Michael Cryor will be granted an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Montclair State University at the institution’s May commencement exercises and will also deliver the commencement address.
The 1970 graduate was the first African American to receive a Masters Degree in Psychology from Montclair’s graduate program. In 2010, he received an honorary doctorate from his undergraduate alma mater, Morgan State University.
He currently heads the Cryor Group, a business consulting firm and is counsel to the leadership of some of the largest corporations and public institutions in the world.
As a former Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, he served during the 2008 election of President Barack Obama. At the time, he was the only African American in the 50 states to chair a state-wide party, Democrat or Republican.
Cryor is the chair of the Board of Visitors at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, the oldest public medical school in America, and is the first African American to assume that position in the school’s 205-year history. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Baltimore Gas & Electric, the Hippodrome Foundation and is a member of the Baltimore City Judicial Nominating Commission.