James H. Salley

Since 1992, James H. Salley has been improving access to higher education for minority students as Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement for Africa University in Zimbabwe. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Salley works within the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church where he is responsible for communicating about the university and fundraising through United Methodist Churches and other organizations.

With his leadership, Africa University has grown from 40 students in renovated farm buildings to 1,600 students with more than 6,000 graduates and 44 modern buildings. The university endowment fund has also grown from $300,000 to $65 million.

A native of Orangeburg, South Carolina and graduate of South Carolina State University, Salley holds certificates for graduate seminars in higher education and fundraising. Before his work with the United Methodist Church, he worked as the Director of Institutional Advancement for South Carolina State.

Salley is a member of Edisto Fork United Methodist Church and has long served the United Methodist Church in various professional and service roles. He has also provided successful fundraising leadership to a number of United Methodist churches, historically black colleges and universities and other religious organizations.

He began his career in the 1970s working at several television and radio news media outlets and was the first African American to serve as president of the South Carolina Associated Press Broadcasters Association and the Radio & Television News Directors Association of the Carolinas. Salley has served as a member of the board of Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five, and he is a member of numerous organizations including Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and the NAACP.