Averett U. in Danville Installs First Black & Second Female President

DANVILLE, VA
Averett University in Danville has named Dr. Tatia Daniels Granger as its second female and first Black president.

Granger assumed office at the 167-year school on Aug. 1 and succeeds Dr. Thomas H. Powell, who resumed his retirement July 31 after serving as transitional president for the past 15 months.

“Higher education has been more than a career to me,” said Granger, a Roanoke Valley native and a three-time graduate of the University of Virginia. Danville has a Black population of 50.97 and a White population of 39.79, according to census data.

“It has been a lifelong journey,” Granger said in a statement on the school’s website. “Its seeds were planted not far from here, in Roanoke and Salem, and nourished across the Commonwealth and beyond through my experiences at a range of colleges and universities, first as a student and later as a professional.”

Granger’s bio includes stints at William & Mary, at Georgetown (adjunct professor), vice president for enrollment services at Bennett College in Greensboro, and chief financial officer at Duke University. She also served a term as chair of the UVA’s Alumni Association Board of Managers.

She and her husband, Earl T. Granger III, have two adult daughters.