A special carbon black, Ketjen Black (KB), which has an extremely high surface area and low specific gravity, was selected as a catalyst support to prepare a highly dispersed NiMo catalyst for the hydrogenation of 1-methylnaphthalene, using a 50 mL magnetically-stirred autoclave under the standard conditions af 380 degrees C, 40 min, and 9.5 MPa of H-2 reaction pressure. The catalyst, prepared from molybdenum dioxyacetylacetonate and nickel acetate in methanol solution by successive impregnations of Mo (10 wt %) and Ni (2 wt %) in that order, provided the highest conversion of 84% to methyltetralins. Combinations of soluble metal salts, impregnation solvents, and surface properties of carbon black are suggested to be very important for the preparation of a highly active catalyst. KB-supported NiMo catalysts showed a much higher activity for 1-methylnaphthalene hydrogenation than a commercial NiMo/Al2O3.