HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Alumnus Darrell K. Williams will be Hampton University’s 13th president.
HU announced Wednesday morning that the class of 1983 grad was selected by the university’s board of trustees on March 30. He was chosen from a pool of nearly 300 applicants.
Williams will take over for longtime President William Harvey, who’s retiring on June 30 after 44 years leading HU.
“I love Hampton and bring a wealth of strategic leadership experiences, including management of large global organizations, as well as the academic and nonprofit experience necessary to successfully lead the university,” Williams said. “I am thrilled to have been selected as the next president. I will work tirelessly with students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader community to prepare our graduates for today and for the continuously evolving, technology-driven workforce of tomorrow.”
Williams is an Alexandria native and is currently the Leidos United Kingdom vice president and managing director of the U.K. Ministry of Defence Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation (LCST) programme.
He retired from the U.S. Army in 2020 after 37 years and in his last role he served as the first African American and 19th director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
Williams actually met his wife, Myra Richardson Williams, while going to school at Hampton. They will be the first president and first lady to both hold Hampton degrees.
To read more about Williams, click here.
