The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has hired nonprofit administrator Michael R. Twyman as director of its Institute on Race and Ethnicity, Chancellor Joel E. Anderson announced Monday.
Twyman, director of grant programs at the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust in Indianapolis, will replace founding director Adjoa Aiyetoro, who now leads a research project on racial disparities in Arkansas’ criminal justice system at the UALR Bowen School of Law.
Twyman, 47, has completed academic research on race-related issues and has overseen grants intended to benefit “underserved populations and communities of color.”
He has Arkansas roots.
Twyman’s great-greatgrandfather owned land in Phillips County. His family members, who are black, left the South in the 1940s to escape Jim Crow laws, he wrote in his application.
Twyman grew up with an interest in equality, justice and civil-rights issues, which are still relevant today, he said.
“Little Rock is like many other American cities,” he said in an interview. “It’s faced with a changing demography, but also politically, socially and economically has to deal with how to move forward as a city, state and nation, and address and confront issues that continue to separate us. We would be fooling ourselves if we didn’t think that race matters.”
Anderson launched the institute in 2011, following up on a commitment he made when he took office to make diversity a defining mark of his administration.
The institute aims to collect research, statistics and historical materials related to race relations in the state. Patterned after similar programs in Mississippi and Minnesota, Anderson has said he hopes the institute will aid in mediated discussions on race throughout the state.
“I appreciate Dr. Twyman’s enthusiasm for the Institute’s work, and I am confident he will provide strong leadership as we continue to work with the university and community to address issues of race and ethnicity in Arkansas,” Anderson said in a statement.
Little Rock, which cemented its place in the civil-rights movement with the integration of black students at Central High School in 1957, remains an ideal place to conduct such research and discussions, Twyman said.
“It’s uncomfortable for most of us to be having the conversation at all,” he said. “In many instances, we in this country are just a little bit skittish about having frank, candid conversations around the interest of race, which is probably all the more reason we need to be dealing with it.”
Twyman hopes to make kindergarten through 12thgrade education an initial focus at the institute, building on work carried out by other organizations and academic leaders. Education contributes to many other areas of concern, including health care, employment and crime,he said.
“You start kind of peeling back the layers, and education - good, bad or indifferent - is so essential to anything else that happens.”
In addition to his work with the Pulliam Trust, Twyman serves on the boards of the Indiana Humanities Council and the City of Indianapolis Parks and Recreation.
His previous board service includes the Association of Black Foundation Executives, the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis.
He has a bachelor’s degree in political science, and religious and philosophical studies from Fisk University in Nashville, and a master of social-work degree and a doctorate in social policy from Indiana University.
Twyman will start Aug. 12. His salary of $174,000 will be paid by a combination of university and private funds, a UALR spokesman said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 05/07/2013