Bonita Brown

Bonita J. Brown is an American lawyer and academic administrator who is currently the fourteenth Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University, as of July 1, 2024. Her formal investiture ceremony was held September 19, 2025.

Life Brown was raised in Welcome, North Carolina. She earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University in 1995 and J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1997.

Brown worked as a staff attorney in Washington, D.C. in corporate legal work after graduating from law school.

Brown also worked in non-profit organization, including a position as the director of the higher education practice at Education Trust in Washington, D.C. Following Ashish Vaidya's departure in 2022, she was selected as the interim president of NKU in January 2023.

In late May 2024, Brown was announced as the fourteenth Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. She is the first woman to lead WSSU and succeeded Elwood Robinson, who retired in June 2023.

Personal life Brown is married to Wesley Brown. They have a son and daughter.