John Henry Bias was born on June 11, 1879, in Palmyra, Missouri. Bias was a professor of biology and chemistry at Shaw University for ten years, leaving the institution in 1917 to manage the Berry O'Kelly school in Method, North Carolina. In the 1920s, Dr. Bias served as vice president and, later, president of what is now Elizabeth City State University. He remained president of ECSU until his death on July 15, 1939.