List of Virginia Commonwealth University alumni

This article lists notable alumni and students of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Art

Trudy Benson, abstract painter

• Diana al-Hadid – sculptor and installation artist (MFA 2005)
• Moses Jacob Ezekiel, sculptor (1866–68)
• Hannah Altman – photographer (MFA 2020)
• Trudy Benson – abstract artist (BFA 2007)
• James Bumgardner – painter, multimedia artist, RPI, VCU art faculty (BFA 1955)
• Tony Cokes – video artist (MFA 1985)
• Rose Datoc Dall – painter (BFA 1990)
• Tara Donovan – sculptor (MFA 1999)
• Torkwase Dyson – painter (BFA 1999)
• Joseph Craig English – printmaker (BFA 1970)
• Donwan Harrell – fashion designer, founder of Prps and Akademiks (BFA 1989)
• Lisa Hoke – sculptor and installation artist (BFA 1978)
• Sterling Hundley – illustrator and painter (BFA 1998)
• Abby Kasonik – painter (BFA 1998)
• Nate Lewis – cut paper sculptor (BS 2009)
• Whitney Lynn – sculptor and performance artist (BFA 2004)
• Philip B. Meggs – graphic designer and historian of design (BFA 1964, MFA 1971)
• Eric Millikin – conceptual, internet, video and performance artist (MFA 2021)

  

  Moses Jacob Ezekiel, sculptor

• Janice Smith – furniture maker (BFA 1976)
• Carol Sutton – painter and sculptor (BFA 1967)
• Alice Tangerini – botanical illustrator (BFA 1972)
• Alessandra Torres – performance and installation artist (MFA 2006)
• Charles Vess – fantasy and comics illustrator (BFA 1974)
• Judith Godwin – Abstract painter
• Emmet Gowin – Photographer and portraitist
• Chino Amobi – Contemporary artist, musician and painter
• Fahmida Azim – Pulitzer Prize winning illustrator
• Sam Bass – Motorsports artist
• Nell Blaine – American landscape painter
• Noah Bradley – Fantasy artist known for Dungeons & Dragons
• Loryn Brazier – Painter, known for her portraits of Virginia politicians
• Lauren Clay – Sculptor known for her large fantasy inspired installations
• Daryl Cobb – Children's book illustrator
• Tony Cokes – Visual artist and educator
• Bonnie Collura – artist known for figurative multi-media sculptures, textiles and installations
• Assil Diab – Sudanese graphic designer
• Paul DiPasquale –Sculptor known for designing several public sculptures in Virginia, including the Arthur Ashe Monument on Richmond's Monument Avenue and King Neptune on Virginia Beach's boardwalk
• Tarfia Faizullah – Poet

• 

  Mark Sloan, curator, author and painter

  Anna Journey – Poet
• Jon Pineda – Poet
• Kevin Powers – Poet
• Ron Smith – Poet
• Allison Titus – Poet
• Colette Fu – photographer, book artist and paper engineer, known for her pop-up books
• Sylvia Harris – graphic designer known for designing the U.S. Census and as a pioneer in social impact design
• Sally Heller – Artist known for her large installations
• Lisa Hoke – Visual artist known for abstract sculptures
• Brian Hubble – American illustrator
• Katie Hudnall – Artist known for her woodworking
• Sterling Hundley – Illustrator and painter
• Michael Kaluta – Comic book artist
• Abby Kasonik – Painter
• Dawn Kasper – Interdisciplinary artist
• Matt Kenyon – New media artist
• Ana Ines Barragan King – Founder of the Latin Ballet of Virginia
• Mia LaBerge – Oil painter
• Abigail Larson – Fantasy artist
• Philip B. Meggs – Graphic designer and historian who authored books on graphic design
• Wiley Miller – Cartoonist
• Ayanah Moor – Conceptual artist
• Lois Morrison – Book artist
• Charlotte Moss – interior designer, author and philanthropist
• Mel Odom – Book cover artist
• G. Byron Peck – Mural artist
• Alston Purvis – Graphic designer and author
• Beatrice Riese – Artist and art collector
• Rob G. – Comic book artist
• Anne Savedge – Photographic artist
• Steve Segal – Pixar animator
• Mark Sloan – Museum curator
• Janice Smith – Furniture maker
• Alice Tangerini – Botanical illustrator
• Kevin Tinsley – Comic book illustrator
• Phil Trumbo – Art director and graphic designer
• Betony Vernon – Jewelry designer

Business

• William Gifford – CEO of Altria (BBA)

  

