Lydia L. English

Senior Advisor

Lydia L. English retired from the Foundation on June 30, 2009 after ten years of distinguished service as Director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program and Program Officer for Diversity Initiatives.  Ms. English, a graduate of Brown University who holds a PhD in Anthropology from Yale, presided over the addition of 15 campuses to the program and organized its expansion into South African universities.  During her tenure, some 300 MMUF graduates were awarded PhD degrees.  Ms. English also developed numerous special programs designed to promote diversity in the faculties of higher education, notably through her work with the American Indian College Fund, the Kohala Center in Hawaii, UNCF, the Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library, the Universities of Alaska and of New Mexico, and several South African institutions.  

Ms. English will serve as a Senior Advisor to the MMUF, HBCUs and Diversity Initiatives Program over the next year.