Howard University announced today that Stacey Abrams will join its faculty next fall, serving as the first Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics.

According to a press release, Abrams will collaborate across different departments on issues that impact Black Americans. She will also help lead research and discussions with a goal towards solutions for wider racial and social issues. The University also said that Abrams will establish an inaugural speaker series to invite experts for talks on a range of diverse topics.

In 2018, Abrams  entered the national spotlight by becoming the first African American woman to get a major party nomination for governor in the United States as the Democratic nominee in Georgia. She would ultimately lose that race, and again when she ran in 2022, but has continued to be an outspoken activist for voting rights and accessibility.

“We are trying to have the best and brightest faculty on the campus,” Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick told DCist/WAMU. “I think for a university in the District to make this kind of appointment, says a lot about who we are.”

Abrams is an alumna of Spelman College, a historically Black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s also a New York Times bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction books – including 2020’s Our Time Is Now, which focuses on voting rights.

“We are at an inflection point for American and international democracy, and I look forward to engaging Howard University’s extraordinary students in a conversation about where they can influence, shape and direct the critical public policy decisions we face,” said Abrams in the press release.

According to President Frederick, students have been “over the moon” about adding prominent figures like Abrams to their community.

“We’re giving [students] people who are not just going to teach them theory, but also giving them practical engagement to make them better in the fields that they’re going to go out to,” Frederick told DCist/WAMU.

Meanwhile, Abrams seems eager to start in her new role.

“Our obligation to build generational leadership in public policy never stops – here in GA or DC, across the US or around the world. Let’s get it done,” said Abrams in a tweet.

The chair will be located at the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center at Howard University. The position takes its name from the political strategist, scholar, and expert on issues impacting the African diaspora in the U.S. – who passed away in 2010. The endowment was announced in 2020 when Patricia Turner Walters, his wife, gifted the university their personal African American art collection, with a value at over $2.5 million.

“Through this post, I hope to emulate Dr. Walter’s diasporic lens on our world and be a part of how Howard University continues to contribute to the broader political discourse,” said Abrams in the press release.

Abrams is the latest high-profile figure to join Howard University’s faculty. In 2021, it was announced that Nikole Hannah-Jones – the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist behind the New York Times’ 1619 Project – would be starting a journalism program alongside Ta-Nehisi Coates, an award winning journalist and author best known for his book, Between the World and Me.