Who runs the department? That depends on whose perspective we are taking: teachers, students, or administrators.

Another approach is to ask "which adults in the dept" do instructors, students, parents or administrators turn to when they have a question, a comment or a simple need?

Perhaps the chairman (a term used into the 1990s) aka chairperson, or simply chair. Namely, a faculty member who spends a lot of time in or beside the dept office doing administrative work, but who also teaches; it's a position with both staff and faculty aspects.

Or perhaps the adminstrative assistant (formerly called the secretary). This is a role that has evolved a lot. There was a time when this person did a lot of typing (including examinations) for faculty who hardly typed at all.

Or perhaps the visible administrative person in the Math Lab, whose duties over the years have includes things like coordinating certain low level classes, hiring and scheduling student peer tutors, and ordering and having installed mathematical software.

Department Chairs

When Georgia Caldwell Smith returned to Spelman in 1945, after an 8-year break, she was given the title chairman. The 3 women who had the title after her each held it for a full decade. Since 2000, people typically served in that position (now simply called chair) for 3-year terms.




1945-1960 Georgia Smith
1960-1961 John Coe (interim, not shown)
1962-1972 Shirley McBay
1972-1982 Etta Falconer
1982-1988 & 1989-1993 Sylvia Bozeman
1988-1989 Benjamin Martin (interim, not shown)
1993-1997 & fall 1999 Teresa Edwards
1997-1999 Fred Bowers
1999-2000 Jack Alexander (interim, not shown)
2000-2003 Jeffrey Ehme
2003-2006 Colm Mulcahy
2006-2010 Yewande Olubummo
2010-2016 Jeff Ehme
2016-         Monica Stephens

Adimistrative Assistants

-1989-199x: Lorraine Savoy
-199x-199x: Eleanor Hill (not shown)
-2000-2001- Avril Phillips (not shown)
-2003-2012 Lisa Reed Brittian
2013-2018 Minnette Gordon
2019-2020 Capris T Whaley (not shown)

Math Lab Directors

1983-1985: Andrea Lawrence
1984ish Marian Stinson
1985-199x Pat Sparrow (not shown)
1998?-2000? Frank White (not shown)
2000-2003 Tasha Brewley
2003-2010 Katrina Harden Williams
2010- Tiffanie Scruggs

Note: MLD only became a fulltime position circa 2005.