Antonio D. Tillis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Antonio D. Tillis
Born	1966 (age 58–59) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Education	Vanderbilt University (BS) Howard University (MA) University of Missouri (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions	Dartmouth College College of Charleston Purdue University University of Houston–Downtown Rutgers University-Camden
Chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1, 2021
Preceded by	Margaret Marsh
President of the University of Houston–Downtown
Interim
In office July 2020 – July 2021
Preceded by	Juan Sánchez Muñoz

Antonio D. Tillis (born 1966) is an American academic administrator currently serving as the chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden. He assumed office on July 1, 2021. A few months later, faculty in the School of Arts and Sciences voted no confidence in him, criticizing Tillis for having "grievously injured the College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Camden" and having "seriously eroded the trust of its faculty in his leadership."

Education

Tillis was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the first member of his family to attend college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Spanish from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Arts in Spanish literature from Howard University, and a Ph.D. in Latin American literature from the University of Missouri. He is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese.

Career

Tillis has contributed articles to several academic publications, including The Afro-Hispanic Reader and Anthology, Callaloo, Hispania, Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, CA, and Transit Circle. He co-authored The Trayvon Martin in US: An American Tragedy and edited Critical Perspectives on Afro-Latin American Literature. Tillis served as the dean of the School of Languages, Culture & World Affairs at the College of Charleston. He also chair of the Latin American and Latino studies department at Purdue University. He was also the chair of the African and African-American studies department at Dartmouth College.

Tillis joined the University of Houston–Downtown as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. He was selected by trustees of the University of Houston System to serve as interim president on July 2, 2020. On April 27, 2021, Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway announced that Tillis would assume the post of chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden on July 1, 2021.

Tillis' research focuses on Hispanism, African-American studies, Latino studies, African-American culture, Latin American culture, Afro-Latino culture and literature, and Latin American literature.

Rutgers–Camden presidency

On April 27, 2021, Rutgers University announced Tillis would become chancellor of Rutgers–Camden effective July 1, succeeding Phoebe Haddon. Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway called Tillis "a brilliant scholar and gifted administrator whose commitment to the transformative power of higher education presents an exceptional opportunity for both Rutgers and New Jersey."

Enrollment

Under Tillis' chancellorship, Rutgers’ Camden campus experienced a decline in first-year enrollment of over 30 percent, the largest drop of any university in the country, according to a September 2022 report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. In contrast, the Newark campus experienced a decrease of only 8.2 percent while New Brunswick’s rate increased by 9.9 percent and the overall University’s first-year enrollment increased by 3.3 percent. According to a university report, the campus had a total of 3,928 undergraduates in 2023, down 32% from a seven-year peak of 5,776 in 2018.

In his 2024 Spring Address, Tillis noted that the decline in undergraduate enrollment had been offset by a surge of enrollment in Rutgers–Camden's graduate programs.