David Kwabena Wilson, Ed.D., is the 10th inaugurated president of Morgan State University—
Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University. For more than a decade, Dr. Wilson has
not only been a transformative president at Morgan but has emerged as a leader among university
presidents nationwide, as well as an effective advocate for HBCUs and the role they play in
developing leaders and serving the needs of their community, state, and nation.

Dr. Wilson has a long record of accomplishment in his more than 30 years in higher education
administration. He is a nationally recognized 2023 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education winner
and a newly elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S) and the
American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Dr. Wilson also serves on the Lumina
Foundation Board of Directors, the T. Rowe Price Charitable Board, the TIAA Board of Directors, the
Excelsior University Board of Trustees, and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and
Colleges (AGB) Board of Directors. Dr. Wilson is the former chairman of the HBCU/China Network,
and in 2010, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Board of Advisors on
HBCUs.

Dr. Wilson has also served on the NCAA Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced
Technology, the Board of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and as a
member of the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and
Engineering.

Among the many recognitions received throughout his professional career, he has been awarded the
Maryland Senate’s First Citizen Award and the Transcendent Order of the African Eagle Award. In
addition, Dr. Wilson has been named as a Baltimore Business Journal Top 10 CEO, an AFRO
Newspaper ‘Person of the Year,’ a Baltimore Sun Business and Civic Hall of Famer, and one of
the Maryland Daily Record’s ‘Power 30’ in Higher Education and a 2024 “Most Admired CEO.”
To his credit, Dr. Wilson was named in Forbes as a “Top Black Higher Ed CEO to Watch in 2023.”
He has also authored two books and over 20 articles in scholarly journals and other publications.
Prior to assuming his current position, Dr. Wilson served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin
Colleges and University of Wisconsin Extension; vice president for University Outreach and
Associate provost for Auburn University; assistant and associate provost for Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey (Camden); and director for the Office of Minority Programs at the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey.

Dr. Wilson received his bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s in education from
Tuskegee University, as well as a master’s and doctorate in education from Harvard University. He
was also bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater,
Tuskegee University.

His educational philosophy is to prioritize the student experience. As a leader, he builds
consensus and strongly believes in transparency of the process. Dr. Wilson aims to make Morgan
a leader in producing the next wave of innovators in the U.S., further cementing its call to action
of Growing the Future and Leading the World.