List of Southern University alumni

This is a list of notable Southern University alumni.

Athletes

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Fred Bailey	1996	former CFL player
Al Beauchamp	1968	former National Football League linebacker
Mel Blount	1970	member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
William Breda	1950	Negro league outfielder, 1950 - 1954	[1]
Lou Brock		record-setting base-stealing Major League Baseball player
Harold Carmichael	1971	member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Darren Clark	2006	former MLB baseball player, New York Mets, SU Hall of Fame
Willie Davenport		gold medalist in men's 110 m hurdles at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games for the U.S. track team
Donnie Davis	1962	former NFL, CFL and WFL player
Marvin Davis	1974	former NFL and CFL player and Grey Cup champion
Matthew Dorsett	1995	former pro football player, Super Bowl XXXI champion
Ken Ellis	1970	former NFL player, Green Bay Packers
Oliver Ford		former 100m world record holder
Charlie Granger		former NFL player	[2]
Tommie Green	1978	former National Basketball Association player, New Orleans Jazz
Rich Jackson	1966	member of the American Football League Hall of Fame
Avery Johnson	1988	1999 NBA Champion, 2006 NBA Coach of the Year, University of Alabama head basketball coach, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee
Brian Johnson		United States Olympic long jumper
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones		President and baseball coach at Grambling State University, 1936–1977	[3]
Tyrone Jones	1983	former Canadian Football League all-star and MVP
Fred Lewis		Major League Baseball player
Bob Love		former NBA All-Star and second leading scorer in Chicago Bulls history
Rod Milburn		gold medalist in men's 110 m hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games
Jordan Miller	2011	NFL defensive tackle
Bobby Phills		NBA basketball player
Isiah Robertson	1971	six-time NFL Pro Bowler
Bernie Smith		former Major League Baseball player
Donnell Smith	1971	former NFL player
Godwin Turk	1974	former NFL player
Rickie Weeks		Major League Baseball player
Aeneas Williams	1991	member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
John Williams Jr.		former NFL player	[4]
Lenny Williams	2004	former NFL and CFL player
Jerry Wilson	1995	former NFL player
Ken Winey	1987	former CFL player

Entertainers and personalities

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
David Banner	1997	music recording artist, producer, actor
Jay Scalez	2015	music producer, executive
Alvin Batiste	1955	jazz artist and educator
James Booker		rhythm and blues keyboardist
Donald Harrison	1979	jazz artist
Maurice Brown		jazz artist
Isiah Carey		television news reporter
Van Lathan		journalist, producer, podcaster, and political commentator	[5]
Randy Jackson	1979	musician, record producer, former American Idol judge
Faith Jenkins		Miss Louisiana 2000, Miss America runner-up 2001, attorney, TV personality, star of Judge Faith
Branford Marsalis		jazz saxophonist

Politicians, judges and public officials

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Diana Bajoie		member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature (1976–2008); member of the New Orleans City Council (2012–2013)	[6]
Kirt Bennett		Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2003	[7]
Jay Blossman	1991 (Juris Doctor)	former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Troy E. Brown		Member of the Louisiana State Senate from 2012 until his resignation in 2017
Barbara West Carpenter		Dean of international relations at Southern University; African-American Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives since 2016	[8]
Israel B. Curtis		Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1992–2008) and the Rapides Parish School Board (1976–1992), former Alexandria educator and insurance agent, did graduate study at Southern	[9]
Herbert B. Dixon		Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (2008–2014) and the Rapides Parish School Board (1992–2008), did graduate study at Southern	[10]
Irma Muse Dixon		first African-American elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC)
Cleo Fields		former state senator and U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district
Mike Foster	2004 (Juris Doctor)	53rd governor of Louisiana
Randal Gaines		member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes since 2012	[11]
Hunter Greene	1994 (Juris Doctor)	Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, family court judge in East Baton Rouge Parish	[12]
Kip Holden		Mayor-President of Baton Rouge 2005–2017
Dalton W. Honoré		member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 63 in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2010	[13]
Hilry Huckaby III	1969 (Juris Doctor)	Member of Shreveport, Louisiana city council (1978–1990, 1998–2001), Caddo District Judge (1992–1995)	[14]
Jason Hughes		member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 100 in Orleans Parish
Marcus Hunter	2002	member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 17 in Ouachita Parish	[15]
Melvin Irvin		member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 58 (based in Ascension Parish) 1984–1988; educator and real estate developer, died in 2014	[16]
Alphonse J. Jackson	1951	member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish, 1972–1992; owner of a public relations agency in Baton Rouge	[17]
Edward C. James		member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 101 in East Baton Rouge Parish; Baton Rouge lawyer	[18]
William J. Jefferson		former Representative, U.S. Congress
Okla Jones II		federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Edmond Jordan		Democratic member since 2016 of the Louisiana House of Representatives for West and East Baton Rouge parishes; lawyer in Brusly, Louisiana	[19]
James A. Joseph	1956	Ambassador to South Africa (1996–1999)	[20]
Isiah Leggett		County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland 2006-2018
Robert M. Marionneaux		Louisiana state senator since 2000 from Baton Rouge area	[21]
Dustin Miller	Pending study to be nurse practitioner	African-American Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 40 in St. Landry Parish since 2016	[22]
Randy Moore		first African-American chief of the United States Forest Service	[23][failed verification]
Jewel Joseph Newman		member of the East Baton Rouge City Parish Council, 1972–1984; member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1984–1988; community organizer in the Scotlandville neighborhood of Baton Rouge	[24]
Abe E. Pierce, III	1956	first African-American mayor of Monroe, Louisiana (1996–2000)	[25]
Vincent Pierre		state representative for Lafayette Parish since 2012	[26]
Jewel Prestage	1951	first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D in Political Science	[27]
Rupert Richardson		African-American civil rights activist and civil rights leader who served as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1992 to 1995
Chris Roy, Jr.	1987	attorney, former state legislator from Rapides and Vernon parishes	[28]
Jesse N. Stone		attorney, educator, served as Dean of the Southern University Law Center and as president of Southern University
Dorothy Mae Taylor		first African-American woman to serve in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1971–1980	[29]
Ledricka Thierry	1999	state representative for St. Landry Parish since 2009	[30]
Taylor Townsend		state representative from Natchitoches Parish (2000–2008)	[31]
Pinkie C. Wilkerson		Louisiana House of Representatives (1992–2000)	[32]
Alfred C. Williams	1972	member of the Louisiana House from Baton Rouge since 2012; former school board member and attorney
Patrick C. Williams		state representative for Caddo Parish since 2007	[33]
Tom Willmott		Louisiana House of Representatives from Jefferson Parish since 2008	[34]

Military commanders

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Joe N. Ballard		lieutenant general (retired), first African-American Chief of Engineers and Commander, United States Army Corps of Engineers
Sherian Grace Cadoria		brigadier general (retired), first African-American woman to reach the rank of general in U.S. Army
Paris Davis		colonel (retired), one of the first African-Americans to become an officer in US Army Special Forces, awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in the Vietnam War
Russel L. Honoré		lieutenant general who commanded the U.S. military support of recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Academics

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Karen Butler-Purry	1985	professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University	[35]
Kathie Stromile Golden	1976	Provost, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and professor at Mississippi Valley State University	[36]
William Moore	1963	first African-American to graduate with a PhD in chemistry from Purdue University
Jewel Prestage	1951	first African-American woman to earn Ph.D. in Political Science
Morgan Watson		one of the first African-American engineers at NASA, beginning in January 1964