AUSTIN, Texas — Professor of History Leonard N. Moore has been named vice president for diversity and community engagement at The University of Texas at Austin. Moore, who served as interim vice president this year, was selected after a national search to fill the position.
“During Dr. Moore’s time as interim vice president, he built upon his years of teaching and research and further established himself as a leader on our campus and throughout the greater Austin community,” President Gregory L. Fenves said. “He reaches out to people in all walks of life and builds connections with them. He is a brilliant scholar who inspires those around him, and he listens — to students, faculty members and staff members. That’s why he’s the right person for this role.”
A faculty member at UT Austin since 2007, Moore was the senior associate vice president for diversity and community engagement from 2013 to 2017, managing about 30 programs and initiatives.
He regularly teaches more than a thousand students during the fall semester in his two undergraduate classes: History of the Black Power Movement and Race in the Age of Trump. During the spring semester he teaches classes in the UT School of Law and the Texas MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business.
“I am elated to take this position on a permanent basis,” said Moore. “As the nation’s premier unit of its kind, DDCE will continue to impact the campus and community through its long-standing programs, while simultaneously launching a series of new initiatives around the concept of inclusive innovation. These new programs will help us maintain a healthy campus climate and allow us to serve as a connector and incubator for leaders tackling some of our greatest social challenges.”
Moore begins as vice president effective July 1.
UT Austin is a nationally recognized leader in promoting diversity in higher education. It was one of 13 U.S. universities honored as a 2016 Diversity Champion by INSIGHT into Diversity magazine. In 2017, the university developed a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan that is serving as a blueprint for creating a more inclusive campus culture and embedding those efforts in all areas of university life.
Central to those initiatives is DDCE’s work in advancing socially just learning and working environments and fostering a culture of excellence through diverse people, ideas and perspectives on campus. DDCE also develops partnerships between the greater Austin community and the university.
Moore is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his B.A. from Jackson State University in 1993 and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1998. He was a history professor at Louisiana State University from 1998 to 2007, where he also directed the African and African American Studies Program and the Pre-Doctoral Scholar’s Institute.
At UT Austin, he serves as the George W. Littlefield Professor in American History and is also a Fellow of Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Chair in African American Studies.
He is the author of three books. His most recent book, “The Defeat of Black Power: Civil Rights and the National Black Political Convention of 1972,” was published in February. Moore currently serves as chair of the board of directors for the Austin Area Urban League.
Moore was hired as a result of a national recruiting search. The search committee was led by Luis Zayas, dean of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work.
