Wayne A. I. Frederick

In January 2019, Frederick unveiled the university’s new strategic plan, Howard Forward, which serves as the blueprint for the institution for the next five years. He called the plan, “...ever-evolving, fluid and bold, enabling us to be responsive to market changes; and intentionally innovative, allowing us to create influential ripples in the higher education industry.” In April 2019, Frederick began teaching a weekly course designed for first-year Ph.D. students, titled “College and University Presidency”, as part of the School of Education’s Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies (HELPS) Ph.D. program. The course covers the structure and governance of colleges and universities, with a focus on Minority Serving Institutions (MSI).

During his tenure, Howard University remained a leader in producing Black STEM PhD students, and is America’s number one institution for producing Black applicants to U.S. medical schools. He established the Bison STEM Scholars program to increase the number of underrepresented students in STEM masters and masters/doctorate programs, keeping with Howard’s legacy of providing a diverse pipeline of STEM talent. He launched and expanded the Howard West partnership with Google designed to immerse students in educational and professional experiences taught by Google staff and Howard professors. He was also in charge of managing the school's $1.5 billion real estate portfolio.

In 2018, students asked Frederick for assistance with housing issues after the University was unable to assign dorm rooms. On multiple occasions, Frederick responded that students' emails were inappropriate in tone. After students protested, the housing office was closed and campus police were called. He later issued a statement saying that he had fallen short of student expectations.

In April 2018, faculty returned a vote of no confidence in Frederick. Among the faculty who voted, 61 percent expressed a lack of faith in Frederick's leadership. However, Frederick received a letter of support from the university's Council of Deans, which represents leaders of Howard's schools and colleges. The group wrote that it is "confident that the plans, strategies, programs and activities of the University Board of Trustees and President Frederick are yielding positive results and are on a positive trajectory for a strong and positive future for our beloved institution." The school's alumni association also rejected calls for Frederick to step down. In a letter sent by Nadia N. Pinto, its president, wrote that it was important to hear the concerns of students and meet their needs, but Frederick had been a capable and effective leader who deserved to remain in his job.

In February 2017, Frederick and sixty-eight other presidents of black institutions went to the White House to meet with various officials, in the hope of securing additional funding from the federal government. The meeting prompted outrage on campus and a spate of graffiti vandalism that included allegations that Frederick did not care about black people and was a "plantation overseer". Mark Mason, an alum who is chief financial officer at Citigroup and a vice-co-chair of the university's board of trustees, later told The New Yorker that the graffiti was "inappropriately personalized and should not have happened."

In 2014, Frederick was paid $953,104, ranking 45th-best-paid among 510 presidents of private American colleges. In the winter of that year, classes were postponed because the college was unable to heat its facilities.

On October 1, 2013, following the resignation of Sidney A. Ribeau, Frederick became Interim President of Howard University.

Frederick began his academic career as Associate Director of the Cancer Center at the University of Connecticut in 2004. Upon his return to Howard University, he served as Associate Dean in the College of Medicine, Division Chief in the Department of Surgery, Director of the Cancer Center, and Deputy Provost for Health Sciences. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Howard University's School of Business in 2011. Frederick continues to operate and lectures to the second-year medical students of Howard University's College of Medicine. His medical research seeks to narrow the disparity in all cancer-care outcomes, with a focus on gastrointestinal cancers.

After graduating high school at the age of 14, Frederick took pre-college courses at St. Mary's College in Port of Spain. Frederick enrolled at Howard University in 1988, at the age of sixteen. As an undergraduate student, Frederick was admitted to Howard University's B.S./M.D. dual degree program. He completed the requirements for both degrees in six years, allowing him to earn both his Bachelor of Science and his medical degree by the age of 22.

During his surgical residency at Howard University Hospital, he was mentored by renowned doctor LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. and Dr. Clive O. Callendar. He was greatly influenced by Leffall (First African-American president of the American Cancer Society in 1978 and of the American College of Surgeons in 1995) to follow a cursus in surgical oncology. He completed his post-doctoral research and surgical oncology fellowships at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Wayne A. I. Frederick (born June 17, 1971) is a Trinidadian scholar, surgeon, and university administrator, currently serving as President of Howard University in Washington D.C. since July 21, 2014.