Shaila Mehra

Shaila Mehra joined Virginia Tech in July 2020 as both the assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and as an associate professor of practice in the Department of Sociology.

As assistant dean, Mehra will contribute to improving critical thinking, reasoning, and awareness of inclusion and diversity through the university’s Pathways general education curriculum, and she will participate in the university’s strategic planning to attract more students from underrepresented groups.

Mehra’s own research focuses on African American women, with a specialization in black feminist theory.

Before joining Virginia Tech, Mehra had most recently served as director of the Center for Africana Studies and a teaching assistant professor of English at Oklahoma State University. She earned her doctorate in African American literature from the University of Rochester.