About Dr. Frank Ashley III

Frank Ashley was born and raised in the segregated south during the late 50’s and early 60’s.  The youngest of three children,  growing up in single parent, low income, family, he is a first generation college graduate.  Ashley received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana College, where he is a Distinguished Alumni,  and his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Alabama, where he was recently inducted into the College of Education Hall of Fame.  He is currently serving as the Executive Associate Dean in the Bush School and the Director of Diversity Issues for Texas A&M University. Before assuming his current position at the Bush School he served as a Senior VP for the College Board Corporation in New York where he worked on initiatives to increase college participation for underprivileged students. In his 35+ years in education, Ashley has served in a variety of roles, including teacher, coach, and administrator. During his tenure at TAMU, Ashley spoke to many K-12 students in the local and surrounding school districts at assemblies, banquets, and classrooms, about the importance of education. One of his proudest achievements at A&M was bringing the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) to the Brazos Valley. NYSP was a sports and education program for economically underprivileged kids ages 10-16 and from 1989 to 2004 the project received $1,138,093 and served over 4,000 kids.

As a faculty member, and Dean at Texas A&M University-Commerce, he was once again very active in the surrounding school districts speaking to administrators, teachers, and students about the importance of education. Along with his work at the university, he served on the Commerce ISD School Board, and in 2006 he received “The Citizen of the Year Award” given by the Delta XI Chapter, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. The following year Ashley received the “Distinguished Service Award” from the Faculty Senate of Texas A&M University-Commerce. After three years in Commerce, Ashley returned to College Station as vice-chancellor of academic affairs for the A&M System. Later as vice chancellor for diversity and recruitment, he advised the Chancellor and Regents on diversity issues within the System and developed several initiatives to increase the diversity of students, faculty, staff, and administrators across the A&M System.

Dr. Ashley has numerous publications and presentations and is invited to present to individuals and organizations national and internationally, especially of topics of diversity, communication, conflict resolution, and education.  As a first-generation college graduate and as a person of color, he understands the importance of education and that is why he speaks at school assemblies and commencements and as a motivational speaker for professional development workshops.  An Ordained Deacon serving at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, he also served as Chaplain for the A&M Football team for several years. He and his wife Janice have two children, Frank IV and Elizabeth.