Daniel W. Jackson ’94 grew up in a modest, Middle Georgia city where a college education is considered a luxury. Fewer than one-third of his Warner Robins neighbors have a college degree. Generations toiled without one. Most service jobs at the Air Force Base, the city’s largest employer, don’t require college experience.
But Jackson wanted more for himself—and the students from his hometown who dream of pursuing a higher education.
So, now the first-generation college graduate is investing $265,000 in the Daniel W. Jackson Jr. Endowed Scholarship for Middle Georgia students. He wants to do his part to increase social mobility and help break the cycle of poverty in a city with a poverty rate larger than the national average at 14 percent and a population of 88,000.
“I want to give back and create opportunities for other students and over time build a legacy,” Jackson said. That’s why he made contributing to Morehouse a habit. “I started almost 20 years ago just giving $100 a month. Over time, I was able to do more.”
During Fiscal Year 2026 at Morehouse, a record year for alumni giving, 3,900 Morehouse Men contributed approximately $10 million—the most individual donors in college history—and Jackson was counted among them. And as the bar is raised to encourage 4,200 alumni donors to give in Fiscal Year 2027, he plans to keep his promise to support his HBCU and make a Morehouse education more accessible.
According to a 2021 UNCF study, HBCU graduates earn $10,000 more annually than those with only a high school diploma and outpace the earning capacity of their peers at mainstream institutions by 56 percent.
Jackson joined Morehouse in 1988 as a high school sophomore. He was selected to participate in an eight-week summer biology research seminar with the Ernest E. Just Biomedical Research Scholars Program. It changed his life. The rigorous curriculum, the legacy of excellence, the high expectations and support from professors, the bonds he formed with classmates—he wanted more.
“By senior year when I was considering college, I did not apply to any other school,” he said.
Jackson majored in biology pre-med at Morehouse but later moved into the business side of the health professions. “My Morehouse education gave me a liberal arts foundation that prepared me to be able to navigate in the real world. It played a major part in preparing me for my professional career.”
Now, he’s a veteran hospital executive with more than 30 years of administrative leadership experience. Most recently, Jackson served as president of Ascension Wisconsin, a network of 18 hospitals across the state with 20,000 employees.
“The thing that I am passionate about is quality healthcare for patients and access,” he said. “Healthcare is a very dynamic and complex place to navigate. We need representation from all facets of our community to make sure we are being cared for in the best way possible.”
Jackson credits his parents' support and sacrifices, and his transformational Morehouse experience, for his career success. But he recalls that paying for his Morehouse education wasn’t easy. He struggled through it, selling suits in a men’s clothing store, hauling boxes at a Kroger Grocery Store warehouse, and juggling a job in the Office of Healthcare Professions at Morehouse. “I did all the things that it took to pay the tuition,” he said.
Establishing the endowed scholarship, Jackson says, will provide students in need with more resources for tuition and expenses, allowing them to focus on their studies and participate in leadership development opportunities on campus.
His gift to Morehouse sets an example for his son Daniel “Trey” Jackson III, a sophomore sociology major, who is following in his footsteps at Morehouse, and his high school sophomore who is also destined to attend.
“My desire is to make sure my actions are indicative of the value that I place on my time at Morehouse and the impact that it has on our community,” he said. “Hopefully, this will inspire students from my hometown to come to Morehouse as well.”