Maurice D. Gipson is the Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at the University of Missouri and an affiliate faculty member in the department of History and the department of Black Studies. Previously, he served as the Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Community Engagement and an instructor of history at Arkansas State University.  

A native of Ferriday, Louisiana, Dr. Gipson is a first-generation graduate of Louisiana State University and received his Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center with an emphasis on civil rights.  Additionally, he has a Master’s degree in history from Missouri State University and a Ph.D. in history, from the University of Mississippi.  In addition to his academic credentials, Dr. Gipson is also a licensed attorney.

Dr. Gipson is currently working on a monograph tentatively titled, A Natural Fit for the Natural State: Arkansas' Black Power Movement which investigates the proliferation of Black Power organizations in Arkansas from the 1960s through the 1970s.  Some of his additional research projects include a reimagining of the civil rights movement in Arkansas and a historical analysis of Louisiana’s split-jury law.