Daria Willis

Dr. Daria J. Willis serves as the fifth president of Howard Community College. She assumed office in January 2022, following a nation-wide search process and an unanimous vote by the college's Board of Trustees. Dr. Willis is the first African American to lead the college in its history.

In her short time at Howard, Dr. Willis secured funding to build the college’s first Workforce Development and Skilled Trades Center, she has reopened the college’s children’s learning center which closed during the pandemic and they are the first community college in Maryland to now have a Girls and Boys Club on the campus of the institution.

She is a 2021 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow, dedicated to empowering children and families across the country. She is a tireless advocate for community colleges, and is a fervent believer in its mission to save lives.

Dr. Willis earned her Ph.D. in history from Florida State University. She holds a master’s degree in history and a bachelor’s degree in history education from Florida A&M University, a historically Black college in Florida.