Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools

Dr. Chevelle Newsome was appointed the seventh president of the Council of Graduate Schools in 2025. Dr. Newsome draws from broad experience in supporting graduate programs and building successful coalitions and partnerships to her role at CGS.

Formerly the Dean of Graduate Studies at California State University, Sacramento, Dr. Newsome worked to advance and support academic excellence and achievement across Sacramento State’s more than 50 programs since 2008.

Under her leadership, the Graduate Office partnered with academic programs and colleges across the university to deliver best practices in recruitment, admissions, mentoring, funding, academic program development, guidelines, policy, and all facets of graduate student success.

In Dr. Newsome’s role at Sacramento State, she was a Founding Director of the Sacramento State McNair Scholars Program and served as Interim Dean for undergraduate education. As an advisor to the CSU Board of Trustees and the Center for California Studies, Dr. Newsome developed policy recommendations that directly influenced California legislation, from enabling the CSU system to first offer professional doctorates, such as the Ed.D. and DPT, to now offering independent doctoral programs.

Dr. Newsome built strong relationships across different sectors, collaborating with organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, California Manufacturing Association and the Sacramento Regional Partnership for Digital Equity to expand both educational access and innovation. She also served on the United Way California Capital Region (UWCCR) board and worked on initiatives to raise collegiate foster youth and families out of poverty by 2030.

Dr. Newsome currently serves as chair of the ETS Graduate Education Advisory Council and was formerly the chair for the Council of Graduate Schools’ Board of Directors.

Sumeet Dua, Ph.D. serves as Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), where he leads efforts to advance the university’s research mission through discovery, innovation and collaboration. With more than two decades of academic and executive leadership experience, his work emphasizes interdisciplinary excellence and partnerships that connect university research with societal and economic needs.

Before joining UMKC, Dua held multiple senior leadership roles at Louisiana Tech University, including Executive Vice President for Research, Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Director of the Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Cyber Engineering programs. He also served as President and CEO of the Louisiana Tech Applied Research Corporation. His research interests include data mining and machine learning, biomedical informatics with applications in medical imaging and healthcare analytics and cybersecurity with a focus on systems protection.

Dua earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and M.S. in Systems Science from Louisiana State University and A&M College, and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Ophthalmology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. A strong advocate for research with broad impact, he has authored five books, holds two patents, chaired national and international conferences and published extensively in peer-reviewed outlets. His leadership has been recognized with honors including the Max P. & Robbie L. Watson Eminent Scholar Chair, the Louisiana Tech University Foundation Professorship Award and Distinguished Researcher recognition from the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network.

At UMKC, Dua is committed to positioning the university at the forefront of interdisciplinary discovery and community engagement—locally, nationally and globally—while ensuring its research enterprise drives innovation, economic growth and societal progress.