Arrington, Richard, 1934-

Richard Arrington Jr. (born October 19, 1934) is an American educator and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he notably served as the first African American Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama from 1979 to 1999.

Born in Livingston, Alabama and raised in Fairfield, Alabama, he was a standout student at Fairfield Industrial High School, learning dry cleaning there, taking a job at a cleaner and applying to Fairfield's Miles College after graduation. Arrington majored in biology at Miles and excelled in the classroom and as a leader. He graduated cum laude in 1955 and took a position as a graduate assistant at the University of Detroit. He earned a master's degree in 1957 and returned to Miles as an assistant professor of science where he taught for six years before entering the University of Oklahoma doctoral program in zoology in 1963. Upon graduation in 1966, Arrington returned to Miles as acting dean and director of the summer school. He was quickly promoted to chair of the Natural Sciences Department and eventually was named Dean of the College. In 1970, Arrington was named executive director of the Alabama Center for Higher Education and served until 1979. In the same year, he was hired as a part-time associate professor of biology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In 1971, Arrington was elected to the Birmingham City Council and won re-election in 1975. Arrington ran for mayor of the City of Birmingham and was elected as the first African American mayor in 1979.

Arrington, who served five terms as mayor, was reelected by large margins in 1983, 1987, and 1991. His reelection in 1995 was hotly contested. During his tenure he led the city through a period of “tremendous growth and resurgence.” Twenty commercial areas were revitalized at a cost of more than $300 million; $500 million was invested in public infrastructure improvements; the Civic Center was expanded at a cost of $140 million; and a $15 million Civil Rights Institute and Museum was constructed. Under his “Birmingham Plan,” begun in 1989, a voluntary program involving business and government, was established to help people of color share in Birmingham’s economic growth. As a result, blacks and other people of color won participation in construction contracts (more than 30% each year), minority professionals were recruited and retained, and a special $38 million home mortgage pool was established for low and moderate-income families. Arrington retired as mayor of Birmingham in July 1999 to become a visiting Professor of Public Service at the University of Alabama Birmingham Center for Urban Affairs.