Dr. Harvey shares recipe for four decades of success at HU
President Harvey’s retirement celebration will be held on Saturday, June 11
By Angela Jones
At the end of June, Dr. William R. Harvey will retire from his position as president of Hampton University, a position he has held for 44 years. Dr. Harvey’s contributions to Hampton University, the Hampton Roads community, the United States of America and the world are immeasurable. He has cultivated talented leaders such as MSNBC president Rashida Jones and advised numerous Presidents of the United States. The best way to understand the positive impact that Dr. Harvey has made, during his tenure at Hampton University, is to hear from him directly. I was honored to interview this living legend, recently. Although the videotaped interview can be viewed at hamptonroadsmessenger.com, a portion of its transcript can be read here:
Angela Jones: Good afternoon, Dr. Harvey, so great to have you with us.
Dr. Harvey: It’s my pleasure. Thank you very much.
Angela Jones: I know you must have some mixed emotions right now. You’re leaving a position that you have been in for over 40 years, but you’re also going to be starting a new chapter where you have some time to reflect and spend time with your family. Do you want to tell me a little bit about how you plan to spend the time after retiring?
Dr. Harvey: Well, first of all, you said mixed emotions; not really. You know, I’ve been a planner all of my life, and I indicated that I was going to retire two years ago. So this is not anything that’s new or sudden because one of the things that I said I wanted to do was to write. You know, I’ve done three books. I’ve got a couple more that are at the publisher right now [and] another one that’s been accepted for publication, probably next spring. I actually thought that it was going to be this fall because it’s been accepted but it’s going to be next spring. And then I’ve got another book that I’m about 75% done with, and that’s entitled “The Inspiration of African-American Art.” …After that, I’m going to do my memoir and that will probably, without really knowing, take a couple of years. And then I really think that I’ve got a couple of novels in me. I’m such a hands-on president, and I’ve been a hands-on president for 44 years, that I couldn’t do both. And I felt like, that with all the wonderful experiences that the Lord had blessed me with… I had some things to say, and I wanted to be able to put them in writing, in book form.
…The fact is, that again, I do believe that the blessings that the Lord has given me are just tremendous, you know. My energy level is like it was some 50 years ago, my mental acuity is like it was some 50 years ago, and I just felt like it was time, after 44 years. I first indicated, some 42 years ago, that it would be 44 years so that I could move forward.
I’m always going to help Hampton. …My contact list is very, very large in the federal government, both Democrats and Republicans. In the private sector, I’ve served on eight major boards, including Fannie Mae, Blue Cross Blue Shield… boards like that, for-profit and not-for-profit… probably 12 or 15… such as National Geographic, such as the Division I Board of the NCAA. So just national boards and my contact list is long and I’m going to help Hampton in any way that I can. But I felt that while I still had the energy and the mental acuity, there are some things that I needed to do where I could spend four or five hours a day on, and still relax.
So that’s why, in 2020, I indicated that I was going to retire on June 30th, 2022.
Angela Jones: I know you have a lot of experience with art and you actually donated funds to create a museum. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that?
Dr. Harvey: Well, I’m a native of Alabama, I went to Talladega College, in Talladega, Alabama, before I went to Virginia State and to Harvard; so, I have three earned degrees. I’ve got about 15 or 16 honorary degrees, but my first degree was at Talladega College. And I am just so appreciative of those experiences because, you know, it was at a time when I think that people really cared about others, more so than today. So, you know, they may have been teaching math, biology, or history, but they also taught about life, and the kinds of things that my parents had talked to me about and taught my sister and me, such as character development.
My parents talked to me about the traits of character development, which include honesty and trust, respect for one’s self, respect for others, integrity, discipline, and responsible personal behavior. And I think that’s one of the reasons why things have gone so well for me here at Hampton. Because when our founder General Samuel Armstrong founded Hampton, he said in a speech in August of 1868, that there are two things that he wanted at his university or at his institution. He said one was top-flight academics. Today that would be called workforce development. And he said the development of character. And then the very next sentence, that I have read, said, ‘and of the two, development of character is more important.’ Well, that’s very important to me as well. I think that that was such a good connection there with what my parents taught me, what Talladega taught me through some of the professors and throughout my life.
So again, I have said that the Lord has blessed me and I don’t mind saying that to anybody. I have been president of Hampton for 44 years. I have been a 100% owner of a Pepsi Cola bottling company in Michigan for 42 years. And let me add, I’ve been married to the same wonderful woman for 55 years.
So back to Talladega–they needed a new museum, an African-American art museum, and it was my pleasure to be able to donate the money to build it. And the president of the board named it in my honor, which is also an honor. That was not a proviso because I was giving them money for the development of the museum, but they named it in my honor: The Dr. William R. Harvey African-American Art Museum. And I think that’s a wonderful thing, just a wonderful thing.
Watch the entire interview on our website, hamptonroadsmessenger.com.