Dr. Alfred Wade Boykin, Jr.

Dr. Alfred Wade Boykin Jr., 77, a distinguished psychologist, innovative educator and devoted family man, died peacefully on January 11, 2025 in Bowie, Maryland. 

Born in Detroit, Michigan on February 7, 1947, he was the only child of jazz pianist Alfred Wade Boykin Sr. and Edna DeHaven Boykin. He attended Cass Technical High School. Boykin served honorably in the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant.

Boykin graduated from Hampton University where he was initiated as a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and met his college sweetheart, Jacquelynn Starks Boykin, Esq. The pair wed in 1969 and raised two sons, Alfred Wade Boykin III and Dr. Curtis Malik Starks Boykin, who carry on their parents’ personal and professional legacies in law and academia.

Boykin received his M.A. and Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan. He began his academic career at Cornell University in 1972. Boykin joined Howard University in 1980 to support the development of the first doctoral program in psychology at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), leading it until his retirement in 2022.  During his tenure, Boykin also served as Executive Director of the Capstone Institute, formally known as the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR).

Boykin gained prominence as a scholar by conceptualizing verve, a cornerstone of his Triple Quandary framework which described the challenges that many African-Americans experience navigating education and society. He focused much of his research on minority student achievement, cultural diversity within education and school reform.
 
Among numerous accolades, Boykin was the first HBCU professor to be elected to the National Academy of Education. He received the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association and was a member of the National Mathematics Advisory panel during President George H.W. Bush’s term. 

Boykin wrote countless scholarly publications and books including co-authoring Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Moving from Research to Practice to Close the Achievement Gap. He also held a variety of teaching, consulting and fellowship positions at Columbia University, City University of New York, Rockefeller University and Yale University.
Affectionately known as “Uncle Wade”, he loved his family and friends with consistency, strength, and generosity. A true renaissance man, Boykin was a sports, film, music and travel enthusiast.

Boykin is survived by his children, Alfred Wade Boykin, III, Esq. (Nikole), of Bowie, Maryland, and Dr. Curtis Malik Starks Boykin, of Providence, Rhode Island; grandchildren Alfred Wade Boykin IV and Nelson King Boykin. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jacquelynn Starks Boykin in 1990.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Dr. Alfred Wade Boykin, Jr., please visit our floral store.