Saint Augustine’s University hires new president amid lawsuit involving interim leaders
Saint Augustine’s University has announced that Irving Pressley McPhail will serve as the 12th president of the small, private, historically Black institution in Raleigh.
McPhail, founder and chief strategy officer at the McPhail Group LLC, began his new role on Wednesday.
“We are excited about the breadth of experience he brings as a former University President and as a sought-after spokesperson concerning the important contributions made by minorities in the STEM field,” the Retired Honorable Justice James E. Perry, SAU Board of Trustees chairman, said in a statement.
McPhail was selected after a national search that gathered input from members of local government, the Raleigh business community, higher education experts, SAU faculty and alumni, and Board of Trustee members.
Saint Aug’s has had two interim presidents since March 2019, when Everett Ward announced his retirement and was replaced earlier than expected. The news also comes in the midst of the firing of St. Aug’s legendary athletic director and track coach George Williams and a lawsuit involving the interim leaders and board members, including Perry.
Perry said McPhail will be “an outstanding ambassador for the university.” The school noted his experience in higher education, urban public-school administration and working in the non-profit sector.
McPhail is currently a professor of practice at the Dr. John E. Roueche Community College Leadership Center at Kansas State University. His work focuses on connecting “practice, policy, and research in language, literacy, and culture; postsecondary student success; underrepresented minorities in STEM education and careers; and community college leadership,” according to SAU.
Before coming to SAU, McPhail was the sixth president and CEO at the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc., which was awarded the 2012 Claire Felbinger Award for Diversity from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology under his leadership.
McPhail also served as founding chancellor at the Community College of Baltimore County, president at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley and president at Lemoyne-Owen College. He also previously served as provost at Pace University, vice president and dean of academic affairs at Delaware State University and chief operating officer at the Baltimore City Public Schools.
In addition to administrative roles, McPhail was a tenured professor at Delaware State University, Lemoyne-Owen College and Pace University.
McPhail, a New York City native, earned a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, a master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a doctorate in reading/language arts at the University of Pennsylvania as a National Fellowships Fund Fellow. He was also awarded two honorary doctoral degrees from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 2:42 PM.
