Harrison Benjamin Wilson Jr. (April 21, 1925 – July 28, 2019) was an American health educator and college

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

who served as the second president of

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 a ...

from 1975 to 1997.

Early life

Wilson was born on April 21, 1925, in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The City of Amsterdam is surrounded on the northern, eastern ...

, the son of Marguerite (Ayers) and Harrison Benjamin Wilson Sr. After serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1945 to 1947, he enrolled at the Kentucky State College for Negroes (now

Kentucky State University Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons ...

) and received his B.S. degree, was an honor student and became a star athlete in basketball, football, baseball, and track.

Career

Wilson was the head basketball coach at the Jackson College for Negro Teachers (now Jackson State University) from 1950 to 1967 and had a cumulative 342–88 record. At Jackson College, he was also chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education from 1960 to 1967. In the early 1950s, Wilson enrolled at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

, where he completed a master's degree in physical education and Ph.D. in health science and administration. He retired in 1997. The NSU administrative building was named in his honor. Dr. Wilson was honored by Old Dominion as one of their Strong Men and Women Excellence leadership series shortly after retiring from NSU in 1997.

Personal life

Wilson married first wife, Anna Williams, who died in 1967 due to complications from surgery. Wilson later married Lucy Cutliff, a former faculty member at Old Dominion University and a former

Norfolk Public Schools The Norfolk Public Schools, also known as Norfolk City Public Schools, are the school division responsible for public education in the United States city of Norfolk, Virginia. List of schools See also * ''Broussard v. School Board of Norf ...

Board member. He was the father of six children. His grandson

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

is a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

-winning quarterback. Russell’s sister and Harrison’s granddaughter Anna Wilson led

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

to the 2022 NCAA Final Four. Wilson was active in a number of boards and organizations. Wilson was initiated at the Alpha Upsilon chapter of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity at Kentucky State University and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Mu honor society. Wilson died on July 28, 2019.

Legacy

Norfolk State University's administrative building at the corner of Brambleton and Park Avenues in Downtown Norfolk was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Harrison B. 1925 births 2019 deaths African-American academics Presidents of Norfolk State University Basketball coaches from New York (state) Indiana University Bloomington alumni Jackson State Tigers basketball coaches Jackson State University faculty Kentucky State University alumni Military personnel from New York (state) People from Amsterdam, New York United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Kentucky State Thorobreds basketball players Kentucky State Thorobreds football players Kentucky State Thorobreds baseball players