Presidential Medal of Excellence Recipient

Ernest Green
Civil rights activist and member of the Little Rock Nine

Ernest G. Green was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. His parents instilled in him confidence and self-respect that helped propel him to become a leader among his peers and a civil rights advocate.

Green was one of the first black students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to desegregate public schools in 1954. Known as the Little Rock Nine, the group of high school students entered Central High School on the morning of September 25, 1957, with an escort of paratroopers. Governor Orval Faubus summoned the National Guard to turn away the students in direct defiance of the federal government, which had already approved a desegregation plan for the school. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to protect the rights of the beleaguered students, and the students ultimately prevailed.

Green became the first African-American to graduate from Central High School in 1958 – civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. attended his graduation. He later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University.

Green has worked in the private sector for various consulting firms. He was a partner for Green and Herman, owned E. Green and Associates, and previously worked with Lehman Brothers. Before that, he directed the A. Phillip Randolph Education Fund from 1968 to 1976. He served as assistant secretary in the Labor Department under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 and 1981. Green began his career in employment law with a building-trade apprenticeship for the Adolph Institute, a project to help minority women in the South find opportunities for professional careers.

Green has served on the boards of various organizations, including the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, AfriCare and the African Development Foundation.

He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the NAACP Spingarn Award, the Rockefeller Public Service Award, and honorary doctorates. In 1999, President Bill Clinton honored Green and the other Little Rock Nine members with the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian awards in the United States.