Washington Adventist University Welcomes Interim President

Statement from Washington Adventist University

Washington Adventist University (WAU) enters its next chapter of service under trusted and familiar leadership. In accordance with its unanimous vote, the institution's Board of Trustees approved Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, PhD, MSN, NP, RN to serve as interim president, effective today, July 1, 2026.

Kisunzu steps into this role from her service as the university's provost. This is a position that she has held since 2013. She brings to this expanded institutional service decades of leadership across higher education, with senior roles spanning academic affairs, institutional accreditation, program accreditation, human resources, diversity, nursing education, and organizational development.

She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Andrews University, where her doctoral research focused on anchoring and sustaining distinctive change in higher education as defined by the nation's Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. She also earned a Master of Science in Nursing from Rush University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with honors, from Andrews University, and received her certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Of additional significance is the fact that Dr. Kisunzu passionately commits to leadership informed by the Biblical imperative - "Ever Upward - Never Downward... the Benchmark for the World" (Phil. 3:13-14).