Dear Howard University Community, 

The Howard University Board of Trustees has the privilege of announcing the election of three new members. Ziad Ojakli, Levoyd E. Robinson (BBA ’87), and A. Eugene Washington (B.S. ’72, D.Sc.’23), M.D., MPH, M.Sc., were elected at the Board’s June meeting. Their three-year terms became effective on July 1, 2025.  

Ziad Ojakli served as executive vice president at The Boeing Company from 2021 until 2025, where he focused on government operations, oversaw philanthropic efforts, and served as Boeing’s chief lobbyist.

Prior to Boeing, he held senior roles leading global government affairs at companies including SoftBank, where he served as a managing partner, and at Ford Motor Company, where he served as group vice president for nearly 15 years.

From 2001 to 2004, Ojakli served in the White House as the principal deputy for legislative affairs under President George W. Bush, leading a team that developed strategy and helped secure passage of the president’s agenda in the U.S. Senate.

Ojakli earned a bachelor's degree in American government from Georgetown University. 

Levoyd E. Robinson is the chief executive officer and chief investment officer for CFI Partners (CFIP) LLC, which he co-founded in 2005. CFIP has approximately $6 billion in assets under management.

Prior to CFIP, Robinson served as managing director and head of global private debt at Citadel Investment Group LLC, where he led teams in the U.S. and London. Earlier in his career, he was senior managing director at PPM America and a portfolio manager in First Chicago’s distressed credit trading group.

Robinson earned a BBA, graduating magna cum laude from Howard University, and earned an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has remained actively engaged with Howard’s School of Business. In 2024, Robinson donated $1.4 million to the school to establish an education fund and upgrade the student academic support services offices. Robinson has also served on the Board of Visitors for the School of Business.   

Dr. A. Eugene Washington is a national leader in health policy and health care delivery. He is chancellor emeritus at Duke University, where he also served as president and CEO of the Duke University Health System.

Prior to his work at Duke, Washington held academic leadership positions and senior executive posts at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and UCLA. Washington is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Washington earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1972. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Howard University in 2023. Washington attended medical school at UCSF and completed graduate studies at both the Harvard University School of Public Health and UC Berkeley School of Public Health as well as residency training at Stanford University. 

In Truth and Service,

Board of Trustees