Dear Department Chair Letters from Black Women Leaders to the Next Generation

Exemplifying a key maxim in Black women's survival and achievement, 'lifting as we climb,' this collection demonstrates to sister-scholar administrators and their non-Black colleagues that collaboration, commiseration, and celebration are strategic tools, meaningful service, and sources of strength for Black women leaders in higher education today. These thought-provoking essays are essential reading for all who seek to create academic excellence that is both inclusive and humane." - Bonnie Thornton Dill, University of Maryland

"While there are many books about academic administrators, this unique and inspirational volume is the very first to center the perspectives and experiences of Black women leaders in academia. Desperately needed and long overdue, it is full of sage advice and concrete strategies for success, encouraging self-reflection, wellness, and humility; and emphasizing sisterhood, peer mentorship, and collaboration. It should be required reading for all academic leaders!" - Yolanda Covington-Ward, professor and Chair, W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst

"Indeed, this important collection gives voice to a truth known to some but ignored by too many: If you look closely, Black women leaders are either present or in the process of being made. A must read for upper administrators, mentors, allies, and leaders in the making." - Tara T. Green, PhD, Chair and CLASS Distinguished Professor of African American Studies, University of Houston

"Dear Department Chair is a welcomed collection that builds on the tradition of 'lifting as we climb.' Kudos to the editors who took it upon themselves to offer a readable collection about leadership in the academy. Colleagues, both women and men, of all hues will learn something from this work. I wish that it had been available when I became chair!" - Joye Bowman, Senior Associate Dean, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of Massachusetts Amherst