NORFOLK — Longtime community activist and former Norfolk State University president Dr. Harrison B. Wilson Jr. passed away Sunday, July 28, 2019, he was 94, born April 21, 1925 in Amsterdam, New York, son of the late Marguerite (Ayers) and Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Sr.
After serving in the United States Navy, from 1945 to 1947, he enrolled at Kentucky State University, received his B.S. degree, was an honor student and became a star athlete in basketball, football, baseball, and track. His love for sports would be something that would be passed to later generations in his family; to include Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. He would later earn his master’s and doctorate from Indiana University.
During his 22-year tenure (1975 to 1997) he guided Norfolk State University (NSU) from a four graduate programs in which 191 students were enrolled to a university that by 1996-97 offered 14 master’s programs and one doctoral program enrolling 1,110 students, according to NSU. Wilson’s devotion to progress also reached beyond the NSU walls to many organizations, including the US Navy.
Also during his tenure as NSUpresident, The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) at NSU produced the largest number of minority naval officers in the nation, second only to the U.S. Naval Academy. NSU also graduated more African-American teachers than any other university in the nation under Wilson’s presidency.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued the following statement Monday on Wilson’s passing: “I join the entire Spartan community in mourning the loss of Dr. Harrison B. Wilson. For more than two decades, his leadership brought tremendous achievement to Norfolk State University and charted a new course for the institution, both in academics and in athletics. As we reflect on his extraordinary life, legacy, and good will, my thoughts are with his wife, Dr. Lucy Wilson, his family, and the students, educators, and many others who loved him and learned from him.”
To assure Harrison B. Wilson’s name will be remembered forever the school named one of its administrative buildings in his honor upon his retirement in 1997. Wilson was the father of six children two preceded him in death.
Those left to cherish his legacy include: his devoted and loving wife, Dr. Lucy Wilson, (former faculty member Old Dominion University, Norfolk); 4 children; several grand and great-grandchildren; a host of other loving relatives and friends including the Spartan Nation, “Be Hold the Green and Gold”!
NSU will celebrate and honor the life of its 2nd President Dr. Wilson on Saturday Aug. 3; with a “Lying in State” program, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center; a “Final Stroll with the Green and Gold” 2:15 – 3:00 p.m., the processional of Dr. Wilson and the Spartan Legion Band will be along the perimeter of NSU campus.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. in the Douglas Wilder Center at NSU.
