FAMU Delegation Attends Inauguration of UDC President Maurice Edington

Edington served in various roles, including EVP/COO, prior to leaving to lead for Washington, D.C.’s only public university.

Washington, D.C. – Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., and a delegation of senior administrators and deans attended the Thursday, March 14, 2024, inauguration of Maurice D. Edington, Ph.D., as the 10th president of the University of District of Columbia (UDC).

Among those in attendance were Trustee Nicole Washington, Executive Vice President (EVP)/Chief Operating Officer (COO) Donald Palm, Ph.D., Provost Allyson Watson, Ph.D., Chief Financial Officer/Vice President of Finance & Administration Rebecca Brown, Vice President for University Advancement and School of Business and Industry Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud, Ph.D., and several other members of the FAMU Senior Leadership Team (SLT), as well as School of Allied Health Sciences Dean Mary Simmons, Interim College of Agriculture and Food Sciences Dean Dale Wesson, Ph.D., and others who had worked closely with Edington.

“These people are here because of their tremendous respect, admiration, and love of Dr. Edington.  In one way or the other he has touched their lives and influenced their journey in positives ways. He is a real influencer,” Robinson said during the ceremony.

 

 

During a more than two-decade tenure at FAMU, Edington served as a chemistry professor, dean, provost/vice president for Academic Affairs and the University’s first EVP/COO.

“I want to express our thanks to our former Chief Operating Officer, and now your President, Dr. Maurice Edington for his role and leadership in making these things happen,” Robinson told the festive gathering. “I have witnessed in real time what can be done with vision, purpose, and a plan to get there. President Maurice Edington is a man of vision, purpose, commitment, integrity, and humility.”

During his remarks, Edington spoke to his deep appreciation for UDC’s proud history as an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and the District’s only public university, and his commitment to deliver on its promise in the years to come:

“We have many bold goals ahead of us: Becoming a world-class flagship university for the nation’s capital. A national model for urban student success. A workforce and economic mobility engine for the District. A research and innovation hub that addresses the District’s critical needs. A University that unites all its stakeholders in support of a shared vision, One UDC,” he said.

Edington was honored before a full house at UDC’s Theater of the Arts, which brought together an array of esteemed guests, including leaders from District government, UDC and other universities, faculty, staff, alumni, and the community. Speakers praised Edington’s bold vision for the future of the university.

“In the eight months that I have worked alongside him, Dr. Edington has demonstrated time and again that he is a visionary when it comes to higher education,” said UDC Board of Trustees Chair Christopher D. Bell, J.D. “And not just someone with big ideas – someone who knows how to make those ideas happen.”

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged the significance of UDC to the city.

“What Dr. Edington understands is just how important UDC is to our city – that it represents our commitment to life-long learning and opportunity and our special responsibility to build pathways to the middle class for Washingtonians,” Bowser said. “UDC is a key piece of a public education system that begins when our children are three years old and then takes them all the way through law school. It is a public education system that is a bright spot in our city and one that we are immensely proud of, and I look forward to the future of UDC under Dr. Edington’s leadership.”