Three of the finalists to be Texas A&M’s vice president for research have worked to advance DEI. Notably, “inclusion” is on the list of qualifications Texas A&M is seeking in “ideal candidates.”
This qualification and the candidates’ history with DEI are notable since Texas lawmakers’ passage of a statewide DEI ban in higher education in 2023. Senate Bill 17 prohibits compelled DEI statements and comparable preferential mechanisms in colleges and universities.
While the ban does not apply to course content, the Texas A&M University System has faced intense scrutiny for failing to root out DEI in its institutions.
Cynthia Carnes
Cynthia A. Carnes, senior associate vice president for research operations at Ohio State University’s Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge, has led “critical initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion.” That’s according to her profile for Ohio State University’s “Foods for Health Annual Meeting” in 2022.
She was part of the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group for an August 2017 “Campus Conversation on Graduate Education Report.” The report’s purpose was to “provide direction to the next leader of the Graduate School,” to make the demographics of the OSU graduate student body reflect “those of the general U.S. population, resulting in Ohio State being nationally recognized as having an inclusive, welcoming, and affirming environment for all members of its university community.”
The report’s authors stated, “diversity comes in many forms, including race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomics, disability, and rural/urban backgrounds.” They added, “Diversity of experiences and perspectives is fundamental to graduate education and the high quality research, scholarship, and advanced practice that is expected of graduate degree holders.”
Angela Wilson
Next is Angela K. Wilson, the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University.
Her personal webpage has a section dedicated to diversity. “Angela has been committed to diversity throughout her career,” it stated. “Diversity results in better performance, greater innovation, and stronger teams. It is essential to our future workforce and vital for ACS.”
ACS is a reference to the American Chemical Society, where Wilson served as president in 2022 and was on the board of directors from January 2021 to December 2023. A document of ACS’s strategic plan, noting board approval on December 1, 2023, listed “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect (DEIR)” as one of ACS’ core values. In 2021, ACS published “Guidelines for Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect (DEIR) in Programs Offering Bachelor’s Degrees in Chemistry.”
In a January 2022 interview with Chemical & Engineering News, Wilson stated that “for years, I have been passionate about DEIR … I want to have better representation of our general population in the chemical sciences.”
Wilson’s diversity page includes more details. She was also one of the keynote speakers at the 2017 National Diversity and Equity Workshop and was associate vice provost and faculty fellow at the University of North Texas from 2015-2016, where she “developed priorities and [a] timeline for addressing needs identified by UNT diversity committees and working groups.”
Before then, she was a Regents professor at UNT’s Chemistry Department from 2011-2016. She was on the 2013 search advisory committee for UNT’s next president. Neal Smatresk was chosen. In 2022, Smatresk had said of a conservative student group under fire from leftist activists that “if I could snap my fingers and remove [Young Conservatives of Texas], I would do it.”
That’s still not the end of it. Wilson is on the governing council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which offers a Self-Assessment of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for STEMM Professional Societies. She is also on the board of directors of the American Physical Society. Its website lists “Equity, Diversity, and Respect” as one of its core values.
Lara Ferry
Then there’s Lara A. Ferry, vice president of research at Arizona State University. According to Scholar Nexus, Ferry led “initiatives in equity, diversity, and inclusion,” and her research covers multiple fields, “with grants focused on interdisciplinary education and diversity in STEM.”
In 2015, she joined an ad hoc committee at the American Elasmobranch Society “to address equity & diversity issues within” that organization.
She followed up her work at AES by coauthoring with 16 others a paper titled “What Can Professional Scientific Societies Do to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Case Study of the American Elasmobranch Society.” Frontiers in Education published it in 2022.
The authors offered multiple recommendations to AES. These included nametag options that “improve inclusivity,” “prioritiz[ing] diversity and transparency in nomination and election processes,” and being transparent and public with “DEI initiatives and information.” The authors also recommended considering diversity and equity in awards and grants, perhaps by engaging the equity and diversity committee in the award nomination process “to ensure that members with troubling histories are not honored.”
In April 2023, she was quoted as praising the ASU business school dean’s commitment to DEI.
Mark Van Dyke
Mark E. Van Dyke, associate dean of research at the University of Arizona, is also on the list of finalists. According to an October 2023 University of Arizona news release, he praised Kathleen Melde, associate dean of faculty affairs, for helping advance diversity at the College of Engineering. “We must be proactive in our outreach and intentional in the development of an inclusive environment,” he said.
Texas A&M confirmed to Texas Scorecard that these names are on the list of finalists for its vice president for research position. It did not return a request for comment on the finalists before publication. According to the search timeline, TAMU is in the final decision phases, with interviews to be completed by the end of October. Again, inclusion is one of the listed qualifications for the university’s “ideal candidates.”
“People can repent of their commitment to DEI. They often do,” Dr. Scott Yenor, a Heritage Foundation scholar, previously stated. “But the repentance must be public, and it must burn the boats as far as returning to DEI.”
None of the finalists returned requests for comment before publication.
Texas A&M is part of the Texas A&M University System, which is governed by a Board of Regents appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
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