The Honorable Mary Evans Sias, Ph.D. (Richardson, Texas)
Regent Mary Evans Sias was appointed to the Texas Southern University (TSU) Board of Regents by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in October 2020.
Regent Sias is a nationally known higher education leader. She currently serves as the Director of the Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) and Assistant to the President for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). MLI is a premier professional development program for senior higher education leaders who want to become university presidents and chancellors.
Prior to this appointment in 2015, Regent Sias spent more than three decades serving, respectively, as president of Kentucky State University (2004-2014), senior vice president for student affairs and external relations at the University of Texas at Dallas (1995-2004) and as CEO of the YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas (1984-1995).
Regent Sias brings a broad range of administrative experiences and valuable state and national perspectives on higher education issues and policies. She served as chair of two of the big six national organizations in higher education: The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Other board experience includes; service as Chair of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAC), President of the Tejas Council of Girls Scouts, and of The Dallas Summit.
Regent Sias also served on the Board of Directors for the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce, The Oaks Bank & Trust Company, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Zoological Society, The Dallas Museum, Children’s Health Services of Texas, Children’s Medical Foundation, and Leadership Women.
A graduate of Leadership Dallas, Leadership Texas, and Leadership America, Regent Sias is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Thurgood Marshall Educational Leadership Award, the She Knows Where She Is Going Award, the Women Helping Women Maura Award, and the Martha Lane Collins Leadership Award, Women Leading Kentucky. In 2019, Regent Sias received the Audrey Kaplan, Inspiring Women of the Southwest Award and had the honor of having Kentucky State University unveil the Mary Evans Sias, Pedestrian Walkway, named in her honor.
Regent Sias holds a Bachelor of Science in sociology from Tougaloo College and both a Master of Science and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Additionally, she received an MBA from Abilene Christian University and an honorary doctorate in public service from Central Michigan University. She is married to Shadrach S. Sias III and they have one daughter, Adrienne M. Sias.