List of West Virginia University alumni

This list of West Virginia University alumni includes notable people from published sources that previously attended West Virginia University.

Arts and entertainment

Emily Calandrelli, science communicator and aerospace engineer, on a reduced-gravity flight

Don Knotts, five-time Emmy Award-winning actor best known for his role as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show

• Michael Ammar – world-renowned magician; WVU Distinguished Alumni Award winner 2003
• Emily Calandrelli – science communicator, host and producer for Netflix's Emily's Wonder Lab and children's STEM science programming block Xploration Station
• Paul Dooley – actor, writer, comedian
• Conchata Ferrell – actress; known for playing Berta the housekeeper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men
• Antoine Fuqua – director of Training Day, Shooter, Replacement Killers; attended, but did not graduate
• Steve Harvey – Emmy-winning host of Family Feud ; attended, but did not graduate
• Cheryl Hines – actress, Curb Your Enthusiasm; attended but did not graduate
• Mike Hodge (B.A. in journalism, minor in theater) – actor and actors' labor union executive; former President of SAG-AFTRA New York local ^[1]
• Taylor Kinney – actor; portrays Lt. Kelly Severide in NBC's drama Chicago Fire ; stars in The Other Woman
• Don Knotts – television and movie actor
• Richard Kuranda – theatrical producer and artistic director Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Signature Theatre Company, Raue Center for the Arts
• Billy Mays – television advertiser featured on Discovery Channel's PitchMen and known for promoting several as seen on TV products; attended but did not graduate; died in 2009 ^[2]
• Ijeoma Njaka - singer/songwriter
• Kathleen Noone – portrays Edna Wallace on the NBC soap opera Passions ; known to have attended ^[3]
• Ben Reed – actor; played quarterback for the West Virginia University football team
• John A. Russo – screenwriter and film director; co-wrote Night of the Living Dead ^[4]
• Chris Sarandon – television and movie actor, voice of Jack Skellington
• David Selby – actor
• Robert Ellis Silberstein – manager of Diana Ross, Billy Preston, Meat Loaf
• Curt Wootton - star of YouTube series Pittsburgh Dad
• Trevor Dion Nicholas - Broadway star (known for Aladdin)

