SIBBY ANDERSON-THOMPKINS, PH.D.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Strategist and Seasoned Higher Education Leader
Certified SPIRO Executive Coach
Experienced Senior Leader with a Proven Track Record
Setting a Course for Real Change. Today’s higher education leaders must be particularly astute at navigating an institution’s political landscape, responding to both internally and externally charged or sensitive situations. Thus, an effective leader must find solutions when contentious circumstances arise and have the know-how to build consensus, gain buy-in from key stakeholders, and work through competing interests. As a seasoned higher education leader and chief diversity offer, I believe that advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice effectively requires institution-wide leadership (from our Trustees, our Regents, our Presidents and their leadership teams) to create and sustain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community, faculty, staff and alumni. Click below to learn more about my thought leadership.
About Sibby
Dr. Sibby Anderson-Thompkins currently serves as the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Sewanee: The University of the South. There she manages the leadership teams of the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the Office of Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, and the Sewanee Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center.
Previously, she served as the Special Advisor to the Provost and Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion, and as the Interim Chief Diversity Officer. At UNC, she also served as the Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. As part of her role, was to re-engineer and lead the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity and diversity-related initiatives for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Overall, Sibby brings more than 25 years of experience in higher education administration to these positions. Her expertise is in serving and supporting the success of underrepresented groups. During her career, she served as the Assistant Dean in the Office of the Dean of Students and an Assistant Dean in the Office of Student Academic Counseling (now the Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling) here at Carolina. In addition, she served as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs at Hampshire College in Massachusetts and a clinical faculty member in Education and Dean of Advising at Agnes Scott College in Georgia. She has also been an active national level—serving two-terms as the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Diversity Officer and member of several boards including Vanderbilt University’s AGEP Program, UC Presidential Fellowship External Board, and the NPA Advisory Group
Sibby has authored journal articles and book chapters on race and gender in higher education and co- authored national reports on the role of institutions in fostering the advancement of postdoc women of color and strategies for increasing diversity in the research workforce.
Sibby holds a PhD in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University and has a certificate in Management and Educational Leadership from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard.
Additionally, Sibby completed her BA and a MA in Communication Studies from Carolina, and MA in Educational Research (Ethnography and Qualitative Methods) from GSU.
Catch Her if You Can!
As a subject matter expert, Dr. Anderson-Thompkins has worked directly with a number of different organizations and institutions, including but not limited to, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Minority Postdoc/Diverse Scholars, National Postdoctoral Association, University of New Hampshire, Auburn University, and the National Institutes of Health. Click the link below to see where Sibby will be next.
“Real cultural and organizational change requires confident leadership that practices and models integrity, transparency, and shared governance…”
– Sibby Anderson-Thompkins, PhD
Want to Schedule a Chat with Sibby?
Media inquiries should be sent to sathompkins@gmail.com or use the contact form below.
