This is a list of notable Southern University alumni.
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Fred Bailey | 1996 | former CFL player | |
Al Beauchamp | 1968 | former National Football League linebacker | |
Mel Blount | 1970 | member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
William Breda | 1950 | Negro league outfielder, 1950 - 1954 | [1] |
Lou Brock | record-setting base-stealing Major League Baseball player | ||
Harold Carmichael | 1971 | member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
Darren Clark | 2006 | former MLB baseball player, New York Mets, SU Hall of Fame | |
Willie Davenport | gold medalist in men's 110 m hurdles at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games for the U.S. track team | ||
Donnie Davis | 1962 | former NFL, CFL and WFL player | |
Marvin Davis | 1974 | former NFL and CFL player and Grey Cup champion | |
Matthew Dorsett | 1995 | former pro football player, Super Bowl XXXI champion | |
Ken Ellis | 1970 | former NFL player, Green Bay Packers | |
Oliver Ford | former 100m world record holder | ||
Charlie Granger | former NFL player | [2] | |
Tommie Green | 1978 | former National Basketball Association player, New Orleans Jazz | |
Rich Jackson | 1966 | member of the American Football League Hall of Fame | |
Avery Johnson | 1988 | 1999 NBA Champion, 2006 NBA Coach of the Year, University of Alabama head basketball coach, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee | |
Brian Johnson | United States Olympic long jumper | ||
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones | President and baseball coach at Grambling State University, 1936–1977 | [3] | |
Tyrone Jones | 1983 | former Canadian Football League all-star and MVP | |
Fred Lewis | Major League Baseball player | ||
Bob Love | former NBA All-Star and second leading scorer in Chicago Bulls history | ||
Rod Milburn | gold medalist in men's 110 m hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games | ||
Jordan Miller | 2011 | NFL defensive tackle | |
Bobby Phills | NBA basketball player | ||
Isiah Robertson | 1971 | six-time NFL Pro Bowler | |
Bernie Smith | former Major League Baseball player | ||
Donnell Smith | 1971 | former NFL player | |
Godwin Turk | 1974 | former NFL player | |
Rickie Weeks | Major League Baseball player | ||
Aeneas Williams | 1991 | member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
John Williams Jr. | former NFL player | [4] | |
Lenny Williams | 2004 | former NFL and CFL player | |
Jerry Wilson | 1995 | former NFL player | |
Ken Winey | 1987 | former CFL player |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
David Banner | 1997 | music recording artist, producer, actor | |
Alvin Batiste | 1955 | jazz artist and educator | |
James Booker | rhythm and blues keyboardist | ||
Maurice Brown | jazz artist | ||
Isiah Carey | television news reporter | ||
Randy Jackson | 1979 | musician, record producer, former American Idol judge | |
Faith Jenkins | Miss Louisiana 2000, Miss America runner-up 2001, attorney, TV personality, star of Judge Faith | ||
Branford Marsalis | jazz saxophonist |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Diana Bajoie | member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature (1976–2008); member of the New Orleans City Council (2012–2013) | [5] | |
Kirt Bennett | Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2003 | [6] | |
Jay Blossman | 1991 (Juris Doctor) | former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission | |
Troy E. Brown | Member of the Louisiana State Senate from 2012 until his resignation in 2017 | ||
Barbara West Carpenter | Dean of international relations at Southern University; African-American Democrat member of the Louisiana House of Representatives since 2016 | [7] | |
Israel "Bo" Curtis | Democrat member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1992–2008) and the Rapides Parish School Board (1976–1992), former Alexandria educator and insurance agent, did graduate study at Southern | [8] | |
Herbert B. Dixon | Democrat member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (2008–2014) and the Rapides Parish School Board (1992–2008), did graduate study at Southern | [9] | |
Irma Muse Dixon | first African-American elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) | ||
Cleo Fields | former state senator and U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district | ||
Mike Foster | 2004 (Juris Doctor) | 53rd governor of Louisiana | |
Randal Gaines | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes since 2012 | [10] | |
Hunter Greene | 1994 (Juris Doctor) | Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, family court judge in East Baton Rouge Parish | [11] |
Kip Holden | Mayor-President of Baton Rouge 2005–2017 | ||
