Education
A native of Los Angeles, California, Wilson-Oyelaran earned her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Pomona College, and an Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in education from the Claremont Graduate University. She was no stranger to international education, having completed an undergraduate study abroad experience in England where she studied the education of immigrant children. She was also the recipient of the Thomas J. Watson Traveling Fellowship, which enabled her to execute independent research in Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
Career
She is the first female president, as well as the first African-American president of the school. A native of Los Angeles, California, Wilson-Oyelaran earned her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Pomona College, and an Master of Arts After completing her doctoral work in early childhood development, she accepted her first academic position at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria, teaching in both the departments of education and psychology. Ife, where she served as a department chair and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, would be her academic home for 14 years.
Wilson-Oyelaran"s scholarly focus is in child development and education in cross-cultural context, and she has published widely in this area.
While in Nigeria she served as a consultant for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Nigeria) and designed a series of baseline surveys that became the model for assessing the status of children under five throughout the country. In 1988 when her family left Nigeria for the United States, Wilson-Oyelaran became visiting scholar in education at North Carolina Wesleyan College and then associate professor and chair of the department of education at Winston-Salem State University.
In 1995, she became Dean of the College at Salem College, and rose to the position of Vice President of Salem Academy and College and Dean of the College. She also served as acting president of Salem College for a brief period.
In 2013 Doctor Wilson-Oyelaran was named chair of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).
