ST. LOUIS — LaTonia Collins Smith has been named president of Harris-Stowe State University after serving as interim leader since June.
LaTonia Collins Smith was named president of Harris-Stowe State University on March 1, 2022. Photo courtesy of Harris-Stowe.
Collins Smith is the 21st president of the university and its first African American woman president. Stowe Teachers College, one of the university's legacy schools, was led by a Black woman, Ruth Harris, in 1940.
Collins Smith started at Harris-Stowe in 2010 as the co-principal investigator of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to strengthen science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education in Missouri. She has also served as the university's provost and vice president of academic affairs.
During her tenure as interim president, Harris-Stowe has raised more than $3.5 million for scholarships and grants. Capital projects include renovating the former Vashon Community Center Building into the Don and Heide Wolff Jazz Institute and National Black Radio Hall of Fame.
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While enrollment has been trending downward, 201 students graduated from Harris-Stowe in 2021, the largest graduating class in school history.
Collins Smith is a native of north Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ and attended Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ Public Schools. She earned a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Central Missouri, master's degrees in social work and public health from Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ University and a doctorate in higher education leadership from Maryville University.Â
Her son is Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ Alderman John Collins-Muhammad, 21st ward.
Collins Smith follows former president Corey S. Bradford Sr., who left Harris-Stowe in June after one year in the role. Bradford now serves as a vice president at Governors State University outside Chicago.
