Four Black Men Who Are Taking on New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

Jack Eaddy Jr. was appointed director of athletic bands at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Previously, he served as the assistant director of bands at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Eaddy is a graduate of Florida State University. He holds a master’s degree in music conducting from the University of Georgia and a doctorate from the University of North Texas.

Barkley Barton II is the new director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Georgia. Barton began his career in admissions 20 years ago at Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University. He moved on to work at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Minnesota, and most recently as associate director of admissions at the University of Notre Dame.

Barton is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he majored in mass communication. He holds a master’s degree in higher education from Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Blake K. Gaines was appointed band director at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Previously, he was director of bands at Morehouse College in Atlanta and director of bands at Mississippi Valley State University.

Gaines is a graduate of Jackson State Univerity in Mississippi. He holds a master’s degree in music education from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

Ikhide Imumorin has been named executive director of the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology. In this role, he will coordinate biotechnology education and research across the 23-campus state-wide California State University System.

A native of Nigeria, Dr. Imumorin earned a bachelor’s degree from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and a master’s degree from the Federal University of Technology, Akure. He holds a doctorate degree in animal genetics from Texas A&M University and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.