Amanda Boston (XXII) Recognized as 2021 Alumni Prize Recipient for Her Service to the Prep Community

An exemplar of our core value of Commitment, her steadfast dedication to her vast and intersectional communities shines in both her personal and professional lives. For over 10 years, she has impacted every aspect of the Prep journey as a volunteer, staff member, and mentor. A Brooklyn native, Amanda remained active in Prep as an advisor, guiding students through the Preparatory Component with academic, emotional, and social support as they prepared for independent school. She was also a role model and mentor to students while she attended Poly Prep Country Day School, including winning the Ralph K. Dupee Award, leading the Black Student Alliance (Umoja), step team, and gospel choir, and being inducted into the Oasis Society. When she was pursuing her graduate degrees, Amanda returned as a teaching assistant and then a faculty member on Prep’s Academic Programs team, supporting and leading instruction of Problems and Issues in Modern American Society: Term Paper Research (PIMAS TPR) and Invictus. After several years of volunteering on admissions panels and at leadership development events at Prep, she was elected to its Alumni Council in 2018. In addition to her service as the Council’s President and Trustee of Prep’s Board in her first term, she has also served as a facilitator for Aspects of Leadership since 2019. Amanda was reelected to the Alumni Council in 2021 and continues to represent the alumni body as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, helping to shape the priorities and direction of the organization’s future. 

This fall, Amanda is taking on a new role as an assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. There, her research, writing, and teaching focus on twentieth-century and contemporary African American history, politics, and culture. Her current projects explore the racial operations of gentrification in Brooklyn, and their role in the making and unmaking of the borough’s Black communities. Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, she was a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at New York University. Amanda holds a PhD and an MA in Africana Studies from Brown University, as well as an MA in Political Science and a BA in Political Science and African & African American Studies from Duke University. In addition to her volunteer work with Prep, she sits on the board of directors of the Municipal Art Society of New York and is a trustee emerita of Brown University. Amanda credits Prep with many of the invaluable friendships, skills, and opportunities that have helped her navigate each step of her journey, and with reinforcing the importance of using her voice, resources, and access to transform spaces and make room for others.  

Congratulations, Amanda, and thank you for your lifetime of service!