Spelman College is beginning a new chapter under Dr. Ayanna Howard, the nationally recognized roboticist and artificial-intelligence leader selected as the college’s 12th president.
Spelman announced Howard’s appointment in June and said she would assume the presidency on Aug. 1. Her background includes leadership in engineering education, entrepreneurship and human-centered technology, along with earlier work as a NASA engineer.
The appointment places a technology leader at the helm of one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black colleges for women at a moment when artificial intelligence is rapidly changing education, research and the workforce.
For Spelman, the opportunity is larger than adding more technology to campus. Howard’s challenge is to connect innovation to the institution’s long-standing mission of preparing Black women to lead across disciplines while preserving the culture and academic identity that make Spelman distinctive.
Her presidency is worth watching because the next generation of Black students will not simply live with emerging technologies — they will need opportunities to shape them, question them, build companies around them and lead the institutions that govern their use.
Source reference: Spelman College
