List of Howard University people

This list of notable Howard University people (alumni sometimes known as Bison), includes faculty, staff, graduates, honorary graduates, non-graduate former students and current students of the American Howard University, a private, coeducational, nonsectarian historically black university,^[1] located in Washington, D.C.^[2]

[1]

[2]

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Dereje Agonafer	1984	elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering for "contributions to computer-aided electro/thermo/mechanical design and modeling of electronic equipment"
Camille Wardrop Alleyne	1990 (B.Sc Mechanical Engineering)	NASA Associate Program Scientist for the International Space Station	^[3]
Whittier C. Atkinson	1925 (Medicine)	physician; first African-American doctor in Chester County, Pennsylvania; founder of Clement Atkinson Memorial Hospital (1936); Howard University Alumnus of the Year (1953)	^[4]
Patricia Bath	1968 (Medicine)	ophthalmologist; first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention
Louis Arnett Stuart Bellinger	1914	prominent Pittsburgh architect of the early 20th century
David Blackwell	faculty, not alumnus	first African-American elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
Beth A. Brown	1991	NASA astrophysicist; first African-American woman to earn a doctoral degree from the University of Michigan's Department of Astronomy	^[5]
Marjorie Lee Browne	1935	educator, one of the first African-American women to receive a doctorate in mathematics in the U.S.
Karen Butler-Purry	1994	professor, Texas A&M University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering	^[6]
Craig E. Cameron	1937	Howard M.A., Case Western Reserve University Ph.D., educator and microbiologist; demonstration of mechanism of action of ribavirin case
DaNa Carlis	2007 (PhD), 2002 (MS), 2000 (BS)	director of National Severe Storms Laboratory	^[7]
Mamie Clark	1940	Howard M.A., Columbia Ph.D., educator and psychologist; with husband Kenneth Clark, conducted the "doll research" for the Brown vs. Board of Education case
Ethelene Crockett	1942	Michigan's first African-American female board-certified OB/GYN	^[8]
Linda Y. Cureton	1980	chief executive officer and founder of Muse Technologies, Inc.
Alexander Darnes	1880	born into slavery; owned by Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith; second African-American physician in Florida, first African-American physician in Jacksonville, Florida
Cheick Modibo Diarra		astrophysicist; former director of education and public outreach, NASA's Mars Exploration Program;^[9] former chairman of Microsoft Africa;^[10] former acting Malian prime minister (2012)^[10]
Lena Frances Edwards		physician (obstetrics and gynecology) and humanitarian; received U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964)
Anna Epps		microbiologist; possibly the first African-American woman with a Ph.D. to lead a medical school	^[11]
Roselyn P. Epps	1951, 1955 (MD)	physician (pediatrician and public health physician); received Elizabeth Blackwell Medal (1988), first-elected African-American president of the American Medical Women's Association (1991)	^[12]
Aprille Ericsson	1990	aerospace engineer	^[13]
Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee		physician (obstetrician) and educator; joined faculty of the Medical School in 1927; founding president of the Women's Institute; director of Medical School's health services, 1949–1968	^[14]
E. Franklin Frazier	1916	sociologist	^[15]
Julia R. Hall	1892 (MD)	physician and first woman resident of the school's gynaecology clinic	^[16]
Roland Jefferson	1950 (Botany)	botanist and expert in flowering cherry trees; first African-American botanist to work at the United States National Arboretum (1956–1987)	^[17]
Ernest Everett Just	faculty	pioneering African-American biologist, academic and science writer	^[18]
Marie B. Lucas	1914	the only woman in her Howard University College of Medicine class, one of the earliest and most successful female physicians in Washington, D.C.	^[19]
Vernon R. Morris	Faculty	emeritus professor in the Department of Chemistry and the former Director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at Howard University, 2018 recipient of the American Meteorological Society Charles E. Anderson award and the 2020 Presidential Citation for Science and Society from the American Geophysical Union	^[20]^[21]^[22]
Melba Roy Mouton	1950	Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA's Trajectory and Geodynamics Division in the 1960s and headed a group of NASA mathematicians called "computers"
Andre Francis Palmer	1993	first African-American college of engineering assoc. dean for research at Ohio State University	^[23]
Harry Penn	c. 1931	dentist; first African-American school board member south of Mason-Dixon Line	^[24]
Charles Prudhomme	1935 (MD)	noted psychoanalyst and physician, first African-American to gain elected office (vice-president) in the American Psychiatric Association
Charles DeWitt Watts	1943 (Medicine)	first African-American board-certified surgeon in North Carolina; founder of Lincoln Community Medical Center	^[25]
Frances Cress Welsing	1960	psychiatrist; author of The Isis Papers^[26]
Marguerite Williams	1923	geologist, received B.A. from Howard	^[27]
Dudley Weldon Woodard		established graduate mathematics program at Howard	^[28]
Abdul–Aziz Yakubu	Faculty (Mathematics)	mathematician and department chair at Howard
Dr. N. Louise Young	(Medicine)	first African-American woman to work as a licensed physician in Maryland

