List of Johnson C. Smith University alumni

Johnson C. Smith University is a private historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[1][2] It was called Biddle Memorial Institute from 1867 to 1876 and Biddle University from 1876 to 1922.^[1][3]

Following is a list of some of its notability members.

Name	Graduation year	Notability	References
Trezzvant Anderson	non-degreed	Journalist and author	[4][5]
Tim Beamer	1971	Professional football player	[6][7]
Frederick C. Branch	1942	First African American officer in the United States Marine Corps	[8]
Jack S. Brayboy	1943	Football player, coach, teacher, and university administrator, all at Johnson C. Smith University	[9]
Tyrone Britt	1967	Professional basketball player	[10]
Vanderbilt Brown	1907	One of the first physicians to finish training in World War I with the Medical Reserve Corps
Mickey Casey	non-degreed	Professional baseball player	[11]
Eva Clayton	1955	United States House of Representatives from North Carolina	[12]
Gregory Clifton	non-degreed	Professional football player with the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins	[13][14]
Dorothy Counts	1964	One of the first black students to attend Harry P. Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina	[15]
Grover Covington		Professional player with the Canadian Football League	[16][17]
John O. Crosby	non-degreed	First president of what is now North Carolina A&T State University	[18]
Daniel Wallace Culp	1876	Pastor, principal, and doctor; first graduate of Biddle University	[19]
Sadye Curry	1963	First African-American woman to become a gastroenterologist in the United States	[20]
Charlie Smith Dannelly	1962	North Carolina Senate and Charlotte City Council	[21]
Bill Davis	1963	Head football coach at South Carolina State University, Savannah State University, Tennessee State University, and Johnson C. Smith University	[22]
De'Audra Dix	2009	Professional football player with the Canadian Football League	[23]
Edward R. Dudley	1932	U.S. Ambassador to Liberia; first African American ambassador	[24]
Bill Dusenbery		Professional football player with New Orleans Saints	[25]
Thereasea Elder	non-degreed	First African American public health nurse in Charlotte, North Carolina	[26]
Richard Erwin	1947	Judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeal; first black federal judge in North Carolina	[27]
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo	1933	Ghanaian minister of religion, playwright, educator, and founder of Zion College in Ghana	[28]
Malcolm Graham	1985	North Carolina Senate and Charlotte City Council	[29]
Leford Green	2011	National Track Athlete of the Year in 2010 and 2011; 2012 Summer Olympics Jamaican National Olympic Track and Field team	[30]
Chet Grimsley	1978	Author and first white student to garner accolades as All-CIAA and All-American at JCSU and at a historically Black college or university	[31]
Larry D. Hall	1978	North Carolina House of Representatives	[32]
Norman Washington Harllee		Supervisor of Dallas's public schools for Black children; principal of Dallas Colored High School	[33]
Reginald Hawkins	1943	Civil rights activist; first African-American to run for Governor of North Carolina	[34]
Bun Hayes	1929	Professional baseball player	[35]
JoAnn Haysbert		Chancellor and Provost of Hampton University; president of Langston University	[36]
Henry Aaron Hill	1936	Organic chemist; first Black president of the American Chemical Society	[37]
Quentin Hillsman		Basketball coach at Syracuse University	[38]
Cheris F. Hodges	1999	Author of African-American romance novels
Delois Huntley		One of four black students to integrate Charlotte schools	[39]
Cecil Ivory	1946	Presbyterian minister and civil rights leader	[40]
Sara Dunlap Jackson	1943	National Archives and Records Administration archivist, Military Archives Division	[41]
Benny Johnson	1970	Professional football player with the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints	[42]
J. Charles Jones	1960	Co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)	[34]
Edward Joyner	1994	Basketball coach at Hampton University	[43]
Boise Kimber	1981	Baptist minister and civil rights activist	[44]
William Lindsay	1931	Professional baseball player	[45][46]
Earl Manigault	non-degreed	Regarded as one of the greatest never to have played in the National Basketball Association	[47]
Vince Matthews	1970	Winner of two gold medals for sprinting at the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics	[48][49]
Mildred Mitchell-Bateman	1941	Director of the Division of Professional Services at the West Virginia Department of Mental Health; chair of the Psychiatry Department at Marshall University	[50]
Eddie McGirt	1948	Head football coach and athletic director at Johnson C. Smith University	[51]
Curly Neal	1962	Member of the Harlem Globetrotters	[52]
Pettis Norman	1962	Professional football player with the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers	[53]
Melanie Harrison Okoro	2005	Marine estuarine and environmental scientist	[54]
Trevin Parks	2013	Professional basketball player and college basketball coach	[55]
Obie Patterson	1965	Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland Senate	[56]
Don Pullen	1963	Jazz pianist and organist	[57][58]
Zilner Randolph		Jazz trumpeter and music educator	[59]
Twiggy Sanders	1974	Member of the Harlem Globetrotters	[60][61]
Jawn Sandifer	1935	New York Supreme Court justice; staff lawyer for the NAACP	[62]
Gary Siplin	1976	Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives	[63]
Marvin Scott	1966	Sociology professor at Butler University	[64]
Chris Smith	1992	Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives	[65]
Clarence F. Stephens	1938	Chair of the State University of New York at Potsdam mathematics department	[66][67]
John Taylor		Professional football player	[68]
Steel Arm Johnny Taylor		Professional baseball player and college baseball coach	[69]
Evelyn Terry		North Carolina House of Representatives	[70]
John Terry	non-degreed	Professional football player
Sandra L. Townes	1966	Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York	[71]
Skeets Tolbert		Jazz clarinetist	[72]
Faya Ora Rose Touré	1966	Civil rights activist, lawyer, and first black female judge in Alabama	[73]
Orval Tucker		Professional baseball player
McKinley Washington Jr.	1961	South Carolina Senate and South Carolina House of Representatives	[74]
Ola B. Watford	1946	Geophysicist with the United States Department of Commerce	[75]
Bob Wells	1968	Professional football player	[76][77]
Avon Williams	1940	Tennessee State Senate and civil right attorney	[78]
Danielle Williams	2014	Winner of the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships for sprint hurdles	[79]
Shermaine Williams	2011	Sprinter and 2012 Summer Olympics representative for Jamaica	[80]
Emanuel Wilson	non-degreed	Professional football player with the Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers	[81]
Draff Young		Professional basketball coach