Chairman and Publisher, Earl G. Graves, Ltd.
Founder and Publisher, Black Enterprise

Earl G. Graves, Sr., a member since 1989, is Chairman and Publisher of Earl G. Graves, Ltd., and Founder and Publisher of Black Enterprise in New York City.  He is the former chairman of the Pepsi African American Advisory Board and previously served on the boards of Aetna Inc., AMR Corp. (American Airlines), DaimlerChrysler AG Corp., Federated Department Stores, Inc., and Rohm & Haas Corporation. He serves on the board of the Black Enterprise B.R.I.D.G.E. Foundation and volunteers on the boards of TransAfrica Inc., the American Museum of Natural History, and Hayden Planetarium. Also, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 

Long active in scouting, he currently serves as a vice president of the National Executive Board of Boy Scouts of America and as a member of the marketing committee for the national office. He received a B.A. degree from Morgan State University and is the recipient of honorary degrees from more than 70 colleges and universities, including his alma mater. In 1995, Morgan State renamed its business school, the Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management.

In 1999, he was awarded the 84th NAACP Spingarn Medal. In 2006, ExxonMobil commissioned a likeness of him for exhibition at the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, Md. Later that year, he received a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists. In October 2006, he was interviewed by Julian Bond for “An Evening with Earl Graves,” produced for The HistoryMakers, which aired on PBS. In April 2007, he was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame. In 2011, his name was added to the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame for exceptional contributions to advertising and society.

I have been honored to serve on several boards during the course of my career, from major corporate boards to philanthropic institutions and universities. Howard’s Board of Trustees remains paramount among them because I hold this institution in the highest esteem both professionally and personally. Howard’s long, proud history, particularly in the education of generations of African American doctors and lawyers, is second to none. And it’s enduring commitment to excellence in education, to upholding high standards, and offering educational access to the underserved and too often undervalued remains unshakeable and unparalleled. For these reasons, and many others, it remains my great privilege and pleasure to serve as a Howard trustee.