Dr. LILLIAN B. POATS is a Professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations at Texas Southern University and Director of Certification for the College of Education.  Poats earned a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education from Purdue University.  She also holds a Masters Degree in Counseling and the Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Texas Southern University.

As a faculty member in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations at Texas Southern University she teaches courses in the social and cultural foundations of education and advises graduate students.  She currently serves as Chairperson of the Rank, Tenure and Promotions Committee for the College of Education.  Prior to coming to Texas Southern University, Dr. Poats served as Director of Student Support at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.  Other positions in higher education include serving as Coordinator of Academic Advising at Purdue University Calumet Campus and serving as a Faculty Fellow in the U.S. Department of Defense-Pentagon Headquarters. 

Poats holds memberships in the Texas Association of Certification Officers, Phi Delta Kappa and is a former chair of the American Association for Higher Education Black Caucus.  In the community, she is a member of the Fort Bend County Child Welfare Board, Fort Bend Independent School District Diversity Advisory Board, and the Fort Bend Education Foundation Board where she currently serves as President.

Poats has numerous professional presentations and publications.  Her publications include “Achieving Cultural Diversity: Meeting the Challenge” in Diversity, Disunity and Campus Community; Challenges for Women of Color in Historically Black Colleges and Universities” in Women As School Executives: Voices and Visions; “Working Collaboratively: Strategies for Success” in Student Retention-Success Models In Higher Education;  “Voices From the Field” in Portraitures of Teacher Preparation in Texas:  Critical Stories of Learning to Teach in an Era of Field Based Reform;  and “Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Texas Schools: Implications for Leadership Effectiveness” in Texas Public School Organization and Administration.  She has recently been actively involved in work focusing on the use of Critical Friends Groups (CFG) in higher education.