Alade S. McKen, Ph.D.
Dr. Alade S. McKen is a native New Yorker and diversity, equity, and inclusion thought-leader with more than 15 years of developing, managing, and evaluating initiatives to enhance policy, programming, belongingness, and equity. He has taught youth as a rite of passage instructor and as an adjunct professor at undergraduate and graduate levels. Through his research and publications, Dr. McKen examines the social dynamics of education and culture within society and their impact on race and equity issues. Dr. McKen brings forth new opportunities to examine and address the broader cultural, economic, political, and social structures, policies, and practices around admissions, diversity, equality, and inclusion.
While at Iowa State University, he was Editor of the Journal of Critical Thought and Practice, an Asa G. Hillard III and Barbara A. Sizemore Fellow, and awarded a Teaching Excellence Award. Dr. McKen’s research interests include critical race theory, inclusive educational design, community-school partnerships, and engaging in a thoughtful, rigorous, and sustained inquiry into social justice struggles in educational systems. He received his B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Binghamton University, Masters in Higher Education from Baruch College, and his Doctorate in Education with a Social and Cultural Studies emphasis from Iowa State University.
Dr. McKen currently works at Columbia University, where he is the Assistant Dean of Recruitment, Diversity, Inclusion in the Graduate School of Architect, Planning, Design, and Preservation. He is also a lifetime member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., A Master Mason of Joppa Lodge No. 55, of Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge in the State of New York. He has also completed several traditional rites of passage “programs” as an initiate of Ogun in the Yoruba Lukumi tradition and as an Awo of IFA within the Isese traditional practice in Nigeria,which refers to a tradition in Ifa spirituality and refers to the wisdom passed down from our ancestors and spiritual progenitors. Dr. McKen is a proud husband and father of two little girls, which is his pride and joy.