List of Shaw University people

Ezekiel Ezra Smith (A.B. 1878), president of Fayetteville State University and U.S. Ambassador to Liberia (1888–1890)^[1]
Edward Hart Lipscombe (A.B. 1879, A.M. 1882), educator, minister, principal of the Western Union Institute^{[citation needed]}
Charles L. Purce, (A.B.) president of Selma University and Simmons College of Kentucky^[2]
James B. Dudley (A.B. 1881), professor and president of North Carolina A&T State University (1896–1925)^[3]
Peter Weddick Moore (A.B. 1887), founder and first president of Elizabeth City Normal College, (now Elizabeth City State University)^[4]
James E. Shepard (A.B. 1894), founder and first president of North Carolina Central University^[5]
John O. Crosby (1914), founder and first president of North Carolina A&T State University^[6]
Benjamin Arthur Quarles (B.A. 1931), historian, administrator, scholar, educator, and writer^[7]
James E. Cheek (B.A. 1955), president of Shaw University, president emeritus of Howard University, 1983 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom^[8]
William L. Pollard (B.A. 1967), president of the Medgar Evers College (2009–2013)^{[citation needed]}

Shirley Caesar (B.S. 1984), pastor and gospel music artist^[9]
Gladys Knight (Honorary doctorate), singer, Gladys Knight & the Pips, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Kayden Carter (B.A. 2012), professional wrestler in WWE
Lords of the Underground (attended), hip-hop group that was founded in the early 1990s, when all three of its members were students attending Shaw University^[10]

Calvin E. Lightner (1907 or 1908), architect and mortician^[11]
Ida Van Smith (1939), one of the first African American female pilots and flight instructors in the US^[12]
Lee Johnson (1975), president and CEO of Mechanics & Farmers Bank^[13]
Celeste Beatty (1984), first black female brewery owner^[14]
Willie Otey Kay (1912), prominent dressmaker in Raleigh
William Gaston Pearson (1886), prominent principal, colloquially referred to as "Durham's Black Superintendent", in Durham, NC, and co-founder of Mechanics & Farmers Bank^[15]

Edward A. Johnson (B.L. 1891), first African-American member of the New York state legislature when he was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1917^[18]
Col. James H. Young, prominent North Carolina politician and first African American to hold the rank of colonel in the United States of the volunteer regiment during the Spanish–American War^[19]
Henry Plummer Cheatham (A.B. 1882), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives 1889–1893^[20]
Adam Clayton Powell Jr., (D.D. 1934), Congressman from New York, 1945–71^[21]
Angie Brooks (B.S. 1949), first African female President of the United Nations General Assembly and Associate Justice to the National Supreme Court of Liberia^[22]
George H. Jackson, Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1892 to 1893^[23]
Rita Walters (1952), member of Board of Library Commissioners for the Los Angeles Public Library^[24]
Vernon Malone (1953), Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, 14th Senate district, including constituents in Wake County^[25]
Charles D. Walton (B.A. 1971), first African-American member of the Rhode Island Senate^[26]
Luther Jordan (B.A. 1997), member of the North Carolina Senate 1993–2002^[27]
Thomas O. Fuller, state senator of the North Carolina Senate in 1898^[28]

Roger Demosthenes O'Kelly (B.L. 1909), lawyer, first deaf and black lawyer^[29]
Glenford Eckleton Mitchell (B.A. 1960), member of Universal House of Justice (1982–2008)^[30]
Willie E. Gary (B.A. 1971), one of the world's wealthiest attorneys, known as the "Whale Killer"; co-founder of the Black Family Channel^[31]

Lenard Moore (B.A. 1980), first African American President of the Haiku Society of America^[32]
Shelia P. Moses (B.A. 1983), best-selling author, nominated for the National Book Award and NAACP Image Award^[33]

Richard Gene Arno, founder of the National Christian Counselors Association
William R. Pettiford (1912 honorary), Birmingham, Alabama minister and banker
Lucius Walker (1954), Baptist minister best known for his opposition to the United States embargo against Cuba^[34]

Louise Celia Fleming (1885) black medical missionary (1862–1899)^[35]
Manassa Thomas Pope (1885), prominent physician in Raleigh; ran for mayor in 1919^[36]
John P. Turner (1906), surgeon, hospital administrator, and educator
Dr. John Eagles, pharmacy owner in Raleigh, North Carolina; son of John S. W. Eagles, sergeant in U.S.C.T., public official, and state legislator in North Carolina

Carrenza M. "Schoolboy" Howard, Negro Leagues pitcher
Charlie Brandon (1964), Grey Cup champion and all-star CFL football player^[37]
Van Green (1973), NFL player^[38]
James "Bonecrusher" Smith (B.A. 1975), first heavyweight boxing champion with a college degree^[39]
Ronald "Flip" Murray (2002), professional basketball player^[40]
Julius Gregory (2011), Arena Football League player^[41]

Notable alumni