List of Wake Forest University people

This page is a partial list of notable alumni, faculty and staff of Wake Forest University.

Presidents

• Samuel Wait (1834–1845)
• William Hooper (1845–1848)
• John B. White (1848–1853)
• Washington M. Wingate (acting 1854–1856, president 1856–1862, 1866–1879)
• Thomas H. Pritchard (1879–1882)
• Charles Taylor (1884–1905)
• William L. Poteat (1905–1927)
• Francis Pendleton Gaines (1927–1930)
• Thurman D. Kitchin (1930–1950)
• Harold W. Tribble (1950–1967)
• James R. Scales (1967–1983)
• Thomas K. Hearn, Jr. (1983–2005)
• Nathan O. Hatch (2005–present)

Notable Faculty

• Maya Angelou, English
• Anthony Atala, Urology (Chair)
• Rhoda Billings, Law (Emerita)
• Coy Cornelius Carpenter, M.D., was dean of the School of Medicine of Wake Forest University from 1936–67 and vice president for health affairs from 1963–67.
• David Carroll (physicist), Physics, Director of the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials
• David Faber, Art and printmaking
• Melissa Harris-Perry, Presidential Chair Professor of Politics and International Affairs
• Dan Locklair, Music and Composer-in-Residence
• Allen Mandelbaum, English and Humanities
• Suzanne Reynolds, Law
• Sarah Watts, History

Notable alumni

Arts and letters

• Stephen Amidon, Author
• A.R. Ammons, Noted poet and scholar
• James Archibald Campbell, Former president of Campbell College
• Leslie H. Campbell, Former president of Campbell College
• W.J. Cash, Author and journalist
• Thomas Dixon, Minister and author
• L.M. Elliott, Author Under a War-Torn Sky
• Becky Garrison, Religious satirist and columnist for The Wittenburg Door
• Emily Giffin, Author of Something Borrowed
• Justin Guariglia, Artist and documentary photographer for the National Geographic Society
• Melissa Harris-Perry, political scientist and journalist
• Samuel Johnson Howard, 8th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida
• Al Hunt, Journalist
• William Louis Poteat, Educator and President of Wake Forest (1905–1927)
• Lamar Stringfield, classical composer, flautist, symphony conductor and anthologist of American folk music.

Science

• Phillip Griffiths, Mathematician and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study

Politics, law, and government

• Richard Burr, U.S. Senator (R-NC)
• James P. Cain, Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
• Charlie Crist, Florida Governor (R) (2006–2010)
• Donna Edwards, Democratic Representative of Maryland's 4th Congressional District
• Robert L. Ehrlich, Governor of Maryland (R) and former Congressman
• David Funderburk, former Congressman (R-NC) (1995–97) and U.S. Ambassador to Romania (1981–85)
• Kay Hagan, US Senator (D-NC)
• Josiah W. Bailey, U.S. Senator (D-NC) (1931–46); co-author of the Conservative Manifesto criticizing the New Deal
• C. Dan Barrett, Republican candidate for Governor of NC in 2004
• Philip E. Berger, Republican leader in the North Carolina State Senate
• Rhoda Billings, Professor and former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
• J. Melville Broughton, Governor of North Carolina (D) (1941–45) and U.S. Senator
• Larry Kissell, US Congressman (D-NC)
• William W. Kitchin, Governor of North Carolina (D) (1909–13)
• I. Beverly Lake, Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
• Alton A. Lennon, Former U.S. Senator and later Congressman (D-NC)
• Graham Martin, Former U.S. ambassador to Italy, Thailand, and South Vietnam
• John C. Martin, Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Robert Burren Morgan, Former U.S. Senator (D-NC) (1977–81)
• Alex Sink, Former 2nd Chief Financial Officer of Florida (2007-2011), Democratic candidate for Governor of Florida in 2010
• Creigh Deeds, 2009 Democratic Party nominee for Governor of Virginia
• Rusty Duke, Judge
• Mary Easley, Former First Lady of North Carolina (2001-2009)
• Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
• Brigadier General Pat Foote (Retired – US Army), First Female to be given Brigade Command, First Female Instructor at the Army War College
• James Forrester, North Carolina State Senator
• Major B. Harding, Attorney and former Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
• Jesse Helms, Former U.S. Senator (R-NC) (1973–2003)
• Jerome Holmes, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Jeanette W. Hyde, Former Ambassador to Barbados, Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, St. Vincent, and St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
• Richard H. Moore, North Carolina Treasurer
• Eric Miller Reeves, North Carolina State Senator
• Furnifold M. Simmons, Former U.S. Senator (D-NC) (1901–31)
• Emory M. Sneeden, Former Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Charles H. Taylor, Former Congressman (R-NC)
• George L. Wainwright, Jr., Former Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
• Davis R. Ruark, Former State's Attorney for Wicomico County, Maryland
• Knox H. White, Republican mayor of Greenville, South Carolina since 1995
• Robert L. Wilkie, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Business

