James Earl King Hildreth grew up in Camden, Arkansas, and pursued a scientific education that took him through three universities. He graduated from Harvard in chemistry in 1979, completed a doctorate in immunology at Oxford in 1982 and earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins in 1987. The Reagan-Udall Foundation identifies him as the first African American Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas.
At Oxford, his studies concerned immune cells and their response to viruses. He also developed expertise in monoclonal antibodies and cell-adhesion molecules. These areas became part of a research career focused on immunology and virology, particularly HIV. His background combined laboratory investigation with medical education.
Hildreth's research team investigated how cholesterol contributes to HIV's interaction with cells. UC Davis's 2011 appointment announcement described that work and efforts to develop topical microbicides, research programs that had not yet produced an approved preventive product. The same account places him at Meharry in 2005 as director of its Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research.
Teaching and recruitment also appear in his record. In the UC Davis announcement, Hildreth described creating a summer research program for underrepresented students while serving in graduate-student leadership at Johns Hopkins. He spoke about inviting undergraduates into his laboratory and valued the questions they brought.
He became dean of UC Davis's College of Biological Sciences in 2011 and returned to Meharry as president and chief executive in 2015. Meharry's current leadership page continues to list him as president. His responsibilities expanded from particular research questions to the educational and clinical work of an entire institution.
