List of Morehouse College alumni
An obelisk named in honor of Howard Thurman stands to the right of King Chapel on the campus of
Morehouse CollegeThis is a list of notable alumni which includes currently matriculating students, and alumni who are graduates or non-matriculating students of Morehouse College.
Morehouse College is a private, four-year, all-male, historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia. During enrollment at the college students are known as "Men of Morehouse." Upon graduation, alumni are initiated as lifetime "Morehouse Men."
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
See also Morehouse College alumni.
Academia
Educators
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
Reference(s) |
Russell L Adams |
1952 |
Chair, Department Afro-American Studies, Howard University (1971-2005); Professor Emeritus, Howard University |
|
Benjamin Brawley |
1901 |
first Dean of Morehouse College |
|
Calvin O. Butts |
1972 |
President, SUNY College at Old Westbury; Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church |
[1] |
Ronald L. Carter |
1971 |
President, Johnson C. Smith University; former Dean of Students Boston University and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa |
|
Charles D. Churchwell |
1952 |
former Dean of Library Services at Washington University in St. Louis; Brown University and Miami University (OH) |
|
James A. Colston |
1932 |
2nd President, Bethune-Cookman University; President Knoxville College; President Savannah State University; 2nd President, Bronx Community College |
|
Samuel DuBois Cook |
1948 |
first Black Professor Emeritus and Trustee Emeritus at Duke University; President, Dillard University 1974-1997 |
|
Guy C. Craft |
1951 |
former Dean of Library Services at Chicago State University; former Library Director at Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center and former Interim Dean of the School of Library and Information Studies at Clark Atlanta University |
|
Abraham L. Davis |
1961 |
Distinguished Professor and Chair, Political Science Department, Morehouse College |
|
James C. Early |
1969 |
Distinguished Director of Cultural Heritage Policy at the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Washington, D.C. |
[2] |
Eddie Glaude |
1989 |
Chair, Center for African American Studies and Professor at Princeton University; guest contributor: The Tavis Smiley Show |
[3] |
Marshall Grigsby |
1968 |
former President of Benedict College and former Vice President, Provost and CEO of Hampton University |
|
John Hopps, Jr. |
1958 |
former Director of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and Distinguished Physics Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; recipient of the Materials Advancement Award |
|
Mordecai Wyatt Johnson |
1911 |
first African-American president of Howard University |
[4] |
David Jones |
1983 |
Vice President of Human Resources, Stanford University |
|
Walter J. Leonard |
|
former Assistant Dean Harvard Law School; former President of Fisk University; two fellowships are named in his honor at Oxford University |
[5] |
James Nabrit, Jr. |
1923 |
Second African-American president of Howard University and former Deputy United Nations Ambassador |
|
Calvin Mackie |
1990 |
former Professor of Engineering, Tulane University; winner of the 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering; Black Engineer of the Year for College Level Educators |
|
Walter E. Massey |
1958 |
President, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; former Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago; former Dean of the College of Physics at Brown University; former Provost of the University of California System; President Emeritus at Morehouse College |
|
Richard McKinney |
1931 |
first African American President of Storer College; former Dean at Virginia Union University and Morgan State University |
|
Richard J. Powell |
1975 |
Distinguished Professor of Art History at Duke University; editor-in-chief, the Art Bulletin; Wilbur Lucius Cross Medalist, Yale University Alumni of the Year Award |
[6] |
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. |
1989 |
Professor, Harvard Law School and Director of the Criminal Justice Inst. at Harvard Law; legal analyst CNN, Fox News |
|
James F. Williams |
|
current Dean of Libraries University of Colorado at Boulder, 2002 Melvil Dewey Medal recipient |
|
Charles V. Willie |
1948 |
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Harvard University Graduate School of Education |
|
John S. Wilson, Jr. |
1979 |
Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; former Assistant Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
[7] |
Business
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
Reference(s) |
Nathaniel H. Bronner, Sr. |
1940 |
founder and former CEO, Bronner Bros., which is also the publisher of Upscale Magazine |
|
Ronald D. Brown |
|
