Born in Manning, South Carolina in 1894, Howard Decker Gregg received a BA from Lincoln University in 1916 and a BD from Yale in 1919. He studied at Columbia University and earned a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Early in his career Gregg was the industrial secretary of the New York Urban league, but he spent most of his life in higher education. In addition to being a professor of education at Howard University, he served as dean of Allen, Wilberforce, and Fisk Universities. He was president of Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida; Delaware State College in Dover, Delaware; Daniel Payne College in Birmingham, Alabama; and Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1954, he was appointed to the US Educational Mission in Afghanistan, under the auspices of the Department of State.
The recipient of honorary degrees from Lincoln University and Campbell College, Gregg was active in the AME Church and served in several ministerial positions. He was also a general officer of the AME Church and wrote a book, History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Gregg died at the age of 87 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.