Throughout the course of the 2008-2009 academic year, we will seek to recognize some of the great names of the past to highlight the heritage of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association in honor of the Association’s 95th anniversary. In this edition we are pleased to recognize the late Dr. Wiley “Army” Armstrong.

The late Dr. Armstrong of Rocky Mount was one of the most influential figures in high school athetics in the state for many years, as he was the executive director of the North Carolina High School Athletic Conference, the organization for black high schools.

Born in Edgecombe County and a 1931 graduate of Shaw University, Dr. Armstrong received his M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College. He also coached at the old Ligon High School in Raleigh as well as at Shaw and at Fayetteville State Universities.

For 15 years, Dr. Armstrong directed the efforts of the NCHSAC, which included over 100 high schools and contested classified championships in several sports. He also helped those schools join the NCHSAAA when those two organizations merged in 1968.

He was very active in Rocky Mount civic and church affairs during his career as well as a number of important medical societies and boards before his death in 1981. He is a member of the Shaw University Hall of Fame and was inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in the class of 1997.