Athletics

Joe Alexander

Da'Sean Butler

Ashley Lawrence

Tarik Phillip

• Joe Alexander – American-Israeli current professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Michael Baker – football player
• Terry Bowden – Yahoo sports analyst
• Tommy Bowden – former head football coach for Clemson University and Tulane University
• Wesley Brooks – basketbal coach, head coach of the Utah State Aggies women's basketball team ^[5]
• John Browning – former NFL defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs
• Marc Bulger – former NFL quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, and Baltimore Ravens
• Da'Sean Butler (born 1987) – basketball player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Premier League
• Niccolò Campriani – Olympic gold- and silver medal-winning sport shooter; won gold in the men's 50 metre rifle three positions and silver in the men's 10 metre air rifle at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Jevon Carter – current NBA player for the Chicago Bulls
• Mike Compton – two-time Super Bowl Champion and former NFL guard for the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars ^[6]
• Devin Ebanks – professional basketball player
• James "Clayster" Eubanks – professional Call of Duty player, two-time Call of Duty Championship winner
• D'or Fischer (born 1981) – American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli National League
• Mike Gansey – former basketball player in the NBA Development League; current general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers ^[7]
• Albert Gwynne, former United States national basketball team and West Virginia Mountaineers athletic trainer
• Jedd Gyorko – former second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals
• Major Harris – quarterback for West Virginia University in their 1988 undefeated season
• Sue Haywood – professional mountain bike racer
• Chris Henry – former NFL wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Johannes "Joe" Herber – former professional and German international basketball player
• Jeff Hostetler – Super Bowl Champion and former NFL quarterback for the Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, and New York Giants; starting quarterback in Super Bowl XXV
• Chuck Howley – former NFL linebacker for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, and Super Bowl V MVP
• Sam Huff – former NFL linebacker; inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982
• Bob Huggins – former head coach of the West Virginia University men's basketball team and former West Virginia University basketball player
• Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley – former NBA basketball player for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers; first pick in the 1957 NBA draft
• Hal Hunter – football coach
• Bruce Irvin – Super Bowl Champion and current NFL linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks
• James Jett – Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter and former NFL wide receiver for Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
• Adam "Pacman" Jones – NFL cornerback, currently a free agent
• Greg Jones – three-time NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion, 2005 Most Outstanding Wrestler award winner, former associate head coach for the West Virginia University wrestling team, ^[8] current Blackzilians wrestling coach ^[9]
• Brian Jozwiak – former NFL offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs
• Ken Kendrick – owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball
• Steve Kline – former Major League Baseball pitcher
• Eugene Lamone, former NFL player, West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame ^[10]
• Ellis Lankster – current NFL cornerback for the New York Jets ^[11]
• Ashley Lawrence – soccer player for the Canada national team
• Oliver Luck – former NFL quarterback, athletic director of West Virginia University, first Commissioner of the XFL, president/general manager of the Houston Dynamo, father of Andrew Luck ^[12]
• Billy Joe Mantooth – former NFL linebacker for the Houston Oilers
• Pat McAfee – former NFL punter for the Indianapolis Colts
• Casey Mitchell (born 1988) – basketball player for Elitzur Ashkelon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Dan Mozes – 2006 Rimington Trophy winner
• Adrian Murrell – former running back for New York Jets
• Solomon Page – former NFL offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers
• Lee Patton – legendary basketball coach, WVU Sports Hall of Fame
• Tarik Phillip (born 1993) – British-American basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League
• Kevin Pittsnogle – former basketball player in the NBA Development League
• Adrian Pledger (born 1976) – basketball player
• Jerry Porter – former NFL wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars
• Wil Robinson – former ABA basketball player; All-American at West Virginia
• Rich Rodriguez – former head football coach of the University of Michigan; current head football coach of the University of Arizona
• Todd Sauerbrun – former All-Pro NFL punter (five different teams)
• Owen Schmitt – former NFL fullback for the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, and Oakland Raiders
• Floyd B. "Ben" Schwartzwalder – former head coach of the 1959 National Championship Syracuse University football team
• Heath Slater – professional wrestler, former wrestler at WVU
• Steve Slaton – former NFL running back for the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins; current CFL running back for the Toronto Argonauts
• Geno Smith – current NFL quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks
• Dave Stephenson – former NFL guard for the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers
• Darryl Talley – West Virginia University all-time team member and former NFL Linebacker for the Buffalo Bills
• Rod Thorn – former NBA and ABA basketball player and current President of Basketball Operation for the NBA
• John Thornton – former NFL defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Virginia Thrasher – current WVU rifle team member and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in air rifle
• Yutaro Tsukada – professional soccer player
• Mike Vanderjagt – former NFL placekicker for the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys
• Jerry West – former NBA basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers and Hall of Famer; considered one of the greatest NBA and college basketball players of all time; is the image on the logo for the NBA
• Pat White – former NFL quarterback for the Miami Dolphins
• Andrew Wright – current defender/midfielder for Morecambe F.C.
• John Writer – Olympic gold and silver medal-winning sports shooter ^{[13] [14]}
• Amos Zereoué – former NFL running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots
• J. J. Wetherholt - 7th pick in 2024 MLB Draft

Authors

• Maggie Anderson – poet
• Allen Appel – writer
• Matt Carson – novelist
• Stephen Coonts – New York Times bestselling author
• Paul Russell Cutright – historian and biologist
• Chip Ingram – Christian writer
• Chuck Kinder – novelist
• Ann Pancake – author
• Jayne Anne Phillips – Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Business

• Heather Bresch – CEO of Mylan, Inc.
• John Chambers – President and CEO of Cisco Systems
• Karen S. Evans – de facto CIO of the United States under President George W. Bush ^[15]
• Maggie Hardy Magerko – President of 84 Lumber Company and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (attended for two years but did not graduate) ^[16]
• Richard Wallen – CEO and general manager of Grant County Public Utility District ^[17]
• Ken Kendrick - Owner of Arizona Diamondbacks of MLB and billionaire

