Lyman B. Brooks

President

37 Years of Active Service ~ 1938 - 1975

 

 

Lyman Beecher Brooks -- In 1938, he became Director of the Norfolk Unit of Virginia Union University (now Norfolk State University). During his thirty-seven year illustrious career as the chief administrative officer of the College (1938-1975), he built the school from a three-classroom junior college with five teachers to an eighteen building campus with a faculty and staff of 375 and 6,300 students. Under the able leadership of Dr. Brooks achieved numerous milestones. In 1942, the College became Norfolk Polytechnic College. Another name change came in 1944, the college when the Virginia General Assembly voted to make the school's name the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College, mandating it to become a part of Virginia State College. In September 1955, the school was relocated to a 55-acre campus on Corprew Avenue. The first degree (Bachelor's degree) was presented by the institution in 1958. The College was separated from Virginia State College in 1969; therefore, Norfolk State College became an independent, four-year degree-granting institution with its own Board of Visitors and its own President.

Degrees: Ph.D., University of Michigan MaEd, B.S., Virginia Union Universitiy