David K. Wilson

David K. Wilson

President, Morgan State University

The 10th president of Morgan State University, David K. Wilson has more than three decades experience as an administrator in higher education.

Wilson holds four academic degrees, including a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in education from Tuskegee University; an Master of Education in educational planning and administration from Harvard University; and an Doctor of Education in administration, planning and social policy, also from Harvard.

Before taking over as president at Morgan State in July 2010, he held a variety of administrative positions in academia, including as associate provost at Rutgers, in New Jersey, and, most recently, chancellor of both the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin–Extension.

At Morgan State, Wilson’s has helped usher in an era of unprecedented transformation. His accomplishments include elevating the school from a moderate research classification to an elevated classification reserved for doctoral universities with much research activity; a second-year student retention rate of higher than 70% for 10 consecutive years; the highest graduation rates in the school’s history; completion of the school’s largest ever contract, a $28.5 million, five-year contract from NASA, with an additional $18 million renewal; and the founding of the new School of Global Journalism and Communication.

Wilson is the author of two books and more than 20 articles in scholarly journals and other publications, and has been named one of the nation’s top 100 leaders in higher education by the American Association of Higher Education.

This profile is part of The Daily Record's Higher Education Power List for 2023. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. See the full list at thedailyrecord.com.