Felecia M. Nave

Felecia Diane McInnis Nave is an American chemical engineer and academic administrator. She is the 20th president of Alcorn State University and the first female to serve in the position.

Nave is from Prentiss, Mississippi. She completed a B.S., cum laude, in chemistry from Alcorn State University. She earned a M.S. in chemical and environmental engineering from University of Toledo (UT). Nave completed a Ph.D. in engineering at UT in 2005. Her dissertation was titled Impact of Mobile Phase Parameters on the Transport Properties of Proteins in Immobilized Metal Affinity Hydrogel Membranes. Maria R. Coleman was her doctoral advisor.

Nave was on the faculty and served in administrative roles at Prairie View A&M University from 2003 to 2018. She was the provost and vice chancellor of academic affairsat North Carolina Central University.

Career mentors of Nave include Fred Bonner, George C. Wright, and E. Joahanne Thomas-Smith.

On July 1, 2019, Nave succeeded Alfred Rankins as president of Alcorn State University (ASU). She is the 20th president and first female in the position at ASU.