Dean & Endowed Chair · Xavier University of Louisiana
College of Arts & Sciences · NSF · ONR · NASA EPSCoR · National Academies
Nation's Only Historically Black Catholic University
"Building universities worthy of the students
who trust us with their futures."
I came to academic leadership the long way — from Kinshasa to Rome, from Raleigh to New Orleans — and every mile sharpened the same conviction.
Institutions that serve the margins are often the ones closest to the future. I am the Dean and Endowed Chair of the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation's only historically Black Catholic university. My work spans faculty governance, curriculum architecture, accreditation strategy, academic personnel, and an active research portfolio funded by NSF, the Office of Naval Research, NASA EPSCoR, and the National Academies.
Xavier leads the nation in placing African Americans into medical school. That outcome is not accidental — it is the result of deliberate institutional design, sustained faculty investment, and an uncompromising belief that excellence and equity are not competing values.
The work I find most meaningful is harder to put on a CV. It is building the conditions where first-generation students discover they were scientists all along. It is designing systems that make institutional excellence sustainable — not episodic.
A research enterprise that competes nationally — not despite the mission, but because of it.
Selected publications. Full bibliography available on request. * denotes undergraduate student co-author.
Comprehensive leadership development for academic department chairs and administrators at Xavier University of Louisiana — designed for faculty making the transition into administrative roles.
Hands-on simulations designed to practice real-world leadership scenarios in a safe learning environment.
Designed for academic leaders who are ready to build institutions — not just manage departments.
Inquire About This WorkshopIntelligence. Rooted. Purpose-built for institutions that serve the margins.
NKODIA names a convergence of purpose: building the knowledge infrastructure, the research frameworks, and the human networks that make AI work for the communities it too often overlooks.
In Kikongo — spoken across the Kongo cultural region of Central Africa — nkodia means snail. Beyond its acronymic meaning, the snail carries profound institutional symbolism: patient, self-contained, resilient, and always advancing with purpose.
The snail carries its home. It does not rush. It does not retreat. It is exactly the right symbol for an initiative building knowledge that lasts — and intelligence that serves.
Research. Curriculum. Community. Each pillar is necessary. None is sufficient alone.
"The AI moment does not threaten mission-driven education. It vindicates it. Institutions that have always had to justify every curricular decision are better positioned to redesign with purpose than institutions that are only now being forced to ask the question for the first time."
— Anderson Sunda-Meya
NKODIA is open to partnerships with researchers, institutions, funders, and community organizations committed to building AI that is as rigorous about equity as it is about performance.
"The institutions that last are built deliberately,
incrementally, and with a clear theory of what they are for."