Indiana Wesleyan University is celebrating two key Indiana leadership appointments within its family.
Col. Wayne Black, who received his Master in Business Administration from IWU, has been named the first black general in the history of the Indiana National Guard. Col. Black has served in the Indiana National Guard since 1996. He graduated from The Citadel and has served with the Guard in Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Colonel Black gives leadership at the Indiana National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in Indianapolis. As a civilian, he is employed at RR Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Ind., as a manufacturing supervisor.
“Col. Black is a proven leader. I have absolute trust and confidence that he will serve in this capacity with honor and distinction,” said Major General R. Martin Umbarger, Adjutant General of Indiana, in an article in the Crawfordsville Journal Review.
Also noteworthy is the appointment of Dr. Brad Oliver by Indiana Governor Mike Pence to the State Board of Education. Dr. Oliver is associate dean of IWU’s School of Educational Leadership.
Oliver was formerly an elementary teacher in Noblesville (Ind.) Community Schools, an elementary principal, and assistant superintendent in the Twin Lakes School Corporation, and a central office director in the Muncie Community Schools.
Dr. Oliver has been an accreditation chairperson for the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2010, Governor Mitch Daniels appointed Oliver to the Indiana Professional Standards Advisory Board. On the State Board of Education, Dr. Oliver will represent the Sixth Congressional District.
Stories used with permission from IWU Spectrum.