Jacob L. Reddix

Jacob Lorenzo Reddix (1897–1973) was an American educator, academic administrator, and memoirist. He was President of Mississippi Negro Training School (now Jackson State University) in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1940 until 1967. He was nicknamed "the Builder" for his support for new campus buildings at Jackson State College.

He became the first president of Mississippi Negro Training School (now Jackson State University) after the school became a state-supported public institution, ending the school's many years of leadership by the American Baptist Home Mission Society of New York. The school was renamed Jackson College for Negro Teachers in 1944, and Jackson State College in 1956. In 1961, during the Tougaloo Nine protest on campus, Reddix was alleged to have assaulted two demonstrators and threatened to expel all of the students involved in protesting.

He was succeeded by John A. Peoples Jr. in 1967. In 1972, the school named its new student union building in his honor.

Reddix died on May 9, 1973, in Jackson, Mississippi.

Publications