Saint Augustine’s University is pleased to announce new Board of Trustee members: Mr. Charles A. Bruce, Dr. Sheilah P. Clay, and student trustee Ms. Mareyah Washington. We are excited to have them join us in delivering on the Saint Augustine’s University’s mission to sustain a learning community in which students can prepare academically, socially and spiritually for leadership in a complex, diverse and rapidly changing world.

Charles A. Bruce was born and raised in Alton, Illinois. He retired from his position as Vice President of Quality and Chairman of the Corporate Quality Council after a 25 year career with the Emerson Electric Corporation. Emerson, is the St Louis based, $20 Billion Dollar parent company of a long list of business units in the United States and around the world.

His working career included top management positions with General Electric and Tokheim Corporation prior to joining Emerson. Charles has served as a management principal and Board Member for a variety of charitable and civic organizations including, The Better Business Bureau, The American Society of Quality, The Excellence in Missouri Foundation, The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, The Purdue Black Cultural Center and the Boy Scouts of America.

Charles is a Lifetime Member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and the Purdue Alumni Association.

Dr. Sheilah P. Clay was born and raised in Detroit, MI. She is a nonprofit leader with over 40 years of community-based leadership experience. She the Director of Training Quality and Retention for the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development. She retired in 2018 as the President and CEO of Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO), a non-profit human service organization, following 22 years of dedicated service. While there, she led a 155-unit permanent supportive housing development for formerly homeless adults, the largest of its type in the State of Michigan.

Dr. Clay serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan League for Public Policy, Opportunity Resource Fund, The Empowerment Plan, The McGregor Fund, Leadership Women, and the JDJ Scholarship Fund. She is a former trustee of the Farmington Board of Education and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago-Detroit Branch Board of Directors. Dr. Clay has received awards from numerous organizations including the Detroit Free Press, Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, Black Family Development, Detroit Community Health Connection, and Oakland County NAACP. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc and the Link’s, Inc.

Dr. Clay is a graduate of Spelman College, Wayne state University and received an honorary doctorate from Oakland University.

Mareyah Washington is a rising junior business administration major from Stockton, CA. She came to Saint Augustine’s University as a presidential scholar seeking the dynamic experience of an HBCU and has become a prominent and trusted leader. She has served as Student Government Association Executive Assistant two years in a row. Mareyah is an active member of several other organizations on campus, including section leader of the University Chamber Singers and 1st Vice President of our NCNW Chapter. She is also a member of the ethics bowl team and the Student Representative for the Community Development Corporation Board of Directors. She does all this while maintaining a 3.79 GPA and keeping up with her honors college responsibilities.

Miss Washington has secured an internship with Lenovo this summer, but is most excited to return to her University in August and continue the work she’s begun.