Olive-Harvey College’s Dr. Brandon Nichols Named to Rutgers University’s Aspiring Leaders Cohort

The Rutgers University Center for Minority Serving Institutions announced its fourth cohort of Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Aspiring Leaders this week.

Olive-Harvey Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Dr. Brandon Nichols is one of 15 leaders from higher education institutions around the country who will be participating in this year’s program.

The program consists of a two-day forum in April and a year and half long mentoring program that connects the cohort leaders with MSI presidents. MSI Aspiring Leaders is a program developed by the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions to bring together leaders from MSI and to promote diversity in leadership in higher education.

As the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Olive-Harvey College, Dr. Nichols oversees Adult Education, Career Programs & Continuing Education, Child Development Laboratory School, Instruction, Middle College, STEM Center for Teaching & Learning, and Urban Agriculture.

Dr. Nichols began his career as an Expressive Mental Health Therapist at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Maryland. He worked in education as Residence Life Coordinator at The Art Institute of Washington in Arlington, Virginia before transitioning as a Psychology Instructor and then as Director of Academic Support & First Year Experience. Dr. Nichols later relocated to his hometown of Chicago, Illinois to work for the City Colleges of Chicago at Kennedy-King College, District Office, and currently Olive-Harvey College. During his time at CCC, he’s held positions as Director of Academic Support Services, Associate Dean of Instruction, District Director of Faculty Development, Accreditation, & Assessment, and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Nichols earned his Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign along with a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and a Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology from Argosy University – Washington, D.C.