Ernest McNealey, Ph.D.
An Executive Summary

Ernest McNealey is in his 16th year as president of Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  He began his educational career as an instructor at a state college and over a period of twenty-four years, advanced to department chair and vice president for academic affairs at an independent college and associate provost at a Carnegie I institution en route to his appointment as Stillman’s chief executive officer.

During his tenure at Stillman, McNealey has institutionalized the Stillman brand as one of tradition, excellence, and vision.   Among his accomplishments are increasing the institution’s assets by 51 per cent; achieving the largest-ever endowment and enrollment; guiding the institution through four first-ever discipline specific accreditations in business, education, nursing and music; amassing a distinguished faculty, with 87 percent holding terminal degrees; transforming the physical plant via campus-wide renovations/expansions (student center, residence halls, academic buildings, and gymnasium) and new construction (education center, fine arts center, athletics complex, residence hall, tennis courts, amphitheater); integrating leading edge technology; and sparking athletics venues. After a 50-year hiatus, he returned football as an NCAA-sanctioned sport and inaugurated “The Blue Pride Marching Band.”

McNealey’s leadership has led to many distinctions for Stillman, including the first-ever ranking in the top tier of schools in the Southern region and selection as one of the nation’s top 15 wired campuses by US News & World Report; annual “A” grades from the Alabama Department of Education; Apple Computers’ Innovation in Technology Award; first Miss National United Negro Fund title; first ascension to the Elite Eight in the Honda Campus All-Star (Academic) Challenge; and athletics recognition, including first Regional ranking in NCAA D-II football, first Regional Finals in Men's NCAA D-II Basketball, and the first Regional Finals in NCAA   D-II Baseball.  

McNealey’s elections/appointments as member, director, and chair of educational/professional organizations further attest to his prowess as a higher education leader. He has served as a member of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges Risk Management Board, a director of the HBCU Capital Financing Program, a member of the Southern Education HBCU Foundation Advisory Board, a member of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge Advisory Board, a SACS commissioner, and a member of the NCAA D-II Presidents Council.  He presently serves as a member of the board of the Paul R. Jones Art Collection, an institutional director of the United Negro College Fund, a member of the Board of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, a member of the ETS/HBCU Advisory Board, chair of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, and chair of the Presidents Council, Southern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.

 
In the community, he has served as a director for organizations ranging from the Boy Scouts to the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra.  He is also an Elder at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church, a charter member of 100 Black Men of West Alabama, a Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and a member of Beta Kappa Boulé of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.

McNealey holds a bachelor’s degree from Alabama State University, a master’s from Indiana University, and the Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.  He is married and has two sons.

 

The Stillman Way