Dr. Jason F. Kirksey Bio
Oklahoma State University

Dr. Jason F. Kirksey is the Vice President for the Division of Institutional Diversity and the Chief Diversity Officer at Oklahoma State University (OSU). He is also a tenured Associate Professor of Political Science at OSU. Kirksey serves as the principal investigator for the Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (OK-LSAMP) Program, which is a $3.4M, five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant designed to increase underrepresented minority science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates at eleven higher educational institutions across the state of Oklahoma. Additionally, he is the principal investigator for the OK-LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Program at OSU, which is a $1.1M two-year NSF grant that provides graduate school funding for twelve LSAMP Scholars. Since January 2014, he has served as an appointed member by the chairman of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to the statewide Oklahoma NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Committee.

Kirksey brings approximately 25 years of experience teaching, researching, and studying issues related to diversity and inclusion. His areas of specialization include minority politics (with an emphasis on African Americans, Native Americans, and women in the American political system), race, politics, and sports, voting and elections, and public policy. Additionally, he has served as a litigation consultant in federal and state voting rights cases, and is published in this area. Kirksey recently served as President of the Big XII Chief Diversity Officers Consortium from 2013-2017. He is President for the Oklahoma Diversity Officers and Practitioners Consortium, which is a statewide diversity-based organization. He serves as a Board member of the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice (OCCJ) and the Oklahoma Policy Institute, and he is a past President of the Stillwater Big Brothers/Big Sisters Board of Directors. Kirksey is a highly sought speaker and serves on several diversity-related boards and councils. He has given countless diversity and inclusion presentations and workshops across the state, as well as nationally. Previously, Kirksey served as the Director of the OSU Center for Africana Studies (2007-2011), President of the Oklahoma Political Science Association (2002), and as the Hannah D. Atkins Endowed Chair for Political Science and Government Information in the OSU Department of Political Science (1995-2010). Kirksey was the recipient of the NADOHE 2017 Dr. Frank W. Hale, Jr. Distinguished Service Award.

He holds a B.A. in both Political Science and Economics, as well as an M.A. in Political Science from OSU. He earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of New Orleans. Kirksey is a native of Denver, Colorado and enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.