Hampden-Sydney names its first black president

Hampden-Sydney College has selected Christopher B. Howard as its new president—the first African-American to serve in that post.

Howard, vice president for leadership and strategic initiatives at the University of Oklahoma, was selected today at a specially called meeting of the board of trustees for the all-male college near Farmville.

He will succeed Walter M. Bortz III, who announced in May that he would step down on June 30.

Howard graduated in 1991 from the U.S. Air Force Academy and studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a master’s of philosophy and a doctorate in philosophy. He also earned a master’s in business administration from Harvard University.