Dalton W. Honoré | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 63 in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2010 | [12] | |
Hilry Huckaby III | 1969 (Juris Doctor) | Member of Shreveport, Louisiana city council (1978–1990, 1998–2001), Caddo District Judge (1992–1995) | [13] |
Jason Hughes | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 100 in Orleans Parish | ||
Marcus Hunter | 2002 | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 17 in Ouachita Parish | [14] |
Melvin Irvin | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 58 (based in Ascension Parish) 1984–1988; educator and real estate developer, died in 2014 | [15] | |
Alphonse J. Jackson | 1951 | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish, 1972–1992; owner of a public relations agency in Baton Rouge | [16] |
Edward C. James | member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 101 in East Baton Rouge Parish; Baton Rouge lawyer | [17] | |
William J. Jefferson | former Representative, U.S. Congress | ||
Okla Jones II | federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana | ||
Edmond Jordan | Democratic member since 2016 of the Louisiana House of Representatives for West and East Baton Rouge parishes; lawyer in Brusly, Louisiana | [18] | |
James A. Joseph | 1956 | Ambassador to South Africa (1996–1999) | [19] |
Isiah Leggett | County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland 2006-2018 | ||
Robert M. Marionneaux | Louisiana state senator since 2000 from Baton Rouge area | [20] | |
Dustin Miller | Pending study to be nurse practitioner | African-American Democrat member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 40 in St. Landry Parish since 2016 | [21] |
Randy Moore | first African-American chief of the United States Forest Service | [22] [ failed verification ] | |
Jewel Joseph Newman | member of the East Baton Rouge City Parish Council, 1972–1984; member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1984–1988; community organizer in the Scotlandville neighborhood of Baton Rouge | [23] | |
Abe E. Pierce, III | 1956 | first African-American mayor of Monroe, Louisiana (1996–2000) | [24] |
Vincent Pierre | state representative for Lafayette Parish since 2012 | [25] | |
Jewel Prestage | 1951 | first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D in Political Science | [26] |
Rupert Richardson | African-American civil rights activist and civil rights leader who served as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1992 to 1995 | ||
Chris Roy, Jr. | 1987 | attorney, former state legislator from Rapides and Vernon parishes | [27] |
Jesse N. Stone | attorney, educator, served as Dean of the Southern University Law Center and as president of Southern University | ||
Dorothy Mae Taylor | first African-American woman to serve in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1971–1980 | [28] | |
Ledricka Thierry | 1999 | state representative for St. Landry Parish since 2009 | [29] |
Taylor Townsend | state representative from Natchitoches Parish (2000–2008) | [30] | |
Pinkie C. Wilkerson | Louisiana House of Representatives (1992–2000) | [31] | |
Alfred C. Williams | 1972 | member of the Louisiana House from Baton Rouge since 2012; former school board member and attorney | |
Patrick C. Williams | state representative for Caddo Parish since 2007 | [32] | |
Tom Willmott | Louisiana House of Representatives from Jefferson Parish since 2008 | [33] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Joe N. Ballard | lieutenant general (retired), first African-American Chief of Engineers and Commander, United States Army Corps of Engineers | ||
Sherian Grace Cadoria | brigadier general (retired), first African-American woman to reach the rank of general in U.S. Army | ||
Paris Davis | colonel (retired), one of the first African-Americans to become an officer in US Army Special Forces, awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in the Vietnam War | ||
Russel L. Honoré | lieutenant general who commanded the U.S. military support of recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Karen Butler-Purry | 1985 | professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University | [34] |
Kathie Stromile Golden | 1976 | Provost, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and professor at Mississippi Valley State University | [35] |
William Moore | 1963 | first African-American to graduate with a PhD in chemistry from Purdue University | |
Jewel Prestage | 1951 | first African-American woman to earn Ph.D. in Political Science | |
Morgan Watson | one of the first African-American engineers at NASA, beginning in January 1964 |
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