Not everyone can wear these….check out this list to see some of the famous graduates from Morehouse College. Click on the image to buy one of these hats online.
Morehouse College has produced world-famous alumni across many areas of expertise. We found this list of famous alumni on Wikipedia and thought it would be fun to publish here on the Morehouse College Alumni Association Blog.
While some of these names may be familiar to you, if you have a couple of moments please read their roles in history – there are some very very interesting and important people from our alma mater!
Surely this list isn’t comprehensive…if you realize someone is missing from this list (even if, you know, it’s YOU!), please let us know by dropping us a note.
| Name | Class year | Notability |
Academia |
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| 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 |
| Ronald L. Carter | 1971 | President, Johnson C. Smith University; former Dean of Students Boston University and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa |
| 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 |
| Charles D. Churchwell | 1952 | former Dean of Library Services at Washington University in St. Louis; Brown University and Miami University (OH) |
| Abraham L. Davis | 1961 | Distinguished Professor and Chair, Political Science Department, Morehouse College |
| Mordecai Wyatt Johnson | 1911 | First African-American president of Howard University |
| James C. Early | 1969 | Distinguished Director of Cultural Heritage Policy at the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Washington, D.C. |
| Eddie Glaude | 1989 | Chair, Center for African American Studies and Professor at Princeton University; Guest Contributor: The Tavis Smiley Show |
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | 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 |
| Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. | 1989 | Professor, Harvard Law School and Director of the Criminal Justice Inst. at Harvard Law; Legal Analysts 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 | Incoming Morehouse College President; Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; former Assistant Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Business |
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| Ronald D. Brown | former CEO, Atlanta Life Financial Group, Inc | |
| Nathaniel H. Bronner, Sr. | 1940 | founder and former CEO, Bronner Bros., which is also the publisher of Upscale Magazine |
| Herman Cain | 1967 | former CEO, Godfather’s Pizza |
| Emmett Carson | 1981 | CEO and President, Silicon Valley Community Foundation |
| James W. Compton | 1961 | Board of Directors, Ariel Investments, Inc.; retired President & CEO, Chicago Urban League |
| Reginald E. Davis | 1984 | President, RBC Bank, former Sr. Executive, Wachovia; named one the 75 Most Powerful African-Americans in Corporate America by Black Enterprise magazine |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Shaka Rasheed | 1993 | Managing Director, J.P.Morgan Asset Management |
| 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 & CEO NCM Capital Management Group and Chair & CEO Sloan Financial Group, Inc., Board of Directors, SCANA Corporation |
Music |
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| Uzee Brown, Jr. | 1972 | Opera Singer, Composer |
| Byron Cage | 1987 | Grammy Nominated Gospel Singer; NAACP Image Award nominee and winner of six Stellar Awards |
| Keith “Guru” Elam | 1983 | (Group) Gang Starr, Rapper, pioneer |
| Edmund Jenkins | 1914 | Harlem Renaissance Composer studied under Kemper Harreld |
| Canton Jones | 1985 | Grammy nominated Gospel Singer |
| Babatunde Olatunji | 1954 | Grammy Award winning Nigerian drummer, social activist and recording artist; Drums of Passion. |
| Shakir Stewart | 1996 | Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group and the Executive Vice President of Def Jam |
Film, television and theatre |
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| Samuel L. Jackson | 1972 | actor |
| Erik King | 1985 | actor, “Dexter” |
| Spike Lee | 1979 | film director and producer |
| 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 |
| Avery O Williams | 1986 | screenwriter; Notes In A Minor Key, Re-Directing Eddie |
| Stu James | 1989 | Broadway and television actor; Color Purple, Dreamgirls, All My Children, General Hospital |
| Rockmond Dunbar | actor, Soul Food, Girlfriends | |
Government, law, and public policy |
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| Sanford Bishop | 1968 | U.S. Congressman (Georgia) |
| John Brewer | 1989 | Associate Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Services and General Sales Manager, United States Department of Agriculture |
