UNCF Leader Dr. Michael L. Lomax to Address Shaw University Class of 2024

Dr. Michael L. Lomax serves as president and CEO of UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization and the largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to underrepresented students.

A native of Los Angeles, California, Dr. Lomax entered Morehouse College at the age of 16 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English as one of the college’s inaugural Phi Beta Kappa graduates. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English literature from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in American and African American literature from Emory University. Dr. Lomax has served on the faculty of both Morehouse and Spelman Colleges.

From 1997 to 2004, Dr. Lomax served as the 5th president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. During his tenure at Dillard, the student enrollment increased by nearly 50 percent, accompanied by dramatic increases in private funding and alumni giving. Dr. Lomax also led a $60 million campus program that improved the educational and everyday environments for students and faculty.

Since 2004, Dr. Lomax has served as UNCF president and CEO. Under his leadership, UNCF has raised more than $4 billion and helped more than 150,000 students earn college degrees and launch careers. Annually, UNCF’s work enables 50,000 students to go to college with UNCF scholarships and attend its 37 member historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Dr. Lomax oversees the organization’s 400-plus scholarship programs, which award more than 10,000 scholarships a year. He also launched UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building, which supports member HBCUs to become stronger, more effective, and self-sustaining.

Among his many honors, Dr. Lomax was appointed to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities by President George W. Bush. He serves on the boards of Handshake, the KIPP Foundation, Cengage Group and Teach for America. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Senate, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and is a trustee of the Studio Museum in Harlem. Dr. Lomax is currently leading the UNCF $1Billion “A Moment To A Movement” Capital Campaign.