Biography:

Reginald Edwin Petty, a trailblazer in civil rights, education, and international development, is a 1956 and 1963 graduate of SIU Carbondale. His activism began in the 1960s, when he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, working alongside icons like John Lewis and Dick Gregory. He has held numerous U.S. Presidential appointments, including Executive Director of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education, Regional Director of VISTA, Executive Director of the African Development Foundation, and Director of the National Research Center. He spent his life in activism, education, and revitalization of his hometown of East St. Louis. Reginald Petty’s legacy is one of relentless service, intellectual excellence, and transformational leadership, rooted in his alma mater and radiating across continents.