Dr. Lamar R. Hylton Named Recipient of Four Prestigious Awards

Former Asheville resident and Kent State University’s Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Lamar R. Hylton, Ph.D., has had a pretty good year!

Dr. Lamar R. Hylton has been named the recipient of the Region IV-East Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Senior Student Affairs Officer for 2021. The award is given by the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, which has also named Dr. Hylton a member of the 2022 class of the NASPA Pillars of the Profession award.

“I am humbled to have even been nominated and even more humbled that I won,” said Dr. Hylton. “This award really left me speechless; I am so grateful to my nominators for bestowing upon me this really amazing honor. This is a very humbling moment.”

Dr. Hylton was also the recipient of several other awards this year. He was named to Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 and selected as a recipient of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Diamond Honoree award.

The ACPA Diamond Honoree designates colleagues who have made outstanding contributions to ACPA, student affairs and services, along with higher education. To qualify for the ACPA award, the recipient must be seen as collaborative, influential, and inspirational by a range of campus constituencies, have a high level of competency in developing staff, exhibit exemplary managerial and administrative skills, made significant contributions to the field through publications or involvement in professional associations, and earned stature through the support of students, faculty, and fellow administrators on campus.

The Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 spotlights the best and brightest of professionals from Northeast Ohio who have yet to reach their 40th birthday. And the NASPA Pillars of the Profession award, the NASPA Foundation’s highest honor, recognizes a series of distinguished individuals who have served as leaders, teachers, and scholars in student affairs and higher education.

Dr. Hylton received a Bachelor of Arts in vocal music-performance from Morgan State University, an MA-Education in college student personnel from Ohio University, and a PhD in higher education administration from Morgan State.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Hylton served as the director of the Intercultural Center and Office of Multicultural Student Programs at the University of North Carolina Asheville from 2011 to 2014 and was an active member of Hill Street Baptist Church. Prior to joining Kent State, Hylton served as the assistant vice provost for student affairs at the University of Minnesota for three years. He came to Kent State on June 1, 2017, to serve as dean of students, later becoming permanent vice president for student affairs on May 1, 2020. Dr. Hylton also holds the distinction of being the first Black vice president for student affairs in the history of Kent State. He was elevated to senior vice president for student affairs on Sept. 1, 2021.

Dr. Hylton points to experiences in the past that have shaped the student affairs professional he is today.

“I have certainly been the recipient of quality mentoring, experiences that have truly packed my bag to be an effective chief student affairs officer,” he said. “I believe that [combined with] the relationships I have been able to develop and sustain over the course of my career, all have contributed to my being effective.”