Rufus B. Atwood

Rufus B. Atwood was the sixth and longest-serving president of Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Rufus B. Atwood
President, Kentucky State University
In office
1929–1962
Preceded byGreen Pinckney Russell[1]
Succeeded byCarl McClellan Hill
Personal details
Born(1897-03-15)March 15, 1897
Hickman, Kentucky
DiedMarch 18, 1983(1983-03-18) (aged 86)
Frankfort, Kentucky
Resting placeFrankfort Cemetery
Spouse(s)Mabel Campbell
EducationFisk University (Bachelor's)
Iowa State University (Bachelor's)
University of Chicago (Master's)
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
UnitNegro Signal Corps[2]
AwardsBronze Star Medal

Born Rufus Ballad Atwood in Hickman, Kentucky, he attended Fisk Academy and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, graduating in 1920 with a bachelor's degree in biology after interrupting his studies to serve a volunteer enlistment in the United States Army during World War I [3] where he received a Bronze Star Award.[4] Atwood also received a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 1923 and his master's degree from University of Chicago.[5]

In 1923, Atwood became professor (and later dean) of agriculture at Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College in Texas, and in 1929 he accepted the presidency of Kentucky State College for Colored Persons where he remained until 1962, gaining the title of the longest-serving president of Kentucky State University for his 33 years of service. Under his administration, Kentucky State achieved accreditation as a four-year college. Atwood was awarded honorary degrees from Lane College and Monrovia College and Industrial Institute,[5] and in 1962 he was awarded the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Citizen Medallion.[2]

During the 1940s and 1950s when schools were being desegragated, causing the closure of black-only schools, Atwood fought hard to keep Kentucky State open, relevant, and expanding. Five months after the May 1954 Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation, Kentucky State enrolled its first white student.[6] Kentucky State University's Atwood Institute for Race, Education, and the Democratic Ideal is named for him.[7]

References
  1. "Past Presidents | Kentucky State University". kysu.edu.
  2. Gerald L., Smith (2015). The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 28. ISBN 9780813160658.
  3. Thompson, Susan (February 27, 2020). "African-Americans in the U.S. Army Signal Corps". www.army.mil.
  4. "Remembering First Sergeant Rufus Ballard Atwood | A Bronze Star For A Heart of Gold | Kentucky State University". kysu.edu.
  5. "Our Namesake | Kentucky State University". kysu.edu.
  6. Smith, Gerald L. (February 8, 1994). A Black Educator in the Segregated South: Kentucky's Rufus B. Atwood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1856-5 – via Google Books.
  7. "Our Mission | Kentucky State University". kysu.edu.
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