| Julius E. Coles | 1964 | former U.S. Ambassador to Senegal; former President Africare |
| George Haley | 1949 | former Chair U.S. Postal Rate Commission and Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana; brother of Alex Haley |
| James L. Hudson | 1961 | Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Chair, National Capitol Revitalization Corporation Board |
| Earl F. Hilliard | 1964 | former U.S. Congressman (Alabama) |
| John Hopps Jr. | 1958 | former Deputy Under Secretary United States Department of Defense |
| Howard E. Jeter | 1970 | former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria; former U.S. Ambassador to Botswana |
| James Nabrit, Jr. | 1923 | former Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; second African American President of Howard University |
| Robert L. Mallett | 1979 | former Deputy Secretary of Commerce U.S. Department of Commerce; VP Pfizer Corporation, President Pfizer Foundation |
| Major R. Owens | 1956 | U.S. Congressman (New York) |
| Cedric Richmond | 1995 | U.S. Congressman (Louisiana) |
| David Satcher | 1963 | 16th U.S. Surgeon General, former president of Morehouse School of Medicine |
| Joel Secundy | 1993 | Deputy Assistant Secretary, Service Industries, International Trade Administrations, United States Department of Commerce |
| Louis W. Sullivan | 1954 | former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and current President Emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine |
| Horace T. Ward | 1927 | First African American to challenge the racially discriminatory practices at the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law. First African-American to be appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and former member of the Georgia Senate |
| Julian Bond | 1971 | Civil rights leader, former Georgia state representative & Chairman of the NAACP |
| Terrance Carroll | 1992 | Speaker, Colorado House of Representatives |
| Kenneth Dunkin | 1989 | Illinois House of Representatives |
| Leroy Johnson | 1949 | Senator; first African American elected to the Georgia General Assembly since Reconstruction |
| John Monds | 1987 | Highest number of votes received by any Libertarian candidate ever |
| Frank Peterman | 1985 | Florida House of Representatives |
| Bakari Sellers | 2005 | Youngest member elected to the South Carolina General Assembly |
| Andre Thapedi | 1990 | Illinois House of Representatives |
| Perry Thurston Jr. | 1982 | Florida House of Representatives |
| S. Howard Woodson | 1942 | Bachelor of Divinity Morehouse School of Religion; former Speaker, New Jersey General Assembly |
| Claude Black Jr. | 1937 | first Black mayor Pro Tem San Antonio, Texas; Civil Rights Leader; Pastor Mt. Zion Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Ed McIntyre | 1956 | first African-American mayor of Augusta,GA |
| Alvin Parks, Jr. | 1983 | Mayor, East St. Louis, IL (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) |
| Clinton I. Young | 1972 | Mayor, Mt. Vernon, NY (2008- Present) |
Judges and lawyers |
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| Michael D. Carter | 1986 | Judge, Superior Court, Los Angeles County |
| 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 |
| Ralph B. Everett | 1973 | President and CEO, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies |
| Joseph Jerome Farris | 1951 | Justice, United States Court of Appeals 9th Circuit |
| Robert V. Franklin | 1947 | Retired Judge, Ohio District Court of Appeals. |
| Odell Horton | 1951 | Justice, U.S. District Court W. Tenn. |
| Reginald C. Lindsay | 1967 | Justice, United States Court of Appeals 7th Circuit |
| James L. Hudson | 1961 | Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Chair, National Capitol Revitalization Corporation Board |
| Michael D. Johnson | 1990 | Judge, Superior Court, Fulton Co., Georgia |
| Jeh Johnson | 1979 | 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 |
| Tyrone C. Means | 1973 | Founding Partner, Thomas Means Gillis & Seay; Counsel and Board Member, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation |
| Graham T. Perry | c.1920 | First African American Assistant Attorney-General for State of Illinois |
| Olu Stevens | 1992 | Circuit Court Judge for the 30th Circuit KY |
| Thomas Sampson Sr. | 1968 | founding Partner of Thompson Kennedy Sampson & Patterson, the oldest minority-owned law firm in the state of Georgia. |
| Jerome Walker | 1981 | Partner Troutman Sanders, LLP; former General Counsel for the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. |
