Dr. Wilma Mishoe Appointed as DSU Board of Trustees Member

Gov. Jack Markell has appointed longtime higher education administrator Dr. Wilma Mishoe to serve a six-year term on the DSU Board of Trustees.

The appointment returns Dr. Mishoe to the campus where she grew up as a teen. She is the daughter of Dr. Luna I. Mishoe, who was the president of then-Delaware State College from 1960-1987, and his wife, First Lady Hattie B. Mishoe.

In joining the board, Dr. Mishoe succeeds former board member Bennie Smith, whose six-year term expired in 2012. Mr. Smith continued to serve as a member of the board until January 2015.

Her appointment to the DSU Board of Trustees is a continuation of her impressive career in higher education, which most recently included providing critical leadership to Wilberforce University (WU) in Ohio, one of the oldest historically black universities in the country.

Dr. Mishoe was drawn out of retirement to serve on a Presidential Transition Team in October 2013 at Wilberforce, where she was a member of its Board of Trustees since 2003. That board later appointed Dr. Mishoe as acting president at Wilberforce, an interim leadership post she held until October 2014 when the institution hired Dr. Algeania Marie Warren Freeman as its new permanent president. Dr. Mishoe continued as a special assistant to Dr. Freeman to assist in the transition.

At Wilberforce, Dr. Mishoe is credited with providing much-needed stable leadership during a time of declining enrollment, a budget deficit, accreditation sanctions and overall low morale. Under her period as acting president and special assistant to the president, Wilberforce experienced significant improvements in all areas and recently hosted a site visit by its accrediting agency.

During her tenure as a WU Board of Trustees member, Dr. Mishoe chaired its Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Compliance Committee and was its board secretary. In addition to her board service at Wilberforce, Dr. Mishoe also served on the College Board of the Middle States Regional Assembly from 2004-2009.

In 2010, Dr. Mishoe retired from a 30-year career at Delaware Technical and Community College, where she held number of administrative leadership posts, including dean of the Office of Instruction and dean of Student Services, federal programs coordinator, Affirmative Action officer, and other positions.

From 1975-1980, Dr. Mishoe served as the dean of students and director of Financial Aid at then-Wilmington College, working under the school founder Dr. Donald E. Ross.

A longtime resident of Dover, Dr. Mishoe was a member of the Capital School District Board of Education from 1994-1999, and its board president from August 1997 to July 1999. She has served on numerous state and local boards, including the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, the Delaware Foster Care Board, the Dover Housing Authority Board of Directors and many others.

She is currently serving a seven-year term as an appointee to the Delaware Public Integrity Commission; she was elected its chairwoman for a two-year term that ended in 2014.

In 2013, Dr. Mishoe was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women.

Dr. Mishoe has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology (1971) and a Master of Education degree in Student Personnel Administration, Guidance and Counseling (1972), both from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She earned a Doctor of Education degree in Adult/Vocational Education (1994) from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa.

Dr. Mishoe’s DSU Board of Trustees term will expire on June 11, 2021.