Beverly Daniel Tatum

Beverly Daniel Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College and recent interim president of Mount Holyoke College, is the author of the best-selling book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race, now in its 20th anniversary edition. A thought leader in higher education, she was the 2013 recipient of the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award and the 2014 recipient of the American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology.

In addition to her academic leadership, Tatum is a civic leader in the Atlanta community engaged in educational initiatives designed to expand educational opportunity for underserved students and their families, as well as to connect communities across lines of difference. Locally she serves on the governing boards of the Westside Future Fund, Achieve Atlanta, the Tull Charitable Foundation and Morehouse College. Her national service includes her membership on the boards of Smith College, the Educational Testing Service, and Sesame Workshop.

Tatum holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Wesleyan University, a M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from University of Michigan, and a M.A. in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary. Over the course of her career, she has served as a faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Westfield State University, and Mount Holyoke College. Prior to her 2002 appointment as president of Spelman, she served as dean and acting president at Mount Holyoke College. In Spring 2017 she was the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor at Stanford University.