On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University.
As the first female president and chief executive officer of the merged Huston-Tillotson University and the second female president in the college’s 140-year history, Burnette began her new role on July 1, 2015.
Burnette was one of 70 applicants vying for the president/CEO position. The 18-member Search Committee, comprised of representatives from the HT board of trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni and community and business leaders, narrowed the field to a list of nine semi-finalists who were engaged in two days of interviews before the finalists were selected and approved by the board of trustees at its March 2015 meeting.
Burnette comes to HT, Austin's oldest institution of higher education, with executive leadership experience.
In 2012, she served as interim President at Pierce College, leading the college within a district environment and working with executive leadership to serve more than 30,000 students each year. She had an extensive career at Central State University from 1999 to 2012 that scaled to vice president for administration and chief financial officer. In addition, at Central State University Burnette served as vice president for information technology and chief information officer.
Burnette earned a B.S. in engineering from The Ohio State University and an M.S. in administration from Georgia College. She is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Management Development Program and earned her Ed.D. in higher education administration from University of Pennsylvania.
