INFORMATION FOR
William Paterson University will host nationally recognized diversity and higher education leader Paulette Granberry Russell, JD for the annual President’s Diversity Lecture on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in University Commons 168A/B. Her lecture, titled “Achieving Inclusive Excellence: Aligning Mission and Values in a Changing Policy Landscape,” is open to the campus community and invited guests. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP here.
“We look forward to welcoming Paulette Granberry Russell to our campus to share her decades of expertise in making higher education more inclusive for all,” said President Richard J. Helldobler. “William Paterson is proud to be one of the most diverse institutions in one of the most diverse states in America. I am confident the President’s Diversity Lecture will spark meaningful dialogue as our community continues the important, ongoing work of making WP a true ‘Powerhouse of Progress’ for the diverse populations we serve.”
“Higher education and efforts to advance access, opportunities, and full participation for all has faced significant opposition at the state and federal level. Efforts to support a diverse campus community requires a recommitment by institutions to their mission and values,” Granberry Russell says. She will share insights from her frontline work in this space and discuss how colleges and universities are sustaining inclusive excellence during a time of continuing challenges. She will also share the latest developments, strategic responses, and a reaffirmation of the values that define higher education’s public mission.
Granberry Russell – who has more than 40 years of experience in diversity leadership, organizational change, and professional development – is immediate past president and CEO of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), the leading professional organization for chief diversity officers and diversity practitioners in higher education. She was elected president of the organization in 2020 and later appointed by the board as its first full-time paid president and CEO.
Under her leadership, NADOHE, founded in 2006, has significantly expanded its national influence, now representing more than 2,000 diversity professionals across approximately 400 colleges and universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition to her leadership at NADOHE, Granberry Russell is president and owner of North Star Consulting Network, a firm specializing in diversity and equity consulting for higher education institutions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations.
“I had the privilege of serving with Paulette on the NADOHE Board of Directors for many years,” adds WP Chief Diversity Officer Jeanne Arnold. “She is a leading expert and a passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.”
Before assuming her current roles, Granberry Russell spent more than two decades at Michigan State University, where she served as the institution’s senior diversity officer and director of the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives. She retired in 2020 as senior advisor to the president for diversity, emerita.
During her tenure at Michigan State, her research explored faculty socialization and institutional belonging among underrepresented faculty of color and contributed to the development of the university’s Diversity Research Network. She also played a key role in advancing faculty diversity initiatives, including participation on a National Science Foundation grant team focused on aligning policies and practices to improve faculty inclusion and excellence.
Granberry Russell’s work has included extensive collaboration with universities and professional organizations, as well as international training and professional development initiatives in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and several African nations.
Granberry Russell earned her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. She is a licensed attorney in the State of Michigan.
