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About the Assistant Vice Provost

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Cheryl A. Brown, Ph.D., is Assistant Vice Provost for Residential Education and a resident fellow at Meier Hall. Cheryl has nearly two decades of professional experience in higher education, including more than a decade at Stanford, where she previously served as director of Frosh 101, associate director of African and African American Studies, college director (resident fellow) of the Freshman-Sophomore College, and an advisor to undergraduate students.

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More About Cheryl

Reporting to Senior Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Students Mona Hicks, Cheryl leads ResEd through the university's ongoing implementation of the recommendations of the ResX Task Force. ResEd, in collaboration with many campus partners, shapes the undergraduate residential experience, which many alumni say is the most memorable aspect of their time at Stanford. Staff reporting through Cheryl include the ResEd leadership team and professional staff, and the resident fellows and approximately 500 student leaders who live and work in Stanford's more than 70 undergraduate residences.

Cheryl’s passion for fostering the best possible living and learning environments for students make her ideally suited for this critical leadership role. Particularly impressive is her entrepreneurial spirit driven by student interests and the needs of our community. For example, Cheryl played a pivotal role in the creation of Frosh 101. Beginning with just five houses in its first year, the program expanded to 10 houses its second year, and all houses with frosh in its third year. The partnerships she built with students, faculty and staff continue to serve ResEd well as we establish neighborhoods shaped by our core principles.

Equally important is Cheryl’s experience inside our residences as a FroSoCo college director and Meier resident fellow. Cheryl knows how to build community among Stanford students, she has a firm grasp on the nuts and bolts of our residential system, and she has earned the respect of students. In 2011, she was named the Black Community Services Center’s Faculty/Staff Mentor of the Year, and one year later, she received the Associated Students of Stanford University’s Teacher of the Year award.

Cheryl holds a bachelor’s in Black Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master’s in African American Studies, a master’s in education, higher education and organizational change, and a doctoral degree in education, higher education and organizational change from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has given numerous professional presentations over the years, and represented the university many times in conversations with families and students during New Student Orientation.