About Harold E. Cheatham, Ph.D., Founding Dean Emeritus

Harold E. Cheatham received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 1961, a Master of Arts degree from Colgate University in 1969, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Case Western Reserve University (1973).

Cheatham's professional appointments in higher education include Director of University Counseling, Case Western Reserve University (1969-1974), professor of psychology, the US. Coast Guard Academy (1974-1981); professor and head of the department of counselor education and counseling psychology, Pennsylvania State University (1981-1996); and professor and founding dean of Clemson University College of Health, Education and Human Development (1996-2001)(now: College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences) He has served as education leader and as a student of mental health service delivery in the Soviet Union (1984) and China (1987), and as medical missionary to Zambia, Ghana, Viet Nam, and Haiti(2002 - 2010).

Dr. Cheatham is an emeritus member of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) which he served as president (1995-1996), a distinguished member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and a member of Skull and Bones Society, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Delta Beta Boule, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. Cheatham chaired the Delta Beta Boule Planning Committee and the Public Policy Committee. He served also as a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Public Policy Committee and Executive Committee (2004-2006).

He is a life member of Phi Kappa Phi, and Fulbright Scholars Association. He has served on the editorial boards of the Career Development Quarterly, Western Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of College Student Development, and as editor of the ACPA Media Board.

Cheatham's writing and research address multicultural counseling theory and practice, cultural pluralism, and psychosocial development of African Americans in US higher education. A 1990- 1991 Senior Fulbright Scholar to India, Cheatham is author of numerous professional papers, including editor of a special issue of the Journal of College Student Personnel (1987-1988) titled Blacks in US Higher Education, co-editor (with J.B. Stewart) of Black Families: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Transaction Press, Rutgers University (1990), editor of Cultural Pluralism on Campus (1991), co-editor (with J.S. Mio et al.) of Keywords in Multicultural Interventions, A Dictionary, Greenwood Press (1999), and co-editor (with R.P. Green) of The American Civil Rights Movement: A Documentary History, Manchester University Press (UK) (2009).

Dr. Cheatham was recognized as a pioneer in multicultural counseling and development in the American Psychological Association, Division 17, journal The Counseling Psychologist (July 1997). In 1993, ACPA honored Cheatham with the Contribution to Knowledge Award and with induction as a Senior Scholar. In 1999 Dr. Cheatham received the Esther Lloyd Jones Professional Service Award and recognition as a Diamond Anniversary Honoree for distinguished contributions to higher education. A recipient of the Clemson University Board of Trustees Award for Faculty Excellence in 1998, 2000, and 2001, he also received the Grazella Shepherd Award for Excellence in Education (2000) from Case Western Reserve Alumni Society and Educators Forum. He served and chaired the City of Clemson Planning Commission (1998-2008), the Greater Clemson Community Foundation (2019-2021) the advisory boards of AnMed Foundation and Wachovia Bank. He was a gubernatorial appointee to the South Carolina Mental Health Commission (2004-2009), a founding director of Hartzog Institute for National Parks; member of the advisory board of Emeritus College of Clemson University, and a member of the Fort Hill Presbyterian Church (Clemson, SC) Medical Mission Team. Cheatham is Dean and Professor Emeritus of counseling and education leadership at Clemson University, and Professor Emeritus, the Pennsylvania State University.

In 2012 Cheatham was inducted into the Society of Distinguished Alumni of The Pennsylvania State University

In 2020 Cheatham was named an Inaugural I. Dwaine Eubanks Fellow in recognition of distinguished service to the Emeritus College, Clemson University. The American College Personnel Association (ACPA) honored Cheatham in 2021 with its Lifetime Achievement Award and with renaming an Association award the Harold E. Cheatham Innovative Practice Award.