Lily McNair

McNair is from New Jersey.[1] She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Princeton University, graduating in 1979.[2][3] She then earned her Master's and doctoral degrees from Stony Brook University.[2] Her thesis examined alcohol consumption among female college students.[4] She worked as a psychologist in Poughkeepsie, New York at Vassar College and Stony Brook University.[5]

After graduating from Stony Brook University, McNair joined the University of Georgia as an Associate Professor of Psychology in 1992.[2] She was the first African-American woman in the Department of Psychology to become a professor and became associate director of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Training program.[2]Her research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and focused on community interventions targeting substance abuse in African-American Youth.[4] She was co-editor of Women: Images and Realities.[6][4]

McNair joined Spelman College in 2004, working as Associate Provost of Research.[4] She worked with NASA on a Women in Science and Engineering program that sought to increase the number of minority students in science and technology.[7] She also worked with the National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to ensure Spelman College became the leading institution for women of African descent.[8]

In 2011 McNair joined Wagner College as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.[4] While at Wagner College, she increased the diversity of faculty hired by 116%.[5] She established the annual Black History Month scholar symposium.[9] She is a Trustee of Integration Charter Schools.[10]

McNair has served as the eighth President of Tuskegee University since July 2018.[11][12]