Durham, N.C. - Chandra Y. Guinn has been named director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture at Duke University.

Her appointment begins Oct. 3.

Guinn, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has taught various courses at UNC in the sociology department, the African and Afro-American Studies Program and the Honors Program. She also has taught previously in the African and African American Studies Program at Duke.

In addition, Guinn has worked for UNC's Institute of African American Research, the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise's Urban Investment Strategies Center and the Carolina Women's Center.

"Chandra brings a combination of experience in teaching, advising, program design and implementation, and knowledge of African-American history and culture with a rich theoretical background in sociology," said Zoila Airall, assistant vice president for campus life at Duke. "Her former colleagues and supervisors speak highly of the critical analysis and enthusiasm she brings to her work. We are thrilled to have Chandra join our Student Affairs staff."

Guinn said she is looking forward to working with students, faculty, staff and the rest of the Duke community.

"In the quest to make the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture pre-eminent in the country, we will look to lessons from the legacy of struggle of people of the African Diaspora and the tools of liberation successfully employed in times past -- education, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and artistic expression," Guinn said. "We will continue the successful programming of the past while introducing innovative opportunities to explore and experience the history and culture of black people."

Guinn obtained her bachelor of arts degree in sociology at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and her master's degree in sociology from UNC “Chapel Hill.