HBCU presidents announce collaboration to expand research and innovation

By Dr. Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
dbailey@afro.com

Leaders at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the nation have declared an initiative to invest in the future of research and discovery. 

Fifteen of America’s HBCUs high-capacity research institutions have announced the Association of HBCU Research Institutions. The umbrella organization has a mission to expand world-class research, accelerate innovation, expand the influence of HBCUs in research policy circles, and strengthen the institutional infrastructure of HBCUs and reinforce research capabilities. The Association of HBCU Research Institutions (ARHI) held its formal launch April 29 at Howard University.

Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, who serves as interim president of Howard University, also serves as interim president of the new consortium. David K. Wilson, Ed.D. president of Morgan State University is the organization’s inaugural board chair and Tomikia P. LaGrande, Ed.D., president of Prairie View A and M University serves as board chair. 

Frederick announced the creation of the new AHRI research collaboration from Howard University’s Interdisciplinary Research Building, a site on Washington D.C.s Georgia Avenue; a transitional landscape, hosting both new real estate alongside traditional rhythms and faces of the Black community that has surrounded the campus for generations. 

“HBCUs are not only contributors to research and innovation, but also leaders shaping a new era of discovery, reimagining both the solutions and the systems that drive research,” Frederick said, surrounded by HBCU leaders from high research productivity campuses. 

The creation of AHRI is a historical first in American higher education, added Wilson. “For the first time in our history, an organization dedicated solely to enhancing the research capabilities, advocating for increased research funding from federal, state and philanthropic sources is being established. This is history making,” he said. 

Wilson also indicated that AHRI would help HBCUs break the glass ceiling in research that is now in place. “It is disheartening though to note that in the history of American higher education that only one of the over 100 HBCUs has ever achieved “R-1” or very high research status. Well, you know what? It’s time for that to change.” Wilson affirmed to applause. 

Howard University was the first HBCU in history to achieve an “R-1” designation from the American Council on Education and Carnegie Foundation in February 2025. Universities holding RI or “very high research activity” status must spend at least 50 million on research and development and produce at least 70 research doctorates annually, according to the Carnegie Foundation. Howard previously held R-1 status prior to 2005 but lost it due to changes in the Carnegie classification. The university created a focused initiative in 2018 to regain the R-1 designation. 

The remaining AHRI founding HBCUs partners are R-2 ranked institutions, meaning campuses supporting five million dollars or more in research spending and awarding at least 20 research doctorates annually. 

AHRI will be housed in the offices of the Association of American Universities, an association of leading American and Canadian research universities with a focus on shaping higher education policy, federal funding and research integrity. A three-year grant totaling one million dollars from the Harvard and The Legacy of Slavery Initiative, support the initial work of AHRI in conjunction with technical assistance from the Harvard University Vice Provost for Research. 

Ruth Simmons, senior advisor to the Harvard University president on engagement with HBCUs and former president and alumnae of Prairie View State University welcomed the announcement of ARHI’s formation and its collaboration with Harvard University. 

“AHRI marks a powerful new chapter in the HBCU research landscape, bringing institutions that have too often worked in isolation into sustained collaboration with one another and with the country’s leading research universities,” she said.

AHRI’s founding members are Clark Atlanta University; Delaware State University; Florida A and M University; Hampton University; Howard University; Jackson State University; Morgan State University; North Carolina A and T State University; Prairie View A and M University; South Carolina State University; Southern University; Tennessee State University and Texas Southern University. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is also a member.

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