Dr. Felecia M. Nave has spent over 20 years serving our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Dr. Nave is an innovative leader and a strategic thinker that has demonstrated success leading in complex environments. She has served as an administrator and faculty at Alcorn State University, North Carolina Central University, and Prairie View A&M University as well as industry experience working at Proctor & Gamble and CF Industries (formerly MS Chemical Corporation).
Dr. Nave’s administrative experience, leadership and business acumen, interpersonal skills and disposition equip her with a portfolio of attributes that support her abilities as an effective leader. She has a broad skillset that includes but is not limited to strategic planning, data analytics and analysis, personnel coaching/development, research generation and resource alignment, governmental relations, facilities planning, fundraising, policy development, community/economic development, advocacy, outcomes assessment, and change management.
Dr. Nave has a proven record of achievement focused on governmental relations, increasing strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 corporations, governmental agencies, and foundations and philanthropic giving. In her role as President of Alcorn State University, she received the largest single donor and alumni gift— $25 million unrestricted donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, a $500,000 for scholarships from an alumnus, and a $1 million dollar endowment donation from the Bernard Oshner Foundation to support students who stopped out of college.
Dr. Nave has successfully demonstrated the ability to build coalitions both internally and externally with a broad contingency of stakeholders. She has worked extensively with Boards to support the strategic direction of institutions in Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas. She has served on state and federal taskforce as well as executive councils that provide oversight for agriculture (USDA), regional accreditation (SACSCOC), athletics (SWAC, NCAA, MOAA), and scientific research (NSF) and innovation.
A few of her honors include 2023 Our Mississippi: Most Influential African Americans, CIO Views “The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch 2022”; 2021 Top 50 Leaders in Higher Education – Diversity and Leadership; 1000 Inspiring Black Scientist in America, Cell Mentor from Cell Press & Cell Signaling Technology in 2020; and the Mississippi Business Journal’s 50 Leading Business Women, 2019.
Dr. Nave is a 1996 graduate of Alcorn State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and a master’s degree in chemical and environmental engineering and a doctorate in engineering from the University of Toledo.