Prof. Freida Brown is the Interim Vice Chancellor (President) and Professor of Psychology at the United States International University - Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, a position she assumed on Monday, August 23, 2021, for a period of 9 months.

Professor Brown previously served as the USIU-Africa Vice Chancellor for more than two decades before retiring in 2016. During her tenure, Professor Brown oversaw the student population growth from 1,100 students to more than 6,200 and increased the number of faculty and academic programs.

Professor Brown has a doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Michigan State University. She has taught at several institutions including USIU-San Diego, Howard University, Washington University in St. Louis, Bowie State University and Morgan State University both in Maryland. She has written and made presentations in the areas of cross-cultural psychology, psycho-social development of children and management in higher education.

Whilst in Kenya she served on several boards including the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and Secretary to the Kenya Educational Network (KENET) Board. She was a Commissioner of the Kenyan Commission for Higher Education which is now Commission for University Education (CUE) and was a member of the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). She is the founding Chair of the Kenya Association of Private Universities (KAPU) which is an advocacy group supporting the development of private higher education in Kenya.

In addition to enjoying her retirement in the last six years doing pottery, native landscaping, writing memoirs and reconnecting with family and old friends, Professor Brown was appointed Distinguished Alumni of Washington University in St. Louis in 2018 and, Associate Fellow (Honorary), Department of African and African American Studies in 2018-2019, at the same university.

Professor Brown is excited to return to USIU-Africa, and looks forward to providing a steady hand of support and expertise during this leadership transition period. She is gearing up to get busy to bring a combination of strategic vision and proven leadership in higher education right here at USIU-Africa.