Bruce King
Profile
A proud native of Chicago’s South Side and graduate of Lindblom Tech, now Lindblom Math and Science Academy, Bruce King joined the Bluejay family at Elmhurst University in 2022 as the inaugural Vice President for Equity and Inclusion. Prior to his arrival at the EU, Bruce served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Racial Equity for City Colleges of Chicago and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where his work spanned across the college to include faculty diversity and retention, strategic enrollment management, professional development for faculty and staff, and building the college’s capacity to transition their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts into an Antiracist framework for the institution.
Bruce brings with him more than 30 years of experience in educational equity and inclusion having worked in both higher education and K-12 spaces. From creating a model for free all-day kindergarten for the neediest students in a suburban school district to creating the George Floyd Fellowship Program celebrating Black Excellence in the Liberal Arts, Bruce’s career has grown with the rise in awareness of the urgency of addressing issues of equity, access, and inclusion at the most senior levels of higher education. A founding member and former Vice President of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), Bruce has also held offices in the Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD), Liberal Arts Diversity Officers Organization (LADO), and the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM), housed here in Chicago.
A graduate of Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, where he received his MSW in Individual and Family Therapy, Bruce has had opportunities to continue his professional education as a Public Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Policy. He has also completed the Higher Education Management Development Program (MDP) and Institute for Educational Management (IEM) Programs at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Bruce approaches his work with the heart of a social worker and the insight of a higher education veteran. He looks forward to contributing to the hard work of equity, already in progress, as a Bluejay and considers it a privilege to return to a liberal arts university to share in the lift by supporting the work required for equity and inclusion. He is especially excited to be a partner in the transition as Elmhurst University becomes a designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Bruce is the proud dad of three adult children and shares his home in the city with his partner Nathaniel Tucker.