The 18th President of Howard University is, the university’s board of directors appoints an acting president
The board of directors of Howard University announced today that President Ben Vinson III, Ph.D.is broken as 18th president of Howard University. He began to serve as president in September 2023 and resigned on August 31, 2025.
“On behalf of the board of directors of Howard University, we express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Vinson for his service and his leadership as president,” said Leslie D. Hale (BBA ’94)Chairman of the Board of Directors of Howard University. “We express our best wishes to him in his future efforts.”
President Vinson worked in collaboration with the Board of Directors to ensure an orderly and transparent leadership transition when he concludes his service at the university.
By reflecting on his presidency of Howard, Dr. Vinson shared: “During my mandate as president, I worked with an unshakable commitment to advance the strategic vision that I believe best serves the future of this institution, including in the fields of AI, data science and analysis, and the world world and the diasporic. Recognizing the board of directors, the teachers, the students and the partners who supported the work we have undertaken together.
“While we are going forward, the board of directors and university leadership remain firmly in our commitment to maintain the mission of excellence, truth and service of Howard and a dynamic, welcoming and innovative academic environment where students continue to succeed,” said Hale, chairman of the board of directors. “Given our objective and our commitment, the board of directors has selected an acting president who is only equipped to serve the university during this transition period.”
The Council appointed Wayne Ai Frederick, MD, MBA (BS ’92, MD ’94, MBA ’11)Emeritus President and 17th President of Howard University, to be acting president. Dr. Frederick is among the distinguished leaders who contributed to Howard’s inheritance thanks to his impact as acting president in 2013 and as permanent president from 2014 to 2023. His deep institutional knowledge and proven leadership will ensure the stability, continuity and continuation of university progress. Its success to collect a record amount of funds for the endowment and programming of the university provided unprecedented support for scholarships, teachers and modernizing academic programs and facilities.
Dr. Frederick’s mandate will start on September 1, 2025 and will end following a complete national research and a selection of the next permanent president.
For more than a century and a half, Howard has shaped managers, has fueled positive social change, advanced research and scholarships, and has created an inheritance of excellence that lasted through generations. The University Foundation is based on the collective vision and the strength of our community. Through periods of change, Howard has demonstrated the ability to adapt, evolve and innovate, while continuing to shine as an incomparable source of knowledge, truth and transformation.
“With our community, we will continue to rely on the positive impulse of the university and to accelerate its upward trajectory. Our recent designation as a Carnegie Research One University and our recognition by Ace and the Carnegie Foundation as a “opportunity college” confirms what is known on this institution: Howard University is and will remain, a vital force for excellence, progress and opportunities, “said Hale.
The Board of Directors will hire teachers, staff, students, formerly, partners and stakeholders during the transition to inform the university path. Details on the search for the next permanent president will be announced in the future.
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About Howard University
The Howard University, created in 1867, is a leading private research university based in Washington, the 14 schools and colleges of DC Howard offer 140 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and lead the nation in the production of African-Americans holding a professional doctorate. Howard is the college or the historically black historically classified university according to Forbes, the only HBCU with an R1 research institution designation, and the only HBCU ranked among the best national universities in the American report News & World Report. Raised for his estimated teachers, his major students and his commitment to excellence, leadership, truth and service, Howard produces former distinguished in all sectors, who included the first judge of the Supreme Court of the Black United States and the first American vice-president; a Nobel Prize winner; Schwarzman, Marshall, Rhodes and Truman Scholars; Prestigious fellows; And more than 170 beneficiaries of Fulbright. Learn more about www.howard.edu.