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Camille Akeju		art historian and museum administrator	^[29]
Christopher James Bonner		historian	^[30]
Louise Daniel Hutchinson		historian	^[31]
W. Sherman Savage	1917	historian	^[32]
Rosalyn Terborg-Penn		historian	^[33]
Carter G. Woodson		historian, founder of Negro History Week (now Black History Month); author of Mis-Education of the Negro^[34]	^[35]

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Johnson O. Akinleye		12th chancellor of North Carolina Central University
Brenda A. Allen	1981	14th president of Lincoln University
Delbert Baker		president, Oakwood College
William E. Benson	1885	founding president of Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute and the Dixie Industrial Company in Kowaliga, Alabama	^[36]^[37]
Hugh M. Browne	1875	Principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Pennsylvania 1902–1913	^[38]
Kenneth Clark		educator and psychologist; with wife Mamie Clark, conducted the "doll research" for the Brown vs. Board of Education case
Wayne A. I. Frederick		17th president of Howard University	^[39]
Antoine M. Garibaldi	1973	25th president of University of Detroit Mercy
James Monroe Gregory	1872	professor of Latin at Howard, dean of the Howard Collegiate Department
Lena Hill	1997	provost of Washington and Lee University	^[40]
Edison O. Jackson		president, Medgar Evers College
Charlene Drew Jarvis	1964 M.S.	president, Southeastern University; daughter of Dr. Charles Drew
Franklyn Jenifer		14th president of Howard University; third president of University of Texas at Dallas
Dr. Heather Knight		21st president, Pacific Union College
Bogart Leashore	1969	dean of the Hunter College school of social work (1991–2003)	^[41]
Inabel Burns Lindsay	1920	founding dean of the Howard University School of Social Work
Howard Hale Long	1915	dean, Knoxville College and later Wilberforce University, superintendent of DC Public Schools (1925–1948)	^[42]
Marion Mann	1954	former dean, Howard University College of Medicine (1970–1979)
Kelly Miller	1886	mathematician, scientist, sociologist; first African-American admitted to Johns Hopkins University; dean of Howard University College of Arts and Sciences (1907–1919); established sociology department at Howard University	^[43]
Inman E. Page		president of four schools: the Lincoln Institute, Langston University, Western University and Roger Williams University
Harry G. Robinson III	1966, 1970	dean of Howard University School of Architecture and Design; chairman of United States Commission of Fine Arts	^[44]
John Jarvis Seabrook	LL.B. degree 1926	5th president of Claflin College; 2nd president of Huston-Tillotson College	^[45]
H. Patrick Swygert	1965	president, Howard University	^[46]
Thomas Wyatt Turner	1901	professor of botany, acting dean at Howard School of Education; professor Hampton Institute; founding member of NAACP
Cynthia Warrick	1975	7th president of Stillman College

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Ben Ali		co-founder and owner of Ben's Chili Bowl, a landmark restaurant in Washington, D.C.
Eddie C. Brown	1961	investment manager and philanthropist; founder and president of Baltimore-based capital management firm Brown Capital Management	^[47]
David Bullock		tech entrepreneur and media executive
David Castain	2013	entrepreneur and philanthropist; left a life of crime to found a marketing agency and study towards a doctorate	^[48]
H. Naylor Fitzhugh		one of the first African-American graduates of Harvard Business School; credited with creating the concept of target marketing
Cathy Hughes		founder and executive of TV One, Radio One
Vernon Jordan		attorney; senior managing director; Lazard Freres & Co. LLC; former president, National Urban League
Lillian Lincoln Lambert		founder, former president and chief executive officer of Centennial One, Inc.; first African-American woman to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School
Depelsha Thomas McGruder	1994	FCOO of the Ford Foundation, founder of Moms of Black Boys (MOBB) United	^[49]
Cheryl McKissack Daniel	1983	civil engineer and businesswoman; president and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, the oldest Black-owned architecture and construction company in the US	^[50]
Bonita C. Stewart		vice president of Google	^[51]^[52]

