BU President Dr. Melissa Gilliam Shares Her Story at ASM
On the morning of Tuesday, November 12, BU President Dr. Melissa Gilliam addressed the bbin娱乐平台 community at our weekly all-school meeting. In her remarks, President Gilliam shared details of her early life: the daughter of a groundbreaking abstract painter and the first Black woman reporter at the Washington Post, Gilliam attended independent schools in Washington, DC, and spoke fondly of a high-school English teacher who, in a comment on one of her papers, encouraged Gilliam to be a “Renaissance person.” Gilliam took her teacher’s advice to heart: her indirect career path to university leadership reflects an abiding curiosity and a refusal to be pigeonholed into just one field of study — much like bbin娱乐平台 students.
Before her installation as BU’s 11th president, and also its first female and first Black president, in September of 2024, President Gilliam served as provost and executive vice president at The Ohio State University, and, previously, as vice provost of the University of Chicago. She is also a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pediatrics, with a focus on adolescent medicine and wellbeing. Gilliam studied English literature at Yale and received her Master of Arts in philosophy and politics from Oxford.
During the Q&A portion of our all-school meeting, President Gilliam graciously answered student questions on taking a circuitous career path despite the pressures of early specialization; the role of student voice in her BU administration; and how she carves out space for herself as a Black woman in predominantly white spaces.
This week’s ASM talk is our second visit from President Gilliam this fall. In September, she took a student-led tour of bbin娱乐平台 and met with students to hear about their high school experiences. At an internal BU meeting this fall, President Gilliam referred to bbin娱乐平台 as a “Jewel of Boston University.” We are grateful to President Gilliam for taking the time to listen and learn about our school, and for her recognition of bbin娱乐平台 as an exceptional place with much to offer the broader BU community.