WASHINGTON (August 19, 2011) – Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), will serve as keynote speaker at the University’s 144th Convocation, September 23 at 11 a.m. in Cramton Auditorium, President Sidney A. Ribeau, Ph.D., announced today.
“We are very pleased that Dr. Lomax has accepted our invitation to serve as our Opening Convocation keynote speaker,” Dr. Ribeau said. “We look forward to what we know will be an inspirational address from a distinguished educator.”
As head of the UNCF, Lomax leads the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to minority and low-income students. He oversees 400 scholarships, including the UNCF Gates Millennium Scholars Program, a 20-year, $1.6 billion project whose 14,000 low-income minority recipients have a 90 percent college graduation rate. Lomax also launched the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building, aimed at strengthening and sustaining the 39-member, private historically black colleges and universities around the country.
Additionally, Lomax co-chairs the Education Equality Project and serves on the boards of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of African American History and Culture and the Studio Museum of Harlem. He holds membership in numerous organizations, such as the Aspen Institute’s Commission on No Child Left Behind, the governing boards of Teach For America, the KIPP Foundation and the National Alliance of Public Charter schools. He is also a leading advocate for the importance of cradle-through-college education for all Americans.
 | Prior to joining the UNCF, Lomax was president of Dillard University in New Orleans and a professor of literature at Morehouse and Spelman colleges. He also served as chairman of the Fulton County Commission in Atlanta, the first African American elected to that post.
Opening Convocation is a time-honored tradition, officially signaling the start of the academic year at Howard University and welcoming the freshman class. Dr. Ribeau is urging the Class of 2015 and the entire community to attend. For more information, please contact the Office of University Communications at 202-238-2330. |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Dr. Kerry-Ann Hamilton Dir. of Strategic Communications & Marketing k_hamilton@howard.edu 202.238.2332 www.howard.edu/newsroom/
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