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Archie Alexander		former governor of US Virgin Islands
Aris T. Allen		former member of Maryland State Senate, first African-American to run for Lt. Governor of Maryland
Ras Baraka	1991	mayor of Newark, New Jersey July 1, 2014-
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick	2001	member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 20th district
Boce W. Barlow Jr.		first African-American to be elected to the Connecticut State Senate
William V. Bell		mayor of Durham, North Carolina
Aisha Braveboy		member, Maryland House of Delegates
Edward Brooke	1941	first African-American elected to the United States Senate
Hon. Ewart Brown	1968, School of Medicine 1972	premier and Minister of Tourism and Transport of Bermuda
Gayleatha Brown		Ambassador to Benin
Roland Burris	1963 (School of Law)	United States Senator, former State Attorney General and Comptroller, Illinois
Agnès Callamard	1988	Secretary General of Amnesty International, former Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions for the United Nations Human Rights Council
Robert L. Carter	1940 (School of Law)	civil rights advocate and judge of the United States District Court
Walter Percival Carter		civil rights advocate
Charles E. "Charlie" Cobb Jr.		civil rights activist; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; "Freedom Schools"; founding member of National Association of Black Journalists; writer
Martell Covington		Pennsylvania state representative	^[53]
Elijah Cummings	1973	United States Congress
James Dean	1883 (bachelor of law); 1884 (master of law)	first African-American judge in Florida	^[54]
David Dinkins	1950	first African-American mayor of New York City (1990–1993)	^[55]
Joyce Dinkins	1953	First Lady of New York City (1990–1993)	^[56]
Mike Espy		first African-American United States Secretary of Agriculture
Melvin Evans		former governor of the United States Virgin Islands, former Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives
Nathaniel Exum		member, Maryland State Senate
James L. Farmer	1941	civil rights activist, founder and first leader of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Adrian Fenty	1996 (School of Law)	former mayor of Washington, D.C.	^[57]
Wilkie D. Ferguson	(School of Law)	judge who served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal, and the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida
Harold Ford Sr.		former United States Representative from Tennessee
Shirley Franklin		first female and former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
Emma Gillett		co-founder of the first law school in the world founded by women; first woman to be appointed notary public by the president of the United States
John R. Hargrove Sr.		judge, United States District Court, Maryland
Virginia Harper		civil rights activist, local NAACP president
Kamala Harris	1986	49th vice president of the United States; first woman, first African-American, and first-elected Asian-American vice president; second African-American woman elected to the United States Senate	^[58]^[59]^[60]
Patricia Roberts Harris	1945	United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, United States ambassador
William Henry Harrison Hart		attorney who won the 1905 Hart v. State of Maryland case
William H. Hastie		former governor of US Virgin Islands
Joseph Hatchett	1959	former Florida Supreme Court judge; first African-American in the south to win a statewide election
Pamelya Herndon	1975	New Mexico House of Representatives	^[61]
Earl F. Hilliard		United States Congress
Dr. James W. Holley, III, D.D.S.		mayor of Portsmouth, Virginia
Benjamin Hooks		former executive director of the NAACP
Lonna Hooks		Secretary of State of New Jersey (1994–1998)	^[62]
Hutchins F. Inge	(School of Medicine)	first African-American to serve in the New Jersey Senate	^[63]
Cheddi Jagan		fourth president, "father of Guyana"
Letitia James		first African-American woman elected Attorney General of New York
Howard Jenkins Jr.	1946–1956	former faculty, labor lawyer and civil servant	^[64]
Jack B. Johnson		former County Executive, Prince George's County, Maryland
Elaine Jones		former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Hon. John Junor		Minister of Health, Jamaica
Sharon Pratt Kelly	1965	first African-American female mayor of a major city, Washington, D.C.
Terry Kennedy		influential City of St. Louis politician, former activist and journalist
John S. Leary	1873	North Carolina lawyer and politician
Summer Lee	2015	Representative for Pennsylvania's twelfth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives
Peta Lindsay		anti-war activist and candidate for U.S. president with the Party for Socialism and Liberation
