Ben Vinson III appointed as Howard University's next president.
Howard University has appointed Ben Vinson III, a historian specializing in studies of the African diaspora, as its new university president. Vinson will take over from the retiring Wayne Frederick on Sept. 1. Howard is enjoying a season of plenty, with high-profile alumni, major funding boosts, and headline-grabbing faculty members. Vinson called the Howard position, “the honor of a lifetime.”