Dr. Gregory J. Vincent is an award-winning educator, executive, acclaimed civil rights attorney, and community leader who serves as the 21st President of Talladega College located in Talladega, Alabama. Dr. Vincent recently served as Professor of Educational Policy and Law, Inaugural Executive Director of the Education and Civil Rights Initiative, and Program Chair of the Ph.D. Senior Diversity Officer Specialization at the University of Kentucky. His personal, educational, and professional achievements and career milestones demonstrate his commitment to education. These included serving as Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement and W.K. Kellogg Professor at the University of Texas at Austin from 2005 to 2017. He also held executive leadership positions and professorships at several other flagship universities. In addition, Dr. Vincent served as Grand Sire Archon (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman) of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated (The Boulé), which is the oldest African American Greek-letter organization.
Dr. Vincent was born in New York City and is the grandson of Caribbean immigrants. His father, Cyril Vincent, worked as an electrical engineer and executive. His mother, Gloria, served as a counselor and was elected community school board member for the Bronx School Board District 8 (1970-1983). Both Cyril and Gloria were first-generation college graduates. In addition, his parents bestowed three priceless gifts, unconditional love, a love of reading, and a church home, St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, where he could start his own journey of faith.
Dr. Vincent attended New York City public schools and graduated from Bronx High School of Science. He received a full academic scholarship to attend Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where he exemplified the term of scholar-athlete and competed on the school’s basketball, cross country, and track teams. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Economics. While there, he received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. The award recognizes a student who exhibits exceptional leadership qualities that honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also served as the 16th President of his Alma Mater and was later awarded the 2023 Alumni Citation.
Dr. Vincent earned a Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he serves on the National Advisory Council and was named the 2022 recipient of the Inclusion Excellence Award and the 2012 Service Award. In addition, Dr. Vincent earned a Doctor of Education from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named Educator of the Year in 2016.
In addition to his distinguished career in academia, Dr. Vincent is a civil rights attorney. He served as the assistant attorney general in the Office of the Ohio Attorney General and successfully argued several major civil rights cases before the Supreme Court of Ohio. Those impressive wins propelled him to Director for Regional and Legal affairs for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and vice president and lead counsel for Bank One. Later, Vincent served as the spokesperson for the University of Texas in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (UT) United States Supreme Court Case, which held that the race-conscious admissions program used by UT was lawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Dr. Vincent is also a successful entrepreneur, founding Gregory Vincent Law, an Ohio law firm focusing on civil rights, education, and employment. In addition, he co-founded and, from 2018 to 2022, served as CEO of Vincent Strategies, LLC, a global diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm.
When Dr. Vincent is not in a class, court, or boardroom, you can find him investing his time, talents, network, and resources to help others. He has chaired many boards, including the Austin Area Urban League, Communities in Schools of Central Texas, and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Also, as a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, Dr. Vincent chaired the fraternity’s Commission on Racial Justice.
Several organizations and institutions have recognized Dr. Vincent for his distinguished community service. He received a commission as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor bestowed by the state’s governor for outstanding community service, in October 2019. In addition, Mayor Steven Adler and the City Council of Austin, Texas, proclaimed June 13, 2017, Dr. Gregory J. Vincent Day in Austin, Texas. Similar honors were bestowed on July 15, 2018, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, on October 27, 2019. Dr. Vincent was the 2022 recipient of the Black Professional Alliance (BPA) Lifetime Achievement Award. He also named the 2023 National Forum for Black Public Administrators ( NFBPA) Educator of the Year, and was honored with the 2023 Dr. Judson Jemison Award from the Staunton, Virginia chapter of the NAACP.
The old saying goes, beside every great man stands a phenomenal woman, and Kim Wilson Vincent, a community leader, award-winning attorney, and business powerhouse in her own right, has partnered with Gregory throughout this incredible journey. Kim is an attorney, entrepreneur, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Expert. She is the founder and owner of Wilson Vincent Law, PLLC, CEO of Vincent Government Solutions, and Co-Founder of Vincent Strategies, LCC, where she now serves as Chief Executive Officer. In 2017, The Texas Governor’s Office commissioned Attorney Vincent a Yellow Rose of Texas for her outstanding work in child advocacy, leadership in the arts, and distinguished community service. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and The Links Incorporated.
Together, the successful couple are the proud parents of six successful children, two daughters and four sons, three HBCU graduates and a current HBCU student. Continuing Dr. Vincent’s legacy of scholarship, leadership, and community are Ashleigh (Louisiana State University ’13, Xavier University New Orleans M.Ed. ’17); Camille (Spelman College ’14, Georgetown University M.A ’21); Gregory Jr. (the University of Texas at Austin ’15); Raymond (Morehouse College ’21); Shawn (Berklee College of Music ’24); and Cameron (Morehouse College ’27).
The most compelling lesson I learned in my doctoral studies at Penn was successful institutions must successfully compete in the markets they serve and stay true to their mission. Talladega competes in the highly competitive national liberal arts market and stays true to its sacred mission as a faith-based historically black liberal arts college. Consistent with our mission and market we will establish attainable and aspirational goals to dominate the national market and honor the vision of our Founders. In addition, we will hold ourselves accountable to improve measures, including student success, alumni giving, endowment, and our faculty’s credentials.
Students are our first priority at Talladega. With the board’s support, we will identify an innovative leader to provide a laser focus on student success, recruitment, and retention. As a result, Talladega students will successfully gain admission to the best professional and graduate schools. They will embark on consequential careers that will empower them to make a powerful impact in their communities.
We will support and empower our faculty and staff to effectively educate and mentor our students and provide meaningful professional development opportunities to employ best practices in their fields.
Alumni are the lifeblood of Talladega College. Therefore, we will recognize the steadfast commitment of our Talladegans and ask them to make their Alma Mater a philanthropic priority in their household and actively engage with the Alumni Association and our students.
We enjoy generous support from several donors and supporters, including the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, the Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Power, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). However, we must expand that network and grow this level of support.
We will also serve as a viable community partner in Talladega, the region, and the state. Talladega is a key economic driver, and I envision great opportunities for the College to connect its resources to improve the needs of the community.
The 1867 Giving Society was established in 2022 by Talladega College President Gregory J. Vincent. He pledged to lead the charge of our most loyal donors, who pay it forward with annual gifts to Talladega—whether through single unrestricted donations, cumulative giving, or planned gifts.
Whether you contribute the minimum $18.67 or give at the highest levels, you become part of Talladega College’s inclusive philanthropic community. The 1867 Society continues to bring us together as we continue to realize the dream of William Savery and Thomas Tarrant, enabling Talladega College to remain the Alpha Lyrae Vega of them all.
SUPPORT THE 1867 GIVING SOCIETY
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