Prince Joel Dawit Makonnen	2015 (School of Law)	lawyer and member of the Ethiopian Imperial Family
Thurgood Marshall	1933 (School of Law)	first African-American U.S. Supreme Court justice
William E. Matthews	1873 (School of Law)	lawyer, financier and civil rights activist
Richard Mays	1965	member of Arkansas House of Representatives, justice of Arkansas Supreme Court
Gabrielle Kirk McDonald	1966 (School of Law)	judge, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, The Hague, Netherlands
Enolia McMillan		first female national president of the NAACP
Floretta Dukes McKenzie	1957	superintendent of District of Columbia Public Schools	^[65]
Gregory W. Meeks		representative for New York's sixth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives; chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Vicki Miles-LaGrange		district judge, Western district of Oklahoma; first African-American woman U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma; first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate
Donna Miller		Cook County commissioner	^[66]
Imani Oakley	2012	2022 candidate for Congress in New Jersey's 10th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, former legislative director for New Jersey branch of the Working Families Party and political organizer	^[67]
James E. O'Hara		member, United States House of Representatives (1883–1887) representing North Carolina
Robert Pelham Jr.	1904	journalist, activist and federal employee
Clarence M. Pendleton Jr.	1954	chairman, United States Commission on Civil Rights (1981–1988); swimming coach at Howard (1957–1968)	^[68]
Homer G. Phillips	1903	prominent lawyer and civil rights advocate; lived in the home of Paul Laurence Dunbar during his time at Howard	^[69]^[70]
Willie L. Phillips	2005 (School of Law)	first Black chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	^[71]
Meshea Poore		member of the West Virginia House of Delegates	^[72]
Adam Clayton Powell, IV		member of the New York State Assembly; son of former U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Marcia "Cia" Price	2005	member of the Virginia House of Delegates	^[73]
Randy Primas	1971	first African-American mayor of Camden, New Jersey (1981–1990)	^[74]
Eugene Puryear		anti-war activist; candidate for vice president of the United States with the Party for Socialism and Liberation
Hon. Peggy Quince		first African-American woman on Florida Supreme Court
Oliver Randolph	(School of Law)	New Jersey lawyer, politician and civil rights advocate	^[75]
Charlotte E. Ray		first African-American woman lawyer
Kasim Reed	1991	mayor of Atlanta
Spottswood Robinson	1939 (School of Law)	judge, United States Court of Appeals; also faculty
Todd Rutherford		South Carolina state representative
Roy Schneider	1961	governor of United States Virgin Islands
Sir Arleigh Winston Scott		first native governor-general of Barbados
Josiah T. Settle	1872	member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, Memphis lawyer
Malik Zulu Shabazz		attorney; national chairman of the New Black Panther Party
Mary Ann Shadd Cary		first black woman to cast a vote in a national election
Thomas S. Smith		former mayor of Asbury Park, New Jersey who served in the New Jersey General Assembly^[76]
John H. Smythe		United States ambassador to Liberia
James R. Spencer		chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Hobart Taylor Jr.	1941	served in the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; director of the Export–Import Bank of the United States
Ronald Sapa Tlau		Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, India representing the state of Mizoram	^[77]
Kwame Ture	1964	activist, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), born Stokely Carmichael
Dale Wainwright		first African-American elected to the Texas Supreme Court
James A. Washington Jr.	1936; 1939 (School of Law)	judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; dean of Howard Law School 1969–1971	^[78]
Walter Washington	1948 (School of Law)	B.A. and J.D.; first elected mayor of Washington, D.C.
George Henry White	1877	U.S. congressman from North Carolina, 1897–1901
L. Douglas Wilder	1959 (School of Law)	first elected African-American United States governor, mayor of Richmond, Virginia, 2005–2009	^[79]
Fani Willis	1992	first female district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia
Harris Wofford		United States senator representing Pennsylvania (1991–95)
Carolyn Wright	1978 (School of Law)	lawyer, jurist and the Chief Justice of the Fifth Court of Appeals of Texas
Albert Wynn		first African-American elected to the United States Congress from Prince George's County and Montgomery County in Maryland
Andrew Young		first African-American United Nations ambassador and former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia

