U.S. Army retired Lt. Gen. Darrell K. Williams has been named the thirteenth president of Hampton University in Virginia. He will replace William R. Harvey, who retires on June 30 after leading Hampton for 44 years.
“I love Hampton and bring a wealth of strategic leadership experiences, including management of large global organizations, as well as the academic and nonprofit experience necessary to successfully lead the university,” Williams said. “I am thrilled to have been selected as the next president. I will work tirelessly with students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader community to prepare our graduates for today and for the continuously evolving, technology-driven workforce of tomorrow.”
Williams is presently employed by Leidos, a Fortune 250 technology company. He serves as vice president and managing director of the U.K. Ministry of Defence Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation program for Leidos. Williams retired from the U.S. Army in 2020 after 37 years of service. His last leadership position was director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency. He was the first African American to hold the position.
From 2015 to 2017, Williams led the Army Combined Arms Support Command and the Fort Lee, Virginia, military installation. There, he was responsible for the Army Logistics University.
A native of West Palm Beach, Florida, Williams earned his bachelor’s degree in 1983 at then-Hampton Institute. He holds an MBA from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in military art and science from the Army Combined and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Hampton University Board of Trustees (BOT)should be embarrassed for selecting former Lt. Gen. Darrell K. Williams as it’s next president on numerous levels. First, Darrell is woefully lacking ANY SUBSTANTIVE upper echelon administrative experience at any HBCU [strike one]. Second, Darrell lacks any substantive experience from any HWCU, HSI, or TCU[strike two]. Third, Darrell is literally clueless in academic curriculums, faculty senate nuances, etc. [strike three].
Moving forward, I am confident that Darrell hold the same group membership (can you say “the Boule”) as President Harvey and some of the members on the BOT. What is most unfortunate about this presidential hire is that of having a BA degree from Hampton University which DEFINITELY does not qualify you to be hired as president of Hampton University. Something is inherently wrong with this picture. Wake up Hampton University students and faculty.