John William Harrelson (June 28, 1885 – March 12, 1955) was the sixth chief executive of North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) from 1934 to 1953. An artillery officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, he was the first N.C. State alumnus to lead the institution and the first leader of the university to hold the title of Chancellor. Biography Harrelson was born in Double Shoals, North Carolina, though his postal address was listed as Lawndale, North Carolina. The son of Cleveland County farmer J. H. Harrelson, he was educated at Piedmont High School and then at N. C. State. Though he apparently enrolled initially as a textiles student, he changed his major to mechanical engineering by his sophomore year. He joined the college's Corps of Cadets in his sophomore year as a cadet corporal, and was promoted cadet first sergeant the following year. In July 1908, he enlisted in Company G of the 1st North Carolina Infantry, N. C. Army National Guard, serving a single term of enlistment. He was appointed captain of his cadet company in the fall of 1908, and was commended for his drilling abilities at a competition held on 16 October. Apart from his army training, Harrelson also served as historian of his sophomore class, as vice-president of his junior class, and as a commencement marshal in his senior year. He was also awarded honors in his sophomore and senior years. Harrelson graduated from the university in 1909 with a B.A. in engineering. After completing his bachelor's degree, Harrelson returned to N.C. State as an instructor of mathematics in the fall of 1909, teaching arithmetic, algebra, and plane and solid geometry, subsequently becoming a professor. During 1909 he also became a Freemason. In October 1915, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 1st Company of the North Carolina National Guard Coast Artillery Corps. In the same year, he completed an M.S. in mechanical engineering from N.C. State and was promoted to assistant professor of mathematics. In August 1916, Harrelson was promoted to captain in the National Guard and was assigned command of the 1st Company, Coast Artillery, then stationed in Raleigh. Following the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, Harrelson took a leave of absence from N. C. State and was mobilized into the U.S. Army on July 25. He was given command of a training company at Fort Caswell,