List of Howard University people

Academics

Science, medicine and mathematics

Historians

Academic administrators

Business

Politics and public service

Civil rights, law and government

Military service

Entertainment

Sports

Journalism

Nobel laureates

Literature

Musicians

Pageant queens

Film and television

Other visual and performing arts

Religion

Other notable alumni

Notable faculty

See also

References

Wikiwand - on

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Aman Andom	1965	major general in the Ethiopian Empire Army and Derg, member of Ethiopian Senate and de facto head of state of Ethiopia	^[80]
Benjamin O. Davis Sr.		brigadier general, first African-American general in the U.S. Army
Frederic E. Davison	1938	first African-American major general and division commander in the U.S. Army
Lester Lyles	1968	general, U.S. Air Force; vice chief of staff of the Air Force; commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
Togo West	1965	also JD 1968; former Secretary of Veterans Affairs; former Secretary of the Army

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Antoine Bethea		former NFL safety
Milan Brown		head men's basketball coach at College of the Holy Cross
Gregg Butler		3-time Canadian Football League all-star and Grey Cup champion, inducted into The Howard University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014
Marques Douglas		former NFL defensive end
Omar Evans		former Canadian Football League defensive end
Dennis Felton		head men's basketball coach at the University of Georgia
Dr. Rhadi Ferguson	1997	four-time U.S. National Judo Champion; 2004 Judo Olympian; only African-American male with a Ph.D. to fight on a internationally televised mixed martial arts event; Strikeforce Challengers 13; MMA fighter for Strikeforce
Pep Hamilton		current offensive coordinator at University of Maryland; former quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears
Gary Harrell		current RB coach at University of Colorado; former head coach of Howard Bison football team; former NFL/WLAF wide receiver (New York Giants and Frankfurt Galaxy); former assistant coach at Texas Southern University
Nigel Henry		professional soccer player
Shaka Hislop		goalkeeper for FC Dallas and Trinidad and Tobago national football team who played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Edward P. Hurt		football, basketball and track coach at Morgan State University
Billy Jenkins		former National Football League defensive back
Norvel Lee	1952	Olympic gold medal winner	International Olympic Committee
Thyron Lewis		professional gridiron football player
Bubba Morton		Major League Baseball player (Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Braves, California Angels); first African-American to sign with the Detroit Tigers
Marques Ogden		former NFL offensive lineman
David Oliver	2005	professional track and field athlete
Geoff Pope		NFL cornerback (New York Giants)
Larry Spriggs		former NBA player
James Terry		American-Israeli basketball player
Milt Thompson		former Major League Baseball player, hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies
Elijah Thurmon	2000	former professional football player with NFLE Berlin Thunder and CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders, Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes	^[81]
Jay Walker		ESPNU football analyst; NFL quarterback (New England Patriots, 1994; Barcelona Dragons, 1995; Minnesota Vikings, 1996–97), Maryland State Delegate
Tim Watson		former safety in the NFL; has the distinction of being the first athlete in the history of the school to be named to the GTEAcademic All-America Team (1992); inducted into the Howard University Athletic Hall of Fame, class of 2005. Changed legal name to Tazim Wajid Wajed in 2019.	^[82]
Tracy White		former NFL linebacker
Steve Wilson	1979	former NFL defensive back; former head football coach of the Howard University; former head coach at Texas Southern University

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Michelle Bernard		political/legal analyst, MSNBC, The McLaughlin Group
Victor Blackwell		television anchor, WPBF, West Palm Beach, Florida; anchor and correspondent, CNN (since 2012)	^[83]
Leon Dash		Pulitzer Prize winner, The Washington Post
Nikole Hannah-Jones		MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner, creator of the 1619 Project	^[84]
Hal Jackson		first African-American radio sportscaster;^{[citation needed]} co-owner of the first African-American-owned-and-operated station in New York
Gus Johnson		sportscaster, CBS Sports
Colbert King		Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post
Michael King		conservative commentator; television producer, WXIA-TV, Atlanta, Georgia
Jamilah Lemieux		writer and editor, Ebony magazine
Vicki Mabrey		CBS News and 60 Minutes correspondent
Michelle Miller		reporter, CBS News
Ayesha Rascoe	2007	reporter, NPR	^[85]^[86]
Lori Stokes		news anchor, WABC-TV, New York City
Karintha Styles		sports journalist, The Hilltop's first female sports editor, FanSided writer, Week N Sports host, author, NBA
Tom Terrell	1972	music journalist, photographer, promoter, NPR music commentator
La La Vasquez		on-air personality; wife of basketball player Carmello Anthony
Stan Verrett		anchor, ESPN
Fredricka Whitfield	1987	anchor, CNN	^[87]

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Ralph Bunche		1950 Nobel Peace Prize
Toni Morrison	1953	born Chloe Anthony Wofford, Nobel Prize for Literature; Pulitzer Prize winner	^[88]