  4chan founder Christopher Poole

• Christopher Poole – founder of 4chan
• Donwan Harrell – Creator of luxury denim line PRPS and designer at Nike,
• Norman Sisisky – founder of Petersburg Bottling Company, which became Pepsi (BBA)
• Kenneth Sullivan – CEO of Smithfield Foods
• Robert Graboyes – American economist and musician
• John Graham – Economist and Professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business
• Jeff Ray Clark – Economist specializing in public choice theory
• Edward N. Coffman – Accounting Scholar who specialized in its history
• Jerry Dipoto – Seattle Mariners baseball executive
• Catherine C. Eckel – Behavioral economist
• Jenny Hollowell – Music industry executive
• Mildred Callahan Jones – Known as the "Flag Lady," she pioneered the decorative flag industry
• Carole Ann Klonarides – Art consultant
• Angela Patton – CEO of Girls for a Change
• Richard M. Bracken – Chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Hospital Corporation of America

Government

• 

  U.S. Representative Rob Wittman

  Danny Avula – Mayor of Richmond, Virginia
• John Fulmer Bright – Mayor of Richmond, Virginia
• Watkins Abbitt, Jr. – member of the Virginia House of Delegates^[1]
• Chris LaCivita – Senior Advisor to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign
• Marilyn Tavenner – Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services
• Lashrecse Aird – member of the Virginia State Senate^[2]
• Lamont Bagby – member of the Virginia State Senate^[3]
• Rosalyn Dance – former member of the Virginia State Senate^[4]
• Yasonna Laoly – Minister of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia (2014–present)
• Nancy McFalane – Former Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina (2011–2019)
• Todd Pillion – member of the Virginia State Senate^[5]
• Will Sessoms – Mayor of Virginia Beach, VA (2008–2018)
• Kim Taylor – member of Virginia House of Delegates^[6]

  

  Yasonna Laoly, Minister of Law and Human Rights for Indonesia

  

  Danny Avula, Mayor of Richmond, Virginia and led Virginia's vaccine efforts during COVID-19

• Schuyler VanValkenburg – member of Virginia House of Delegates^[7]
• Justin Wilson – Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia
• Rob Wittman – Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Virginia's 1st congressional district^[8]
• Todd Haymore, Virginia Secretary of Commerce (MBA)
• Debra Gardner, member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Alan Gross – U.S. Government Contractor arrested in Cuba
• Clay Athey – Politician and jurist
• Lamont Bagby – State politician from Virginia
• Cynthia Ball – State politician from North Carolina
• Peter A. Blake – Virginia Secretary of Education
• Michael Chapman – Director of Homeland Security for Missouri
• Keyanna Conner – Virginia Secretary of Administration
• Nikuyah Walker – Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia
• Rosalyn Dance – Virginia State Senator
• Natalie Edwards – Former senior official at the United States Department of the Treasury
• Megan Healy – Virginia Secretary of Labor
• Cynthia Eppes Hudson – Deputy Attorney General for Virginia
• Anita Josey-Herring – Chief Judge of the Superior Court of Washington D.C.
• John W. Marshall – Secretary of Public Safety for Virginia
• Adele McClure - Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Nancy McFarlane – Pharmacist and politician
• Delores McQuinn – Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Jackson Miller – Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services of Virginia
• Todd Pillion – Dentist and State Senator
• Javaid Siddiqi – Virginia Secretary of Education
• Ronald L. Tillett – Virginia Secretary of Finance
• Dietra Trent – Virginia Secretary of Education
• Carl E. Bain – pharmacist and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates
• Walter C. Caudill – Member of the Virginia General Assembly
• Virgil J. Cox – Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Bob Deuell – Member of the Texas Senate
• Kim E. Petersen – security and counter-terrorism expert
• Conley E. Greear – American politician and dentist

Media

• Mamé Adjei – runner-up of America's Next Top Model cycle 22
• David Baldacci – author, best known for his novel Absolute Power (1996)
• Macon Blair – actor and Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning filmmaker, known for his collaborations with Jeremy Saulnier

• 

  Author David Baldacci

  Reilly Brown – comic book illustrator and writer, known for his work on Cable & Deadpool
• Caressa Cameron – 2010 Miss America
• Paris Campbell Grace – TikToker, singer, and comedian
• Daryl Cobb – author,^[9] national children's educational presenter^[10]
• Chad L. Coleman – actor
• Andrea Detwiler – 2006 Daytime Emmy winner
• Stephen Furst – actor and director, known as "Flounder" in the National Lampoon classic Animal House (1978) as well as TV series St. Elsewhere and Babylon 5
• Jason Butler Harner – Broadway, television, and film actor; performed in original production of Coast of Utopia; was in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated film Changeling
• Bilal Khan – Pakistani singer and actor
• Zachary Knighton – actor, ABC series Happy Endings
• Boris Kodjoe – actor, model
• Robert Lanham – author, best known for his book The Hipster Handbook (2003)

