As a youth, David A. Thomas once dreamed of being a Morehouse man. Now, he has the opportunity to be that, and more. The current H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, whose had an astonishingly successful 30+ year career in academia, was recently named the 12th President of the prestigious, Atlanta based institution. Thomas, who admittedly was accepted into Morehouse in 1974, opted to attend Yale University instead because they offered scholarships, whereas Morehouse did not.

“My father said, ‘I know you love Morehouse, but you can add.’”

Thomas admits that even after deciding not to attend Morehouse as a student, he still referred to the institution for the caliber of educator he desired to be for young men, and the sort of student he wanted to help shape, with his knowledge and expertise. 

“I went to Yale, but I always had Morehouse as my icon for producing the kind of men I respected and admired in my youth. That continues to be true when you look at the amazing men Morehouse has produced – amazing men.”

Amidst those amazing men are the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, and even Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, whom Thomas actually met in the 1970s as a student at Yale, during Jackson’s visit.

In January 2018, David A. Thomas will become the first Morehouse President in 5 decades who was not also an alum of the institution but he says that does not deter his belief that he is and will always be a Morehouse man because “…being a Morehouse man is more than being an alum of Morehouse.”

Congratulations Mr. Thomas!