Education

• Charles E. Bayless – president of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology
• Todd H. Bullard – former president of Potomac State College and Bethany College
• Margaret Buchanan Cole – mathematician, retired professor emeritus from WVU
• Joseph DiSarro (Ph.D.) – professor and chair in the Department of Political Science at Washington & Jefferson College ^[18]
• Wanda Franz (Ph.D.) – professor and anti-abortion activist ^[19]
• Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa'i – Nigeria's Minister of Education
• Steven E. Shreve – university professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University
• Patrick Vaughan – historian and professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
• Charles M. Vest – president emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Journalists

• Frank Kearns (died 1986) – foreign correspondent and broadcast journalist with CBS News 1953–1971; WVU Professor of Journalism 1971–1983
• Frank Lovece
• Asra Nomani
• Michael Tomasky – editor in chief of Democracy , editor of The New Republic
• Ken Ward Jr. – reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail ; 2018 MacArthur Fellow

Military

Bantz J. Craddock, former US European Command (USEUCOM), NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and commanding officer of Allied Command Operations (ACO)

• Ret. Gen. Earl E. Anderson – Marine Corps general
• Corporal Thomas W. Bennett – US Army conscientious objector corporal who served as a combat medic
• Ret. Gen. Bantz J. Craddock – United States Army, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe
• Brig. Gen. Frank Kendall Everest, Jr – test pilot and pioneer of rocket aircraft
• Gen. Robert H. Foglesong – retired commander, US Air Force in Europe; former president of Mississippi State University
• MG George T. Garrett – US Army major general ^[20]

Music

• Velvet Brown – tuba soloist, music educator
• Jay Chattaway – Star Trek music score writer and film composer
• Little Jimmy Dickens – country music singer
• Charles Wesley Godwin – new-age folk/country singer/songwriter
• Fuzzy Knight – writer of the WVU Fight Song and country-western actor
• Scott Krippayne – singer/songwriter
• Kathy Mattea – country music singer
• James Valenti – tenor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York
• Nancy Galbraith - internationally acclaimed composer

Politics

• Victor A. Arredondo – former Minister of Education at the State of Veracruz, Mexico, 2004–2010
• Carl George Bachmann – United States Congressman, Republican Minority Whip 1931–1933
• Clark S. Barnes – West Virginia Senate, District 15, 2004–present
• William Wallace Barron – 26th governor of West Virginia
• Irene Berger – United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia
• Frank L. Bowman – politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives
• Eric Brooks – West Virginia House of Delegates
• Virginia Mae Brown – first woman to head the Interstate Commerce Commission
• Becky Cain – past president of the League of Women Voters
• Fred H. Caplan, former justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
• Geno Chiarelli – West Virginia state delegate
• William G. Conley – 18th governor of West Virginia
• William Harrison Courtney – special assistant to President Clinton
• Joseph M. Devine – governor of North Dakota 1898–1899 ^[21]
• David Ginsburg (1912–2010) – presidential adviser and executive director of the Kerner Commission ^[22]
• William E. Glasscock – 13th governor of West Virginia
• Howard Mason Gore – 17th governor of West Virginia
• Kathleen M. Hawk – director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Robert Lynn Hogg – represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, 1930–1933
• Brad Hoylman – sitting New York State Senator representing the 27th District which includes Midtown, Times Square, and Greenwich Village of lower Manhattan
• Nancy Jacobs – Maryland State Senator (1973)
• Sen. Harley M. Kilgore – chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on War Mobilization during World War II
• Tim Mahoney – United States Congressman from Florida
• Joe Manchin – 34th governor of West Virginia; United States Senator from West Virginia
• William C. Marland – 24th governor of West Virginia
• Edward F. McClain – member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Darrell McGraw – former West Virginia Attorney General, former Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court
• Andy McKenzie, former West Virginia Senate and mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia ^[23]
• Carlos Eduardo Mendoza – United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
• M. Blane Michael – Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Alan Mollohan – United States Congressman
• Arch A. Moore, Jr. – 28th and 30th governor of West Virginia
• Ephraim F. Morgan – 16th governor of West Virginia
• Matthew M. Neely – 22nd governor of West Virginia
• Asra Nomani – former Wall Street Journal reporter, author and Islamic reform and feminism activist
• Corey Lee Palumbo – West Virginia Senate, District 17, 2009 – present and West Virginia House of Representatives 2003–2009
• Mike Pantelides – mayor of Annapolis, Maryland
• Tom Pridemore – West Virginia House of Delegates and football player
• Jeff Pyle – Pennsylvania State Representative
• Stuart F. Reed – politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives
• Clay Riley – West Virginia state delegate
• Nelson Stamler – New Jersey state senator, assemblyman, judge, and prosecutor
• Virginia Starcher – member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, 1986–1990
• Paul S. Stull – member of the Maryland House of Delegates
• William S. Thompson – United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia
• John G. Trueschler – former member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1979)
• Cecil H. Underwood – youngest (25th) and oldest (32nd) governor of West Virginia
• Christopher C. Wilkes – Judge, West Virginia Circuit Court
• Karen S. Evans - CISA advisor and author
• Tim Mahoney - former member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Royalty

