Earl S. Richardson
MSA SC 3520-11565
Biography:
Earl Stanford Richardson, is the 11th President of Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
A native of Maryland, Dr. Richardson earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (formerly Maryland State College) and the Masters of Science degree and the Doctor of Education from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a Fellow of the Ford Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation and has conducted extensive research on critical problems in higher education relevant to racial autonomy, desegregation and integration. He has written several articles on the implications of proposals to merge historically Black institutions with white institutions and on inter-institutional cooperation in higher education.
Before becoming President of Morgan State University on November 1, 1984, Dr. Richardson served in a number of administrative positions: Assistant to the President of the University of Maryland System; and Executive Assistant to the Chancellor, Director of Career Planning and Placement and Acting Director of Admissions and Registration at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He has also taught at the undergraduate level.
Since becoming President of Morgan State University, Dr. Richardson has fashioned an all-encompassing strategy for strengthening academic programs, improving fiscal management, stabilizing student enrollment, accelerating fund-raising efforts and renovating the University’s physical plant. As a result of his leadership, Morgan has experienced growth and improvement over the last decade and is in the midst of a true Renaissance. The University now enjoys modern, state-of-the-art facilities resulting from over $200 million in capita] improvements. Moreover, the size of the student body has increased by over 40% in the last five years.
As the student body grew, an improvement in the quality of students, as measured by the high school GPA and SAT scores, was also accomplished. The improvements in enrollment and quality are at a rate which exceeds all other baccalaureate-granting institutions in the State. Morgan is also experiencing growth in its inventory of academic programs, having added baccalaureate programs in civil, electrical and industrial engineering; hospitality management and finance; masters programs in teacher education and engineering; and doctoral programs in engineering, history, mathematics education, science education, bioenvironmental science, Business and Public Health.
These features are complemented with record-breaking student and program achievements and national prominence for Morgan’s initiatives to increase minority participation in higher education and in the workforce. Morgan now leads Maryland colleges and universities in the overall production of African-American baccallaureates and in the number of undergraduates in mathematics, science and engineering. Thirty-six percent of the graduates pursue advance study compared to the State average of twenty-six percent. The lodestar of Dr. Richardson’s leadership at Morgan State University and in higher education is his commitment to establishing a strong foundation of excellence and achievement in the African-American community.
Dr. Richardson is also very active in civic and community organizations. He serves as a member of LifeBridge, University of Maryland Shock Trauma Advisory Board, the National Institute of Health/The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Working Group, the Board of the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Commission on International Education, the Goldseker Foundation, Maryland Education Coalition Advisory Board, and the Honorary Board of Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc. (BNI), Partnership for Learning (PFL), the Board for Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network, former Chairman and present Secretary of the Board of Directors for the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), Chair, President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUS (1998). He has also served as a member of the Boards of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Committee of 100 for the Science Center, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation of Maryland, the National Board of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (1992).
Dr. Richardson is married to the former Sheila Bunting of Oklahoma City. Dr. & Mrs. Richardson have a son, Eric.
Source: Morgan State University Biographical Sketch, 13 December 2000.
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|