Howard University Names Scholar of the African Diaspora as Its New President

A historian of the African diaspora in Latin America who heads academic operations at a research university in Cleveland will become the next president of Howard University at a time of expanding influence for one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black institutions. Ben Vinson III, provost at Case Western Reserve University and a former administrator at universities in D.C. and Maryland, was announced Tuesday as Howard’s 18th president since its founding in Washington shortly after the Civil War. He will take the helm on Sept. 1, succeeding Wayne A.I. Frederick, who is stepping down after leading Howard nearly 10 years.