Weaver to head diversity efforts in the Graduate School

By Ruth Stevens on July 31, 2007, 12:15 p.m.
Karen J. Weaver

Karen J. Weaver Photo: David Hunsinger

Karen J. Weaver, a 1994 Princeton alumna, will return to the University as associate dean for academic affairs and diversity in the Graduate School, effective Aug. 1.

Since 2005, she has been the executive director of the Amistad Commission within the New Jersey Department of State. She has overseen statewide implementation of the Amistad mandate, which requires New Jersey's public schools to integrate African American history into the K-12 curriculum. She previously worked for three years as an educational consultant, providing services to a wide range of clients.

At Princeton, she will work closely with David Redman, associate dean for academic affairs in the Graduate School, and will have primary responsibility for recruiting and retaining underrepresented graduate students.

"We feel very fortunate to have attracted Karen back to Princeton University," said William Russel, dean of the Graduate School. "I value her experience in higher education at Columbia and her success in creating a model program to address the Amistad mandate. She has much to contribute to our academic mission and our efforts to diversify the graduate student body."

In addition to earning her bachelor's degree in history from Princeton, Weaver received a master of education degree from Harvard University, and two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Columbia University. Between 1997 and 2004, she was a research fellow at Columbia's Institute for Research in African American Studies and helped establish a quarterly publication, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, for which she served as senior associate editor from 1998 to 2000.

Weaver will succeed Danielle Gray, who resigned in January. 

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