• Princess Sarah Culberson – Mende princess and philanthropist

Science and technology

Katherine Johnson, a "human computer" whose calculations for NASA were critical to the first successful U.S. crewed spaceflight

• Ann Bartuska – ecologist and biologist, Senior advisor at Resources for the Future and former Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics at United States Department of Agriculture
• James M. Bobbitt – chemist and professor at the University of Connecticut
• Emily Calandrelli – science communicator; host of science programs and author of science books for children
• Dianne Dorland – engineer and first female president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Frances Harshbarger (1902–1987) – mathematician
• Steven C. Hayes – psychologist
• Katherine Johnson – mathematician, NASA computer scientist, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Robert Kerns – psychologist
• Jon McBride – NASA astronaut
• Kim Weaver – astrophysicist

Other

• Cynthia Germanotta – philanthropist, co-founder of Born This Way; Lady Gaga's mother
• Patsy Ramsey – mother of JonBenet Ramsey; Miss West Virginia 1977

See also

• List of people from Morgantown, West Virginia
• List of presidents of West Virginia University

References

1. Robb, David (September 10, 2017). "Mike Hodge Dies: President Of SAG-AFTRA's New York Local Was 70". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 7, 2017.
2. "RAW DATA: Billy Mays Biography". Fox News. June 28, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
3. NBC Universal, Inc. "NBC.com – Passions – About". NBC Universal, Inc. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
4. West Virginia University. "John Russo | WVU Magazine". West Virginia University. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
5. "Wesley Brooks - Head Coach - Staff Directory". Utah State University Athletics. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
6. "Michael Eugene Compton". databaseBasketball.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
7. "Brand New Brass". Cleveland Cavaliers. July 26, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
8. "Greg Jones Wrestling". WVU Athletics. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
9. "Greg Jones Blackzilian Bio".
10. "Gene Lamone (1995) - WVU Sports Hall of Fame". West Virginia University Athletics. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
11. "Ellis Lankster". NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
12. Newport, Kyle. "XFL Names Andrew Luck's Father, Oliver, Commissioner and CEO". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
13. "WVU Sports Hall of Fame". wvusports.com.
14. "Olympic Games Medals (Results)". olympic.org.
15. Vijayan, Jaikumar (January 10, 2008). "White House cuts paper out of federal budget". Computerworld. IDG. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
16. Vijayan, Jaikumar (April 24, 1997). "White House cuts paper out of federal budget". Joe Hardy Passed Over Sons For Successor at 84 Lumber. wsj.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
17. Mitchell, Hope (February 1, 2022). "Grant County PUD leadership". www.grantpud.org.
18. "DiSarro, Joseph". Political Science Department, Washington & Jefferson College. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
19. "Retired educator has spent 20 years battling abortion". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
20. Senior leader Management Office (2003). "Biography, Major General George T. Garrett". National Guard.mil. Alexandria, Virginia: National Guard Bureau. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
21. "Joseph M. Devine". National Governors Association. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
22. Grimes, William. "David Ginsburg, Longtime Washington Insider, Dies at 98", The New York Times , May 25, 2010. Accessed June 1, 2010.
23. "Andy McKenzie - Wall of Honor". West Liberty University . Retrieved August 4, 2024.