A Message from the President
Three New Vice Presidents Appointed
I am pleased to announce that appointment of three new vice presidents following successful searches for positions in Academic Affairs, Administration & Finance and Marketing & Communications. In each case, a conscientious search was conducted to attract highly qualified candidates. We will welcome new individuals into these roles in the Bowie State University community over the next several months.
I want to thank the search committee chairs and committee members (pdf) and everyone who participated in the search process by sharing your comments in the evaluation of each candidate. I particularly want to thank our shared governance leaders, who nominated members of their groups for these important roles on the search committees. It is no small task to identify persons to invite into our community who share our values and embrace our mission. In each case, I feel that they were successful in that effort.
Please join me in welcoming the following persons into our Bulldog family as our new vice presidents:
Dr. Guy-Alain Amoussou – Vice President for Academic Affairs, effective March 6, 2024
Dr. Guy-Alain Amoussou has served as Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bowie State University (BSU) since June 2023, after eight years as Associate Provost for Academic Affairs including two appointments as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Dr. Amoussou has more than twenty-five years of higher education and executive branch experience in a variety of academic and administrative roles.
Before joining BSU, he served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Since joining BSU, Acting Provost Amoussou has established new programs to expand research capacity and strengthen the research infrastructure. He led the enactment and implementation of a new policy to capture and disburse indirect costs on grants and contracts to enhance the research infrastructure. This led to the creation of a research fund to support an internal grant competition to seed faculty research. This structural investment has contributed to positioning the University to become more competitive in securing grants and contracts.
Prior to working with the NSF, Dr. Amoussou was a full professor of computer science at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. He led an interdisciplinary NSF-funded Science of Design program that involved faculty across thirteen disciplines, from the arts to the sciences, to engage in design thinking research and integration across the curriculum. Provost Amoussou earned his Ph.D. in industrial systems engineering from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne in France. He holds, respectively, a Master's and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the Université Paris IX Dauphine, and Université Jules Verne de Picardie in France.
Manish Kumar – Vice President for Administration and Finance, effective April 1, 2024
Manish Kumar comes to Bowie State from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) where he served as Vice President for Finance and Administration for nearly five years. There he provided strategic direction and leadership for campus financial and administrative services. Mr. Kumar is very proud of the historic three notch credit rating upgrade marking a significant turnaround in the financial outlook of the University.
Prior to his work at NEIU, Mr. Kumar was the Chief Financial Officer for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Along with his role as the CFO for the UNC-A&S Foundations, he managed funds totaling more than $1.6 billion. He also oversaw all financial and budgetary matters, including operations and compliance along with the support of new program development through forecasts, budgets and accreditation compliance.
He has also served as the CFO and Head of HR and Administration at Rutgers Business School. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the College of Art and Architecture at the University of Idaho. He has significant private sector experience where he has worked with fortune 20 companies such as American Express, AAA insurance and State Street Global Advisors in various leadership capacities.
Mr. Kumar holds an MBA from Northeastern University (Boston) He is working toward a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management at the University of Greenwich (London, U.K.) and currently holds an ABD status.
Sabrina Ram – Vice President for Marketing & Communication, effective July 8, 2024
Sabrina Ram builds powerful brands and the successful people behind them through strategic communications, public relations, marketing, and social media. With nearly 20 years of experience, Ms. Ram is passionate about helping organizations make an impact by telling their unique story to a variety of audiences.
Ms. Ram has managed communications and marketing efforts for major organizations such as AT&T, Walden University, Drexel University Online, 2U, The Philadelphia, Inquirer, and Arcadia University. She’s also led communications and marketing efforts for a variety of clients, including the University of Southern California, New York University, Northwestern University, the University of Liverpool, Villanova University, Simmons College, and the School District of Philadelphia.
Working in-house and in agency settings, Ms. Ram has cultivated strong relationships with digital influencers and media across international, national, niche, and local markets. In these roles, She has also built or refreshed brand identities, shaped narratives and reputations, created integrated and transparent internal communications strategies, and focused on developing and amplifying diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Ms. Ram has a bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communications and Public Relations from Drexel University and a master’s degree in Public Relations & Corporate Communications from Georgetown University. She has also completed two executive leadership programs at Cornell University.