Department of History and Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts

Dean of the College of Liberal Arts
Professor of History
On Leave Spring 2024

Dollye M.E. Robinson Building

rico.d.chapman@jsums.edu

B.S., Jackson State University, 1997
M.A., Jackson State University, 2000
Ph.D., Howard University, 2008

Rico Devara Chapman serves as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of History in the Department of History and Philosophy at Jackson State University. Prior to that, he was a Professor of History in the African American Studies, Africana Women’s Studies and History at Clark Atlanta University where he also served as Assistant Dean for the School of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Humanities Ph.D. Program. His research interests include student movements, public history, and digital humanities. He has secured funding and directed multiple grant projects totaling over three million dollars from various agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the National Park Service, the Microsoft Corporation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In addition to his book Student Resistance to Apartheid at the University of Fort Hare: Freedom Now, A Degree Tomorrow, he has a number of published articles and book chapters. He is founding director of the Center for Africana Digital Humanities and recent recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to South Africa.