
Roslyn Clark Artis
Artis, Ph.D., was unanimously appointed as the 14th President of Benedict College in June 2017. She became the first-female president in the 147-year history of the college, which was founded in 1870 by Mrs. Bathsheba Benedict. Artis came to Benedict College from Florida Memorial University in Miami where she served for four years as the first female president in that university’s 138-year history.
At Benedict, Artis has led a remarkable institutional transformation that included lowering tuition, increasing academic standards, stabilizing the institution’s financial position, streamlining academic degree programs, and upgrading the institution’s technology infrastructure. These efforts resulted in Benedict College receiving the 2019 ACE/Fidelity Investments Institutional Transformation Award, which recognizes institutions who have met higher education challenges in a particularly innovative or creative way and realized positive results in a relatively short period of time. In August 2019, Benedict College was recognized as “HBCU of the Year” by HBCU Digest.
A prolific speaker, critical thinker, and fierce advocate for educational access, Artis has been recognized for her work locally and nationally and is frequently engaged as a mentor, lecturer, and catalyst for strategic transformation. In 2018, she was named Female HBCU President of the Year by HBCU Digest. Artis was also recognized as one of the 35 Women Leaders in Higher Education by Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Her passion for education, youth development, and service to the community is manifested through her work with numerous organizations including the United Way, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Links, Inc., and Jack & Jill of America.