Roy Hudson, the tenth president of historically Black Hampton University, passed away on April 17. He was 93 years old.
In 1970, Dr. Hudson was appointed as the tenth president of Hampton University and served in that role for six years. At the time, the historically Black university was known as Hampton Institute. During his tenure, he was one of 13 Black college presidents to meet with President Richard Nixon to advocate for more federal funding at historically Black colleges and universities.
In addition to his service at Hampton University, Dr. Hudson was interim president of historically Black Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Earlier in his career, he held teaching appointments in the medical schools at the University of Michigan and Brown University, where he served as associate dean of the Graduate School. He also held visiting professor positions with the University of Virginia Medical School and the Black studies division at Western Michigan University.
Dr. Hudson was valedictorian of his undergraduate class at Livingstone College. He received his master’s degree in zoology from the University of Michigan and was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Michigan.
