Dr. Makola M. Abdullah began his VSU career in February 2016 with an unwavering dedication and commitment to excellence. As a new president, he and his administration began by preparing a 2020-2025 Strategic Plan: Preeminence with Purpose to chart the University’s path to continued growth and excellence. The plan focused on six areas: Student Opportunity and Access, Academic Excellence, The Holistic Experience for Students, Enhancing the Land Grant Mission of the University, Advancing the VSU Brand, and Financial/Operational Effectiveness.
Under President Abdullah’s leadership and guidance, VSU has experienced the single largest year- to-year enrollment increase in over a decade, the highest retention rate in more than twenty years, and increased its 4-year graduation rate to the highest in the University’s history. Virginia State University has placed in ESSENCE magazine’s top 20 “Best Colleges for African Americans” and in U.S. News and World Report’s top 30 in the “Best Overall HBCUs for 2022.”
Under Dr. Abdullah’s guidance, Virginia State University’s year-end financial reserves have tripled, the University received a $30 million gift—the largest single donor gift in the University’s history—and has embarked on an important building program to include the new $120 million Alfred W. Harris Academic Commons—the largest building ever constructed on the VSU campus.
The President has led the launch of several significant initiatives since taking office, to include the establishment of the John Mercer Langston Institute for African American Political Leadership, the Center for Policing Leadership and Social Justice, and the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.
During his tenure at VSU, President Abdullah has become a national leader—fighting on behalf of the transformative work of Virginia State University and all HBCUs, including through service as:
Chair of the Infrastructure Committee for the U.S. President’s Board of Advisors (PBA) on Historically Black Colleges and Universities;
Chair of the Council of Presidents for the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU); and
Chair of the Council of Presidents for Virginia Institutions of Higher Education.
Dr. Abdullah is a Chicago native. He earned his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Howard University and his doctorate and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Northwestern University.