Belle S. Wheelan, Ph.D.

Belle S. Wheelan, Ph.D., is president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. She is the first African American and the first woman to serve in this capacity. Her career spans 35 years and includes positions as a faculty member, chief student services officer, campus provost, college president and secretary of education. In several of those roles, she was the first African American and/or first woman to serve in those capacities.

Wheelan received her bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in 1972 with a double major in psychology and sociology. She received her master’s degree from Louisiana State University in 1974 in developmental educational psychology and her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984 in educational administration with a special concentration in community college leadership.

She has received numerous awards including four honorary degrees; the Distinguished Graduate Award from Trinity University in 2002 and from the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin in 1992; Washingtonian Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington, D.C. (2001); and the AAUW Woman of Distinction Award (2002).

She is a current or former member of numerous local, state and national organizations including Rotary International, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., American College Testing Inc. board of directors, American Association of Community Colleges board of directors, Lumina Foundation for Education board of directors and President’s Round Table of the National Council on Black American Affairs.