Outstanding Minority Women in Education Recipient

Dr. Lisa M. James, a native of Brooklyn, New York, discovered her passion for mathematics while taking general education mathematics courses as a freshman accounting major at Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) a small Seventh-day Adventist HBCU in Huntsville, Alabama. She was so impressed with her precalculus professor’s teaching style that her interest in mathematics rapidly progressed. She eventually changed her major and earned a Bachelor of Mathematics and Computer Science degree in 1989. 

After graduating from Oakwood, Dr. James sought advice from one of her undergraduate mentors and decided to apply to graduate school. In 1990, she received a fellowship from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she earned a Master of Mathematics degree in 1992. While at UAB, she made the decision to pursue a career in higher education.

Dr. James never forgot her HBCU undergraduate experience. Her appreciation for the excellent education and nurturing environment that the faculty and staff at Oakwood College provided had a tremendous impact on her. So much so, that she was excited to join the mathematics faculty at the historic Tuskegee University in 1992. It was there that she developed her passion for educating black young men and women. 

While at Tuskegee, Dr. James began taking classes at Auburn University in pursuit of a doctorate degree. She earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from Auburn in 2003. In 2005, she became Director of the Instructional Development Center at ASU and remained in that position until she returned to her alma mater, Oakwood University, as a faculty member in 2010. 

Currently, Dr. James is Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (MACS), where she continues to make a significant impact in the lives of young people. She has served as Co-Principal Investigator on numerous research projects and is the current Project Director for the Minority Science Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP) Creating Opportunities for Success in STEM (CROSS) project with the U.S. Department of Education. Under her leadership, Oakwood University has been ranked Number 12 in Bachelor of Mathematics programs by Study.com and as Number 4 among small HBCUs producing students with mathematics degrees by The Hundred-Seven. 

As a person of faith, Dr. James attributes her success to following God’s call. She lives her life according to Proverbs 3:5 and 6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy paths.”