Dalia Petrus

Dalia F. Petrus serves as Project Coordinator for the Center's Diversity and Democracy initiatives through building an institute that supports future leaders with demonstrated commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. The Institute is a collaboration between Dr. Earl Lewis, Founding Director of the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan and Dr. Dwight McBride, President-Elect for New School University. 

Prior to joining the Center for Social Solutions, Dalia’s tenure at U-M Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses includes professional roles in student, academic and instructional affairs. A former Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Public Humanities Fellow, NYU Press Academic Press Researcher and Digital Literacy and Educational Researcher for the Arab American National Museum, Dalia has coordinated public history projects and contributed to a digital humanities museum initiative on the American writer James Baldwin. She earned both a B.A. in Psychology and MA in International Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dalia also holds a second MA in Counseling. 

Committed to empowering underrepresented  students and students of color, Dalia has been recognized with a Women of Color career award. A long time diversity, equity and inclusion advocate, Dalia has served on DEI committees that have resulted in institutional change. She volunteers at local and national organizations committed to reducing social disparities, assists migrant and refugee organizations and her current scholarship centers on Arab-Black student coalitional politics in the United States (1960-1973).