Xavier Hickman

In his role within the Office of the Chief Operating Officer as Director of Operations and Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Xavier Hickman collaborates with various departments to ensure Arizona State University’s operational strategies are effectively implemented. Under the leadership of Dr. Chris Howard, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Hickman provides valuable input through data analyses and trends in higher education utilizing quantitative and qualitative data sets impacting a wide range of special projects and initiatives.

Before his service at Arizona State University, Hickman was integrally involved at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, serving as a Public Relations Assistant beginning in 2015, then as Special Assistant to the university President, and finally as Deputy Chief of Staff to the university President.

Hickman earned his doctorate from Robert Morris University, studying Instructional Management and Leadership. His research interest is higher education leadership and his dissertation is titled, “Postsecondary Executive Leadership: An Investigation into The Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education”. His research intended to produce findings that enable higher education stakeholders better to understand the lived experiences of higher education executive leaders as they led during the pandemic and how these executive leaders are strategically thinking about the future of higher education in the post-pandemic.

In addition to receiving his PhD from RMU, Hickman also holds an MBA and a BS in Business Administration from RMU.