List of Shaw University people

This is a list of Shaw University people from Shaw University a historically black private college in Raleigh, North Carolina; it includes alumni, faculty, and presidents.

Notable alumni

Academics

• Ezekiel Ezra Smith (A.B. 1878), president of Fayetteville State University and U.S. Ambassador to Liberia (1888–1890) ^[1]
• Edward Hart Lipscombe (A.B. 1879, A.M. 1882), educator, minister, principal of the Western Union Institute^{[ citation needed ]}
• Charles L. Purce, (A.B.) president of Selma University and Simmons College of Kentucky ^[2]
• James B. Dudley (A.B. 1881), professor and president of North Carolina A&T State University (1896–1925) ^[3]
• Peter Weddick Moore (A.B. 1887), founder and first president of Elizabeth City Normal College, (now Elizabeth City State University) ^[4]
• James E. Shepard (A.B. 1894), founder and first president of North Carolina Central University ^[5]
• John O. Crosby (1914), founder and first president of North Carolina A&T State University ^[6]
• Benjamin Arthur Quarles (B.A. 1931), historian, administrator, scholar, educator, and writer ^[7]
• James E. Cheek (B.A. 1955), president of Shaw University, president emeritus of Howard University, 1983 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom ^[8]
• William L. Pollard (B.A. 1967), president of the Medgar Evers College (2009–2013)^{[ citation needed ]}

Arts and entertainment

• Shirley Caesar (B.S. 1984), pastor and gospel music artist ^[9]
• Gladys Knight (Honorary doctorate), singer, Gladys Knight & the Pips, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ^[10]
• Kayden Carter (B.A. 2012), professional wrestler in WWE
• Lords of the Underground (attended), hip-hop group that was founded in the early 1990s, when all three of its members were students attending Shaw University ^[11]

Business

• Calvin E. Lightner (1907 or 1908), architect and mortician ^[12]
• Ida Van Smith (1939), one of the first African American female pilots and flight instructors in the US ^[13]
• Lee Johnson (1975), president and CEO of Mechanics & Farmers Bank ^[14]
• Celeste Beatty (1984), first black female brewery owner ^[15]
• Willie Otey Kay (1912), prominent dressmaker in Raleigh
• William Gaston Pearson (1886), prominent principal, colloquially referred to as "Durham's Black Superintendent", in Durham, NC, and co-founder of Mechanics & Farmers Bank ^[16]

Civil rights

• Max Yergan (1914), civil rights activist; Spingarn Medal recipient ^[17]
• Ella Baker (1927), leader of SNCC and civil rights activist ^[18]

Government

• Edward A. Johnson (B.L. 1891), first African-American member of the New York state legislature when he was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1917 ^[19]
• Col. James H. Young, prominent North Carolina politician and first African American to hold the rank of colonel in the United States of the volunteer regiment during the Spanish–American War ^[20]
• Henry Plummer Cheatham (A.B. 1882), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives 1889–1893 ^[21]
• Adam Clayton Powell Jr., (D.D. 1934), Congressman from New York, 1945–71 ^[22]
• Angie Brooks (B.S. 1949), first African female President of the United Nations General Assembly and Associate Justice to the National Supreme Court of Liberia ^[23]
• George H. Jackson, Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1892 to 1893 ^[24]
• Rita Walters (1952), member of Board of Library Commissioners for the Los Angeles Public Library ^[25]
• Vernon Malone (1953), Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, 14th Senate district, including constituents in Wake County ^[26]
• Charles D. Walton (B.A. 1971), first African-American member of the Rhode Island Senate ^[27]
• Luther Jordan (B.A. 1997), member of the North Carolina Senate 1993–2002 ^[28]
• Thomas O. Fuller, state senator of the North Carolina Senate in 1898 ^[29]

Law

• Roger Demosthenes O'Kelly (B.L. 1909), lawyer, first deaf and black lawyer ^[30]
• Glenford Eckleton Mitchell (B.A. 1960), member of Universal House of Justice (1982–2008) ^[31]
• Willie E. Gary (B.A. 1971), one of the world's wealthiest attorneys, known as the "Whale Killer"; co-founder of the Black Family Channel ^[32]

Journalism

• Lenard Moore (B.A. 1980), first African American President of the Haiku Society of America ^[33]
• Shelia P. Moses (B.A. 1983), best-selling author, nominated for the National Book Award and NAACP Image Award ^[34]

Religion

• Richard Gene Arno, founder of the National Christian Counselors Association
• William R. Pettiford (1912 honorary), Birmingham, Alabama minister and banker
• Lucius Walker (1954), Baptist minister best known for his opposition to the United States embargo against Cuba ^[35]

Science and medicine

• Louise Celia Fleming (1885) black medical missionary (1862–1899) ^[36]
• Manassa Thomas Pope (1885), prominent physician in Raleigh; ran for mayor in 1919 ^[37]
• John P. Turner (1906), surgeon, hospital administrator, and educator
• Dr. John Eagles, pharmacy owner in Raleigh, North Carolina; son of John S. W. Eagles, sergeant in U.S.C.T., public official, and state legislator in North Carolina

Sports

• Carrenza M. "Schoolboy" Howard, Negro Leagues pitcher
• Charlie Brandon (1964), Grey Cup champion and all-star CFL football player ^[38]
• Van Green (1973), NFL player ^[39]
• James "Bonecrusher" Smith (B.A. 1975), first heavyweight boxing champion with a college degree ^[40]
• Ronald "Flip" Murray (2002), professional basketball player ^[41]
• Julius Gregory (2011), Arena Football League player ^[42]

Notable faculty

• Helen Asemota, Nigeria-born biochemist and agricultural biotechnologist; professor from 2005 to 2012 ^[43]
• Gaston Alonzo Edwards (1875–1943), African American architect, and educator; founded the building department ^{[44] [45]}

List of presidents of Shaw University

Presidents of Shaw University (* indicates alumni)

Name	Tenure	Notes
Henry Martin Tupper	1865–1893	[46]
Nicholas Franklin Roberts	1893–1894 (acting)	[47]
Charles Francis Meserve	1894–1919	[48] [49]
Joseph Leishman Peacock	1920–1931
William Stuart Nelson	1931–1936
Robert Prentiss Daniel	1936–1950
William Russell Strassner	1951–1962
James Edward Cheek *	1963–1969	[50]
King Virgil Cheek *	1969–1971	[50]
J. Archie Hargraves	1971–1977
Stanley Hugh Smith	1978–1986
John Harding Lucas	1986–1987 (interim)
Talbert O. Shaw	1988–2002
Clarence G. Newsome	2003–2009
Dorothy Cowser Yancy	2009–2010 (interim)
Irma McClaurin	2010–2011
Dorothy Cowser Yancy	2011–2013
Gaddis Faulcon	2013–2015 (interim)
Tashni-Ann Dubroy*	2015–2017
Paulette Dillard	2017–present

References

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