Dr. Gregory J. Vincent
Dr. Gregory J. Vincent is an award-winning educator, executive, acclaimed civil rights attorney, and community leader who serves as the 21st president of Talladega College located in Talladega, Alabama. Dr. Vincent recently served as Professor of Educational Policy and Law, Inaugural Executive Director of the Education and Civil Rights Initiative, and Program Chair of the Ph.D. Senior Diversity Officer Specialization at the University of Kentucky. His personal and educational achievements and career milestones demonstrate his commitment to education, which included serving as Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement and W.K. Kellogg Professor at the University of Texas at Austin from 2005 to 2017. He also held executive leadership positions and professorships at several flagship universities. In addition, Dr. Vincent served as Grand Sire Archon (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman) of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated (The Boule’), which is the oldest African American Greek- letter organization.
We can trace Dr. Vincent’s foundational and educational roots to New York, New York. The grandson of Caribbean immigrants, Gregory’s father, Cyril Vincent, worked as an electrical engineer and executive. His mother, Gloria, served as a counselor and was elected community school board member for the Bronx School Board District 8 (1970-1983). Both Cyril and Gloria removed the glass ceiling, becoming first-generation college graduates. In addition, his parents bestowed three priceless gifts, unconditional love, a love of reading, and a church home, St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, where he could start his own journey of faith.
Gregory attended New York City public schools and graduated from Bronx High School of Science. He received a full academic scholarship to attend Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where he exemplified the term of scholar-athlete and competed on the school’s basketball, cross country, and track teams. Gregory continued and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Economics. While there, he received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. The award recognizes a student who exhibits exceptional leadership qualities that honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also served as the 16th President of his Alma Mater. Dr. Vincent earned a Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law, where he serves on the National Advisory Council and received the 2012 Distinguished Community Service Award. In addition, Dr. Vincent earned a Doctor of Education from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named Educator of the Year in 2016.
In addition to his distinguished career in academia, Dr. Vincent is a civil rights attorney. He served as the assistant attorney general in the Office of the Ohio Attorney General and successfully argued several major civil rights cases before the Supreme Court of Ohio. Those impressive wins propelled him to Director for Regional and Legal affairs for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and vice president and lead counsel for Bank One. Later, Vincent served as the spokesperson for the University of Texas in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (UT) United States Supreme Court Case, which held that the race-conscious admissions program used by UT was lawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Dr. Vincent is also a successful entrepreneur founding Gregory Vincent Law, an Ohio law firm focusing on civil rights, education, and employment. In addition, he co-founded and, from 2018-to 2022, served as CEO of Vincent Strategies, a global diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm.
When Dr. Vincent is not in a class, court, or boardroom, you can find him investing his time, talents, network, and resources to help others. He has chaired multiple boards, including the Austin Area Urban League, Communities in Schools of Central Texas, and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Also, as a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, Dr. Vincent chaired the fraternity’s Commission on Racial Justice.
Several organizations and institutions have recognized Dr. Vincent for his distinguished community service. He received a commission as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor bestowed by the state’s governor for outstanding community service, in October 2019. In addition, Mayor Steven Adler and the City Council of Austin, Texas, proclaimed June 13, 2017, Dr. Gregory J. Vincent Day in Austin, Texas. Similar honors were bestowed on July 15, 2018, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, on October 27, 2019. Dr. Vincent was the 2022 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Professional Alliance (BPA) and has been named the 2022 recipient of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award from The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law.
The old saying goes, beside every great man stands a phenomenal woman, and Kim Wilson Vincent, a community leader, award-winning attorney, and business powerhouse in her own right, has partnered with Gregory throughout this incredible journey. Kim is an attorney, entrepreneur, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Expert. She is the founder and owner of Wilson Vincent Law, PLLC, CEO of Vincent Government Solutions, and Co-Founder of Vincent Strategies, LCC, where she now serves as Chief Executive Officer. In 2017, The Texas Governor’s Office commissioned Attorney Vincent a Yellow Rose of Texas for her outstanding work in child advocacy, leadership in the arts, and distinguished community service. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and The Links Incorporated.
Together, the successful couple are the proud parents of six successful children, two daughters and four sons, of which three are HBCU graduates. Continuing Dr. Vincent’s legacy of scholarship, leadership, and community are Ashleigh (Louisiana State University ‘13, Xavier University New Orleans M.Ed. ‘17); Camille (Spelman College ‘14, Georgetown University M.A ‘21, Howard University Ph.D. Student); Gregory Jr. (the University of Texas at Austin ’15); Raymond (Morehouse College ’21); Shawn (Berklee College of Music ’23); and, Cameron (Lake Travis High School ’23).