Portia Holmes Shields

Portia Holmes Shields is an American academic administrator who served as the seventh president of Albany State University from 1996 to 2005. She was its first female president. Shields was the interim president of Tennessee State University from 2011 to 2012.

Life

Holmes earned a B.S. in education from the District of Columbia Teachers College. She completed a M.A. in education at the George Washington University.

From 1989 to 1993, Holmes was the director of medical and biomedical communications at the Howard University College of Medicine. Shields was appointed as interim president of Tennessee State University effective January 2, 2011. She succeeded Melvin N. Johnson. Under the terms of her contract, she was not allowed to apply for the permanent position of university president. Shields made sweeping changes to the university which led to a more involved and active alumni and staff. She served until 2012 and was succeeded by Glenda Glover.