Dr. Benjamin Graves was born on November 5, 1920, in Jones County, Miss., and died on Oct. 19, 2007, in Huntsville, Ala. In 1942, he graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor of arts degree then in 1947, earned his master's degree in business administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He also earned the doctor of philosophy degree in economics from Louisiana State University in 1961. His fields of study included management, finance, investments, marketing and communications. He began his education career in 1939, serving as a middle school principal and teacher until 1941. He would later go on as an associate professor at the University of Virginia from 1962 to 1964. Then he moved back to Mississippi where he served as president of Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., from 1964 to 1970. In 1970, Graves moved with his family to Huntsville, Ala., where he served as the first president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). In 1978, Graves decided to step down from his role as president, but continued teaching as a professor of business administration at UAH until 1999. Ben Graves received many honors and awards throughout his life, including being one of the first univeristy presidents selected to visit the People's Republic of China in April 1975 and the Republic of China (Taiwan) in October 1976. On Sept. 1, 1973, he was named 'First University Professor' of UAH. In 1984, he received the UAH Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award. In 1999, he received the Madison County Arthritis Foundation's James Record Humanitarian Award for his civic work. In 2001, he received the Rotary Vocational Excellence Award. Ben Graves was a man of distinguished character, serving his country in the U.S. Navy for four years, and later, serving for 11 years in the Navy reserve until he resigned in 1955 as a lieutenant commander.