Morgan State University
Morgan State University is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is the third largest among all Historically Black Colleges or Universities. In 1890, the university, then known as the Centenary Biblical Institute, changed its name to honor Lyttleton Morgan, the first chairman of its board of trustees and a donor. It became a university in 1975.
Although a public institution, Morgan State is not a part of the University System of Maryland. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
History
Morgan State University is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute, a Methodist Episcopal seminary, to train young men in the ministry. At the time of his death, Thomas Kelso, co-founder and president of the board of directors, endowed the Male Free School and Colored Institute through a legacy of his estate.It later broadened its mission to educate both men and women as teachers. The school was renamed as Morgan College in 1890 in honor of the Reverend Lyttleton Morgan, the first chairman of its board of trustees, who donated land to the college. In 1895, the institution awarded its first baccalaureate degree to George W. F. McMechen, after whom the building of the school of business and management is named today. McMechen later earned a law degree from Yale University and, after establishing his career, became one of Morgan's main financial supporters.
John O. Spencer became the fifth president of Morgan College in 1902, and served in that position until 1937. In 1902, Morgan's assets were a little over $100,000 in grounds, equipment and endowments, including its branch schools at the time; the then Princess Anne Academy and the Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute. During his tenure as president, the university saw major expansions across the campus. By 1937, the school's assets were more than $1,000,000 and its enrollment had grown from 150 to 487. It also saw the first "Era of Progress" as the college transformed from a college supported by the religious community to a college gaining support from private foundations, and offering liberal arts academic degree for a variety of professions. In 1915, Andrew Carnegie donated to the school a grant of $50,000 for a central academic building. The terms of the grant included the purchase of a new site for the College, payment of all outstanding obligations, and the construction of a building to be named after him. The College met the conditions and moved to its present site in northeast Baltimore in 1917.
In 1918, the white community of Lauraville tried to have the sale revoked by filing suit in the circuit court in Towson, upset that the Ivy Mill property, the planned location of Morgan State, had been sold to a "negro" college. The circuit court dismissed the suit, which the community appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals. The appellate court upheld the lower court decision, finding no basis that siting the college at this location would constitute a public nuisance. Despite some ugly threats and several demonstrations against the project, Morgan College was constructed at the new site and later expanded. Carnegie Hall, the oldest original building on the present Morgan campus, was erected a year later.
Morgan remained a private institution until 1939. That year, the state of Maryland purchased the school. Morgan College became Morgan State College. In 1975, Morgan State added several doctoral programs and was designated as a university by state legislature.
21st century
In the 21st century, the university has seen the construction of a new student union, two dedicated parking garages, the Earl S. Richardson Library, the Dixon Research Center, the Communications Building, and the Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies.The Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center is also the home of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art. In September 2012, Morgan State opened the Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies which houses the School of Architecture and Planning, School of Transportation Studies, and the School of Engineering.
In 2020, MacKenzie Scott donated $40 million to Morgan State. The following year, Calvin E. Tyler Jr. donated $20 million to endow scholarships. In 2025, MacKenzie Scott donated an additional $63 million to Morgan State, the largest donation in the history of the institution.
The neighboring Morgan Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
Academics
Morgan State awards baccalaureate, master's, and doctorate degrees.Morgan has educated over 100 Fulbright scholars, the most of any HBCU. Morgan is also first among HBCUs in the number of Fulbright-related grants awarded to students, faculty, and administrators. It is one of the 19 schools included on the inaugural Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leaders list. Since instituting the Fulbright program, Morgan State University has trained 144 Fulbright awardees initiating international studies in 43 different countries. Moreover, 51 MSU professors or administrators have earned 73 "Senior Fulbright" awards to 42 countries.
Schools and colleges
The university operates twelve colleges, schools, and institutes.- James H. Gilliam, Jr. College of Liberal Arts
- School of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
- Clarence M. Mitchell School of Engineering
- School of Architecture and Planning
- Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management
- School of Community Health and Policy
- School of Global Journalism and Communication
- School of Education & Urban Studies
- School of Social Work
- College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies
- Dr. Clara Adams Honors College
- School of Graduate Studies
- Patuxent Environmental & Aquatic Research Laboratory
James H. Gilliam, Jr. College of Liberal Arts
School of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences
The School of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences offers undergraduate majors and minors as well as graduate degree programs in the natural and physical sciences, mathematics, and computing disciplines. The chemistry program is approved by the American Chemical Society. The medical laboratory science program is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences and the American Society for Clinical Pathology. The actuarial science program is approved by the Society of Actuaries. It also hosts the university's environmental and aquatic research laboratory - PEARL.Clarence M. Mitchell School of Engineering
The School of Engineering offers Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accredited degrees in engineering and admitted its first class starting in 1984. The first graduates received degrees in 1988. Eugene M. DeLoatch was the first Dean of the School of Engineering, having previously been Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Howard University. He was succeeded by Michael G. Spencer who was previously a professor of electrical engineering at Cornell University. By 1991, the construction of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering building was completed, and the facility included sixteen teaching laboratories and five research laboratories. The William Donald Schaefer Building is a addition to the Engineering School and was completed in April 1998. The facility provided instructional laboratories, classrooms, a student lounge, research laboratories and a library annex.In 2015 Morgan State University's School of Engineering graduates provided more than two-thirds of the state's African-American Civil Engineers, 60 percent of the African-American Electrical Engineers, 80 percent of the African-American Telecommunications specialists, more than one-third of the African-American Mathematicians, and all of Maryland's Industrial Engineers.