Ushering Morgan’s Modern Era: Transformation Realized
David Kwabena Wilson
Morgan State University’s Tenth Inaugurated President
In 2010, Morgan State University began a period of significant growth, innovation and transformation, a successful period that would become recognized as the 'Morgan Modern Era' coinciding with the inauguration of David K. Wilson as Morgan State University’s 10th President.
Within two months of beginning his presidency, Dr. Wilson initiated a strategic planning process to determine the course of Morgan’s journey in the 10 years that lie ahead, fulfilling the aspirations of the University’s new motto, “Growing the Future, Leading the World.” Together with a unified, singular-focused Morgan community comprising the University’s Board of Regents, faculty, students, staff, alumni, administrators and deans, in addition to representatives of the neighborhood and local business communities, nearly 13 years later, Morgan has successfully navigated numerous gains attaining several significant historic milestones and achievements. Captured below represents a snapshot of Morgan’s prosperity punctuated by innovation, strategic transformation and emboldened momentum. Welcome to the new ‘Morgan Modern Era!’
Enhance Student Success and Well-Being
Student Enrollment and Retention — Second consecutive year of historic enrollment, with more than 9,300 students enrolled for the fall 2022 semester; Morgan’s second-year retention rate has consistently stayed above 70% for the past 12 consecutive years.
“50 by 25” Initiative — Achieved the highest graduation rate in Morgan's history — 46% — trending toward achieving a 50% graduation rate by the year 2025.
Strategic Partnerships and Alignments — Partnerships with corporations and public sector agencies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, IBM, NASA, NIST, Baltimore Ravens, NBC Comcast Universal, Under Armour.
Morgan Completes You — Designed for nontraditional SCND (some college, no degree) adult learners to complete a degree but need flexibility, opportunity, and accessibility to various completion options.
Foster Faculty Ascendency and Staff Development Initiatives
Women in Higher-Ed Leadership — Named to the Executive Alliance 20/20 Honor Roll for Gender Diversity in Maryland, a designation earned for having at least 20% women in executive leadership. The University proudly exceeds the organization’s criteria with 42% women on the Board of Regents and 38% women in the President’s Senior Cabinet.
Establishment of Center for Innovative Instruction and Scholarships — Promoting best practices in teaching and learning among faculty, staff and graduate teaching assistants (TAs) that lead to student success.
Equity in Professor Pay — Morgan State ranks number two among public doctoral institutions that paid female professors the most relative to male professors.
Endowed Professorships — Establishing the University’s first endowment funding three new research professorships in Brain Science, Psychometrics, Predictive Analytics and Cybersecurity Engineering.
Elevate Morgan’s Status to R1 Very High Doctoral Research University
New Academic Degree Programs Approved by MHEC Since 2010 — More than 50 new programs — 30 since 2020 — have been added including 18 new interdisciplinary programs. New high-demand, unique academic programs include M.S .in Neuroscience; Doctor of Social Work; B.S. in Cybersecurity Intelligence Management; M.S. in Data Analytics & Visualization; B.S. in Coastal Science & Policy; B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering; B.S. in Cloud Computing; and Ph.D. in Secure Embedded Systems.
Establishment of the Division of Research and Economic Development — Newly established unit during President Wilson’s tenure, oversees research policy, grants and contract management supporting faculty research; successfully secured more than $450 million awarded in contracts and grants awarded from state and federal government sources.
Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property — Morgan produces invention disclosures, new patent applications and other key innovation outputs. To date we have 20 U.S. issued patents.
Program Funding Commitments — Procurement of a $28.5-million, five-year contract from NASA, with an additional $18-million, five-year renewal. In 2021, the University secured a second award of $28 million from NASA for work with the new Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II center.
R2 Status Achievement — Elevated to R2 Carnegie Classification, with the intention of ascending to the highly coveted echelon of premier research institutions by attaining the R1, “very high research” classification.
Awarding of Doctoral Degrees — More than doubled the number of doctoral degrees awarded, from 31 in 2010 to 70 in 2022. Conferred the University’s 1,000th doctoral degree at recent Fall 2022 commencement exercises.
Creation of Two New Schools — The founding of two new schools: the School of Global Journalism and Communication and the College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies.
Establishment of New Research Centers — Creation of new centers to support STEM and research activity at the University, many of which are state-funded/supported: Center for Research and Education in Microelectronics; National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED); Cybersecurity Assurance and Policy (CAP) Center; Center for Urban Health Equity (CUHE); Center for Equitable Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Systems (CEAMLS); Center for Data Analytics and Sports Gaming Research; and Center for Urban Violence and Crime Reduction.
Expand and Improve a Campus-Wide Infrastructure
Construction and Capital Investments — Nearly $1 billion in construction and planned construction of multiple state-of-the-art facilities. Morgan acquired an approximately 60-acre site less than 1.5 miles from campus, nearly doubling the University’s size.
Maryland College of Osteopathic Medicine at Morgan — A new, for-profit, private Maryland College of Osteopathic Medicine at Morgan State University. The new College of Osteopathic Medicine anticipates welcoming its first students in 2024.
Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowment Fund — Morgan alumnus Calvin and Tina Tyler increased their gift to Morgan to $20 million, making it the largest gift received from an HBCU alumnus.
Sesquicentennial Anniversary Campaign — $250-million Anniversary Campaign, the largest development effort in Morgan’s history.
Largest Individual Donation in University History — $40-million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Increasing University Endowment — Significantly growing the endowment by 554% ($15.1 million in 2010, $98.7 million at end of fiscal year 2021).
Northwood Commons
Northwood Commons — $50 million revitalization of the former Northwood Plaza Shopping Center — a shopping center with historical significance marking the nation’s first “sit ins” of the early Civil Rights Movement.
University Bond Rating — Financial management proficiency for 12 consecutive years has earned strong credit ratings of A1 and A+ issued by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, respectively.
HBCU Settlement Bill — Landmark legislation passed by the Maryland legislature and signed into law awarded a $577-million settlement to Maryland’s four HBCUs for decades of inequity and underfunding. Morgan will receive approximately $24 million per year for the next decade to support scholarships and faculty recruitment and expand academic programs and marketing.
Designated as Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University — Designation gives the institution a specific mission to serve the state’s urban population, further supporting our mission of instruction, research and service through higher education and graduate study in the Baltimore area.
Expanding Economic Impact — Generating more than $1 billion statewide, $640 million in Baltimore City, supporting 6,500 jobs.
Accelerate Global Education Initiatives and Expand the University’s International Footprint
MSU-TETFund Partnership — Agreement with Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) sponsoring up to 50 new Ph.D. students and up to 20 postdoctoral researchers from public tertiary institutions in Nigeria for study and research at Morgan each year. China, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among many other countries where Morgan began new academic collaborations since 2010. This success is the result of the University’s commitment to affirming a global footprint and the establishment of the University’s Division of International Affairs in 2014.
African University College of Communications, Accra, Ghana — A pilot program and partnership with the African University College of Communications, Morgan offers three degrees in Ghana – a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Global Multimedia Journalism and Communications and a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship.
Fulbright Scholars — The continuation of Morgan’s status as the number one HBCU in production of Fulbright scholars and grantees, with 149 who have received awards for study, research or teaching in 44 countries around the world.
MSU Kenyan Alumni Chapter — Aimed at strengthening the University’s connection with former students and to tap into their expertise, an alumni chapter was established with at least 50 members is established in Kenya, Nairobi.