former CEO, Atlanta Life Financial Group, Inc |
|
Herman Cain |
1967 |
former CEO, Godfather's Pizza |
[8] |
Emmett Carson |
1981 |
CEO and President, Silicon Valley Community Foundation |
|
James W. Compton |
1961 |
Board of Directors, Ariel Investments, Inc.; retired President and CEO, Chicago Urban League |
|
Reginald E. Davis |
1984 |
President, RBC Bank, former Senior Executive, Wachovia; named one the "75 Most Powerful African-Americans in Corporate America" by Black Enterprise magazine |
|
Russell Ewing |
1991 |
Executive Director, SEI Investments Company |
|
Dale E. Jones |
1982 |
Vice Chair, Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. |
|
Robert L. Mallett |
1979 |
former Vice President, Pfizer Corporation, President Pfizer Foundation/Member of Accordia Global Health Foundation’s Board of Directors |
[9][10] |
Walter E. Massey |
1958 |
former Chairman, Bank of America; former Director of the National Science Foundation |
|
Kent Matlock |
1986 |
CEO of Matlock Advertising & Public Relations |
|
John W. Mims |
1982 |
Sr. Vice President Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide |
|
Arthur E. Johnson |
1968 |
former President and COO, Lockheed Martin I&SS, and President, IBM, FSC Division |
|
Rufus H. Rivers |
1986 |
Managing Director, RLJ Equity Partners, Board of Directors: Thomas & Betts, the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) |
|
Robert T. Ross |
1981 |
Director, NJ Wealth Management Banking at Merrill Lynch |
|
Maceo K. Sloan |
1971 |
Chair and CEO NCM Capital Management Group; Chair and CEO Sloan Financial Group, Inc., Board of Directors, SCANA Corporation |
|
Entertainment
Music
Film, television and theatre
Samuel L. Jackson at a Los Angeles event
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
Reference(s) |
Rockmond Dunbar |
|
actor, Soul Food, Girlfriends |
|
Samuel L. Jackson |
1972 |
actor |
[16] |
Stu James |
1989 |
Broadway and television actor; Color Purple, Dreamgirls, All My Children, General Hospital |
[17] |
Erik King |
1985 |
actor, Dexter |
|
Spike Lee |
1979 |
film director and producer |
[16] |
Seith Mann |
1995 |
television director: The Wire, Grey's Anatomy; winner of the NAACP Image Award |
|
Bill G. Nunn III |
1976 |
actor, School Daze, Mo Better Blues, New Jack City |
[18] |
Avery O Williams |
1986 |
screenwriter; Notes In A Minor Key, Re-Directing Eddie |
[19] |
Government, law, and public policy
Federal government
Congressman Sanford Bishop
Earl Hilliard, fmr. Congressman
Congressman Major Owens
State government
Julian Bond
Mayors
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
References |
Claude Black Jr. |
1937 |
first Black mayor Pro Tem San Antonio, Texas; civil rights leader; Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas |
[36][37] |
Chuck Burris |
1971 |
first Black mayor of Stone Mountain, Georgia |
|
John Wesley Dobbs |
1897 |
the unofficial "Mayor" of Sweet Auburn Avenue (1937-1949); Civic Leader and co-founder of the Atlanta Negro Voters League |
[38] |
Maynard Jackson |
1956 |
first Black mayor of Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson served three terms as Mayor; founder and CEO of Jackson Securities Inc.; National Development Chair, Democratic National Committee |
[39] |
Ed McIntyre |
1956 |
first African-American mayor of Augusta, Georgia |
|
Alvin Parks, Jr. |
1983 |
Mayor, East St. Louis, Illinois (2007-present) |
|
James O. Webb |
1953 |
Mayor Glencoe, Illinois; established the first HMO in Illinois and served as Chair, President and CEO of the Dental Network of America (of the Health Care Service Corporation) |
[40] |
Clinton I. Young |
1972 |
Mayor, Mt. Vernon, New York (2008-present) |
|
|
|
Judges and lawyers
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
References |
Michael D. Carter |
1986 |
Judge, Superior Court, Los Angeles County |
[41] |
George W. Crockett Jr. |
1931 |
former U.S. Congressman, United States Congress; Founding Member of the National Lawyer's Guild; Co-founded the first racially integrated law firm in the U.S.; first Black attorney in the U.S. Department of Labor |
[42] |
Ralph B. Everett |
1973 |
President and CEO, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies |
[43] |
Joseph Jerome Farris |
1951 |
Justice, United States Court of Appeals 9th Circuit |
[44] |
Robert V. Franklin |
1947 |
Retired Judge, Ohio District Court of Appeals. |
|
Odell Horton |
1951 |
Justice, U.S. District Court W. Tenn. |
[45] |
Reginald C. Lindsay |
1967 |
Justice, United States Court of Appeals 7th Circuit |
[46] |
James L. Hudson |
1961 |
Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Chair, National Capitol Revitalization Corporation Board |
[25] |
Michael D. Johnson |
1990 |
Judge, Superior Court, Fulton Co., Georgia |
[47] |
Jeh Johnson |
1979 |
