Kesha Morant Williams is an accomplished communicator, researcher, and advocate who is committed to building human and social capital in academic and community spaces. She is the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology where she leads the academic divisions and programs at the college, as well as recruitment, admissions, financial aid, enrollment management, engagement and retention, the library, continuing education and workforce development, K-16 initiatives, articulation agreements, mental health counseling, accessibility, and academic counseling. She will also be a member of the President’s Cabinet and the President’s Executive Council. The Lancaster native earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Communication and Culture at Howard University, her M.A. from Penn State University, Harrisburg, and her B.A. from West Chester University of PA.
Before joining Thaddeus Stevens, Dr. Morant Williams was the Senior Advisor for College Diversity Equity and Belonging at Elizabethtown College. Prior to this she was an Associate Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences at Penn State University, Berks. She also worked as an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Eastern University. Before entering academia, she was a Lancaster newspaper reporter and worked for several nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Morant Williams’ scholarship and other professional experiences are vested in creating space for identity and voice for marginalized or non-dominant experiences. This approach led to many peer-reviewed publications and two edited books. In partnership with Advantage Lancaster, she authored The Color of STEM, a monograph that highlights the experiences of Black and Brown young women interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Her most recent publication, a medical humanities piece, I Can Breathe, unpacks racialized intergenerational trauma triggered by a bias incident she experienced shortly before the COVID-19 stay-at-home order began.
Kesha is a keynote speaker, presenter, and facilitator. She’s worked with organizations such as Penn Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson Medical School, Temple University, Philadelphia Futures, Johnson & Johnson, Compass Mark, and Lancaster County Community Foundation. Her experiences have led to her serving as a subject matter expert and a community-engaged leader. She is a recipient of the Penn State School of Humanities Alumni Award, the National Communication Association Rex Crawley Service Award, the YWCA Lancaster Women of Achievement, NAACP Lancaster Rita Smith Wade El Higher Education Award, and City & State Pennsylvania Annual Black Trailblazers Award.
