Fifteen HBCUs Form Nationwide Research Coalition to Drive Innovation and Broaden Impact

A group of Historically Black Colleges and Universities has launched the Association of HBCU Research Institutions (AHRI) to address key societal issues.

AHRI will bring together 15 HBCUs to work towards achieving R1 status, the highest level of research activity under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This will be achieved by improving policy influence and boosting transformative discoveries at scale, according to a press release.

“Today is not just an announcement, but a declaration that 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,” said Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, Howard University interim president, president emeritus, and Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery. 

Launch of the Association of HBCU Research Institutions

Founding members of AHRI include Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, Delaware State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Hampton University, Jackson State University, Morgan State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University, South Carolina State University, Southern University, Tennessee State University, Texas Southern University, and Virginia State University and The University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Half of the AHR Institutions are supported by competitively awarded federal research funding and are improving solutions in health, science, education, justice reform, and economic development.

Who established the AHRI?

Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, will serve as AHRI interim president. David K. Wilson, Ed.D., president of Morgan State University, serves as board chair, and Tomikia P. LeGrande, Ed.D., president of Prairie View A&M University, serves as board vice chair.

“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,” said Ruth Simmons, Ph.D., senior adviser to the Harvard University president on engagement with HBCUs and a three-time college president.   

“We are privileged to leverage our expertise in research infrastructure and capacity-building to help strengthen the foundation for HBCU research excellence and support more institutions on the path from R2 to R1 status,” Sara Naomi Bleich, Ph.D., vice provost for special projects at Harvard, adds.

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