Harrison Benjamin Wilson Jr. (April 21, 1925 – July 28, 2019) was an American health educator and college basketball coach who served as the second president of Norfolk State University from 1975 to 1997.

Early life

Wilson was born on April 21, 1925, in Amsterdam, New York, the son of Marguerite (Ayers) and Harrison Benjamin Wilson Sr. After serving in the United States Navy 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, 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 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 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