• Gregory Brooks, entrepreneur and professional poker player
• Justin W. Lee, founder of The Gay Christian Network (GCN)
• Michael DeBatt, Gambino crime family mob associate
• Jabez A. Bostwick, American businessman and founding partner of Standard Oil
• Charlie Ergen, co-founder and CEO of Dish Network
• Joseph W. Luter III, chairman of Smithfield Foods, Inc.
• Zach Klein, co-founder Vimeo
• Susan Alt - President and CEO, Volvo Logistics North America
• Steve Davis - Senior VP of Marketing, Heineken NA
• David Dupree - Managing Director and CEO, The Halifax Group
• Ann Johnston - Executive VP, HR, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
• John Medica - former Senior VP and General Manager of Product Group, Dell Computer
• Jorge Rodriguez - Head of Private Banking, ING Group, Mexico
• Warren Stephens - Chairman, President and CEO, Stephens Inc.
• G. Kennedy Thompson - Chairman, President and CEO, Wachovia Corp.
• Eric Wiseman - President and COO, VF Corp.
• Anil Rai Gupta, Managing Director, Havells India Ltd.
• David Farr, CEO, Emerson Electric Company
• D. Wayne Calloway, Former CEO of PepsiCo

Medicine

• William Allan, Genetics
• Louis Argenta, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
• Anthony Atala, Regenerative medicine and urology
• Ken Blum, Neuropsychopharmacology and genetics
• Paul Bucy, Neurology and neurosurgery
• Coy Cornelius Carpenter, Dean
• Richard Cytowic, Neurology
• Waldemar Debinski, Neurosurgery
• James Forrester, Politician
• Barry Freedman, Nephrology, APOL1
• Max Gomez, Medical reporter
• Jesse Meredith, Surgery
• Michael Morykwas, Surgical Sciences, Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
• Tinsley Randolph Harrison, Internal medicine
• David L. Heymann, Infectious disease
• Robert Lanza, Regenerative medicine
• Thomas T. Mackie, Preventative medicine and infectious disease
• Thomas Marshburn, Astronaut
• Jerry Punch, ESPN commentator
• Leon S. Robertson, Epidemiology
• Sally Shumaker, Public Health Sciences
• Joseph Skelton, Pediatrics
• Joel Stitzel, Biomedical Engineering
• Gil Yosipovitch, Dermatology, Itch
• Robert Brownlow, Ophthalmology

Sports

American football

• Jon Abbate, former linebacker in the NFL, CFL and UFL, and central figure in The 5th Quarter, a feature film on Wake's surprising 2006 season
• Billy Ard, New York Football Giants
• Ronnie Burgess, NFL Defensive Back
• Desmond Clark, NFL Tight End
• Jim Clack, NFL Guard
• George Coghill, retired NFL Defensive Back for the Denver Broncos^[1]
• Aaron Curry, Linebacker for the Oakland Raiders
• Bill George, NFL Linebacker
• Dave LaCrosse, NFL linebacker
• Ovie Mughelli, Full back for the Atlanta Falcons
• James "Quick" Parker, Canadian Football Hall of Fame
• Brian Piccolo, Fullback for the Chicago Bears, died of embryonal cell carcinoma, portrayed by James Caan in the television movie Brian's Song
• Ryan Plackemeier, Punter for the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team
• Ricky Proehl, NFL Wide Receiver
• Dr. Jerry Punch, American auto racing and college football commentator on ESPN
• Fred Robbins, NFL Defensive Tackle for the New York Football Giants
• Norm Snead, NFL Quarterback (4-time Pro Bowler)
• John Spanos, Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the San Diego Chargers

