“We exercise leadership in a cultural context.”
Freeman A. Hrabowski III
ACE Centennial Fellow
UMBC President Emeritus
Co-author, The Resilient University and The Empowered University
Freeman A. Hrabowski III
Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president emeritus of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County), works with college, university, K-12, government, and business leaders as a consultant, lecturer, and speaker on such topics as leadership, STEM education, workforce development, and civic engagement.
Dr. Hrabowski’s research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. President Obama named him chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans in 2012. His widely viewed TED talk highlights the Four Pillars of College Success in Science.
With philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program in 1988. The program is open to high-achieving students committed to pursuing graduate and professional degrees and research careers in STEM and advancing underrepresented minorities in these fields. The program is recognized as a national model. Based on program outcomes, Dr. Hrabowski has authored numerous articles and co-authored five books. Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds (Oxford University Press), focus on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science. Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM Achievement (Beacon Press), describes the events and experiences that played a central role in his development as an educator and leader. The Empowered University: Shared Leadership, Culture Change, and Academic Success (Johns Hopkins University Press), written with two colleagues, examines how university communities support academic success by cultivating an empowering institutional culture. His latest book, The Resilient University: How Purpose and Inclusion Drive Success (Johns Hopkins University Press), written with three UMBC colleagues, focuses on how leaders can use the qualities of openness, resilience, courage, passion, and hope to drive student success, even in challenging times.
ACEx2025: Don’t You Dare Give Up on Your Dreams
Dr. Hrabowski shares closing remarks with higher education leaders at the 2025 American Council on Education conference.
“As awful as things can get, I believe in this country. I believe in the people here, and I know education makes the difference.”
We Can Prepare The Way For A Better World
Dr. Hrabowski shares what he learned about resilience as a child activist in the Civil Rights Movement.
TED Talk
Freeman Hrabowski was 12 when Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived in Birmingham, Alabama in the spring of 1963 to prepare Black children to march in peaceful protest for civil rights. He begged his parents to let him join the march because he wanted the best education possible.
Decades later, as a university administrator, he was confronted by Black students struggling in classes and not receiving adequate support and mentoring from faculty, especially in STEM fields. Working with philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff and faculty and staff colleagues across his campus, Hrabowski introduced the innovative Meyerhoff Scholars Program, now a national model for producing Blacks who go on the earn Ph.D.s and M.D./Ph.Ds in STEM fields.
Dr. Hrabowski’s TED Talk describes the four pillars that support student success in STEM.
Books and Articles
The Resilient University: How Purpose and Inclusion Drive Student Success, with Peter H. Henderson, Lynne C. Schaefer, and Philip J. Rous, 2024, Johns Hopkins University Press
The Empowered University: Shared Leadership, Culture Change, and Academic Success, with Philip Rous & Peter Henderson, 2019, Johns Hopkins University Press.
Holding Fast to Dreams: Empowering Youth, from the Civil Rights Crusade to STEM Achievement, 2015, Beacon Press.
Events and News
Investing in Brilliance and Compassion
“Ask yourself, ‘Who do I inspire?’” Freeman Hrabowski challenged the inaugural cohort of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Freeman Hrabowski Scholars at their first annual symposium this past fall. "You have brilliance and you have compassion. You’re doing noble work to help humankind. Be proud of that humanity."
Launched by HHMI in 2022, The Hrabowski Scholars program supports outstanding basic researchers, including physician-scientists, with strong potential to build and lead inclusive laboratories through mentoring efforts and understanding of systemic exclusion and marginalization of scientific trainees from different backgrounds.
The first cohort of Freeman Hrabowski Scholars represents a wide range of backgrounds. Thirty-one Hrabowski Scholars currently lead biomedical research laboratories at public and private universities and research organizations across the U.S.
ACE Presidents and Chancellor's Summit
Maryland Governor Wes Moore joined Dr. Hrabowski in a frank, wide-ranging conversation about leadership and resilience with higher education leaders convened by the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. this past spring.
Answering the Call ACE President Ted Mitchell and ACE Centennial Fellow Freeman Hrabowski write in Inside Higher Ed that higher education is more central than ever to our future, and presidents, provosts, and other academic leaders have a vital role to play. March 19, 2024.
NACUBO in Brief Podcast NACUBO President Kara Freeman and co-authors of The Resilient University Freeman Hrabowski and Lynne Schaefer talk ways leaders can build organizations that are nimble and durable. . March 1, 2024.
Divine Discontent and the Unyielding Pursuit of Justice President Hrabowski talks about how faith shaped his leadership in civil rights and education. Brigham Young University Radio Constant Wonder Podcast. February 21, 2024.
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.