Robert Michael Franklin, Jr.

Robert Michael Franklin Jr. (born 1954) is an African-American educator, author, and was the tenth president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia from 2007 to 2012; he is now President Emeritus. Franklin is a Visiting Scholar in Residence at Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. In January 2014, he became Director of the Religion Program at the Chautauqua Institution.

Franklin became 10th president of Morehouse College (his alma mater, class of ‘75) on July 1, 2007. Prior to coming to Morehouse, from 2004 to 2007, he was Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at the Candler School of Theology and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, both at Emory University. Franklin is also former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. He was a program officer in the Human Rights and Social Justice Program at the Ford Foundation and served as Theologian in Residence for The Chautuaqua Institution, both in New York.

Franklin took office as the 10th president of Morehouse College (his alma mater, class of 1975) on July 1, 2007. In 2009 the College received reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In a project initiated by his predecessor, Walter Massey, Franklin oversaw the completion and opening of the $20 million Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Music Academic Building, a 75,000 square foot facility named after the musician. Franklin led and supported cultivation efforts such as establishing the Renaissance Commission, a group of 150 volunteer stakeholders, that increased the total number of new donors by an average of 1,000 per year. The College generated in excess of $128 million (grants and contracts, private fundraising and federal appropriations) during Franklin's tenure.

Franklin is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and the Kappa Boule of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity. He serves on numerous boards, including the Character Education Partnership (Washington,DC) and Public Broadcasting of Atlanta (WABE). Franklin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; the Executive Committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Executive Committee); the HBCU Capital Financing Advisory Board; and the Naval War College Board of Advisors.

Franklin is the author of three books, Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (2007), Another Day's Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis (1997), and Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African American Thought (1989).

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