About Gloria Gibson
Gloria Gibson was president of Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, from July 2018 to June 2023, reporting directly to the university’s board of trustees. During her time in this role, Ms. Gibson focused on providing enhanced educational access for students in the Chicago area, as well as expanding into new regional and international areas. She was committed to providing excellent educational experiences for students, informed by an understanding that they arrived with differing levels of collegiate readiness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Gibson provided leadership to keep the campus safe, convening a specialized task force and transitioning to online and hybrid models of instruction.
Career History & Education
From January 2015 to June 2018, Ms. Gibson was senior vice president, provost and a
professor of the Department of Fine Arts at Morgan State University, Baltimore. Here, she
established the Provost’s Transition Task Force to identify key issues for goal setting and
priorities, provided leadership for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s
reaccreditation visit, and set up the Faculty Professional Development Committee to provide
guidelines for the distribution of funding for faculty scholarships and research and creative
activities. She also established the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,
provided leadership and advocacy to pilot course redesigns in freshman English and Math,
and enhanced learning environments with state-of-the-art technology.
Ms. Gibson holds both a BA and an MA in Music Education, and a PhD in Folklore and
Ethnomusicology Concentration, the latter awarded by Indiana University, Bloomington.
Covenant House – Youth Development Center
Throughout her career working in universities, Ms. Gibson has demonstrated strong leadership skills, managing complex organizations and consistently promoting student access and success. She has continuously striven to promote curricular innovation, increase recruitment and improve retention, advance faculty scholarship and creative activity, and foster cultures of honesty, integrity, and transparency. As well as serving on national boards, Ms. Gibson has developed international partnerships with universities resulting in opportunities for meaningful collaborations.
