RELEASE- Morgan State Hosts 7th Annual African Film Festival

Dallas R. Evans, chairman of the Morgan State University Board of Regents announced today that the Board has received official notification of President Earl S. Richardson’s decision to retire from the University, effective December 31, 2009.

When Dr. Richardson retires at the end of next year, he will have served as president of Morgan State University for 25 years and as a state employee for 39 years.

“Dr. Richardson has provided the University with outstanding leadership in his two-and-a-half decades as president,” said Board Chairman Dallas R. Evans. “During his tenure, Morgan experienced unprecedented growth and development, in the growth of programs, expansion of physical facilities on the campus and improvements in enrollment numbers as well as in the quality of students admitted. His departure is truly the end of an era at Morgan.”

A native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Dr. Richardson is a graduate of what was then Maryland State College’s baccalaureate program in social sciences and earned Master of Science and Doctor of Education degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating at the head of his class. Over the years, he developed a personal understanding of the challenges faced by historically black colleges and universities and became known during his career as a champion for the enhancement of Maryland’s HBCUs. Prior to coming to Morgan, Dr. Richardson served in various leadership roles, including assistant to the president of the University System of Maryland and executive assistant to the chancellor, University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He was appointed as Morgan’s 11th president in 1984.

Under Dr. Richardson’s leadership, Morgan State University has seen a tremendous transformation, resulting in a campus with more state of the art facilities and numerous infrastructure enhancements. The University is Maryland’s leader in producing African American degree recipients at the baccalaureate level and is nationally recognized for increasing the number of minorities in the field of mathematics, science and engineering.

“Because of his vision, energy and passion, Morgan is now recognized throughout the country,” said Chairman Evans. “We have achieved the doctoral university research status, one of only four public institutions in the state of Maryland to do so.” Evans emphasized that he and board members have every expectation that President Richardson will continue the same level of leadership over the next 14 months.

“It has always been and continues to be such a pleasure to serve this great institution,” Dr. Richardson said. “Given the far-reaching implications of the issues before us and the very exciting possibilities for resolution, I doubt seriously that I will have any real time to think about retiring.”

The Board of Regents is expected to officially take up the matter of Dr. Richardson’s retirement at its next regularly scheduled board meeting in November and to implement a strategy for naming his successor.

Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie classified Doctoral Research Institution offering more than 70 academic programs leading to bachelor's degrees as well as programs at the master's and doctoral levels. As Maryland's public urban university, Morgan serves a multi-ethnic and multi-racial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information on Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.

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