Spelman College has long been celebrated as the crown jewel of liberal arts education for Black women. Now, its board of trustees is signaling that the next chapter may look different than the last.
On June 5, Spelman announced the appointment of Dr. Ayanna Howard — a roboticist, AI pioneer, and former NASA engineer — as its 12th president. Howard, who currently serves as dean of the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University, will assume her duties on August 1.
The appointment is striking precisely because of what Spelman represents. Founded in 1881, the Atlanta institution has been ranked the No. 1 HBCU by U.S. News & World Report for 19 consecutive years, and its identity has been rooted in the humanities and social sciences — the intellectual and activist traditions that produced Stacey Abrams, Marian Wright Edelman, and Tayari Jones.
But if you look closely at Spelman's own data, the choice feels less like a departure than a fulfillment. Over the past five years, 34 percent of Spelman's student body has pursued majors in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics, environmental science, or engineering, and 25 percent of graduates have received degrees in STEM disciplines. The college is already the country's leading producer of Black women who go on to earn doctoral degrees in STEM — a distinction that carries enormous weight, given how thin the pipeline remains nationally.
The need to widen that pipeline is urgent. Black women make up only about 2.2 percent of the STEM workforce in the United States, according to the National Science Foundation. In engineering and science specifically, Black women comprise only about 1.8 percent of the total workforce. Spelman joins Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse college as participants in the Atlanta University Center Consortium's Dual Degree Engineering Program to support the effort to graduate more Black engineers.
"[Howard] understands the opportunities and challenges shaping higher education today," said Spelman’s board chair, Lovette Russell, C'83, "and shares Spelman's unwavering commitment to preparing Black women to lead and drive change."
Howard's profile speaks directly to that gap. She is the co-founder of Zyrobotics, which develops educational technologies for children with special needs, and co-founder of Black in Robotics, an organization dedicated to expanding representation within the profession. She has authored more than 300 publications and been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. Her life's work has been building the on-ramps that her students will need to be successful in school and beyond.
"At a time when technology, the workforce, and society are evolving rapidly, Spelman's mission has never been more important," Howard said in a statement. "I look forward to building on the College's legacy while honoring its tradition, values, and sisterhood."
Interim President and Chair Emerita Rosalind “Roz” Brewer, C’84 will continue her leadership as Co-Chair of the Spelman Forward campaign and will remain engaged in the long-term strategic visioning of the college.
