W. Gerald Akers was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1907. He one of the first faculty members to work at Old Dominion University during its days as the Norfolk Division of William and Mary. He joined The Norfolk Division of William and Mary in 1931 as an assistant professor of foreign languages. Akers eventually became chair of the foreign languages department and retired in 1972. Akers accomplished many things in his career including helping to preserve languages like Penobscot and Hopi. He died in 1993 at the age of 86.