Michael L. Lomax
Dr. Michael Lucius Lomax has served as president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) for more than two decades. UNCF is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization and the largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to underrepresented students.
Under Dr. Lomax’s leadership, UNCF has raised more than $4 billion and helped more than 300,000 students earn college degrees and launch careers. Annually, UNCF’s work enables 50,000 students to go to college with UNCF scholarships and attend its 37 member historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Prior to leading UNCF, Dr. Lomax served as president of Dillard University, as a professor of literature at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges and was the first African American to be elected chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Dr. Lomax entered Morehouse College at the age of 16 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English as one of the college’s inaugural Phi Beta Kappa graduates in 1968. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Columbia University in 1972 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in American and African American Literature from Emory University in 1984.
Among his many honors, Dr. Lomax was appointed to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities by President George W. Bush. And he formerly served on the board of Teach for America and was the founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He now serves on the boards of the Special Olympics, KIPP, Cengage and Studio Museum in Harlem.
A former Emory University trustee, Dr. Lomax, in 2004 received the university’s most prestigious alumni honor, the Emory Medal, which recognizes recipients who are leaders in their field as well as leaders in their local, national and global communities. Among Dr. Lomax’s other awards are the Laurel Crowned Circle Award from Omicron Delta Kappa, Morehouse’s Bennie Achievement Award and 17 honorary degrees.
He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Dr. Lomax resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and is the father of three daughters, Deignan, Michele and Rachel and the grandfather of Chloe, a rising senior at Howard University, who will graduate in the Class of 2026, Averie, Bailey, Ethan and Michael, who is a Morehouse College alum.