  

  Actor Boris Kodjoe

• Valerie LaPointe – director and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios
• Debbie Matenopoulos – TV host, known for co-hosting ABC's The View, The Daily 10, and TV Guide Channel's The Screening Room
• Wiley Miller – cartoonist and author of the comic strip Non Sequitur
• Caelynn Miller-Keyes – runner-up Miss USA 2018, Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise contestant
• Trevor Moore – comedian and founding member of The Whitest Kids U' Know

• 

  Actor Jason Butler Harner

  Howard Owen – journalist, author of crime fiction and the novel Littlejohn
• Jay Pharoah – comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member
• Jon Pineda – award-winning poet and novelist
• Christopher Poole, aka moot – founder of 4chan^[11]
• Kevin Powers – novelist and poet, known for The Yellow Birds (2013), a finalist for the National Book Award^[12]
• Tom Robbins – author, best known for his novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
• Steve Segal – comic artist, animation director
• Robb Spewak – producer and radio personality for The Don and Mike Show and The Mike O'Meara Show
• Rose Szabo – author of What Big Teeth
• Ronnie Sidney II, graphic novelist^[13]
• Steve Rasnic Tem – horror fiction writer, winner of the World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Bram Stoker Awards
• Phil Trumbo – film animator, artist
• Brandon Wardell – comedian and Twitter personality
• Mike Wieringo – comic book artist for Marvel and DC comics; co-creator of Image Comics series Tellos
• Greg Barrett – Journalist and public speaker
• Cocoa Brown – Actress
• Jason Butler Harner – Actor in Ozark
• Jennifer A. Johnson - Chief Editor of the journal Sexualization, Media, and Society
• Zachary Knighton – Actor in Happy Endings
• Rebekah McKendry – Film Director

Music

Lamb of God

Several founding members of GWAR attended VCU; pictured is Dave Brockie

• Chino Amobi – experimental electronic musician
• Anhayla – singer-songwriter, guitarist
• Sam Beam – singer/songwriter known as Iron and Wine^[14]
• Lucy Dacus – singer-songwriter
• Nickelus F – rapper, producer, videographer
• GWAR – several founding members of the band, including Dave Brockie^[15]
• Gordy Haab – composer of the Star Wars video games music and multiple award winner in that genre
• Lamb of God – several founding members of the band
• Stefan Lessard – bassist for Dave Matthews Band
• Matthew Ramsey – songwriter, lead singer for Old Dominion
• Nate Smith – drummer, songwriter, producer, and three-time Grammy nominee
• Eric Stanley – violinist, composer
• Robbin Thompson – singer-songwriter
• Steve West – drummer of the indie rock band Pavement and front man for Marble Valley
• Chris Adler – Drummer for Lamb of God
• Anthony Anderson – Operatic baretone singer
• Bruce Bouton – American Country Music guitarist
• McKinley Dixon – Rapper and singer
• Loston Harris – Jazz pianist
• Darius Jones – Saxophonist
• Emre Kartari – Turkish jazz percussionist
• Matthew Ramsey – Country Music musician known for the band Old Dominion

Science

Nobel Prize winner Baruj Benacerraf

• Arpana Agrawal – psychiatric geneticist and professor of psychiatry, 2018 Theodore Reich Young Investigator Award
• Hunter "Patch" Adams – founder of the Gesundheit! Institute and subject of the movie Patch Adams
• Baruj Benacerraf – winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Medicine, class of 1945
• Gladys Smithwick – American physician and Presbyterian medical missionary in China and the Belgian Congo.
• Georgia Chenevix-Trench – researcher who investigates genetic predispositions to cancer
• Ann S. Fulcher – abdominal radiologist and chair of the department of radiology at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Medicine
• Saul Krugman– medical researcher who discovered a vaccine against hepatitis B
• Jeffery Taubenberger, M.D. – virologist
• Arpad Vass – research scientist, forensic anthropologist and professor

  

  Physician, actor, activist, author and clown Patch Adams

• Patch Adams, M.D., class of 1971
• Georgia Chenevix-Trench class of 1985, Ph.D.
• Jean Harris, the first African-American student, class of 1955, became Virginia's Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
• Jeffery Taubenberger, M.D. class of 1986, Ph.D. class of 1987
• Percy Wootton, M.D., class of 1957, past president, American Medical Association
• William Chivous Bostic Sr. class of 1905
• Meike Bartels – Behavioral geneticist, known for research on the genetics of happiness
• Kathleen T. Brady – American psychiatrist
• Caroline Orr Bueno (PhD) – social and behavioral sciences researcher specializing in disinformation networks
• Brian D'Onofrio – psychologist who researches the causes of psychopathology in children and adolescents