Baseball

• Mike Buddie, former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Yankees 1998-99 and the Brewers 2000-2003, currently the Associate Athletic Director for Administration at Wake Forest University. Also appeared in Universal Studios 1999 film, For Love of the Game alongside Kevin Costner.
• Dave Bush, former Major League Baseball pitcher, currently plays for the SK Wyverns of the Korean Baseball Organization^[2]
• Bill Herring, minor league baseball pitcher, player-manager and general manager
• Kevin Jarvis, former Major League Baseball pitcher, currently a scout for the San Diego Padres^[3]
• Mike McDougal, former Major League Baseball relief pitcher^[4]
• Cory Sullivan, Major League Baseball Outfielder^[5]

Basketball

• Al-Farouq Aminu, Small forward for the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team^[6]
• Dave Budd, Center for the New York Knicks^[7]
• Muggsy Bogues, Shortest NBA player of all-time, standing 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)^[8]
• Randolph Childress, Former professional basketball player who last played in Italy for Cestistica San Severo^[9]
• Tim Duncan, Forward-Center for the San Antonio Spurs NBA basketball team, 2 time NBA MVP^[10]
• Josh Howard, Forward-Guard for the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team^[11]
• James Johnson, Small forward for the Sacramento Kings NBA basketball team^[12]
• Rusty LaRue, Former NBA Player^[13]
• Paul Long, former NBA and ABA basketball player^[14]
• Billy Packer, CBS College basketball analyst
• Chris Paul, Guard for the Los Angeles Clippers NBA basketball team, 2005–2006 NBA Rookie of the Year^[15]
• Skip Prosser, Wake Forest men's basketball coach
• Rodney Rogers, Professional basketball player in NBA^[16]
• Darius Songaila, Basketball player for Washington Wizards, previously Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls^[17]
• Jeff Teague, Point guard for the Atlanta Hawks NBA basketball team^[18]
• Pat Williams, senior vice-president of the Orlando Magic

Golf

• Billy Andrade, PGA Tour
• Bill Haas, PGA Tour
• Jay Haas, PGA Tour, Champions Tour
• Darren Clarke, European Tour
• Len Mattiace, PGA Tour
• Arnold Palmer, PGA Tour, Champions Tour, winner of seven major championships
• Webb Simpson, PGA Tour, winner of 2012 U.S. Open
• Curtis Strange, PGA Tour, Champions Tour, winner of the 1988 and 1989 U.S. Opens
• Lanny Wadkins, PGA Tour, Champions Tour, winner of 1977 PGA Championship
• Cheyenne Woods, Ladies European Tour

Olympians

• Andy Bloom, Olympic shot putter
• Brent LaRue, Olympic athlete (hurdler)
• Michelle Kasold, Field Hockey, London 2012

Soccer

• Brian Carroll, Major League Soccer, Philadelphia Union
• Steven Curfman, American soccer player who currently plays for CASL Elite
• Justin Moose, Major League Soccer, D.C. United
• Michael Parkhurst, 2005 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year, New England Revolution
• Pat Phelan, Major League Soccer player for Toronto FC
• James Riley, Major League Soccer player for the New England Revolution
• Scott Sealy, Major League Soccer player for the Kansas City Wizards
• Wells Thompson, MLS Soccer player, Colorado Rapids

Tennis

• Jeff Landau, Professional Tennis Player, 1994 US Amateur Champion

Entertainment

• Lee Norris, Film and Television actor (Boy Meets World (Minkus), The Torkelsons, One Tree Hill)
• David Chase, Television writer, director, producer (The Sopranos)
• Carter MacIntyre, Television Actor (American Heiress, Undercovers (TV series))
• Stephanie Birkitt, Assistant to David Letterman on the Late Show with David Letterman
• Marc Blucas, Professional Actor
• Carol Barbee, Television producer/writer
• Joe Lawson, co-creator of GEICO Cavemen commercials and ABC's Cavemen TV series
• Carroll O'Connor, Actor (best known as Archie Bunker on the TV series All in the Family)
• Eddie Timanus, USA Today sportswriter and Jeopardy! champion.
• Ricky Van Veen, Co-Creator of the website CollegeHumor and entrepreneur
• Dave Willis, Co-Creator of the animated television shows Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies; writer and voice actor for animated television show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
• Lou Tilley, Anchor and Reporter

References