Dr. Wheelan currently serves as President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is the first African American and the first woman to serve in this capacity. Her career spans over 30 years and includes the roles of 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 woman to serve in those capacities.
Dr. Wheelan received her Bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in Texas (1972) with a double major in Psychology and Sociology; her Master’s from Louisiana State University (1974) in Developmental Educational Psychology; and her Doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin (1984) in Educational Administration with a special concentration in community college leadership.
She has received numerous awards and recognition including four honorary degrees; the Distinguished Graduate Award from Trinity University (2002), and from the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin (1992); Washingtonian Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington, DC (2001); the AAUW Woman of Distinction Award (2002); the Suanne Davis Roueche National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development’s Distinguished Lecturer Award (2007); the John E. Roueche National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development’s International Leadership Award (2010); and the AACC Leadership Award (2011).
She holds and has held membership in numerous local, state and national organizations including Rotary International; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; the American College Testing, Inc., board of directors; American Association of Community Colleges’ board of directors; the Lumina Foundation for Education, board of directors; and the President’s Round Table of the National Council on Black American Affairs.
Dr. Wheelan attributes her success to hard work, endurance, tenacity, and being in the right place at the right time. She recognizes that prayer and support from family and friends make anything possible.
Dr. Wheelan is the mother of an adult son named Reginald.
Commissioner Hasan Davis MOSAIIC Thursday Luncheon Keynote 2012
Hasan Davis is commissioner of the KY Dept. of Juvenile Justice. He has served in several capacities in the juvenile justice youth services field in the last his 23 years. Hasan also is the founder of Empowerment Solutions, which offers training and resources to correctional facilities, community organizations, schools and non-profit groups nationwide in areas relating to youth, race, cultural dynamics and arts education.
Previously, he served as Director of Cultural Arts Outreach for Bluegrass Community and Technical College, and was Co-Manager for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Program. He is a former director for the National Conference for Communities and Justice’s Camp Anytown, and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s Youth Violence Prevention Project.
In addition, Davis serves as chair of the Kentucky Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, a position he’s held for 10 years, and has been vice chair of the Federal Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee for three years. He’s also a board member of the National Coalition for Juvenile Justice, and the Council for the Education of At-Risk and Delinquent Youth.
1992 graduate of Berea College, he also holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Hasan lives in Berea with his wife Dreama and his two sons, Malcolm and Christopher.