Priscilla McChristian, chief of staff in the Chancellor’s Office, will serve as interim director of the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity, Chancellor Joel E. Anderson announced Thursday. The appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2013, and will continue until a new director is in place.

Chancellor Anderson said that McChristian knows the Institute well and will keep the institute on course and moving forward until a new director is on the job.

McChristian has been a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on Race and Ethnicity and played a unique role in the development of the institute, according to Anderson.

“Priscilla McChristian helped turn the concept of this institute into reality by giving energy and direction to the initiative during the planning year leading up to the institute’s establishment. She also gave voice to it in the case statement that secured foundation support for launching it,” Anderson said.

McChristian will continue to serve as chief of staff and as chair of the Institute Director Search Advisory Committee.

Before coming to UALR four-and-one-half years ago, McChristian worked as assistant to the president of the Feminist Majority in Washington, D.C. She later worked in development and foundation relations for Hendrix College, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Missouri History Museum. She graduated with distinction from both Hendrix College (BA, History) and DePaul University (MA, History).

The university is conducting a national search for the new director, assisted by Academic Search, Inc., a national search firm. Professor Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, inaugural director of the institute, is returning to the faculty of the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law. She will also lead a major study of racial disparities in the Arkansas criminal justice system, a project she launched as inaugural director.

Chancellor Anderson said a new director could be on the job as early as April but that July 1 is a more likely date. Visit the institute site for more information about the position of director, including information on submitting nominations and applications.