Secretary of Homeland Security, first black Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, named to the National Law Journal's 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers; appointed General Counsel for the Defense Department by President Barack Obama; former General Counsel U.S. Air Force. |
|
C. Vernon Mason |
1967 |
disbarred lawyer, Tawana Brawley case, Howard Beach incident. |
|
Stephen L. Maxwell |
1942 |
first Black District Court Judge in Minnesota |
[48] |
Tyrone C. Means |
1973 |
Founding Partner, Thomas Means Gillis & Seay; Counsel and Board Member, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation |
[49][50] |
Graham T. Perry |
c.1920 |
first African American Assistant Attorney-General for State of Illinois |
[51] |
Olu Stevens |
1992 |
circuit court judge for the 30th Circuit, Kentucky |
[52] |
Thomas Sampson Sr. |
1968 |
founding partner of Thompson Kennedy Sampson & Patterson, the oldest minority-owned law firm in the state of Georgia. |
[53][54] |
Jerome Walker |
1981 |
Partner Troutman Sanders, LLP; former General Counsel for the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. |
[55] |
Horace T. Ward |
1949 |
Federal Judge, U.S. District Court Northern, Georgia; inducted into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame; recipient of the Trumpet Award for Civil Rights Advocacy |
[56] |
Brent Wilson |
1973 |
partner, Elarbee Thompson Sapp & Wilson; Who's Who in American Law; listed among America's Top Black Lawyers by Black Enterprise; Chamber's USA Best Lawyers for Business |
[57] |
Richard T. White |
1967 |
Sr. VP and General Counsel for the Auto Club Group and Chairman of the Association of Corporate Counsel |
[58] |
|
|
Journalist and media personalities
Literature
Military service
Otha Thornton
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
References |
Otha Thornton, Lt. Colonel |
1989 |
2013-2015 National President and Chairman of the Parent Teacher Association and also the first African-American male elected President in the history of the association. Former Director of Human Resources and Presidential Communications Officer for the White House Communications Agency; awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree by Michigan Technological University; former Assistant Professor, Michigan Technological University; winner of the Parting of the Waters Award for Faculty Excellence. |
|
James R. Hall, Lt. General (ret.) |
1957 |
Deputy Inspector General, the United States Army |
|
|
|
Religion
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
Reference(s) |
M. William Howard, Jr. |
1968 |
Pastor Bethany Baptist Church, former President, New York Theological Seminary; Chair, Rutgers University Board of Governors |
[63] |
Thomas Kilgore, Jr. |
1931 |
civil rights pioneer and Pastor Emeritus, Second Baptist Church; a building is named in his honor on the Morehouse campus |
[63] |
Otis Moss, Jr. |
1956 |
pastor and theologian |
|
Otis Moss III |
1992 |
Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ; listed on the Root 100 |
[64] |
Kelly Miller Smith |
1942 |
assistant dean, Vanderbilt University Divinity School (circa 1970s-1980s) |
|
Keith L. Somerville |
1992 |
Pastor, Calvary-Houston United Methodist Church |
|
Howard Thurman |
1923 |
renowned theologian; Dean of Chapel Boston University |
|
Frederick B. Williams |
|
Canon of the Church of the Intercession in Harlem, New York (1971-2005) |
|
Science and medicine
Roger L. Wood
Name |
Class year |
Notability |
References |
Henry W. Foster, Jr. |
1954 |
President Emeritus, Meharry Medical College; clinical professor, Vanderbilt University; former nominee to post of U.S. Surgeon General; presidential advisor |
|
John Hopps, Jr. |
1958 |
physicist, former longtime Director of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and distinguished professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); recipient of the National Materials Advancement Award; former Deputy Under Secretary for the United States Department of Defense |
|
Roger Wood II |
1966 |
computer scientist; first African-American software developer at Bell Labs |
[65] |
Calvin B. Johnson |
1989 |
24th Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of the Pennsylvania Department of Health |
|
Paul Q. Judge |
1998 |
award-winning computer technologist, inventor and entrepreneur; recipient of MIT Technology Review Magazine's "100 Top Innovators under 35"; voted Black Engineer of the Year (2006) |
|
Samuel M. Nabrit |
1925 |
Distinguished Science Professor; first African-American appointed to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission; served on Dwight Eisenhower's National Science Board; first African-American to receive a doctoral degree from Brown University; first African-American to serve as Trustee at Brown University; President of Texas Southern University |
[66] |
Donald Hopkins |
1962 |
Director and Vice President, Health Programs, The Carter Center; a 1995 MacArthur Fellow; nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 |
|
Roderic Pettigrew |
1972 |
