The Millennial President
“Our future posterity will not be determined by the prominent historicity of our past, but by the contemporaneous relevance of our today and our audacity to innovate in preparation for our tomorrow.”
Greetings and an ardent welcome to the higher educational crown jewel of the ‘First Coast’ of Florida at Edward Waters University (EWU)! EWU is distinctively the state of Florida’s first independent institution of higher learning as well as Florida’s first institution established for the education of African Americans. With a distinguished higher education lineage spanning over 150 years, EWU is primed to continue its Emerging Eminence as a premier urban, private, Christian (African Methodist Episcopal – AME), historically black, liberal arts university offering high-quality academic programs.
The University strives to prepare students holistically to advance in a global society through the provision of intellectually stimulating academic experience. EWU offers a close-knit, collegial, intellectual, community that draws students and faculty scholars from around the world. True to its historic mission, the University’s academic program provides access and opportunity to a high-quality 21st century education consisting of a reinvigorated, practical, and engaged liberal arts curriculum buttressed by an array of comprehensive academic services to support high academic scholarship, achievement, and overall student success.
EWU’s liberal arts curriculum is designed to provide students with a program that is rigorous, inclusive, pragmatic, socially relevant and responsible. As such, EWU is an institution of purposeful intention that employs its resources and aligns its practices to provide students with an impactful academic and experiential program of study. The University’s graduates are pioneering leaders, insatiable learners, critical thinkers, and are highly skilled in navigating new environments, integrating knowledge from different sources, and becoming agents for positive change in every sector of our increasingly expanding society and world.
Indeed, the glimmer that makes the EWU jewel shine so brightly is personified in the superlative achievements and accomplishments of the outstanding students Who are the lifeblood of our campus community and whose exploits have our venerable institution on a forward trajectory toward sustained growth and unprecedented success as a university of distinction, uniqueness, and longevity. With your continued dedication and support, we will undoubtedly see our aspirant institutional goals come to fruition. Accordingly, I am honored to count you as a member of the EW community of scholars at this point pivotal moment in the storied history of our institution.
Even more, look forward to our collective success as we strive collaboratively to reach beyond our highest heights and be a demonstrable representation of our belief that Working Together Works!
Again, welcome to the most esteemed Edward Waters University and we look forward, with great anticipation, to providing you with a higher education experience that is indeed Nulli Secundus – Second to None!
Tiger Pride!
A. Zachary Faison, Jr., Ed.D., J.D.
President & CEO
Edward Waters University
A. Zachary Faison, Jr. serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Edward Waters University (EWU), the State of Florida’s first private independent institution of higher learning and first Historically Black College or University (HBCU). He assumed the presidency in July 2018 following a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees, becoming, at age 37, the youngest HBCU president or chancellor in the nation at the time.
Since assuming office, President Faison has led the disciplined development and execution of a comprehensive institutional transformation agenda guided by the University’s strategic plan, Eminence 2025. Under his leadership, Edward Waters achieved authorization to transition from a baccalaureate to a master’s-level degree-granting institution and was elevated from Edward Waters College to Edward Waters University in June 2021—a historic milestone realized after more than 155 years. President Faison has overseen significant academic expansion, including the development and approval of 10 new academic degree programs aligned with workforce, mission, and regional priorities. Most notably, EWU launched its first-ever graduate programs, including a fully online Master of Business Administration (MBA), a Master of Public Administration (MPA), a Master of Science in Cybersecurity, and a Master of Education in Policy and Advocacy. These initiatives expanded access, strengthened academic relevance, and enhanced institutional competitiveness. He has also successfully led the University through its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) decennial reaffirmation of accreditation, achieving full reaffirmation in December 2025 with zero recommendations for improvement and securing Edward Waters’ accreditation through 2035.
Under President Faison’s administration, Edward Waters University has realized unprecedented enrollment growth and financial stabilization. Enrollment has increased by nearly 30 percent since 2019, culminating in total enrollment exceeding 1,200 students in 2025, the highest level in more than two decades. Concurrently, EWU eliminated an inherited multimillion-dollar operating deficit and has achieved six consecutive fiscal year-end surpluses with clean, unqualified audits, reflecting sustained fiscal discipline, strong internal controls, and sound institutional stewardship. President Faison has led extraordinary advancement and capital development outcomes. During his tenure, the University’s endowment has nearly tripled, including securing the largest private gift to the endowment in institutional history ($2.5 million). He has overseen nearly $50 million in campus capital investments, transforming both academic and co-curricular environments. Major projects include comprehensive renovations of student residence halls and academic classrooms; campus-wide technology enhancements, including an initiative providing every first-time-in-college student with a new iPad upon enrollment; construction of a student activity center; full renovation of the basketball and volleyball arena; modernization of science and mathematics laboratories; comprehensive restoration and modernization of the historic Milne Auditorium; construction of new outdoor basketball and tennis courts; and erecting of the University’s first on-campus football stadium. These investments have strengthened the learning environment while advancing student success, recruitment, alumni engagement, and institutional visibility.
