Morehouse College, a renowned school in Atlanta, is F. dubois Bowman was nominated as the next president on Tuesday.
Starting on July 15th, Dr. Bowman has been dean of the University of Michigan public schools since 2018. He is poised to envision Morehouse at the helm of higher education moments as President Trump seeks to overturn his academic life and hamper the diversity, equity and inclusive efforts that have become common on campus.
Leaders of historically black universities such as Morehouse are left to Mr Trump weigh their dedication to schools in his administration's actions.
“The outlook for the future is uncertain for all of us,” Dr. Bowman said in an interview about the higher education sector when he admitted that “in many respects the uncertainty is so broad that it is difficult to plan.”
“I think it's really important for the university to position itself and try to control what it has to be,” he said. “So it is rooted based on its basic mission, its basic business model.
Morehouse is the Atlanta sanctuary for black men whose graduates include Pastor Martin Luther King Jr., and is widely regarded as an incubator of activity and social change. But Dr. Bowman suggested that while the university itself is a stance of many presidents, he expects to carefully choose a presidency that could irritate those who called on campus leaders to become more powerful advocates of higher education and liberal democracy.
“Of course, the main mission of a university is education, so I think we need to keep things fixed,” he said, adding, “It can be important to really think and clarify those principles and values.”
Morehouse expects to have more than 2,700 students in the upcoming academic year. Biostatistician Dr. Bowman said the campus would “want to be a campus where we can come from a lot of backgrounds and perspectives.
Dr. Bowman received his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Morehouse in 1992 and thought that he would return as a professor someday. After completing his doctorate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he was a faculty member at Emory University in Atlanta. He was the president of the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University's School of Public Health, and later returned to his hometown in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dr. Bowman, 54, said the recent decision to abandon Michigan's signature DEI program was “non-factor” in his choice to leave the university for Morehouse.
He will take over at Morehouse in 2018 and replace David A. Thomas, who announced his retirement plans last summer.
A survey released by the US Council of Education in 2023 showed that university presidents had been in the post for nine years, from 8.5 in 2006. Many university leaders say their roles have become more challenging recently. However, Dr. Bowman, who has a son with a Morehouse degree and another son, appeared to be dazzling with his debut president.
He said he felt a “sense of calling” even if there were obstacles to hide many university presidents.
“This role has always been difficult. Certainly, now it's on an increasing degree,” Dr. Bowman said.
