By: Meredith Francis ~Campus News Editor~

Xavier recently announced that former Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls will serve as the Special Assistant to the Provost for Urban and Regional Engagement. “I look forward to working with Xavier’s tremendous academic and community engagement teams and contributing to the new and existing programs that set Xavier apart as an educational leader in the areas of urban innovation and urban growth,” Qualls said in a Xavier press release.

Qualls, who was mayor of the City of Cincinnati from 1993 to 1999, served on Cincinnati’s City Council from 1991 to 1999 and again from 2007 to 2013. She was also a mayoral candidate in the local elections last November. Qualls joins Xavier as two new masters’ programs emerge at the university in upcoming academic years.

Qualls will likely play a role in the new Master of Arts in Urban Sustainability and Resilience as well as the Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and the Public In addition to her tenure as mayor and councilwoman, Qualls attended Harvard University after her mayoral term expired. There, she served as a fellow in the Institute of Politics, a Loeb Fellow in the Graduate School of Design and a Malcom Weiner Fellow in Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government.
Qualls also received a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard. Qualls has additional experience working on a college campus. In 2004, Qualls taught at Northern Kentucky University in the Master of Public Administration program. The former mayor has been on numerous boards throughout the city and served as the director of many programs, including Women Helping Women, Ohio Citizen Action and the Northern Kentucky Rape Crisis Center.
Although she is taking on a new role at Xavier, Qualls will continue to work as a real estate agent for Sibcy Cline. “I feel privileged to have the opportunity to share my practical experience in politics, public policy, public administration and the nonprofit worlds with students and faculty at Xavier,” Qualls said.