Clarence G. Newsome image
Clarence G. Newsome image

Clarence G. Newsome

  • Trustee, 2018–Present

Dr. Newsome is the former President of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and former President of Shaw University. He is a triple alumnus of Duke University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in religion in 1972, a Master of Divinity in 1975 and a Ph.D. in religion in 1982. He was an honor student, a football player and was the University’s first African American student commencement speaker. Born to a family of educators in northeastern North Carolina, he had originally planned to attend the United States Military Academy, but was offered the athletic scholarship at Duke. After graduating from Duke University, Dr. Newsome served as Professor of Religion for eight years. During that time, he pastored a Baptist church and was a leader in the General Baptist Convention of North Carolina. Dr. Newsome, elected to the Endowment’s Board of Trustees in 2018, is known for his academic work in African American history and culture as well as religious history.