• 

  Francis L. Delmonico, health expert in the field of transplantation and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

  Eduardo D. Rodriguez – Cuban American plastic and reconstructive surgeon, and reconstructive transplant surgeon, who is known for his contribution to the field of facial transplantation and vascularized composite allotransplantation
• Dorothy Espelage – American psychologist and expert in teen violence
• Philip C. Kendall – Psychologist who produced the Coping Cat program
• Feng Liu – Material physicist
• Michael L. Madigan – Biomedical engineer
• Benjamin Neale – statistical geneticist with a specialty in psychiatric genetics
• Sudhir Srivastava – chief of the Cancer Biomarkers Research Group of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the United States NCI
• Beatriz Amendola – Urugayan-American radiation oncologist
• Mary Baughman – physician, medical school professor, and clubwoman
• Frederick Bieber – Canadian-American geneticist currently serving as Senior Medical Geneticist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a member of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University
• Joseph DeJarnette – Director of Western State Hospital, physician and eugenicist
• Lorna Breen – American physician
• Georgia Chenevix-Trench – Cancer researcher who investigates genetic predispositions to cancer
• Anne L. Coleman – Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Stein Eye Institute at University of California, Los Angeles
• Francis L. Delmonico – surgeon, clinical professor and health expert in the field of transplantation
• Mary Cynthia Farach-Carson – biochemist, known for her work in extracellular matrix, perlecan, tissue engineering and bone metastasis
• Isabel Garcia – Dentist and academic administrator
• Nassir Ghaemi – Psychiatrist, author, and Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine

Sports

• Mo Alie-Cox – current tight end for the Indianapolis Colts

  

  Basketball and Football player Mo Alie-Cox

• Yann Bonato – former European professional basketball player; former France National Team member; member of France's silver medal-winning men's basketball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics; played one season (1990–91) at VCU^[16][17]
• Troy Daniels – current shooting guard for Olimpia Milano
• Andrew Dykstra – MLS goalkeeper for D.C. United; also played with the Chicago Fire in MLS^{[citation needed]}
• Treveon Graham – current forward in the G League
• Lanto Griffin – current professional golfer on the PGA Tour
• Sherman Hamilton – former member of Canadian National Men's Basketball Team; participated in 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia^{[18][citation needed]}
• Gerald Henderson – played for the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Seattle SuperSonics, and San Antonio Spurs, winning four NBA championships^{[citation needed]}
• Quanitra Hollingsworth – center for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA;^[19] member of Turkey's 2012 Olympic women's basketball team^[20]

  

  Dave Van Horne, broadcaster honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame

• Brandon Inge – MLB infielder, formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers^[21]
• Sean Marshall – relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds^[22]
• Eric Maynor – played for the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers^[23]
• Cla Meredith – former MLB relief pitcher; played for the Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Baltimore Orioles^[24]
• Hayley Moorwood – member of New Zealand women's Olympic Soccer Team in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012^[25]
• Dominic Oduro – current forward for the Columbus Crew in MLS^{[citation needed]}
• Juvonte Reddic (born 1992) – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• John Rollins – professional golfer and PGA pro^[26]
• Larry Sanders – drafted #15 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2010 NBA Draft^[27]
• Gonzalo Segares – former defender for Apollon Limassol in Cyprus; former defender for the Chicago Fire in MLS^{[citation needed]}
• Scott Sizemore – infielder for the Oakland Athletics^[28]
• Justin Tillman (born 1996) – basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Brianté Weber (born 1992) – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Dave Van Horne – Broadcaster honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame

Other

• Mirta Martin (Ph.D. 1996) – ninth president of Fort Hays State University
• Grace E. Harris, academic administrator and social worker

• 

  Susan Higginbotham, historical fiction novelist and attorney

  Frank E. Grizzard Jr., American Historian
• Leona S. Aiken – Psychology Professor
• William M. Anderson Jr. (BA) – President of the University of Mary Washington
• Nancy Wright Beasley - Author
• Errett Callahan - Archeologist
• Jack Hranicky - Archeologist
• Caressa Cameron - Miss Virginia
• Eric H. du Plessis - Author, translator and educator
• Susan Higginbotham - American historical fiction author and attorney
• Hendrée E. Jones - Researcher on women's substance abuse
• Eileen A. Joy - Old English literary specialist
• Margaret Ann Neale - Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Sheri Reynolds - Author of contemporary Southern fiction
• Howard Owen - Author and winner of the Hammett Prize