To be eligible for consideration in the 50 Under 50 Class of 2026, nominees must be UNDER the age of 50 on February 13, 2026.

Evaluation Framework

All eligible nominations are evaluated by a diverse Selection Committee comprised of College administrators, faculty, alumni leaders, and student representatives. To ensure fairness and transparency, nominees are assessed using a weighted rubric across four pillars:

1. Professional Achievement & Leadership (40%) – Demonstrated excellence, innovation, and measurable success in their field or industry.

2. Community, Civic & Social Impact (30%) – Meaningful service, advocacy, or initiatives that improve the lives of others.

3. Commitment to Morehouse College (20%) – Continued engagement with and contribution to the Morehouse community through mentorship, service, or philanthropy.

4. Personal Story & Trajectory (10%) – A compelling narrative of perseverance, authenticity, and future potential for leadership and influence.

Each submission is independently scored, and the highest-scoring candidates advance to a final review round.

Nominations for the Morehouse 50 Under 50 Class of 2026 are open until December 19, 2026. You can enter a nomination here. Then we send the nominee acceptance form directly to the nominee and get all the information we need from them.

Yes. You can nominate as many eligible candidates as you’d like, including yourself.

Yes. We know that many people’s success is as part of a team. That said, the intention of Morehouse 50 Under 50 is to recognize the outstanding work of people, so typically groups of two or three are the most likely to make it through our process. For example, two people who have started and run a business together, or a CEO-CFO team that has really grown a company. All of the co-nominees must be over 18 and under 50 on February 13, 2026 and must meet all other criteria.

To co-nominate people, fill out a nomination form for each individual and note the other people that they are co-nominated with in the box that asks about co-nomination. In order for each candidate to be eligible we must receive a separate form for each person.

Congratulations, someone has nominated you for Morehouse’s 50 Under 50. We have a two-step nomination process and you must now complete the nominee acceptance form on or before 11:59 p.m., January 3, 2026. The form includes questions about your career achievements, education, commitment to Morehouse, volunteering and community work. It also asks for references from your work and volunteering experiences.

The e-mail you received telling you that you were nominated includes a link to the nominee form.

No. The nominees will only be told that they were nominated and that they need to fill out a second form, the nominee acceptance form, but we won’t tell them who nominated them (but feel free to tell them yourself if you’d like).

Morehouse 50 Under 50 honorees are the best and brightest among our alumni under the age of 50.

They are uniquely different from one another but they are all high achievers.

They include business people, entrepreneurs, artists, designers, athletes, community organizers, politicians, teachers, inventors and more.

They give back to the community and elevate Morehouse through their work, whether it be in their career or volunteer work.

No. While you may want to ensure that your nominee was considered and nominated, it won’t make a difference. Nominees only get one notice of nomination.

The Selection Committee’s recommended honorees undergo an internal review by the Office of External Relations and Alumni Engagement in collaboration with the Morehouse College National Alumni Association. The final list of 50 honorees represents a balance of industries, class years, and geographic regions to reflect the breadth of the Morehouse alumni experience.

Our committee looks for nominees who have achievements in their field, which includes community work, so try to be as specific as possible when you are filling out the nomination or nominee completion form.

Measurable achievements should be included and could include achievements such as increasing profits, awards from professional associations or other groups or completion of a project, but we know that many achievements aren’t easily quantified or previously acknowledged, so give us as much detail as you can.

The committee will also look for community and volunteer involvement that speaks to the nominee’s willingness to help others as well as their commitment and contribution to Morehouse. Again, be as specific as possible.

Only those who are selected for the Morehouse 50 Under 50 will be contacted. The 2026 Class will be announced on January 15, 2026.

Congratulations! You will be contacted by the Office of External Relations and Alumni Engagement to meet to discuss next steps.

Yes. The Morehouse College Office of External Relations and Alumni Engagement reserves the right to remove nominees from the 50 Under 50 at any time for ANY reason, including but not limited to if the nominees can’t make themselves available for sufficient time for interviews, or if any of the information submitted in the nomination package is found to not be accurate or if any other negative and or detrimental information is shared about the nominee.

Yes, but not until the news is released in January. We know that if you are selected you will be excited and we don’t expect you to keep your selection as a 50 Under 50 a complete secret, but we want the announcement of the list to be a surprise, so please refrain from advertising your selection to the 50 Under 50 in any form, including Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, etc.

Failure to abide by this rule may result in your removal from the list.