James Edward Cheek (December 4, 1932 – January 8, 2010), president emeritus of Howard University, was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Despite suffering from severe cataracts, Cheek was an honor student at Washington Street Grammar School. He graduated from Immanuel Lutheran College with a secondary diploma in 1950 and served as a member of the United States Air Force in Korea in 1951, eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and history from Shaw University.