Benjamin S. Ruffin

Benjamin S. Ruffin, a North Carolina Central University graduate, was the first African American chair of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. A civic leader and R.J. Reynolds executive, he pushed access to the state’s public universities.

• First African American chair of the UNC Board of Governors.
• North Carolina civic leader and corporate executive.
• Inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame in 2007.