The newly launched Association of HBCU Research Institutions (AHRI), which includes FAMU, Morgan State University, Howard, and North Carolina A&T State University among its members, aims to guide its institutions to the coveted “R1” or “Research 1” status. This top-tier Carnegie Classification designation, which currently only Howard University holds among HBCUs, unlocks greater federal funding, attracts elite faculty and graduate students, and signifies a university’s role as a national research powerhouse.
The initiative, quietly organized in 2023, officially launched this past week with $1 million in support from Harvard University, and will be housed within the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Association of American Universities (AAU) an organization of top research schools. This collaboration represents a strategic effort to upend long-standing inequities in research funding and recognition.
“This is about changing the narrative and dismantling the discriminatory assumptions about what HBCUs are capable of,” said Ruth Simmons, Ph.D., the former president of both Brown University and Prairie View A&M University, who helped spearhead the effort, and now serves as a senior advisor to the president of Harvard. “For too long, these institutions have worked in isolation from the dominant research ecosystem, despite producing a disproportionate share of the nation’s Black STEM graduates and conducting vital, community-engaged research.”
The coalition’s formation was catalyzed by an outreach from AAU President Barbara R. Snyder to Dr. Simmons. It brought together leaders including Wayne A.I. Frederick of Howard University, David Wilson of Morgan State, Larry Robinson, former President of FAMU, Harold L. Martin Sr., and chancellor emeritus of North Carolina A&T. FAMU’s involvement is being led by Donald Palm, Ph.D., the executive vice president for research innovation.
“This partnership is a tangible step toward reconciling with a painful past by investing in a more equitable future for higher education,” said a Harvard spokesperson.
Currently, thirteen of the fifteen AHRI member schools hold the “R2” (Research 2) classification. The path to R1 is rigorous, measured by factors like total research expenditures and the number of research doctoral degrees awarded. The coalition will focus on sharing best practices, forming collaborative research clusters, and navigating the complex grant systems that fuel high-level research.
The move comes amid a growing, though still inadequate, national focus on strengthening HBCUs, which have been chronically underfunded compared to their predominantly white peers. Proponents argue that elevating HBCU research capacity is not just a matter of equity, but a national imperative for innovation.
“The intellectual capital at these institutions has always been profound,” said Dr. Palm. “What we are building now is the scaffolding—the partnerships, the infrastructure, the strategic focus—to allow that capital to flourish at the highest levels and receive the recognition it deserves.”
For the member universities, the potential impact is profound. R1 status can transform an institution’s trajectory, bringing in tens of millions in additional research grants and elevating its profile globally.
As the association begins its work, its mission extends beyond classification. It seeks to formally integrate the unique strengths and perspectives of HBCUs into the heart of the American research enterprise, challenging a system that has largely excluded them from its top tiers. The success of this coalition could mark a historic rebalancing of academic power and possibility.