List of Virginia Military Institute alumni

As of 2020^[update], Virginia Military Institute alumni include two previous Governors of Virginia, the current Secretary of the Army, a Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, two Lieutenant Governors of Virginia, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Pulitzer Prize winners, 13 Rhodes Scholars, Medal of Honor recipients, an Academy Award winner, an Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner, a martyr recognized by the Episcopal Church, Senators and Representatives, Governors, Lieutenant Governors, a Supreme Court Justice, numerous college and university presidents, many business leaders (presidents and CEOs) and over 285 general and flag officers, including service chiefs for three of the four armed services.

Two recent Chiefs of Engineers of the Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant Generals Carl A. Strock and Robert B. Flowers, as well as Acting Chief of Engineers Major General "Bo" Temple, were VMI Civil Engineering graduates.^[1]

VMI alumni include:

Military

Name	Year	Notes
Edward M. Almond	1915	Commander of U.S. Army X Corps during Korean War
Fletcher C. Booker Jr.	1941	Pennsylvania National Guard major general. Commander of U.S. Army's 28th Infantry Division
Paul W. Brier	1981	U.S. Marine Corps major general. Commanding General, 4th Marine Division; Commander, U.S. Marine Forces Africa and Europe; Deputy Commander, NATO Resolute Support Mission.
William A. Brown	1980	U.S. Navy vice admiral, Deputy Commander, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)
Withers Burress	1914	Professor of Military Science and Tactics at VMI; Commanding General, U.S. Army 100th Infantry Division[2]
Richard E. Byrd	1908	U.S. Navy rear admiral, polar explorer, Medal of Honor recipient (1926)
Harold Coyle	1974	U.S. Army major; novelist
Samuel C. Cumming	1917	Decorated USMC Major General during World War II
Edward Edmonds	1858	Confederate Colonel of the 38th Virginia Infantry, killed-in-action during Pickett's Charge
Robert B. Flowers	1969	Lieutenant general and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Lee S. Gerow	1913	Brigadier General, U.S. Army; Assistant Commanding General of the 85th Infantry Division. A younger brother of General Leonard T. Gerow.
Leonard T. Gerow	1911	General, U.S. Army; Commanding General, V Corps (1943–45) and U.S. Fifteenth Army (1945–48). Highly regarded by Eisenhower & Bradley.[3] Led at Omaha Beach[4] and Battle of the Bulge.
William H. Gill	1907	Major General, U.S. Army; Commanding General of the 32nd Infantry Division. President of Colorado College 1949-1955.
James B. Hickey	1982	Colonel and commander Operation Red Dawn, which captured Saddam Hussein
Thomas Goode Jones	1863	Withdrew before graduation to join Confederate Army; wounded in battle four times; Governor of Alabama.[5]
John P. Jumper	1966	Retired general and Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Charles E. Kilbourne	1894	Recipient of Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross; lieutenant general, U.S. Army
James H. Lane	1854	Confederate brigadier general, fought in Pickett's Charge, civil engineering professor, and founder of Virginia Tech
W. Patrick Lang	1962	Retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer, intelligence executive, commentator on Middle East, and author
Cary D. Langhorne	1894	Medal of Honor recipient
Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr.	1914	Florida National Guard general and insurance executive. Veteran of World Wars I and II, received Distinguished Service Medal and Bronze Star.
George C. Marshall	1901	General of the Army, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army in World War II, Secretary of State (1947–49), Secretary of Defense (1950), and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Richard Marshall	1915	General during World War II
Frank McCarthy	1933	Brigadier general, U.S. Army Reserve. Producer of the 1970 Academy Award-winning movie Patton.
Ryan D. McCarthy	1997	Captain, U.S. Army, Secretary of the Army
John McCausland	1857	Confederate brigadier-general, served under General Jubal Early
Darren W. McDew	1982	General, U.S. Air Force, Commander, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). 1st African-American Regimental Commander of Corps of Cadets.
Shannon Meehan	2005	U.S. Army Captain, Bronze Star Medal recipient, author and veterans activist
Thomas T. Munford	1854	Confederate brigadier-general
Randolph McCall Pate	1921	U.S. Marine Corps general and twenty-first Commandant of the Marine Corps
George S. Patton Sr.	1852	Confederate colonel, 22nd Virginia Infantry; died in Battle of Opequon. Namesake son graduated from and grandson attended VMI.
George S. Patton	1907	U.S. Army general. Namesake grandfather and father were both VMI graduates. Attended from 1903 to 1904 as a member of the Class of 1907 before leaving to attend the United States Military Academy.
Richard H. Pearce	1953	U.S. Army Major, Bronze Star Medal recipient, Highest-ranking U.S. military officer to defect during the Cold War era[6] Pearce was granted asylum in Cuba.[7]
J. H. Binford Peay III	1962	U.S. Army general, commander 101st Airborne, commander United States Central Command, and 14th superintendent of VMI
Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller	1922	Resigned from VMI after freshman year to enlist as a private in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1918; became lieutenant general and most decorated Marine in U.S. history
Thomas F. Riley	1935	Brigadier general in the Marine Corps, served as Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Following his retirement, he served as Orange County Supervisor 1974–1994.
Robert E. Rodes	1848	Railroad civil engineer and Confederate major general killed at the Battle of Opequon in the Shenandoah Valley
Edward R. Schowalter Jr.	1951	Medal of Honor recipient; colonel, U.S. Army
George R. E. Shell	1931	Ninth Superintendent of VMI; Brigadier general, U.S. Marine Corps
Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr.	1917	U.S. Marine Corps general and 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps
Scott Shipp	1856	Superintendent of VMI (1890–1907). Led VMI cadets at New Market under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge.
Adolphus Staton	1899	Medal of Honor recipient
Carl A. Strock	1970	U.S. Army lieutenant general and commander, Army Corps of Engineers
Clarence E. Sutton	1890	Medal of Honor recipient, resigned in 1888, did not graduate
Sun Li-jen	1927	Republic of China/Taiwan lieutenant general, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War
Surapong Suwan-ath	1979	Royal Thai Army General, Chief of Defence Forces, 2016-2017
Walter H. Taylor	1857	Confederate lieutenant colonel, General Robert E. Lee's aide-de-camp, lawyer, banker, author, railroad executive, Virginia state senator
William P. Upshur	1902	Medal of Honor recipient; Marine Corps major general; Commander, Dept. of the Pacific, 1940–42
James A. Walker	1852	Expelled in 1852 for "disobedience" in Stonewall Jackson's classroom, after challenging Jackson to a duel over a perceived insult. VMI granted him an honorary degree in 1872 in recognition of his Civil War service, where he rose to the rank of brigadier general and commanded the "Stonewall Brigade".[8]
Reuben Lindsay Walker	1845	Confederate brigadier general and artilleryman.

