Mrs Oparah is currently the provost and dean of the faculty of Ethnic Studies at Mills College where she had served as a member of the faculty for almost 20 years before being named provost and dean of the faculty in 2017.
This was revealed by the President of USF, Paul J. Fitzgerald, on Thursday.
“Our community has identified a leader in higher education with extraordinary scholarly, administrative, and service credentials to lead USF as provost,” he said.
He said she will begin her tenure on July 12.
Mr Fitzgerald said he was delighted to welcome Mrs Oparah and her family to USF and that ”he looked forward to working with her as a partner in mission while continuing to build on the planning and implementation that had taken place across the campus during this challenging year of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Also speaking, the outgoing Interim Provost of USF who chaired the search committee, Tyrone Cannon, said Mrs Oparah ”rose to the top of a deep and distinguished pool of candidates”.
“In both her scholarship and administrative decisions, she has exhibited a deep commitment to collaboration and partnership, gender and racial equity, global social justice, and the transformative power of education,” he said.
