Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
Regarded as one of the foremost educators of the twentieth century, Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays is most noted for his outstanding leadership and service as a teacher, preacher, mentor, scholar, author, and activist in the American Civil Rights Movement.
Born in 1894 in rural South Carolina, he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Bates College in Maine. Dr. Mays served as pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church from 1921-1923 in Atlanta, Georgia. Recruited by Morehouse College President John Hope, Mays later joined the college’s faculty as a mathematics teacher and debate coach. He obtained a master's degree in 1925 and in 1935 a Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago. In 1934, he was appointed dean of the School of Religion at Howard University and served until 1940.
Dr. Mays became president of Morehouse College in 1940 and launched a 27-year tenure that shepherded the institution into international prominence. He upgraded the faculty, secured a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and sustained enrollment during wartime America. His most noted forum was Tuesday morning Chapel in historic Sale Hall, where he challenged and inspired students to excellence in scholarship and in life itself.
As President of Morehouse, Dr. Mays is credited for being one of the most impactful figures in the lives of many highly successful and well-regarded Morehouse graduates; foremost among those include:
- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Activist
- Dr. David Satcher, U.S. Surgeon General
- Maynard Jackson, Former Mayor of Atlanta, GA
- Sanford Bishop, U.S. Congressman
- Edwin Moses, Olympic Gold Medalist
- Julian Bond, Educator/Civil Rights Activist
- Spike Lee, Filmmaker
- Samuel L. Jackson, Actor
- Dr. Michael Lomax, Educator
- Dr. Walter E. Massey, Chairman of the Board, Bank of America
Upon his retirement, he served as president of the Atlanta Board of Education from 1970 to 1981.Throughout his educational career, Dr. Mays received 56 honorary degrees, including a posthumously awarded degree from Columbia University. Throughout his academic life, he published nearly 2000 articles and nine books including his 1974 autobiography, Born to Rebel.