Dr. Agenia Walker Clark has been named the 18th  president of Fisk University after a yearlong search by the school’s board of trustees.

According to The Tennessean,  Clark will begin her duties as president on Nov. 6 and is the third female to lead the institution. replaces outgoing interim president Frank Sims, a member of the Board of Trustees, who has served in that position since 2021.

In an official release, Clark expressed her excitement about leading one of the highest-rated HBCUs in the country.

“To serve a new generation of brilliant, socially minded students — not unlike their counterparts of decades past, like W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, John Lewis, and Dr. Diane Nash — is surely the honor of my lifetime,” Clark said. “No institution of higher-ed has a richer legacy — or a richer promise for the future — than Fisk.”

“Dr. Clark’s lifelong dedication to improving the lives of young people, along with her unique combination of fundraising and brand-building skills, are exactly what Fisk needs today,” added Juliette Pryor, Chair of the Fisk Board of Trustees.“I know that Dr. Clark’s bold ideas will positively impact our campus community today while assuring a fast-growing trajectory for the future.”

Clark brings a distinguished track record of leadership and service to Fisk. She holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA  from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and earned a doctorate in leadership at Vanderbilt University.

In her previous position, Clark was CEO of the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. During her 19-year tenure, she is credited with increasing the agency’s operational efficiencies and reserves, building new facilities, and leading the agency to be regarded as one of the highest-performing of the 111 councils throughout the Girl Scout network.

For her service in the Nashville community, Clark was recognized as “Nashvillian of the Year” in 2021 and as one of “Nashville’s 100 Most Powerful People,” 2015–2020, by the Nashville Business Journal. She was inducted into the Academy for Women of Achievement, she is also a Nashville Post Person-In-Charge (2014–2021). Additionally, she’s a  member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF),  the 2016 Class of Leadership Tennessee, and the 1996 Class of Leadership Nashville.

Clark also serves on the board of directors for FirstBank Financial Corporation, is on the boards of trustees for Belmont and Simmons Universities, and is a trustee emerita on the board of the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.