Fayette Avery McKenzie (July 31, 1872–September 1, 1957) was an American educator and president of Fisk University from 1915 to 1925.

His dissertation, The American Indian in Relation to the White Population of the United States was published.

His dissertation, The American Indian in Relation to the White Population of the United States was published.

In 1897, he taught economics, history, English, and German and French languages at Juniata College.

[2] While taking college courses from 1900 to 1903, he also taught mathematics and modern languages at the Blight School for Boys.

[2] He went to France in 1914 and studied and traveled with Professor Compte, who spent the summers in the French countryside with his family.

Du Bois wrote in The Crisis (the NAACP magazine) " Men and women of Black America: Let no decent Negro send his child to Fisk until Fayette McKenzie goes".

He returned to Juniata College in 1927 to teach sociology and function for two years as the dean of men.

During that time, he came to understand the injustices of forced relations and other actions taken by the United States government.

[2] In 1911, he was a European-American co-founder and a leader of the Society of American Indians (SOI), which was formed at Ohio State University.

[3][4] The attendees of the first annual conference included Dr. Charles Eastman, (Santee Dakota), physician; Dr. Carlos Montezuma, (Yavapai-Apache), physician; Thomas L. Sloan, (Omaha), attorney; Charles Edwin Dagenett, (Peoria), Bureau of Indian Affairs supervisor; Laura Cornelius Kellogg, (Oneida), educator; and Henry Standing Bear, (Oglala Lakota), educator.

[6] For the period between 1911 and 1923, SOI conducted annual conferences; networked with allies, critics, and reformers; lobbied the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) and Congress; offered legal assistance to Native individuals; and published a journal.

"[3] To do so meant to appreciate time-honored cultural traditions, except those practices that kept Native Americans from succeeding in a modern world.

[3] The society was challenged, though, by the number of varying cultures of Native American peoples across the country, as they tried to negotiate unified goals and positions.

For three years beginning in 1912 he served the State Conference of Charities and Correction as chairman of Universities and Social Welfare section.