The First Black Woman to Lead an Adventist College

Heather J. Knight was named president of Pacific Union College in Angwin, California. The college, which is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has nearly 1,300 students. The student body is 4 percent black. Dr. Knight is the first woman and first African American to lead Pacific Union College. And she is the first black woman to lead any Adventist college in the United States.

Dr. Knight was provost at Andrew University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Previously she was a professor of English and associate provost at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Dr. Knight is a native of Jamaica who grew up in New York City. She is a graduate of Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. President Knight holds a master’s degree in English from Loma Linda University and a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University.

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