List of Murray State University alumni

Murray State University is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. Following are some of its notable alumni.

Art

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Jeff Easley	1977	Painting	oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines	[1]
Alma Lesch	1941	Teaching	Fiber artist	[2]
Joe Staton	1970		Comic book artist	[3]

Athletics

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Rex Alexander	1949		College basketball and tennis coach	[4]
Shane Andrus	2004	Business and marketing	Professional football player with the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and San Francisco 49ers	[5]
Ivan Aska	2012	Health and physical education.	Professional basketball players in the Israeli National League	[6][7]
Leva Bates	2003	Theater, radio, and television	Professional wrestler with All Elite Wrestling known as The Librarian	[8][9]
Marcus Brown	1996		Professional basketball player and college basketball coach	[10]
Shaq Buchanan	2017	Integrated studies-health and exercise.	Professional basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League	[11]
Todd Buchanan	1995	Physical education and psychology	Head coach of women's basketball at the University of Houston	[12]
Chester Caddas	1957		Head football coach at the University of the Pacific and Colorado State University	[13]
Isaiah Canaan	2013	Advertising	Professional basketball player with the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns	[14]
Mike Cherry			Professional football player with the New York Giants	[15]
Ed Daniel	2013	Healthcare Administration	Professional basketball player with the Israeli team Maccabi Ashdod	[16]
Bud Foster	1981		College football coach at Virginia Tech	[17]
Tony Franklin	1979, 1989	History, M.A. Education	Offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Middle Tennessee State University	[18]
Justin Fuente	1999		Head football coach at Virginia Tech, University of Memphis, and Texas Christian University	[19][20]
Joe Fulks	Non-degree		Professional basketball player and inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame	[21]
Ron Greene	1962	Health and physical education	Head basketball coach of Mississippi State University and Murray State University	[22][23]
Pete Gudauskas	1940		Professional football player with the Chicago Bears	[24][25]
Rod Harper	2008	Social science	Professional football player with the New Orleans Saints and Super Bowl champion	[26]
Rob Hart	1999	American history	Professional football player with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, and the Miami Dolphins;	[27]
Morgan Hicks	2004		2004 Summer Olympics in three-position smallbore shooting and head coach of Nebraska Cornhuskers rifle	[28]
Ron Hopkins	1982		Professional football player with the Canadian Football League
Popeye Jones	1992		Professional basketball player with the Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Washington Wizards and assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets	[29][30]
Ruth Jones		MEd Physical education	Head coach for Purdue University women's basketball	[31]
Irby Koffman			Head football coach at Murray State University	[32]
Wesley Korir	Non-degreed		Winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon and Kenyan Member of Parliament	[33]
Austen Lane	2009	Journalism	Professional football player with the Chicago Bears and the Jacksonville Jaguars	[34]
Gil Mains			Professional football player with the Detroit Lions and professional wrestler	[35]
Jeff Martin	1989		Professional basketball player	[36]
Ja Morant	Non-degreed		Professional basketball player with the Memphis Grizzlies	[37]
Patrick Newcomb			Professional golfer	[38]
Cameron Payne	Non-degreed	Undeclared	Professional basketball player with the Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers	[39][40]
Pat Pitney		Engineering physics	1984 Summer Olympics gold medalist in rifle and president of the University of Alaska system	[41][42]
Walt Powell	2013	Advertising	Professional football player	[43]
Michael Proctor	1990	Safety engineering and health	Professional football player with the Canadian Football League	[44]
Bennie Purcell	1952, 1961	B.A., M.A.	Professional basketball player with the Harlem Globetrotters and college tennis coach	[45]
Johnny Reagan	1947		College baseball coach and minor league baseball player	[46]
Mark Riggins			Pitching coach for Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds	[47]
Kirk Rueter	1991		Professional baseball player with the Montreal Expos and San Francisco Giants	[48][49]
Heather Samuel			Sprinter at the 1992 Summer Olympics, 1996 Summer Olympics, and 2000 Summer Olympics	[50][51]
James Singleton	2003		Professional basketball player	[52]
Fred Sowerby	1973		1976 Summer Olympics track and field athlete and head track and field coach of Delaware State University	[53][54]
Reggie Swinton			Professional football player with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys	[55]
Chuck Taylor	2011		Professional wrestler	[9]
Claude Virden			Professional basketball player	[56]
Quincy Williams	2018	Public relations	Professional football player with the Jacksonville Jaguars	[57]
Roger Withrow			1984 Summer Paralympics rifle gold medalist	[58]
Jared Wolfe			Professional golfer	[59]

Clergy

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Brian Lee Cole	1989	Business administration	Episcopal Bishop of East Tennessee.	[60]
John Dale	1970	M.S.	Minister	[61]
Hartman Rector Jr.			General authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)	[62]

Education

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Walter G. Bumphus	1971	M.S. guidance and counseling	President and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges, chair of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin	[63][64]
Adron Doran	1938, 1948	B.A., M.A.	President of Morehead State University, director of the Division of Teacher Education and Certification for the Kentucky Department of Education, namesake of the Adron Doran University Center	[65][64][66]
Robert L (Bob) Jackson	1985	Finance and economics	President of Murray State University and Kentucky Senate	[67][68]
Patricia J. Johnson		Biology	Professor of Microbiology at University of California, Los Angeles	[69]
Alison Marr	2002	Mathematics	Professor of mathematics and computer science at Southwestern University in Texas	[70][71]
Pat Pitney		Engineering physics	President of the University of Alaska system and 1984 Summer Olympics gold medalist in rifle	[41][42]
Forrest Pogue	1931		Director of the George C. Marshall Foundation and the Marshall Library at Virginia Military Institute and United States Army historian	[64]
Kenneth W. Winters	1957	Industrial arts	Kentucky Senate and president of Campbellsville University	[72]

