Johnnetta Betsch Cole, is an accomplished educator and museum professional; noted speaker and author on issues of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion; and a committed advocate for social justice.
Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole was born October 19, 1936 in Jacksonville, Florida. She is an anthropologist and educator who was the first female African-American president of Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia (1987–97). She is the great granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln Lewis, Florida's first Black millionaire, who was an entrepreneur and co-founder of the Afro-American Industrial and Benefit Association. Among Dr. Cole’s early influences were her mother, who taught college English; pioneering educator Mary MacLeod Bethune; and writer Arna Bontemps, who was the librarian at Fisk University when Dr. Cole matriculated at age 15. She left Fisk to study sociology at Oberlin College (B.A., 1957) and anthropology at Northwestern University (M.A., 1959;Ph.D., 1967).
After decades of service as a renowned professor of anthropology who helped found several departments of African American studies at prestigious universities across the United States, in 1987 Dr. Cole became the seventh president of Spelman College, the oldest African-American women’s college in the United States. She was committed to making the school a center for scholarship for African-American women. Calling herself “Sister President,” she became known as a strong advocate for the liberal arts curriculum in a changing society. She retired as president emerita in 1997. After her decade of service to Spelman, Dr. Cole remained in Atlanta while returning to the classroom at Emory University as the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women's Studies and African-American Studies. In 2002, Dr. Cole became the president of Bennett College in North Carolina, the only other HBCU dedicated to educating Black women. She retired in 2007 and continued to serve as chair of the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute in Atlanta. From 2009 to 2017, Dr. Cole was director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Cole is the recipient of numerous awards for her contributions to education and the pursuit of human rights. She is an author whose works include All American Women: Lines That Divide, Ties That Bind; Anthropology for the Nineties; Conversations: Straight Talk with America’s Sister President; Dream the Boldest Dream and Other Lessons of Life; and GenderTalk – the Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American’s Communities. She remains an award-winning, engaged member of the national and international cultural and educational communities.
