Dr. Vernell Bennett-Fairs is a 1986 Lorain High graduate. While in high school, she participated in Concert Choir, Choraleers, National Honor Society Cultural Awareness Club and Buckeye Girls State. She looks back fondly at the memories of being voted “most talented” by her peers and at her role performing the Mother Abbess in “The Sound of Music.”
Following high school Dr. Bennett-Fairs earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Fisk University, a Master of Arts in Vocal Performance from Eastern Michigan University and a Doctorate of Education in Administration and Instruction from the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Vernell Bennett-Fairs is the 13th president of LeMoyne-Owen College and the second woman selected to lead the only Historically Black College in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Bennett-Fairs’ career spans 26 years in higher education, having served as an associate professor and college administrator. She is also a trained and accomplished vocalist and orator, but her most cherished role is that of student advocate.
She has since taken her passion for student engagement and programming to higher heights as president of LeMoyne-Owen College, developing LOC Days (Loving Our Community) to strengthen and expand the relationship with the South Memphis community. Additionally, the inaugural 807 Day, the College’s single highest day of giving, was launched. Further connection with the community has also spurred more corporate investment, including partnerships with Fortune 500 companies.
Under her leadership, academic programs have boosted, including establishing the first Program of Distinction and Endowed Chair for Computer Science specializing in Cybersecurity and Information Technology. Three Fulbright Scholars will be onboarded as faculty members this fall, and accreditation is being pursued for multiple programs.
A native of Lorain, she spent the first 20 years of her career at Kentucky State University (KSU). First as an instructor of music eventually advancing to a tenured Associate Professor of Music role before transitioning to various senior administrative roles. Dr. Bennett-Fairs was a Governor’s Award in the Arts for Arts Education, the highest honor bestowed upon citizens of the Commonwealth. Her final role at KSU was as the Vice-President for Student Affairs.
Dr. Bennett-Fairs has also served as Vice-President for Student Affairs at Delta State University (DSU) where she transformed DSU’s Office of Admissions recruitment operations and marketing and developed collaborations across the campus and community that created pipelines for recruitment and increased student engagement and program offerings.
A former Who’s Who Among College and University Professors, she has been recognized by Memphis Business Journal (MBJ) as a 2021 Super Woman in Business and most recently as the MBJ’s 2022 Power 100. She is an alum of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) and AASCU’s New President’s Academy (NPA). She was also a member of the inaugural cohort of the Higher Education Leadership foundation and the United Negro College Fund’s Presidential Leadership Institute.
She is an alum of the Executive Leadership Summit, the Hawkins-Scott Leadership Institute, Leadership Kentucky and Leadership Mississippi. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and the Memphis Chapter of the Links, Incorporated.
She is married to Patric Fairs and has one adult son, Jeffrey.