Gilda Barabino, a biomedical engineer and world-renowned sickle cell researcher, is the first African American and woman president of Olin College of Engineering. She was born on May 28, 1956 in Anchorage, Alaska to Margaret Angus Barnes Barnum and Norman Edward Barnum III. At a … Read MoreGilda Barabino (1956- )
Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi has been serving as the president of the Republic of Botswana since 2018. Masisi was born on July 21, 1962, in Mosopa, but was raised in Gaborone, Botswana. His father, Edison Masisi, was a government official for the village of Moshupa, … Read MoreMokgweetsi Masisi (1962- )
Surgical oncologist and university president Wayne A.I. Frederick was born Wayne Alix Ian Frederick June 17, 1971, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to Alix Frederick from Point Fortin, Trinidad, and Frances Tyson-Hill from Chaguanas, Trinidad. At 14, he began pre-college courses at St. … Read MoreWayne A.I. Frederick (1971- )
Prezell Russell Robinson, longtime President of St. Augustine’s College (later University) was born in Batesburg, South Carolina, on August 22, 1920, to Clarence Robinson and Annie Foulks Robinson. He is the eighth of nine children. Robinson’s early education began at Leesville Colored Primary School in … Read MorePrezell Russell Robinson (1920- )
John Warren Davis was the fifth and the longest president of West Virginia State University from 1919 to 1953. He is also known for founding one of the first chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Davis was born in … Read MoreJohn Warren Davis (1888-1980)
H. Patrick Swygert served as 15th president of Howard University for 13 years (1995-2008). He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 17, 1943 and raised by his working-class parents, Leroy and Gustina Swygert and had a close aunt, Denise P. Swygert-Huzzy. He was the … Read MoreH. Patrick Swygert (1943- )
Norman C. Francis is the longest-seated university president in the United States. Born March 20, 1931, in Lafayette, Louisiana, Francis was one of five children of a barber, Joseph A. and Mabel F. Francis. Francis attended St. Paul Catholic elementary and secondary schools. After graduating … Read MoreNorman C. Francis (1931- )
On July 1, 2020, Darryll John Pines assumed the Presidency of the University of Maryland (UDM) at College Park, the second African American to lead the venerable school (the first was John B. Slaughter, 1982-1988) which was founded in 1856 and enrolls in excess of … Read MoreDarryll John Pines (1964- )
John Brooks Slaughter is an electrical engineer, retired university president, college professor, and the first African American to serve as the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Slaughter was born on March 16, 1934 in Topeka, Kansas to Reuben Brooks Slaughter, a laborer, and … Read MoreJohn Brooks Slaughter (1934- )
Rufus Early Clement was an educator and administrator who served as president of Atlanta University Center, a consortium of historically black colleges, from 1937 to 1967. Clement was born on June 26, 1900, in Salisbury, North Carolina, to Emma Williams and George Clinton Clement, Bishop … Read MoreRufus Early Clement (1900-1967)
