James Earl King Hildreth is an American immunologist and academic administrator. Hildreth serves as the 12th president and chief executive officer of Meharry Medical College. Hildreth is credited with groundbreaking work around AIDS and HIV and was the first African American to hold a full tenured professorship in basic research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Edward D. Miller calls Hildreth "one of the most influential HIV researchers in the world."