By the Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

June 18, 2025 – Over 100 people, including Mayor Frank Scott Jr., numerous local dignitaries, family members, and friends, gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of the late James R. Rodgers Sr., former Executive Director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (1980-1993) and the first African American Executive Director of a U.S. airport.

During a lively and cheerful ceremony at the newly constructed Hampton Inn & Suites near the airport, a new road was renamed in Rodger’s honor by Mayor Scott and Steven Baker, the recently appointed airport executive director, who assumed the role in August.

The highlight of the ceremony was a heartfelt speech by James R. Rodgers Jr., the son of the late Little Rock icon who shared personal vignettes and stories of his father’s vision and commitment to leading by example. The elder Rodgers passed away in 1993 and is buried at Little Rock National Cemetery. He was posthumously inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1994.

Also attending the event were numerous members of Rodgers’ family and friends, including his wife, Claudia Rodgers, and her daughter, also named Claudia Rodgers. The event was also attended by Little Rock Airport Commission Chair Patrick Schueck, several current and former airport commissioners, and two of the city’s former mayors, Jim Dailey Jr. and Lottie Shackelford.

Born March 15, 1947, in Little Rock, Rodgers graduated from Horace Mann High School in 1965. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician and later earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1972. 

Rodgers began his career at First National Bank, where he rose to the role of commercial loan officer. In 1977, he joined Little Rock Regional Airport (now Bill and Hilary Clinton National Airport) as an administrative assistant and was named executive director in 1980 at the age of thirty-three. During his tenure, which lasted through 1993, he oversaw over $70 million in airport expansion projects, including major terminal renovations and the construction of the east runway, which helped double annual boardings to over one million.

An active community leader, Rodgers was a member of the American Association of Airport Executives and the Airport Operators Council International. He also volunteered with the American Red Cross, Boy Scouts Quapaw Council, and chaired the Little Rock branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He passed away on December 21, 1993, and is buried at Little Rock National Cemetery.

Rodgers was posthumously honored with the dedication of Southwest Hospital’s MRI unit in his name and his 1994 induction into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2025, Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport and the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission dedicated James R. Rodgers Sr. Drive, commemorating his contributions to aviation, the Little Rock community, and the nation.

To view the photo gallery from the dedication ceremony, go to the Arkansas Black Vitality’s Black Carpet page here.