Howard University Selects Ben Vinson, III To Be Its Next President

Howard University has announced that Ben Vinson, III, currently the executive vice president and provost at Case Western University will be its next president, the 18th in the history of Howard, one of the nation’s leading and most influential Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Vinson will succeed Wayne A.I. Frederick, who is retiring, after leading Howard for nearly 10 years.

Vinson, who will begin his duties as president on September 1, described the appointment as the “honor of a lifetime.” “Howard’s incredible legacy, its remarkable trajectory, combined with the fine talent of its faculty and staff, situate Howard at the uppermost echelons of higher education,” Vinson said in the university’s announcement. “I look forward to returning to the DMV, which I consider home, and working with the broader campus community to fortify Howard and help build upon its incredible tradition of delivering excellence, truth, and service to greater humanity.”

Vinson, 52, earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College with a double major in history and classical studies and his PhD in Latin American history from Columbia University.

A well-known historian of African diaspora with a focus on Latin America, Vinson was the recipient of the 2019 Howard F. Cline Book Prize in Mexican History for his book, Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico. He has been awarded fellowships from the Fulbright Commission; National Humanities Center; Social Science Research Council; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the Ford, Rockefeller, and Mellon foundations.

Prior to his stint as provost at Case Western, Vinson taught history at Johns Hopkins University, where he was founding director of its Center for Africana Studies. At Johns Hopkins, he went on to serve as a vice dean for centers, interdisciplinary studies, and graduate education before being appointed Dean of George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. He started his academic career serving on the faculties of Barnard College and Penn State University.

In addition to his academic appointments, Vinson is chairman of the board of the National Humanities Center and a member of the boards of the National Humanities Alliance and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He also is a member of the Academy of Arts and Science’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship and currently chairs its subcommittee on higher education. In 2020, Vinson was elected vice president of the Research Division of the American Historical Association, and he is the elected President of the Conference on Latin American History.

Vinson also serves on the Association of American Universities’ (AAU) Advisory Board for Racial Equity in Higher Education and is a member of the AAU subcommittee on faculty advancement and tenure.

Vinson’s appointment follows a 12-month search, led by the university’s presidential search committee, which was assisted by executive search firm Isaacson Miller.

Laurence C. Morse, chair of Howard University’s board, said of Vinson, “both his academic research and the initiatives he’s championed as a higher education leader have demonstrated his commitment to elevating the diversity of experiences of people of the African diaspora – a commitment that aligns well with Howard University’s mission and vision.”

In the university’s announcement, retiring president Wayne Frederick was enthusiastic about Vinson’s appointment, “his vast experience and proven track record in academic leadership make him the ideal candidate to lead our esteemed institution into the future. I am confident that Howard will continue to thrive under his guidance as a premier center for higher learning and innovation.”