cardiologist and renowned biomedical engineer; Director, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; former Director of Magnetic Resonance Research and Professor of Radiology and Cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine; listed annually among the "Best Doctors in America" |
[67] |
Mack Roach III |
1975 |
Chair, Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco; named four times among the "Best Doctors in America"; American Cancer Society Fellow ; American College of Radiology Fellow |
|
Asa G. Yancey Sr. |
1937 |
first African-American professor and Professor Emeritus at Emory University School of Medicine, first African-American doctor and Medical Director at Grady Memorial Hospital |
|
Charles DeWitt Watts |
1938 |
first board-certified African-American surgeon in North Carolina; founder of Lincoln Community Health Center |
[68] |
|
|
Service and social reform
Sports
Olympics
Edwin Moses at the 1987 World Championship
Baseball
Football (American)
Others
Notable faculty
Name |
Department |
Notability |
Reference |
Na'im Akbar |
Psychology |
author, Breaking the Chains and Images of Psychological Slavery |
|
Amalia Amaki |
History |
modern and contemporary artist |
|
Clayborne Carson |
History |
Executive Director, Martin Luther King Jr. Collection; professor, Stanford University |
|
Lawrence Edward Carter |
Religion |
Dean, Martin Luther King Chapel; Fulbright Scholar; founder of the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Community Builders Prize |
|
Claude B. Dansby |
Mathematics |
chair, Mathematics Dept. |
|
Louis Delsarte |
Fine Arts |
painter, muralist |
|
E. Franklin Frazier |
Sociology |
author, Black Bourgeoisie |
|
Kemper Harreld |
Music |
established the Morehouse College Glee Club |
|
J.K. Haynes |
Biology |
Chair, Biology Department; New York Academy of Science; Who's Who in Science and Engineering; Who's Who Among America's Teachers; Visiting Scholar, Brown University |
|
John Hope |
President |
first black president of Morehouse |
|
John Hopps, Jr. |
Physics |
former Director, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, MIT |
|
Edward A. Jones |
Foreign Language |
author, A Candle In The Dark: A History of Morehouse College |
|
Frederick E. Mapp |
Mathematics |
F.E. Mapp Science & Math Symposium |
|
Benjamin E. Mays |
President |
mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr.; established the institutions international academic reputation and gave rise to the Morehouse Mystique |
|
Henry Cecil McBay |
Chemistry |
winner of the Norton Prize in Chemistry, the Norris Award, and the Herty Award for Outstanding Contributions in Chemistry; first MLK Visiting Scholar at MIT |
|
Charles Wilbert Snow |
Political Science |
diplomat |
|
Harriet J. Walton |
Mathematics |
"Mother Walton" was a UNCF Dana Fellow; Who's Who Men and Women of Science (1974); Who's Who of American Women (1974); Outstanding Educators of America (1971) |
|
References
- ↑ "The Abyssinian Baptist Church - Biography: Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III". Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ↑ News | Arts and Sciences
- ↑ Princeton University | Eddie S. Glaude Jr
- ↑ Yenser, Thomas (editor), Who's Who in Colored America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in America, Brooklyn, New York, 1930-1931-1932 (third edition)
- ↑ The HistoryMakers
- ↑ http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/home/wilburcrossmedalists.html Archived October 18, 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ http://www.morehousecollegealumni.com/wilson-hbcus-executive-director.php Archived September 26, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Herman Cain: CEO and President THE New Voice, Inc.". Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- 1 2 "Robert L. Mallett". Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ↑ Accordia Global Health Foundation
- ↑ Byron Cage Biography - Selected works - Gospel, Music, Church, Worship, Praise, and Birth
- ↑ Caramanica, Jon (2010-04-21). "Guru, Rapper Known for Social Themes, Dies at 47". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- ↑ http://martinluthermccoy.bandcamp.com/
- ↑ http://www.olatunjimusic.com/
- ↑ http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/discovery-pj-morton/print/
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Morehouse College". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
- ↑ http://www.stujames.net/
- ↑ Bill Nunn at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ http://www.averyowilliams.com/
- ↑ "Washington, D.C. election results 2012". 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
- ↑ "Nate Bennett-Fleming (D) - About the Candidate". The Washington Post. 2012. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
- ↑ "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ http://www.fas.usda.gov/brewer.asp
- ↑ "George Haley Biography, The History Makers".
