Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, has announced his intent to retire in June 2027.
“Few leaders have shaped an institution as profoundly as Dr. Lomax has shaped UNCF,” said Milton H. Jones, Jr., UNCF board chair. “For more than two decades, he has elevated HBCUs on the national stage, expanded educational opportunity for hundreds of thousands of students, strengthened our member institutions, and positioned UNCF for enduring success. We celebrate his extraordinary legacy while looking forward to the organization’s next chapter with great confidence. Thanks to Dr. Lomax’s vision and leadership, UNCF is stronger than ever and exceptionally well positioned for the future.”
Dr. Lomax began his presidency at UNCF in 2004. Among other accomplishments throughout Dr. Lomax’s tenure, the organization has raised more than $4 billion in support of students and HBCUs, helped more than 300,000 students pursue and complete college degrees, and increased its endowment nearly tenfold, rising from $60 million to a projected $600 million in 2027.
“Serving as president and CEO of UNCF has been the privilege of a lifetime,” said Dr. Lomax. “Everything we have accomplished has been made possible through the extraordinary partnership of our board of directors, our member institutions, our dedicated team members, our donors, our philanthropic partners, and the countless champions who believe deeply in our mission. Together, we have expanded opportunities for hundreds of thousands of students and strengthened the institutions that have transformed generations of lives.”
Before his current position, Dr. Lomax served as president of historically Black Dillard University in New Orleans. In addition to faculty appointments at Morehouse College and Spelman College in Atlanta, he has held roles in public service, including director of research and special assistant to Maynard H. Jackson, the first Black mayor of Atlanta. He also had stints as the first African American chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and as president of the National Faculty, an Atlanta-based organization dedicated to connecting higher education scholars with K-12 teachers.
Dr. Lomax holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Morehouse College, a master’s degree in English literature from Columbia University in New York, and a Ph.D. in American and African American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.
