Wanda S. Ingram, Ed.D., dedicated over three decades to guiding, mentoring, and advocating for students as an academic advisor and undergraduate dean at Providence College, retiring as Senior Associate Dean of Student Academic Success in July 2023. A trailblazer from the start, Dr. Ingram was a member of Providence College’s first graduating class of women and one of its first female graduates of color, coming to PC through the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Program. Originally intending to study chemistry, she pursued psychology and was one of only nine Black women in the College’s first coeducational class.

After earning a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the C.W. Post Center at Long Island University, Dr. Ingram began her career as a college counselor at UMass Dartmouth and Southeastern Massachusetts University, where she later directed new student programs and served as executive assistant to the college president. She returned to Providence College in 1990 as Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies and went on to serve as first-year class dean, associate dean, senior associate dean, interim dean of undeclared programs, and director of academic advising. Known as a change agent on campus, she ensured that students received care, mentorship, and guidance throughout their college experience. Dr. Ingram earned her doctorate in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University in 2003 and taught in both undergraduate and graduate programs at PC and JWU.

Dr. Ingram’s contributions extended beyond student advising. She co-chaired the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation Committee and Then, Now, Next: Fifty Years of Women at PC, and in 2022 she was inducted as a foundation member of Providence College’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter. She also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for La Salle Academy from 2008–2010, where she was heavily involved in the community and in the success of the Academy. She is the co-author of Let the Journey Begin: A Parent’s Monthly Guide to the College Experience.

A native of Baltimore and raised in Newport, Rhode Island, Dr. Ingram continues to be rooted in her community. She resides in Cranston, RI, with her family and is the proud mother of Keesha C. Ingram ’19G and grandmother of Amaya Faith Harvey.