Angela D. Dillard was born and raised in Detroit. She has degrees from James Madison College at Michigan State where she majored in Justice, Morality and Constitutional Democracy; from the New School for Social Research (now the New School University) in New York; and from the University of Michigan.
She has held academic positions at New York University’s Gallatin School for Individualized Study and the University of Minnesota, and she writes and speaks frequently on issues of race, religion and politics on both the Left and the Right sides of the political spectrum. Her work has appeared in such public forums as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dissent, and the Chronicle of Higher Education and she has been a guest commentator on a variety of television and radio programs.
Since joining the Michigan faculty in 2006, she has served in numerous administrative roles, including Director of the Department of Afroamerican & African Studies (2010-11), and Director of the Residential College (2011-2014). As Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education (2015-2019) she was especially dedicated to promoting various forms of civic engagement and “high impact” educational practices (internships, field experiences, research opportunities, study abroad, capstone courses, learning communities and others) for all of LSA’s undergrad students.
As Associate Dean Dillard helped to create and shape LSA’s Applied Liberal Arts division, which allow students to hone a range of essential skills for success in college and other opportunities for personal and professional growth, including public speaking, data visualization, wellness, and internship readiness workshops. She also made significant contributions to the College’s and the University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plans. She was the principle author of the LSA DEI Plan’s sections on Undergraduate Education, Access and Inclusive Teaching & Learning, and as part of this DEI work she served as PI on LSA’s Mellon Foundation grant to build “Transfer Bridges to the Humanities” from Henry Ford College to U-M and as co-facilitator for the cross-campus collaborative project Growing STEM: Growing STEM: Pipelines, Collaborations and Pedagogies for Diversity & Inclusion at Michigan.
Dillard is a member of the American Studies Association, the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, for which she is a member of the 2022 OAH Merle Curti Intellectual History Award selection committee.
For a full view of Angela Dillard’s experience and training, view her CV.
