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University Equity and Inclusion
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Meet the Senior Vice President

Enobong (Anna) Branch

Enobong (Anna) Branch, PhD, is the senior vice president for equity at Rutgers University, where she provides strategic leadership to foster an inclusive organizational climate, enabling alignment across Rutgers' four Chancellor-led units and the central administration. She leads the University Equity and Inclusion office, which provides centralized support for faculty, offers extensive opportunities for learning and inclusive leadership development, and builds community through creative and intentional engagement opportunities

Before joining Rutgers University, Dr. Branch served as associate chancellor for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst. Her significant accomplishments in that role included leading the integration of diversity throughout the campus strategic plan, executing the university’s campus climate survey, creating diversity infrastructure through climate advisors in executive areas and diversity officers in schools and colleges, and leading the National Science Foundation funded ADVANCE program pursuing innovative organizational change strategies to spur institutional transformation and support racial and gender equity in the faculty ranks. 

A professor of sociology, Dr. Branch specializes in research that examines how race and gender shape experiences in the American labor market. She is the author of Opportunity Denied: Limiting Black Women to Devalued Work, the editor of Pathways, Potholes, and the Persistence of Women in Science: Reconsidering the Pipeline, the coauthor of Black in America: The Paradox of the Color Lineand, most recentlyWork in Black and White: Striving for the American Dream. A sought-after national expert, her public opinion pieces have appeared in the New Jersey Star-Ledger (nj.com) and national outlets, such as Bloomberg and The Washington Post. Dr. Branch received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University at Albany, SUNY, and her B.S. in biology from Howard University. 

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Dr. Branch wrote an opinion piece for nj.com on the SFFA decision, "Affirmative Action died this week. Maybe this moment is necessary." Read now.

Dr. Branch participated in the AAAS 45th Annual Forum on Science & Technology Policy; watch now to learn more about her scholarly take on the challenges to diversifying science.

Dr. Branch participated in the ASU+GSV Summit; watch now to learn more about how higher education can accelerate equity.

Rutgers Today’s article on Branch showed how the first senior vice president for equity is uniquely prepared to inspire change across the university. Read now.

Building Inclusive Community for Faculty & Staff at Rutgers video

Building Inclusive Community for Faculty & Staff at Rutgers