Strategic Initiatives

The mission of the HPS Center for Financial Excellence in the School of Business is to provide business students and faculty with advanced resources, access to practical knowledge and skills, and real-world environments for analyzing and resolving financial issues. The Center’s major goals are 1) the preparation and placement of highly capable students in rewarding finance careers, thereby enhancing diversity in financial services; and 2) the creation of an environment that is practical and relevant for all stakeholders by focusing on strategies and outcomes that provide a distinctive learning experience for students. The Center and its programs, activities and operations will be funded by a $10 million gift from HPS Investment Partners. The HPS sponsorship will enable the Center to create a unique platform for experiential learning that will provide cutting-edge financial tools and deliver high-impact programs that provide a bridge between the classroom and practical experiences which are key to successful careers in finance.

The Warner Music Group has provided a gift of $5 million in funding to establish an interdisciplinary center in the School of Business that will focus on preparing undergraduate and graduate students to become professionals within the music and entertainment industries. The proposed center will provide a unique opportunity to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the dearth of African American professionals in leadership positions and build a sustainable pipeline model for the future. This partnership between Howard University and the Warner Music Group in the form of an academic center will engage with students in three pipelines: 1) a formal fellowship program that directly prepares a select group of students for career opportunities 2) campus exposure to key areas of the business via an Executive in Residence program, and 3) general campus programming for the entire student population.

Visit the webpage for The Warner Music & Blavatnik Center for Music Business Education.

The Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership in the College of Arts and Sciences. As the premier HBCU, establishing a center focused on women and gender at Howard University. The Center will contribute to meeting the goals of the Howard Forward Plan related to academic excellence, service to the community, and inspiration of new knowledge. A $1 million seed donation from Howard University Trustee Mr. Jim Murren and his wife, Heather Hay Murren, has enabled the establishment of the proposed Center. The Provost and Chief Academic Officer and the President will vet and approve programming, administrative, and fiscal requirements for the center.

Opening Ceremony for The Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership

Hubsport, Sprout, VM Ware, and Amazon have committed $1,150,000 to support Howard University’s School of Business in the development and management of a new Center for Digital Business. The Center will be an educational center that serves as the forum for an expansive set of academic, experiential and professional programming with a goal of impacting digital business globally through applying best practices in marketing, sales, data management, and technology. The Center for Digital Business at Howard University will encompass academic and extracurricular programming, job readiness, and will create a physical space. The initial center proposal focuses on the consumer experience.

The Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics will coordinate and facilitate interdisciplinary programs in data science and data analytics; collaborate with other institutes and centers on the campus; expand and coordinate research funding; and develop research and educational linkages that will include internship and placement programs with sponsoring corporations and government agencies.

The Center for HBCU Research, Leadership, and Policy at Howard University will be committed to building a community of HBCU and HBCU-allied researchers whose scholarship informs higher education leadership, policy, and practice.

The Center’s goals include:

1. Conducting, sponsoring, and disseminating interdisciplinary empirical studies focused on generating findings of particular significance to HBCUs;

2. Developing policy position papers, based upon the conduct of empirical studies, that would help frame a supportive narrative regarding HBCUs, and acknowledge the instrumental work being done by the HBCU educational sector;

3. Creating formal collaborative initiatives among institutions based on shared priorities, strategic goals, and commitment to the success of HBCUs;

4. Offering revenue-generating credit and non-credit leadership development programs to current and aspirant HBCU administrators and faculty; and

5. Providing expert consultation to HBCUs in critical areas (i.e., accreditation, fundraising, student success, academic planning, enrollment management, etc.)

The Howard University PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship will serve as a national hub for HBCUs to enhance instruction and provide real-world learning opportunities for students across the campus and provide opportunities for faculty to engage in interdisciplinary scholarly research.  In addition, the National Center will be a significant resource not only to the universities, but also the community in innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and regional technological and economic development. A major focus for the National Center and its regional HBCU partners is to engage the black business community in growing their enterprises, thereby having a positive impact on the community and increasing employment and wealth for the black community. The National Center will operate under the auspices of the School of Business and the Office of the Dean.

In 2023, the African American Irish Diaspora Network (AAIDN) organized a strategic consortium of major universities in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United States for collaboration on the commercialization of select research initiatives and the funding of enterprises spinning out that academic research. The consortium is tentatively named the “US-Ireland Research and Investment Consortium” (USIRI Consortium).

The founding university partners in the USIRI Consortium are the University College Dublin, Queens University Belfast, Princeton University and Howard University. It is envisioned that corporate and investment partnerships would emerge through strategic affiliations with the Consortium. Corporate, foundation and government grants will also be sought to support its research and entrepreneurship initiatives. AAIDN will be a management partner in the Consortium and provide overall coordination, as well as assistance with outreach to and communication with strategic affiliates of the Consortium.