July 16, 2025
Dr. F DuBois Bowman has returned to his alma mater to lead Morehouse into a new era.
The newest president of Morehouse College has officially begun his tenure at the HBCU, speaking to his evolved vision for the all-mens’ institution.
Dr. F. DuBois Bowman did not initially envision his career path leading to educational leadership. A Morehouse alum, the biostatistician and public health leader found his way by becoming a dean at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
His work in this role led to a call about returning to his alma mater. Excited to take part in the search process, his deep ties to the institution paved the way for his new place within its history. Speaking to WABE, Bowman discussed his journey back to Morehouse.
“Morehouse is home for me, and having studied there and being an alum, [it’s] an institution that I’ve maintained deep ties to over the years; it was a call that I was really excited and really thrilled to get,” explained Bowman. “And so that was the beginning. And obviously, these kinds of things are really involved, decisions to make and a search process to get through, but one that I was really excited and eager to participate in.”
He also plans to meet an evolved generation of students where they are, while still maintaining this historic school’s mission toward academic excellence.
“Institutions have to evolve… Our students nowadays they’re different. They’re different than the young man that I was when I arrived on campus, and we have to meet them where they are, try to figure out how best to support them, how best to take them and lead them along their own educational journeys and really prepare them for the workforce and to be positive agents of change in society.”
He wants his presidency defined by how well the institution prepares its students to excel professionally and academically. However, given Morehouse’s history within civil rights and racial justice, he also wants scholars to blossom into “positive agents” for social change.
“As a college president, what I want to prioritize for the students first is their academic preparation. But that is in preparation to be positive agents for change in society. And so I want students to be socially engaged and civically critical thinkers. And there, if there are things that come up that they feel the right course of action is demonstration, then that is a pathway for them.”
Like many HBCUs, funding remains a looming concern. As president, he aims to enhance fundraising efforts to expand the college’s academic profile. This funding will not only support scholarships but also help renovate campus dorms and improve student resources.
“So part of my job as president will be to continue doing fundraising and other things like that, to provide educational support, financial support for students, so that we can support students in need, but also be able to attract the best and brightest minds who’d have opportunity to go anywhere in the country when we want them to come to Morehouse because we feel like Morehouse would be in the kind of environment where they can thrive.”
While some political pressures, from federal funding to DEI pushback in higher education, sit on Bowman’s mind, his commitment to service for the Morehouse students, alumni, and HBCU community takes top priority.
“[Service] is really the spirit in which I come back now, and that is to serve and having just deep appreciation and gratitude for how the institution shaped me, not just academically through my educational journey, but as a young man. And those things have stayed rooted in me throughout, and that subsequently, I think, [exists] in my leadership style and my leadership orientation and approach.”
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