Dr. Rutherford H. Adkins Educator / Tuskegee Airman / President, Fisk University

Dr. Rutherford H. Adkins

Educator / Tuskegee Airman / President, Fisk University

Dr. Rutherford H. Adkins is the distinguished Parker-Gray alumnus who was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, flying over 14 overseas missions with this elite squadron of black pilots. The brilliant educator served as a physics professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, later becoming president of Knoxville College from 1976 to 1981, at which time he retired. In 1997, he returned to public life after being named the 11th president of Fisk University.