Daniel Harvey Hill, Jr. was born on January 15, 1859, at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. Hill was a long-time educator and administrator for what is now North Carolina State University, for which institution he served as president from 1908 to 1916. During World War I, he served as the chairman of the North Carolina Council of Defense. Hill died on July 31, 1924, in Blowing Rock, N.C.