Dr. A. Zachary Faison Jr. assumed responsibility as the 30th President & CEO of Edward Waters College (EWC) in Jacksonville, Florida on July 16, 2018 post a unanimous vote by the College’s Board of Trustees. Founded in 1866, EWC is distinctively the state of Florida’s first independent institution of higher learning as well as Florida’s first higher educational institution established for the purpose of educating African- Americans. Just 37 years of age at the time of his appointment, Faison’s selection made him the youngest President of a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in America.
As EWC’s leader, Dr. Faison has led in the conceptualization, development, and implementation of an ambitious institutional strategic plan—titled Eminence 2025—highlighted by his having achieved the elimination of the College’s then existing multi-million-dollar operating net cash deficit (-$1.9 million) leading to its first year-end operating net cash surplus (+ $3.7 million) in over a decade all before the close of just his second full fiscal year (FY20) at the helm. Additionally, he led in raising the College’s admissions standards while simultaneously stabilizing institutional enrollment, secured a historically significant reoccurring $3.5 million-dollar funding increase in the College’s state funding allocation paving the way for the forthcoming addition of new academic programs at the College including its first ever graduate degree program ultimately positioning the institution to earn university status, and led the contractual renegotiation necessary for the City of Jacksonville to directly fund the $4.4 million-dollar comprehensive renovation of the College’s largest student residence facility and the $4.3 million-dollar new construction of the College’s first ever on-campus athletic stadium both scheduled for completion before the end of the 2020 calendar year. Equally notable, under President Faison’s leadership the institution secured an innovative corporate partnership with Follett Higher Education group to provide seven-figure philanthropic support through and including the furnishing of new personal Chromebook laptop computers to be owned by every new first-time in college full-time Edward Waters College student through the year 2025. Under President Faison’s leadership the institution established the inaugural Honors College at Edward Waters securing an initial freshman student cohort boasting an average 4.0 GPA and nearly 1150 on the SAT as well as debuted EWC’s first ever Center for Undergraduate Research and the Rev. Charles H. Pearce Summer Institute & Bridge Program. Lastly, in July 2019 Dr. Faison led EWC in earning an invitation from NCAA Division II- member Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) to join the conference beginning in 2021 while also adding three new sports to the institution including its first ever women’s soccer program and men and women’s indoor track program(s) in Fall 2020. Amongst other distinguished accomplishments under President Faison’s leadership theaforementioned have led to Edward Waters College achieving recognition by the HBCU Campaign Fund as a ‘Top 10 Smaller HBCU Rising’ in consecutive years for 2019 and 2020.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, President Faison’s career exploits include distinguished professional experiences as a higher education executive administrator, educator, and attorney. He was most recently the General Counsel & Vice President of External Affairs at Tuskegee University where he served as the university’s chief legal officer and provided principal oversight for its legislative and governmental relations functions. Prior to that, he served as Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs at Virginia Union University (VUU) in Richmond, VA where he helped lead theuniversity in achieving increases in overall student enrolment and retention having founded the VUU College for African-American Men (VCAAM).
Dr. Faison also previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Legal & Legislative Affairs, Community Affairs, and Economic Development at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, MS where he later became University Chief of Staff before being named Vice President of Institutional Advancement (interim) & Executive Director of the MVSU Foundation. Faison’s philanthropic work at MVSU yielded nearly $25 million dollars in funding to the university towards new capital projects, infrastructural improvements, and campus renovations. He previously held directorships at EWC as Director of External Relations and Leadership Gifts and at Albany State University (ASU) in Albany, Georgia as the Director of Alumni Affairs. As a scholar-educator, Faison has held professorial appointments at both the undergraduate and graduate level(s) in various academic disciplines including Political Science, Criminal Justice, and Business Administration. He is also a former state prosecutor having served as an Assistant District Attorney prosecuting criminal felony drug cases under the auspices of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia.
President Faison graduated Magna Cum Laude from Albany State University (ASU) with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English where he was an ASU Presidential/Foundation Scholar, ASU Velma Fudge Grant University Honors Program Graduate, ASU National Merit Scholar Graduate, an inductee of the Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society, and upon graduation was awarded for being the highest-ranking student in the University’s Department of English & Modern Languages. He attended the University of Georgia School of Law (UGA) where he earned his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) and was a member of the UGA School of Law Executive Moot Court Board & UGA Law Moot Court team. He is a licensed member of the State Bar of Georgia, Georgia Court of Appeals, Georgia Supreme Court, and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Faison has completed post-doctoral study as a graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Institute for Educational Management (IEM) and was a Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) Institute Fellow of the American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU) & Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU). Additionally, he is a graduate of AASCU’s New President’s Academy and is a Gamma Cohort Fellow of the Higher Education Leadership Foundation (HELF). Dr. Faison also holds the Certification inFundraising Management (CFRM) designation from The Fundraising School of Philanthropy at Indiana-University-Purdue-University at Indianapolis (IUPUI).
President Faison maintains active memberships with various local and national civic, professional, and community organizations. In February 2020, Dr. Faison was appointed by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry to serve as a member of the JEA (the eighth largest publicly owned electric utility in the United States and largest in Florida) Board of Directors. He also serves as a trustee member of the Jacksonville Chamber, is a member of the Jacksonville Civic Council, Leadership Jacksonville, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, and was recently named an institutional director of the UNCF Board of Directors. Faison has received regional and national recognition for his outstanding leadership and achievements per his selection as a member of The Business Journals Influencers: Rising Stars 100; the National Bar Association (Top 40 Attorneys Under 40) the Jacksonville Business Journal (Top 40 Under 40) and has been specially recognized and honored by both of his alma maters— The University of Georgia and Albany State University—as amongst each of its respective 40 most distinguished alumni under 40.
He is the son of Alderman Faison, Sr. and Dr. Jewel J. Faison, and brother to Dr. Morgan Zacheya- Jewel Faison. President Faison has been blissfully married for thirteen years to Mrs. Tyciee L. Faison, who is also a seasoned higher education administrator, educator, and ordained minister.
