Gail E.Thomas joined SUA as Professor of Sociology in August 1998. She was named Dean of Faculty in 1998 and served in that capacity until February 2001 when she was named Vice President for Institutional Research and Assessment. She chose to return to full time teaching in August 2002.

Prior to joining the faculty at SUA, Thomas was Professor of Sociology and Founder and Director of the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute at Texas A&M University. She has also been a Visiting Professor at Harvard University and was Principal Research Scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at John Hopkins University.

Thomas received her BS in Sociology with honors from A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina and her MA and Ph.D. in Sociology with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Thomas is the editor of three books. Her most recent book is Meeting the Challenge of U.S. Race Relations in America, 1990 and Beyond. Her work has been widely published in sociological and educational journals, including the Quarterly, Harvard Education Review, American Education Review Journal, International Journal of Higher Education, and the South African Journal of Higher Education.

Thomas is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Education Research Association’s “Distinguished Scholars Award,” Texas A & M’s “Outstanding Service Award,” Gustavus Myers Center “Human Rights Book Award,” U.S. Fulbright “Research Award to South Africa,” Bennett College’s “Women Achievement in Higher Education Role Model Award,” and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities and Arts conferred by Bennett College.

Thomas has served as a consultant for the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Southern Education Foundation, the Spencer Foundation and the “Kinte Historical Research Project” which was the basis for the subsequent television production of the late Dr. Alex Haley’s “Roots.”

Thomas and her husband Emmett Amos reside in Laguna Hills with their son, Bradford Amos.