Dr. Sylvia R. Carey-Butler, an accomplished higher education leader with deep experience leading diversity and inclusion initiatives, is Brown University’s Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity.
Carey-Butler previously served as chief diversity officer for Kennesaw State University, where she designed the diversity and inclusion curriculum for the American Council on Education’s fellows program, was named to the Top 100 Diversity Officers by the National Diversity Council in 2021, and was honored as one of 35 outstanding women in the U.S. by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in 2020 for her contributions to higher education. Carey-Butler has led the university’s initiative to develop a long-term diversity and inclusion action plan; established clear, meaningful and measurable goals and metrics; and developed strategies and programs focused on the successful recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff. Among other responsibilities and accomplishments, she leads the university’s Presidential Task Force on Race, established diversity liaisons in each of KSU’s academic colleges and implemented a team of student diversity ambassadors.
From 2013 to 2019, she served as assistant chancellor for academic support of inclusive excellence at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where she was responsible for building collaborative partnerships across campus to create an equitable campus climate and inclusive learning environment.
As the former interim executive director of the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) Institute for Capacity Building and director of UNCF’s Enrollment Management Program, Carey-Butler has also held numerous positions in higher education in New York state. Previously, she served as assistant provost and dean of honors at Dillard University in New Orleans and as associate dean of studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
In addition to her university leadership positions, Carey-Butler has researched and presented extensively on student recruitment and retention in higher education, African American women administrators in the academy and African American men in higher education. She is the former chair of the Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Area Community Food Pantry and the Oshkosh Housing Authority.
Carey-Butler earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration and policy from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree in social science from Binghamton University. A native of Schenectady, New York, she holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta.