Gillespie appointed to post on state King commission

Dr. Mel Gillespie, assistant to the president for equity issues at Southeast Missouri State University has been appointed by Missouri Gov. Bob Holden to serve on the Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission. He replaces Bernice Coar-Cobb, who resigned.

Gillespie has more than 25 years experience in organizational diversity/equity theory and programming, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity work, organizational development, change management, minority/women business contracting, human resource management and staff development. At Southeast, he serves on the executive staff and is responsible for providing proactive, campus-wide leadership, direction and coordination in the areas of diversity and equity issues.

Gillespie received his bachelor's degree in education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, his master's degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma and his doctoral degree in educational leadership from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the American Association for Affirmative Action.