Jenifer, Franklyn G. 1939–

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Franklyn G. Jenifer 1939–

University president

“If I am going to create the kind of change that I want, it’s not going to be evolutionary,” Dr. Franklyn G. Jenifer said in Jet magazine, when he was installed as the fourteenth president of Howard University, in Washington, D.C. “It has to be revolutionary because our time is short.” Jenifer was the first Howard alumnus with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the university to become its president in the 124-year history of the institution. He followed Dr. James Cheek, who was recognized by Jet for making the school that graduated New York City mayor David N. Dinkins and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison the “capstone of Black education.” Twenty-year veteran Cheek’s resignation resulted in 1990, following student unrest and increasing budget problems. Aware of the institution’s historical significance, the incoming president wanted the school to be relevant to neighboring, impoverished northwest Washington, home to Howard University since the first years of the Emancipation Proclamation. Jenifer divulged in Jet, “I want to see more of a blur of the line of demarcation between Howard and the rest of the community.”

Born March 26, 1939, in Washington, D.C., Jenifer was separated from his father as a five year old. When he was growing up, Jenifer had to help out at home to make ends meet. Though his childhood was difficult, he received emotional support from his mother and a scout leader. In 1957, he applied to Howard University, but was denied admittance on the basis of poor grades and weak test scores. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Jenifer confessed to Michel Marriott in the New York Times. “My skill level was absolutely nonexistent.” The university’s rejection made him determined to improve his resume. The eighteen-year-old Jenifer got a job as a messenger at the Library of Congress. He learned Russian to advance to a better job, filing periodicals at the library. Jenifer spent his evenings taking a night course for congressional pages. The semester following his rebuff, he was accepted at Howard, where he studied microbiology. Specializing in plant virology, Jenifer went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1970.

During the following nine years, Dr. Jenifer held various posts, including that of biology professor, department chairman, university senate chairman, and associate provost at Rutgers University. He was named vice-chancellor

At a Glance…

Born Franklyn Green Jenifer, March 26, 1939, in Washington, DC; married, 1964; children: three. Education: Howard University, B.S., 1963 (one source says 1962), M.S., 1965; University of Maryland, College Park, Ph.D., 1970.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, MD, plant pathologist, 1963-70; Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, 1970-79, began as biology professor, became biology department chairman, associate provost, university senate chairman; New Jersey Board of Higher Education, vice-chancellor, 1979-86; Massachusetts Board of Regents, chancellor, c. 1986-90; Howard University, Washington, DC, president, 1990—.

Member: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Microbiologists.

Addresses: Office —2400 6th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20059.

for the New Jersey Department of Higher Education in 1979. In 1986, he became chancellor of the Massachusetts Board of Regents. In that position, Jenifer administrated programs at three public universities, nine state colleges, and 15 community colleges, where 170,000 students were enrolled. He earned praise from colleagues for his forceful leadership and his efforts in restructuring the state’s financial aid operations, renovating certification procedures, and refurbishing continuing education courses. Robert Schwartz, the governor’s education adviser while Jenifer served as state chancellor, disclosed to Marriott: “By force of his own personality and his energy and his ideas, in a relatively short period of time, he built himself a base of support. More importantly, he developed an agenda for change and reform and was able to move forward very rapidly.”

In an article by Anthony DePalma for the New York Times, Jenifer discussed the immediate changes he made upon his appointment to Howard, noting that “even this large historically black university with 12,000 students cannot be all things to all African-American people.” With a $460 million annual budget, the university operated at a peak deficit of $20 million near the end of the 1980s. Inadequate housing and lack of office space plagued the school administration, along with repair costs of the older university buildings and dormitories. The appointment of Republican National Committee chairman Lee Atwater to the school’s board of trustees sparked student protest that caused Atwater’s quick resignation the year before Jenifer’s selection. As the new president, Jenifer acted swiftly his first months in office. On his recommendation, the board of trustees closed programs—including courses in home economics, social work, education, geology, pharmacy, and astrophysics—and approved budget cuts he deemed necessary to highlight Howard’s greatest strengths and resources. In addition, Jenifer instituted measures to raise the university’s admission standards and implement more rigorous faculty reviews.

Jenifer was the first university leader to live in the $1.1 million permanent presidential residence, purchased in 1990. Tackling Howard’s current problems, he also looks forward to the university’s future. His aim is for Howard to become an internationally renowned authority on the black race in America and the third world. Jenifer wants the global economic potential of African and developing countries analyzed at Howard. On the home front—once budget problems are resolved—Jenifer hopes to develop tutoring and mentoring approaches for area residents. He wants the university’s presence to help create more neighborhood jobs. Alvin F. Poussaint, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, told Marriott, “[Jenifer] will be very useful at Howard. His own career will serve as a reinforcing model to the students. What’s important is that he didn’t quit.” Advancing the school into the 1990s, Jenifer has led Howard University to add courses in international and urban affairs as well as entrepreneurial and Islamic studies. As noted by Marriott, the institution’s change of course is directly linked to Jenifer’s conception of “Howard’s mission in terms of aggressively serving people of color.”