Kendrick Brown named new Provost at Morehouse

Morehouse College will have a new face leading its staff and the school’s curriculum starting in January 2021.

The prominent historically black college said Monday it hired Kendrick T. Brown as the school’s next provost. He succeeds Michael Hodge, who will go back to the classroom as a professor, the school said.

Morehouse said Brown is tasked with expanding the school’s academic curriculum; leading faculty; and fostering scholarly research in science, education, the humanities, and the Black experience in a nation searching to understand the impact of systemic racism.

Brown was selected as the top candidate in a nationwide search for the role.

Brown’s teaching career spans more than 20 years at private liberal arts colleges on the West Coast and the Midwest. He most recently served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, a midsized institution with more than 260 faculty members and 5,000 students. The former psychology professor earned his doctorate and master’s degree in psychology at the University of Michigan, and his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Mount Union College in Ohio.

His experience includes developing effective strategic plans, managing US$50 million budgets and launching new academic majors. Morehouse will be Brown’s first experience working at an HBCU.

“Under Provost Brown’s leadership, Morehouse will develop our esteemed faculty and recruit new talent, as we work to build a 21st-century campus with academic programs that continue to attract some of the nation’s best and brightest students,” said Morehouse president David A. Thomas.

Founded in 1867, Morehouse is the nation’s only HBCU focused on educating men, has a nationally acclaimed business program and is the top feeder school for Black men entering Harvard Business School.

Among Brown’s priorities are expansion of virtual education, more study-abroad opportunities and developing innovative programs for students studying on campus.

“I have spent a good part of my career researching and understanding the experiences of Black, ingenuous people of color,” Brown said. “For me to be able to continue that at Morehouse, and lead the academic program and faculty is deeply satisfying to me.”

“At the heart of the conversations that I have had with President Thomas is extending more opportunities for students,” Brown added. “One of the best ways to extend opportunities to students is to ensure that you have a strong faculty. When you provide the faculty with more resources, and attract internal and national talent to endowed chairs, it enhances the vision of the college and puts Morehouse even more on the radar as a research center. That visibility can open doors to new opportunities internationally for our students.”

Historically Black Colleges and Universities have garnered newfound attention nationwide, thanks in part to Kamala Harris being the first HBCU alumna (Howard University) on a major party presidential ticket. Meanwhile, corporate America is making diversity pledges and supporting HBCUs through gifts and donations.

Earlier this month, Morehouse said it received a US$9 million grant from the National Science Foundation as a founding partner of the HBCU Undergraduate Success Research Center. The initiative is designed to “increase educational and employment opportunities for minorities interested in STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” according to a news release.

That grant follows June’s US$40 million donations from Netflix to Morehouse and Spelman College aimed at providing scholarships and erasing student loan debt.