A native Oklahoman, Herman George Canady, Sr., (October 9, 1901 - December 1, 1970) came the psychology department at West Virginia State College (now University) in 1928, after having earned bachelor’s (sociology) and master’s (clinical psychology) degrees at Northwestern University.  Guided by strong values of integrity, professionalism, and duty imparted by his parents, Canady, then 27, would lead the department for the next four decades.

Canady’s lifetime focus, both personally and professionally, was the psychology of race.  He authored over two dozen scholarly articles on the topic, coordinated the first organization of Black psychologists, spoke regularly on the subject to both professional audiences and civic groups—and contributed, by interviewing returning African American veterans of World War II, to the desegregation of the military implemented by President Harry Truman.  After the war, Canady, who had received his doctorate from Northwestern University in 1941, launched two tours of American universities across the nation, serving as both lecturer and “ambassador” to these largely White institutions. Within his discipline, Canady was a founding member of both the West Virginia Psychological Association and Kanawha County Mental Health Association (now the West Virginia Rehabilitation Center), while also serving as a primary consultant to the West Virginia Veterans Association.

Canady’s greatest influence was as a teacher. His message of academic excellence, personal responsibility, and equality resonated with two generations of students.  He inspired the likes of Carl Stokes, later mayor of Cleveland, and state civil rights advocate Leon Sullivan. Upon his death in 1970, the Yellow Jacket, the school's student newspaper, eulogized the man eloquently: “We, the faculty, students, and members of the student press wish to express deepest regret at the passing of a fine teacher, lecturer and gentleman.” Survived by his wife, Julia, and two children, Joyce and Herman Jr. (later a Kanawha county judge), Canady was buried in Dunbar’s Grandview Cemetery, the first African American to be so interred there.

He also was the father of Herman Canady, Jr., the first African American to serve on the Kanawha County Circuit Court.