Government and politics

Name	Year	Notes
Mitchell Werbell III	Unknown	Mercenary
Harry F. Byrd Jr.	1935	U.S. Senator from Virginia (1965–83)
Tom C. Clark	1921	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1949–67), United States Attorney General (1945–49)
Charles Allen Culberson	1874	U.S. Senator; Governor of Texas[9]
James U. Downs	1963	Senior resident superior court judge in western North Carolina, 1983–2013; lawyer in Hickory and Franklin, North Carolina
Richard Thomas Walker Duke	1844	Confederate Colonel; Member of U.S. House of Representatives and Virginia House of Delegates
Grenville Gaines	1874	mayor of Warrenton, Virginia; lawyer and banker[10]
Elmon T. Gray	1946	Virginia State Senator
George W. Hardy Jr.	1920	Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana (1932–34); state circuit court of appeal judge (1943–67)[11]
William Mahone	1847	Confederate major general, Member of Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. Senator (1881–87), and railroad executive
Marshall McDonald	1860	U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries (1888–95)
Ralph Northam	1981	U.S. Army Medical Corps major, Virginia State Senator, 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and 73rd Governor of Virginia
Lewis F. Payne Jr.	1967	Member of Congress from Virginia
Robert Reid	1875	Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court[12][13]
Henry G. Shirley	1896	Commissioner, Virginia Department of Highways
Joseph Short	1925	White House Press Secretary under Harry S. Truman
C. Bascom Slemp	1891	Representative for the Ninth Congressional District of Virginia; philanthropist
Ernest O. Thompson	1910	General, Texas National Guard; Texas Railroad Commissioner, mayor of Amarillo, petroleum expert
Steven J. McAuliffe	1970	Senior Judge of the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire, husband of the late Christa McAuliffe who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Arts and entertainment

Name	Year	Notes
Mel Brooks	Did not graduate	During World War II, the U.S. Army used VMI to give technical education and training to soldiers who did not matriculate as cadets nor live within the VMI cadet system. Before becoming a filmmaker, he trained at VMI for 12 weeks.[14]
Dabney Coleman	Did not graduate	Movie and television actor, attended VMI for only two years[15]
John D. Ewing	1913	Publisher of Shreveport Times, 1931–52
Moses Jacob Ezekiel	1866	Sculptor
John Cherry Monks Jr.	1932	Playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, producer and World War II U.S. Marine
Fred Willard	1955	Comedic actor; U.S. Army officer

Sports

Name	Year	Notes
Ron Carter	1978	former NBA shooting guard
Joe Fortunato	1954	former NFL linebacker
Ryan Glynn	1995	Professional baseball player in Japan
Sam Horner	1959	former NFL defensive back
Pete Johnson	1958	former NFL running back
Dan Lyle	1992	Captain of the USA Eagles national rugby team
Joe Muha	1942	former NFL fullback
Bosh Pritchard	1941	former NFL running back
Ray Reutt	1942	former NFL end
George Robison	1951	former NFL offensive guard
Bobby Ross	1959	Football coach of West Point, The Citadel, University of Maryland, Georgia Tech, San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions
George Stallings	1886	Major League Baseball player and manager
Mark Stock	1988	former NFL wide receiver
Bobby Thomason	1949	NFL Pro Bowl quarterback
Reggie Williams	2008	Led NCAA Division 1 scoring in 2006 and 2007, playing for the Miami Heat in the NBA[16]
Mike Wooten	1986	former NFL center
Josh Winder	2018	MLB pitcher

Others

Name	Year	Notes
James E. Brown III	1976	Fellow and past president of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and Fellow of Royal Aeronautical Society[17]
Josiah Bunting III	1963	Superintendent of VMI, 1995–2002; Rhodes Scholar; author
Jonathan Myrick Daniels	1961	American civil rights activist and one of fifteen modern-day Anglican Church martyrs[18]
Benjamin Franklin Ficklin	1849	A founder of the Pony Express
Robert Q. Marston	1944	President of University of Florida, Director of National Institutes of Health, Rhodes Scholar
Giles H. Miller	1924	Banker, President of VMI Alumni Association, Director of The George C. Marshall Foundation
George S. Patton (attorney)	1877	California attorney and real estate developer. Namesake father also graduated from VMI and namesake son also attended VMI.
Jonathan Edwards Woodbridge	1865	Shipbuilder and naval architect
Richard Harwood Pearce	1953	Defected to Cuba in 1967.