LaTanya Buck is the first person appointed as dean of diversity and inclusion at Princeton University, an Ivy League school considered one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious. She holds two degrees from Central Missouri: a bachelor’s in public relations in 2002 and a master’s in college student personnel administration in 2004. She earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Saint Louis University. LaTanya was honored this fall at the Distinguished Alumni Award Dinner during Homecoming.
Buck, originally from St. Louis, has made an impact on a variety of college campuses. Following stints at Maryville University, Missouri State and Morehead State, she became director of the Cross Cultural Center at Saint Louis University. She joined Washington University in St. Louis in 2014 where she founded the Center for Diversity and Inclusion.
Throughout her professional career, she has dedicated her work to developing strategic initiatives that engage and support students of color and other underrepresented and marginalized populations. She also has established collaborative partnerships to identify and create efforts to engage all students around identity, difference and inclusion. She is a member of ACPA College Student Educators International, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, among others.
“Being involved in several student organizations and initiatives as an undergraduate student at CMSU was pivotal to my career success. I learned the importance of co-curricular education. To be honored for doing what I love by an institution that has shaped so much of who I am today and why I chose this career path is humbling. I am most grateful.”
Read the feature about LaTanya in the UCM Magazine.