The Professoriate Is Increasingly Diverse, but That Didn't Happen by Accident

By BEN GOSE

Fifteen years ago, H. Rika Houston was on track to earn an M.B.A. from California State University at Long Beach and was preparing to look for a new job in the corporate world. But one of her professors set her on a different course when he called her into his office and told her: "I think you're doctorate material."

David A. Horne, a professor of marketing, agreed to "sponsor" Ms. Houston, who is Afro-Asian, in a Cal State program that repays up to $30,000 in graduate-school loans for