Dr. William R. Harvey is President of Hampton University and 100% owner of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Houghton, Michigan. A native of Brewton, Alabama, he is a graduate of Southern Normal High School and Talladega College. He earned his doctorate in College Administration from Harvard University in 1972. Prior to assuming his position as President of Hampton, he served as Administrative Vice President at Tuskegee University; Administrative Assistant to the President of Fisk University; and as Assistant for Governmental Affairs to the Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

During Dr. Harvey's tenure as President, the student enrollment at Hampton University increased from approximately 2,700 students to over 6,000. Moreover, the SAT scores of entering freshmen have increased approximately 300 points!

His commitment to expansion and innovation in academic programs has resulted in 45 new academic programs. Some of these new thrusts include undergraduate programs in Physical Therapy, Marine Science, Criminal Justice, Chemical and Electrical Engineering, Airway Science, Emergency Medical Assistance Management; graduate programs in Business Administration, Museum Studies, Applied Mathematics, Chemistry; and Ph.D. programs in Physics, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, and Nursing. These new programs, together with existing ones, have placed and kept Hampton on the cutting edge of higher education.

For Dr. Harvey, enhancing the University's physical facilities has been an integral part of his determination to create a physical environment conducive to learning and living. Therefore, during his presidency, the University has erected 14 new buildings and has spent some $35,000,000 on the renovation of existing facilities.

An astute businessman, Dr. Harvey initiated a university-owned commercial development consisting of a shopping center and 246 two-bedroom apartments. All after-tax profits from the Hampton Harbor Project are primarily utilized for student scholarships. Additionally, the Project creates jobs, provides services, will increase the number of African-American entrepreneurs, and expand the tax base in the City of Hampton.

Dr. Harvey's financial leadership is indicated in the financial growth and stability Hampton has achieved during his twenty-one years as President. The University has balanced its budget and achieved a surplus during each of those years. The endowment, which stood at $29 million when he became President, now exceeds $160 million. The University's first capital fund-raising campaign in 1979 had a goal of $30,000,000. That campaign raised $46.4 million. The most recent campaign has a goal of $200 million and was officially launched on October 22, 1998. At that time, some $110 million had already been raised.

Dr. Harvey has long been active on the national scene as a result of his appointments to national boards by four United States presidents. He has served on the President's National Advisory Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, the Commission on Presidential Scholars, the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Economic Development Advisory Board.

Currently, Dr. Harvey serves as a board member of the First Union National Bank (Mid-Atlantic Division - South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland); Newport News Shipbuilding, Inc., and Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia.

After graduating from Talladega College, Dr. Harvey served three years on active duty with the United States Army. During that time, he saw duty in Europe and the United States. He is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve.

His achievements have been recognized through inclusion in TopBlacks, Personalities of the South, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Who's Who in Black America, Who's Who in American Education, International Who's Who of Intellectuals, Two Thousand Notable Americans, Who's Who in Business and Finance, and Who's Who in America.

Dr. Harvey has always expressed his belief in the power of wisdom, boldness, and vision to effect positive change. He asserts that in these qualities lies the difference between pedestrian performance and extraordinary achievement. His leadership in higher education and business fully attests to this belief.

Dr. Harvey is the visionary and leader behind several community and educational initiatives. In 1994, he chaired the Virginia Peninsula United Way Campaign. He was the first African-American to head the organization's annual drive and raised a record setting $6.6 million. Dr. Harvey has also chaired the annual fund-raising dinner for the National Conference of Christians and Jews, along with hosting the first celebrity luncheon for the Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Dr. Harvey is married to the former Norma Baker of Martinsville, Virginia, and they have three children -- Kelly Renee, William Christopher, and Leslie Denise