David A. Thomas is the 12th president of Morehouse College. He is an expert in organizational change, and spent decades researching and writing about diversity in business leadership. Under his guidance, Morehouse has innovated in STEM education and expanded its online class offerings. Thomas believes that Morehouse has a responsibility to help the nation to address the inequities caused by institutional racism, which have created disparities in income, employment, health, housing, and educational opportunities for people of African descent.

Previously, he was a professor at Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania, and dean of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. At Georgetown, Thomas oversaw a major redesign of the MBA curriculum and the expansion of career management activities, and he increased the diversity of the school’s faculty.

Thomas co-edited the book Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience (2019). Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America (1999), which he coauthored, was one of the first in-depth studies to focus on minorities in top leadership positions.

Expertise: Diversity in business leadership, organizational behavior, strategic human resource management, executive development, organizational change, business curricula, executive development, civil rights, HBCUs, business school

Location: Atlanta, Ga.

Email: communications@morehouse.edu 

Twitter: @ProfThomas

Heard on: 89.3 KPCC: Diversity in Tech