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 university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

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 bordered on the northern and ea ...

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

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, and becoming a land-grant college in 1890, KSU is the second ...

) 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 Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a Public university, public Historically Black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and ...

) 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, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, 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 Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

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. History In 2019 Sharon Byrdsong became the interim superintendent, ...

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

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has primarily played for the Seattle Seahawks. With the Sea ...

is a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

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

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

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 List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

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 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 academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Kentucky State Thorobreds basketball players Kentucky State Thorobreds football players Kentucky State Thorobreds baseball players