Entertainment

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Dee Barton			Jazz trombonist and big band drummer known with the Stan Kenton Orchestra
W. Earl Brown	1986	Theater and radio/television	Actor	[73][74]
Jerry Crutchfield	Non-degreed		Singer, songwriter, and record producer	[64][75]
Tericka Dye			Former pornographic actress and teacher	[76]
S.G. Goodman			Singer-songwriter	[77]
Gary Guthrie	1973	Communications	The original producer of You Don't Bring Me Flowers for Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond; and recognized as a chief pioneer of the Classic rock radio format
Alex Harvey	1964	M.A. in Music and education	Country music singer and songwriter	[78]
Thomas Rickman	1965	English	Film director, playwright, and screenwriter	[64][79]
Hal Riddle	1942		Actor	[64][80]
Chrishell Stause	2003	Theater	Actress, best known for All My Children	[81]
Chris Thile	Non-degreed	Music	Musician and member of Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers	[82][83]
Jilon VanOver	2001	Theater Arts	Actor	[84]
J. D. Wilkes		Studio Arts	Musician, visual artist, filmmaker

Law

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Bill Cunningham	1962		Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court	[85]
Steven H. David	1979		Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court	[86]

Literature and journalism

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Kevin Brown	2012	MFA poetry	Poet and author	[87]
John Mack Carter	1948		Editor of Ladies’ Home Journal and Good Housekeeping, president and CEO of Hearst Magazines Enterprises	[64][88]
Jude Deveraux	1970	Art	Historical romance novelist	[89][64]
Taghreed El-Khodary	2000	M.S. Mass communications	Correspondent in Gaza for The New York Times	[90]
John Fetterman	1948		Journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize	[91][64][92]
Gene Graham	1948		Journalist and co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting	[93][64][94]
Mike Long		Physics and mathematics	Speechwriter and author	[95]
Richard Thomas	2012	MFA Creative writing	Author of speculative fiction	[96]

Military

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
John I. Hudson	1971		U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General	[64][97]
Mary A. Marsh	1951	Music	Brigadier general in the United States Air Force	[98][64]

Politics

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
David L. Armstrong	1966		Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky	[99]
Bill Bailey	1970		Indiana House of Representatives and mayor of Seymour, Indiana	[100]
Joseph L. Bocchini Jr.		Education	New Jersey General Assembly	[101]
Marion E. Burks	1935		Illinois House of Representatives and Circuit Court judge for Cook County, Illinois	[64][102]
Myron Dossett			Kentucky House of Representatives	[103]
Larry Elkins			Kentucky House of Representatives	[104]
Fats Everett	1936		United States House of Representatives	[105]
Milton H. Hamilton Jr.	1955		Tennessee General Assembly, Tennessee Senate, and Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation	[106]
Richard Heath		Agricultural education, M.A. agriculture	Kentucky House of Representatives	[107]
Melvin Henley	1961, 1964	Chemistry	Kentucky House of Representatives	[108]
Larry J. Hopkins			United States House of Representatives	[109]
Stanley H. Humphries	1992	Education	Kentucky Senate	[110]
Kenny Imes			Kentucky House of Representatives
Robert L (Bob) Jackson		Finance	Kentucky Senate and president of Murray State University	[67]
Wesley Korir	Non-degreed		Winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon and Kenyan Member of Parliament	[33]
Pat M. McCuistion	1939		Kentucky Senate	[64][111]
Adam Moore	2007	International Affairs	Kentucky House of Representatives	[112]
William F. Paxton			Mayor of Paducah, Kentucky
Bill Redmond	1976	Political science and accounting	United States House of Representatives	[113]
Steven Rudy	2000	Agriculture education	Kentucky House of Representatives	[114][115]
Harry Lee Waterfield	1932		Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky	[116][64]
Gerald Watkins	1981, 1984	Business administration, MBA	Kentucky House of Representatives	[117]
D. Wade Williams		MPA	Kentucky House of Representatives	[118]
Kenneth W. Winters	1957	Industrial arts	Kentucky Senate and president of Campbellsville University	[72]
Evan Wynn			Wisconsin State Assembly
Brent Yonts	1971	Political science	Kentucky House of Representatives	[119]

Science and medicine

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Vicki Funk	1969	Biology and history	Botanist and curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History	[120]
Rex Geveden	1983, 1984	Engineering physics, M.S. physics	Deputy director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and CEO of BWX Technologies	[121]
J. Paul Hogan	1942	Chemistry and physics	Research chemist	[64][122]
Edward G McFarland		Biology	Professor of shoulder surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine	[123]
Martha Redden Ozer	1966, 1968		Director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Project on Science, Technology and Disability	[64][124][125]
Lois Ann Pfiester	1970	Biology	Phycologist and protistologist, specializing in freshwater dinoflagellate species	[126]
Jerry A. Shields	1960	Biology	Ophthalmologist with th eWills Eye Institute	[64][127][128]
Frances Strickland	1963	Health and physical education	Educational psychologist and former First Lady of Ohio	[129]