Gregory Fowler inaugurated as University of Maryland Global Campus president
Mar. 13—COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Gregory W. Fowler has been inaugurated as the seventh president of the University of Maryland Global Campus, becoming the first African American to hold the title.
"At the core of every surging river, every breaking wave, is a single drop of water," Fowler said during the inauguration ceremony. "We will work to create those rivers of change and those waves of progress by transforming lives, one learner at a time."
Fowler's investiture was held at the College Park Marriott Hotel and Conference Center and live-streamed to a global audience. The new UMGC president is the brother of Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler. He began his tenure as president on Jan. 4, 2021, and the inauguration ceremony formalized his leadership.
"Greg Fowler is uniquely suited to build upon UMGC's impressive 75-year legacy and lift this institution to even greater heights," Linda Gooden, chair of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, said. "He is a nationally recognized scholar. He is an acknowledged leader in developing innovative learning models."
Lawrence Leak, who served as UMGC interim president during the national search that led to the selection of Fowler as president, praised his successor as a "visionary leader."
"When I met Greg for the first time, almost 15 months ago, I was immediately impressed by his insight, his engagement and his eagerness to tackle the challenges at hand energetically," Leak said. "He is a skilled administrator and distinguished scholar, and he possesses a keen sense of purpose and a passion for our mission."
As the first African American president of UMGC, Leak said, Fowler is leading a university "that boldly embraces diversity in all forms and touches the lives of so many individuals of color, both here and abroad."
Several Maryland elected officials, led by Gov. Larry Hogan and members of the Maryland congressional delegation, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, as well as Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, offered video tributes to the new president.
Fowler joined UMGC after serving as president of Southern New Hampshire University's Global Campus. In his nearly nine years there, he led efforts to develop competency-based online and hybrid programs to meet the demands of work force and global communities. His programs had reached disadvantaged students in Los Angeles, refugees in Africa and the Middle East, and learners in Mexico and Colombia. Earlier, Fowler held senior-level academic and administrative positions at Western Governors University.
The UMGC president graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, and for two years he was a Charles A. Dana Scholar at Duke University.
After graduation, he worked for the National Endowment for the Humanities as an outreach specialist. While at NEH in Washington, D.C., he earned a master's degree in English from George Mason University and then taught literature and American studies at Penn State University, Erie while pursuing a doctorate in English/American Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo. A two-time Fulbright Scholar, he also holds an MBA from Western Governors University and completed programs in higher education administration, executive leadership and negotiation at Harvard University.
Fowler spoke during his inauguration of how his father and mother revered education and public service, encouraging him and his seven brothers and sisters as they advanced into higher education for the family's first time and embraced successful careers that helped others. The new president's parents and six of his seven siblings and their family members attended the inauguration.
"My life is a testimony that in transforming lives, we transform families," Fowler said. "And if we can transform families, we can transform communities. If we can transform communities, we can transform nations. And if we can transform nations, we can transform the world."