- 1 2 Office of the Press Secretary: President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts (06/24/2009)
- 1 2 "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ see Science & Medicine Section, discussed infra
- ↑ "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ "HHS - Office of the Surgeon General - Previous Sugerons General: David Satcher (1998-2002)". U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2007-01-04. Archived from the original on 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ Joel D. Secundy
- ↑ "About Dr. Sullivan". Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ "New Georgia Encyclopedia: Horace T. Ward (b. 1927)". 2003-05-09. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ↑ Leroy Johnson from the New Georgia Encyclopedia Online
- ↑ "Fun Election Facts for the Kids". Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ↑ "Pride in the House". Retrieved 2008-09-29.
- ↑ The History Makers
- ↑ Stone Mtn, ex-KKK Haven, elects first Black Mayor www.findarticles.com
- ↑ Sweet Auburn Avenue: The Buildings Tell Their Story
- ↑ New Georgia Encyclopedia
- 1 2 The History Makers.com
- ↑ California Superior Courts:www.courtinfo.ca.gov
- ↑ Finding Dulcinea: librarian of the internet
- ↑ http://www.JointCenter.org
- ↑ Just The Beginning Foundation : Just The Beginning Foundation
- ↑ Congressman Steve Cohen - Home
- ↑ The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/09.
- ↑ http://www.fultoncourt.org
- ↑ http://www.startribune.com
- ↑ SuperLawyers.com
- ↑ Tyrone C. Means, Esq. - Thomas, Means, Gillis & Seay, P.C. - Attorneys and Counsellors At Law
- ↑ Jones, Edward Allen (1967). A candle in the dark: a history of Morehouse College. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press. p. 243.
- ↑ Judicial Appointments/kentucky.gov
- ↑ Jet Magazine (08/23/1999).
- ↑ Site under construction
- ↑ troutmansanders.com
- ↑ Education: The New Georgia Encyclopedia
- ↑ Elarbee, Thompson, Sapp & Wilson, LLP
- ↑ Michigan Lawyers Weekly, D.J. Levy (12/24/2007)
- ↑ http://www.ny1.com/content/about_ny1/staff_profiles/185693/geoff-bennett---twc-political-reporter--washington-dc-bureau
- ↑ Johnson, John H., ed. (March 21, 1974). "This week in black history". Jet (Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.) 45 (26): 10.
- ↑ Cheers, D. Michael, ed. (February 13, 1989). "Vincent Tubbs, 72, founder of negro newspaper week, dies". Jet (Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.) 75 (19): 52.
- ↑ "Tom Dent Bio : Nathanielturner.com".
- 1 2 http://www.morehouse.edu/about/prominent_alumni.html
- ↑ http://www.theroot.com/views/root-100
- ↑ http://www3.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/BellLabs/History
- ↑ Nabrit, Samuel Milton (1905-2003) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed
- ↑ NIBIB - Staff Page: Roderic Pettigrew
- ↑ "First black N.C. surgeon dies at 86". http://www.accessnorthga.com. Access North. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ↑ Caeser Zip Gayles Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- 1 2 3 "NFL Players who attended Morehouse College". databaseSports.com. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ↑ "Holiday Blues! Special Guest: John Sharpe James and Author/Film Producer Alonzo Herran". BKS1 Radio. December 6, 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-26.