| Horace T. Ward | 1949 | Federal Judge, U.S. District Court Northern, Georgia; Inducted into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame and recipient of the Trumpet Award for Civil Rights Advocacy |
| 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. |
| Richard T. White | 1967 | Sr. VP and General Counsel for the Auto Club Group and Chairman of the Association of Corporate Counsel |
Journalist and media personalities |
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| Michael DeMond Davis | 1961 | Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist; author of Black American Women in Olympic Track & Field and co-author of Thurgood Marshall: Warrior at the Bar, Rebel on the Bench. |
| Robert E. Johnson | 1948 | former Executive Editor and Associate Publisher, Jet Magazine |
| Kevin A. Ross | 1985 | Host/producer of daytime syndication legal show America’s Court with Judge Ross |
| Jamal Simmons | 1993 | Political correspondent for CNN |
| Vincent Tubbs | c.1938 | Co-founder of National Negro Newspaper Week and first African American to head a motion picture industry union |
Literature |
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| Lerone Bennett, Jr. | 1949 | Senior editor for the Johnson Publishing Group (JET, Ebony); author Before the Mayflower |
| Sanford Biggers | 1993 | Artist, Professor Columbia University School of the Arts |
| Thomas Dent | 1952 | writer and poet; author Magnolia Street |
| Jefferson Grisby | 1938 | author, artist; NAACP Man of the Year Award; first African American to publish a book for collegiate art teachers |
| Miles Marshall Lewis | 1993 | Pop culture critic, essayist, and author |
| Military service | ||
| Otha Thornton, Lt. Colonel | 1989 | 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 and 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 |
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| Calvin O. Butts | 1972 | Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church |
| M. William Howard, Jr. (minister) | 1968 | Pastor Bethany Baptist Church, former President New York Theological Seminary; Chair, Rutgers University Board of Governors |
| Thomas Kilgore, Jr. | 1931 | Civil Rights pioneer and Pastor Emeritus, Second Baptist Church; a building is named in his honor on the Morehouse campus |
| Otis Moss, Jr. | 1956 | Pastor and Theologian |
| Otis Moss III | 1992 | Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ; listed on the Root 100 |
| Kelly Miller Smith | 1942 | assistant dean Vanderbilt University Divinity School (circa 1970s-1980s) |
| 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 |
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| 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. |
| 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” and 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; and first African-American to serve as Trustee at Brown University; President of Texas Southern University. |
| 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.” |
| 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. |
Service and social reform |
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| Hamilton Holmes | 1963 | Desegregated the University of Georgia (along with Charlayne Hunter). He first attended Morehouse before transferring to UGA |
| Martin Luther King Jr. | 1948 | Leader of the Civil Rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; delivered the historic I Have a Dream speech during the March on Washington 1963 |
| Howard Zehr | 1965 | Grandfather of Restorative Justice; 2006 winner of the Community of Christ Peace Award; first White student to attend Morehouse |
Sports |
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| Edwin Moses | 1978 | Olympic gold medalist |
| Baseball | ||
| Donn Clendenon | 1956 | New York Mets Outfielder and 1969 World Series MVP |
| Football (American) | ||
| Jerome Boger | Current referee and umpire in the NFL (National Football League); former quarterback for the Morehouse Tigers football team | |
| Caesar “Zip” Gayles | 1924 | former head football coach and former head basketball coach at Langston University, Member of SWAC Hall of Fame and NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame |
| David Graham | 1982 | DE, Seattle Seahawks 1982-1987 |
| Ramon Harewood | 2010 | OL, Baltimore Ravens 2010 |
| Issac Keys | LB, Arizona Cardinals 2004-2005 |
It’s entirely possible that some of the men on this list of famous alumni were given financial assistance from the Morehouse College Alumni Association. If you would like to contribute to the Alumni Scholarship Fund and help out our current students (and perhaps future members of this list), please click here to give to the Alumni Association. Thanks!
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