WASHINGTON (July 8, 2021) – Desmond Shakespeare, a sprinter on the historic 1968-1969 Howard University track & field team, helped the Bison earn its first NCAA Championship in any sport.
 
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Desmond quickly adapted to competing on the unfamiliar and small indoor tracks and soared on the outdoor tracks.
 
Shakespeare finished second in the 440-yard sprint and anchored the winning mile relay squad in the 1969 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championships, which established a new meet record. Later that year, he helped Howard defend the NCAA Atlantic Coast Regional Championship by winning the 440-yard sprint while contributing to the sprint relay win.
 
In June 1969, he was a finalist in the 440 yards at the NCAA Division 11 Championships and was a member of the third place sprint relay team. Shakespeare's team and individual success led him to be one of the first four Bison to earn an NCAA All-America award and the first to do so as a freshman.
 
In 1971, Desmond was a member of the winning College Sprint Medley Relay team at the Penn Relays.
 
Upon completing a Bachelors of Engineering at Howard, Shakespeare went on to earn his Master's degree in Industrial Engineering at New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering.
 
True to his heritage, Shakespeare returned to begin his career in Jamaica where he has worked as a Senior Engineer, the Caribbean Community Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana and a Project Engineer on The European Union's Trade Development Project. He then opened and operated, Quorum Business Management, his own consulting company.
 
Never moving far from track and field, Shakespeare heads the track & field program at his alma mater, Excelsior High School (Kingston, Jamaica), which has produced 42 student-athletes who have gained athletic scholarships to U.S. tertiary institutions in only eight years under his leadership. These student-athletes have also garnered national acclaim with 12 representing Jamaica at the junior and senior levels.
 
In November 2018, Desmond and his team were inducted into the Howard University Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
About Where Are They Now?
 
The weekly series of "Where Are They Now?" appears each Thursday throughout the year.
 
The series will feature former student-athletes from all sports and eras, highlighting their careers as athletes at the University and what they are presently doing.
 
All interested former athletes and their coaches should submit a short bio, a recent head shot and contact information on how they can be reached via email to Monet Bowen (monet.bowen@bison.howard.edu) and Derek W. Bryant (derek.bryant@howard.edu).
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.