UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax Receives GSV’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. Lomax joins the ranks of legendary pioneers, recognizing a lifetime of transformative leadership advancing the future of education through innovation, partnership, and purpose.

Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and chief executive officer of the UNCF, was honored recently with the prestigious GSV 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego—one of the world’s leading convenings of education, innovation, and impact.

One of the nation’s foremost thought-leaders on HBCUs and higher education, Lomax has led UNCF in its efforts to engineer partnerships with reform-focused leaders and organizations and worked to further advance HBCUs with Congress, the administration and the Department of Education.

In receiving the honor, Dr. Lomax joins a distinguished cadre of education visionaries whose work has permanently reshaped the landscape of learning and opportunity. Past recipients include luminaries such as Luis von Ahn, co-founder of Duolingo; Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund; Geoffrey Canada, president of Harlem Children’s Zone; Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America; and Bill Milliken, founder of Communities In Schools.

“Dr. Lomax is not only a champion for higher education—he is a force for transformation,” said Chris Howard, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Arizona State University. “His leadership has opened doors for hundreds of thousands of students, especially those historically excluded from opportunity. This award honors a lifetime devoted to justice, excellence, and the power of education to change lives.”

In his remarks, Dr. Lomax reflected on the honor:

“To be counted among such a profound lineage of education pioneers is humbling. I accept this award not as an individual milestone, but as a celebration of the collective—

of every student, every partner, every institution that dared to believe in the power of education to liberate, elevate, and transform. Together, we’ve pushed boundaries and reimagined what’s possible. And the work is far from finished.”

For more than two decades under Dr. Lomax’s visionary leadership, UNCF has raised more than $4 billion, enabling more than 150,000 students to earn their degrees and launch successful careers. Each year, over 50,000 students benefit from the 400+ scholarship programs that he oversees. Dr. Lomax has also been a powerful voice for HBCUs, launching the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building to empower its 37 member institutions to thrive as effective, self-sustaining entities.

Before his tenure at UNCF, Dr. Lomax served as the fifth president of Dillard University, where he significantly expanded student enrollment and alumni engagement. Earlier in his career, he was a civic architect in Atlanta, founding the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Fulton County Arts Council, and leaving an enduring mark on the city’s cultural and civic life.

Today, Dr. Lomax continues to serve on numerous influential boards, including the KIPP Foundation, Teach For America, Cengage Group, Handshake, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. He is a founding member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs.

This Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates a legacy not only of leadership, but of vision, service, and a relentless belief in the power of education to unlock the brilliance of every young mind.