Athletics has similarly advanced under President Faison’s leadership. In 2024, EWU achieved NCAA Division II membership for the first time in institutional history—becoming the state of Florida’s only NCAA Division II HBCU—and rejoined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) after nearly a 90-year absence.
The University has launched five new varsity sports programs under his leadership, including soccer, men’s volleyball, tennis, men’s and women’s indoor track, and the return of golf, and completed major athletics facility enhancements, including construction of new football and basketball locker rooms and a state-of-the-art fitness and wellness center, significantly elevating the student-athlete experience and competitive readiness.
President Faison’s leadership has been nationally recognized. He was named 2023 HBCU President of the Year and previously recognized as one of the HBCU Campaign Fund’s “10 Most Dominant HBCU Leaders.” He has been honored by the Jacksonville Business Journal as an “Ultimate CEO” and by the Jacksonville Record & Observer as one of the city’s top newsmakers. In late 2025, his presidency and the Edward Waters University transformation were featured as the cover story of EDU Ledger (formerly Diverse Issues in Higher Education), highlighting his reform-oriented leadership and national impact.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, President Faison is a higher education executive, scholar-educator, and attorney. Prior to his presidency, he held senior leadership roles, including General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs at Tuskegee University; Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Virginia Union University; and Chief of Staff, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, and Executive Director of the Mississippi Valley State University Foundation. Earlier in his career, he served as a Special Assistant to the President for Legal, Legislative, and Community Affairs at MVSU and as an Assistant District Attorney in Georgia.
As an academic, Dr. Faison holds faculty rank as an associate professor of Business Administration and has taught at both undergraduate and graduate levels in business administration, political science, and criminal justice. Dr. Faison earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, magna cum laude, from Albany State University, where he was a Presidential Scholar, Foundation Scholar, Honors Program graduate, National Merit Scholar, and recipient of departmental honors as the highest-ranking graduate in English and Modern Languages.
He earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served on the Executive Moot Court Board and was a member of the UGA Law Moot Court Team. He is a licensed attorney and member of the State Bar of Georgia and is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts in Georgia.
Dr. Faison earned a second doctorate, the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Higher Education Policy and Leadership, from Vanderbilt University, where he was a Peabody College Dean’s Tuition Scholar. Upon graduation, he was honored with Vanderbilt University’s Outstanding Achievement and Professional Promise in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Award, one of the program’s highest distinctions recognizing exceptional scholarship, leadership, and professional accomplishment.
Dr. Faison has also completed executive education and postdoctoral study at the Harvard Graduate School of Education through the Institute for Educational Management (IEM). He is a protégé of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) and a graduate of the AASCU New Presidents Academy, a Gamma Cohort Fellow of the Higher Education Leadership Foundation (HELF), and holds the Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFRM) from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Dr. Faison maintains active civic and professional engagement. His service has included former board membership on the Jacksonville Symphony Board of Directors, Visit Jacksonville Board of Directors, and the JEA Board of Directors, where his term concluded in 2025. He currently serves as a trustee member of the Jacksonville Chamber, is a member of the Jacksonville Civic Council, Leadership Jacksonville, and the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, and serves as an institutional director on the UNCF Board of Directors. His leadership has been recognized with numerous honors, including The Business Journals’ Influencers: Rising Stars 100, the National Bar Association’s Top 40 Attorneys Under 40, and multiple Top 40 Under 40 distinctions, including both of his alma maters—Albany State University and the University of Georgia.
Dr. Faison is the son of Alderman Faison, Sr., and Dr. Jewel J. Faison, and the brother of Dr. Morgan Zacheya-Jewel Faison. He has been married for 18 years to Mrs. Tyciee L. Faison, a seasoned higher-education administrator and educator. Dr. and Mrs. Faison are proud godparents to their daughter, Ms. Brianna Pendergrass, a 2023 Edward Waters University alumna, former University Valedictorian and Miss Edward Waters University, and a current Ph.D. student studying Molecular Cell Biology at Brown University.
