Speaker Bio –

Charles R. Nash served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for The University of Alabama System from
1992 to 2020. As the senior academic officer in the System, he was the chief liaison to academic, institutional
research, planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion officials at The University of Alabama, The University of
Alabama at Birmingham, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville. He advised the Chancellor on academic
policy matters and provided primary leadership in program planning, development, and review. Additionally,
he was the liaison officer for the UA System to the Alabama Department of Education, the Alabama Community
College System, and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. In 2009, his duties were expanded to
include Student Affairs functions for The University of Alabama System.
Dr. Nash holds a bachelor’s degree from Jackson (Mississippi) State University, a master’s degree from the
University of Southern Mississippi, and a doctoral degree from Mississippi State University; and has studied at
Southeastern Louisiana (graduate study), Stanford University (distance learning), Harvard University (Institute
for Education Management), and the Oxford Roundtable (International Education).
Prior to assuming the Vice Chancellor position, Dr. Nash served as Associate Executive Director for the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. He has also held the position of
Dean of the School of Education at Armstrong Atlantic State University (Georgia) and Director of Special
Studies and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Development for the Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia. He began his career teaching junior high school science and served as a high school
assistant principal and as an elementary school principal. Dr. Nash completed a six-year term on the executive
committee of the board of directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and served on
the executive committee of the National Alliance of State Science and Mathematics Coalitions (NASSMC). He
served on the Alabama Articulation and General Studies Committee. He serves on the Access to Justice
Commission of the Alabama Supreme Court (Emeritus), the governing board of the A+ Education Partnership of
Alabama, the New York Academy of Sciences/SUNY STEM Advisory Committee, the Alabama Mathematics,
Science, Technology, and Engineering Coalition for Education as Board Chairman, and the Executive
Committee of the Alabama STEM Council. Charles also serves on the Boards of the Alabama Department of
Human Resources, the Alabama Department of Child Neglect and Abuse Prevention, VOICES for Alabama’s
Children and chairs Tuscaloosa’s Promise-the Alliance for Youth. He is treasurer of Elizabeth Project Care,
facilities chairman of the Murphy African-American Museum, board member of the Tuscaloosa
Dr. Charles Nash
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Education Foundation, member of the Foundation board of the Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama, and a
founding member of THE100 Black Men of West Alabama.
For the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, he has served on site visiting committees, the
Accreditation Committee (AC), the Council, the AC’s Foreign Programs subcommittee, the Non-JD
subcommittee, the Standards Committee, and the Standards Review Committee. He currently serves as the
Secretary to the Council.
In 2009, Dr. Nash was inducted into the Burglund/McComb (Mississippi) High School Hall of Fame and was
chosen as Citizen of the Year in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. In 2010, he was named a Pillar of the Community
of West Alabama. He was presented with the first Friend of the Alabama Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Initiative Award by the Alabama Department of Education and the NASA Public Service Group Achievement
Award. In September 2013, Nash was inducted into the Tuscaloosa County Civic Hall of Fame. Charles was
awarded the Louis Dale Diversity Leadership Award by the Alabama Association of Higher Education Diversity
Officers. He was a member of classes of Leadership Savannah, GA, Leadership Georgia, Leadership Tuscaloosa,
AL, and Leadership Alabama.
Charles has also served as the President of the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, the Chairman of the United Way of
West Alabama, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, Vice President and Chairman of
the Audit and Governance Committee and serves currently as the Vice President for the Scout Reach Program
of the Black Warrior Council of Boys Scouts of America, Chairman of the NASULGC/APLU Chief Academic
Officers Council, Chairman of the Alabama Council of University Chief Academic Officers, and Chairman of the
National Council of University System Chief Academic Officers.
Charles and Hattie Wells Nash live in Tuscaloosa. Daughter, Kimberly Nash White, Ed.D. and son, Charles R.
Nash, Jr., Master of Engineering, live in Hoover, Alabama with their families. Hattie and Charles were chosen as
the 2024 United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Family of the Year.