Allen Sessoms

Allen Sessoms grew up in the South Bronx, surrounded by a loving community of family, friends, and neighbors. He later went on to receive a B.S. in physics from Union College (N.Y.), an M.S. in physics from the University of Washington, and a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Ph.D. from Yale University. Sessoms was a postdoctoral research associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and then worked at the European Organization of Nuclear Research (CERN) before moving to Harvard University as an assistant professor. He joined the U.S. State Department and served as Director of the Office of Nuclear Technology and Safeguards before becoming the Counselor for Scientific and Technological Affairs at the United States Embassy in Paris, France. Sessoms was Minister-Counsel for Political Affairs and Deputy Chief of Mission (Deputy Ambassador) the United States Embassy in Mexico and later became the Executive Vice President and the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts system. Sessoms was then named president of Queens College (CUNY) before serving as president of Delaware State University and then president of the University of the District of Columbia. He was a Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University and is currently the managing partner at the Higher Education Innovation Group, LLP.