John Bell Stephenson (1937-1994) was born in Staunton, Virginia, to Louis Stephenson and Edna Moles Stephenson.  Stephenson earned a B.A. in sociology in 1959 from the College of William and Mary and his M.A. in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1961.  From 1961 until 1964 hetaught at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina, where he met and married his colleague Jane Ellen Baucom.  During his time in Banner Elk, John Stephenson developed a passion to advocate for Appalachian people and culture.  In 1964, the Stephenson family moved to Chapel Hill where John completed a Ph.D. in medical sociology in 1966.  In 1966, Stephenson was appointed to the department of sociology atthe University of Kentucky, a position he held for 18 years.

In 1979, Stephenson became the director of the newly established Appalachian Center.  In 1984, Stephenson was selected to become the seventh president of Berea College.  Stephenson’s ten-year period as president of Berea College was characterized by his commitment to advocacy for Appalachia, aspiritual emphasis, international outreach, and great success in fundraising and improvements for thecollege.  Two of Stephenson’s notable outreach efforts include his connection with His Holiness the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who visited Berea College in April 1994, and the establishment of the Sister City relationship between the Yatsugatake region of Japan and Madison County, Kentucky which formally began in 1988.  On August 1, 1994, Stephenson handed the leadership reins of Berea College to President Larry D. Shinn.  On December 6, 1994 at the age of fifty-six, John B. Stephenson passed away at the Berea Hospital.  John Stephenson was survived by his wife Jane and two children.