.
President, Coppin State University

Anthony L. Jenkins, Ph.D., became the 8th President of Coppin State University (CSU) on May 26, 2020. He is an established higher education leader and advocate committed to creating higher education opportunities for all students, especially culturally under-represented groups.

President Jenkins came to CSU from West Virginia State University (WVSU), a historically black land-grant research university near Charleston, W.V., where he served as president from July 2016 until May 2020. Prior to WVSU, Jenkins was Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and was the Senior Associate Vice President for the University of Central Florida – the nation’s second largest university. His career includes serving at Jackson State University, before joining Virginia Tech’s Housing and Residence Life, and later the Office of the Dean of Students. He remained at Virginia Tech until becoming the Assistant Dean of Students of Northeastern Illinois University. He later served as the Dean of Students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington; and was recruited to serve as the Dean of Students at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised between the nation’s capital and North Carolina, Jenkins is a proponent for education and public policy issues. He has fostered meaningful dialogue within the national higher education community. His research, speeches, and publications focus on crisis management, enrollment and retention, diversity, African-American male initiatives, first-generation college student success, state funding for higher education, mentoring, and high-risk college campus behavior such as alcohol consumption and sexual misconduct. Throughout his career, he has enhanced the quality of the college experience for students, developed and successfully implemented comprehensive retention and enrollment plans leading to greater access, opportunity and higher graduation rates; thereby enabling more individuals to improve their quality of life by earning a college education.

A United States Army veteran, President Jenkins began his path to higher education as a first-generation college graduate of Fayetteville State University. He earned a master’s degree from North Carolina Central University and a doctorate from Virginia Tech University.

A supporter of quality higher education, he has served as a site evaluator for the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE). He has been inducted into several of the most prestigious academic honor, business, and leadership societies in the Nation: Alpha Kappa Psi; Kappa Phi; Sigma Alpha Pi; Alpha Sigma Lambda; Omicron Delta Kappa; Alpha Phi Sigma; and Order of Omega.

Jenkins is married to Toinette Jenkins, and they have two daughters.


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