Dr. Noble, Jr. New Assistant Dean & Director

Posted by Eileen Remley on Thursday, March 30, 2017 in News Blurbs.

The Office of the Dean of Students is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Rosevelt Lavalle Noble, Jr., as the new Assistant Dean and Director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, effective June 1, 2017.

A native of Kankakee, Illinois, he received the BS in Sociology (with honors) from Vanderbilt in 1997, and he subsequently earned both the M.A. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Additionally, during his undergraduate years, he was very involved in campus organizations and activities, including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Black Student Alliance, the SEC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, D.A.R.E. and countless other community service projects. And, in 1996, he was one of 11 college football players in America recognized on ESPN for his community service efforts as part of the College Football Association’s Good Works Team.

A scholar of the criminal justice system, Dr. Noble has publications on the American penal system, including the book, Black Rage in American Prison System (2006, LFB Scholarly Publishing). Noble has also published scholarly articles in this area, and he is currently working on a publication examining racial bias in the jury selection process in capital punishment cases.   Since the fall of 2002, Dr. Noble has taught as a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology Department at Vanderbilt. (Among the courses he has taught at Vanderbilt are the following: Prison Life, Criminology, Deviant Behavior, Social Problems, and Statistics for Social Scientists.) From 2002-2010, he also worked at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission as the Director of the Workforce Investment Act and held the same position with the Tennessee Department of Labor from 2010-2014.   Since 2014, he has worked as a Senior Fellow at The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt. His appointment at The Curb Center has allowed him to focus more intently on his research project, entitled Lost in the Ivy: Archive of the African-American History and Experience at Vanderbilt University. To date, he has conducted roughly 400 interviews with African-Americans affiliated with Vanderbilt ranging from 1963 through 2017 concerning their experience at the University.

During his time at Vanderbilt, Dr. Noble has provided a multitude of service to the University. He has been involved in numerous initiatives, including serving on the Executive Board for the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni, the Chancellor’s Diversity Discussion Group, and the BCC Advisory Board. Additionally, he serves as Faculty Advisor for the student group, Revitalizing and Empowering Vanderbilt’s African-American Male Population (REVAMP), and has also served as a Posse Mentor and the Student Conduct Review Board, among numerous other VU committees.

Since 2007, he has been married to Dr. Kristen Noble (Carter), a member of the Vanderbilt University Class of 2003. She is currently a resident in pediatrics at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. In July 2017, she will begin the Fellowship Program in Neonatology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. They have two beautiful children, Jordan Lynn Noble and Rosevelt Lavalle Noble, III. Currently, they reside in Cordova, Tennessee. Clearly, Dr. Rosevelt Noble, one of Vanderbilt’s own, brings a wealth of talent and experience to his new roles within DOS. We are thus delighted to bring someone of his insight, experience and commitment to these posts within the Office of the Dean of Students.