Maurice D. Edington, Ph.D., is the 10th president of the University of the District of Columbia. He began his tenure in August 2023, bringing over 20 years of higher education leadership experience to the university. Edington is an accomplished scientist, educator and university administrator with a proven track record of improving institutional outcomes and fostering student success.
Since joining UDC, Edington has spearheaded transformative initiatives that have defined the university’s strategic direction and strengthened its operational efficiency. Under his leadership, UDC launched Delivering on the Promise, a five-year strategic plan aimed at positioning the university as a premier national public urban institution. He has driven enrollment growth, implemented key administrative restructuring efforts, and expanded student recruitment and retention initiatives.
A strong advocate for service excellence, accountability and performance-driven strategies, Edington has optimized institutional operations through targeted administrative restructuring, including implementing key senior leadership appointments and realigning critical functions to enhance effectiveness. He has prioritized aligning academic programs with workforce demands, laying the foundation for new programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), health and education.
To elevate UDC’s brand and visibility, Edington has led a comprehensive marketing and digital media strategy overhaul, significantly enhancing engagement with government, corporate and philanthropic partners. His efforts have positioned UDC as a key voice in local and national higher education discussions, with the university’s achievements prominently featured in high-profile media outlets.
Edington is actively engaged in several external boards and organizations, contributing his leadership and expertise to regional and national initiatives. He serves on the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center Governing Board, the Federal City Council, the DC Workforce Investment Council, the Crittenton Services of Greater Washington CEO Advisory Board, and the Board of Trustees of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Edington most recently served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer at Florida A&M University (FAMU), where he guided strategy for vice presidents and other senior administrators to improve institutional outcomes on key performance indicators and sustain operational excellence. Direct reports included the provost and vice president for academic affairs, vice president for student affairs, vice president for research, vice president for strategic planning, director of communications, and executive director of Title III programs.
Edington previously served as the provost and vice president for academic affairs (2018-2022). In that role, he was responsible for all matters pertaining to academic programs, activities and services in FAMU’s 14 colleges/schools, including overseeing all institutional and specialized accreditation activities. He managed an annual operating budget of $99 million for 9,200 students and over 500 full-time faculty.
As provost, Edington served as the university’s chief strategist and worked closely with FAMU’s president and Board of Trustees to establish and advance the university’s strategic priorities. Under his leadership, FAMU made tremendous strides in increasing student success outcomes, launched several new degree programs, and experienced its highest performance (in 2021 and 2023) on Florida’s Performance-Based Funding Model. Under Edington’s guidance, the university also climbed into the top 100 public national universities in the U.S. News & World Report rankings and became the nation’s highest-ranked public HBCU, a designation it has held for the past six years.
While at FAMU, Edington established the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Office of Freshmen Studies, and the Office of STEM Outreach to support his vision for increasing student success. He also chaired the university’s Strategic Planning Committee, which developed FAMU’s 2022-2027 strategic plan. And he served as chair of the State University System of Florida Council of Academic Vice Presidents.
Edington previously served as the vice president for strategic planning, analysis and institutional effectiveness at FAMU. In this role, he oversaw the university’s assessment, accreditation, academic program quality, institutional research, reporting and strategic planning functions. Several notable achievements marked his tenure in this role, including leading the development and implementation of the university’s 2017-2022 strategic plan, coordinating the successful decennial accreditation review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), co-authoring the university’s annual legislative budget requests and providing leadership on implementing strategies to improve the university’s outcomes on the performance-based funding model.
Prior to that role, Edington served as the founding dean of the FAMU College of Science and Technology. Under his leadership, the college improved in several key areas, including increasing freshman retention rates, grant awards and graduate enrollment. Dr. Edington spearheaded the development of the college’s inaugural strategic plan, guided the revamping of the college’s tenure and promotion criteria, and implemented several academic support initiatives that helped to increase student success rates in several science and mathematics gateway courses. In addition, he facilitated the college’s efforts in establishing partnerships with several corporations and government agencies to garner support for the college’s strategic priorities.
Edington’s previous administrative experiences include serving as the director of the FAMU Quality Enhancement Program (QEP), chair of the FAMU Department of Chemistry, and director of the FAMU Office of Engineering and Science Support. Edington also has extensive experience with accreditation and strategic planning. Under his supervision as dean, the FAMU computer science program completed a successful ABET accreditation review. Additionally, he served as FAMU’s SACSCOC Accreditation Liaison for more than a decade.
Edington is a physical chemist by training with a research specialty in ultrafast laser spectroscopy. He also conducts research and provides training to faculty in the area of STEM education, with a focus on using active learning instructional strategies to enhance critical thinking skills.
Edington received a B.A. in chemistry from Fisk University and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Vanderbilt University. He completed postdoctoral studies at Duke University, where he was a National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow.
Edington is married to Tonya Barge Edington and is the father of Gabriella Edington, M.D.