List of Duquesne University people

This is a list of notable persons affiliated with Duquesne University, including alumni, current and former faculty members, and students.

Media



 * Tom Atkins – actor, Lethal Weapon, The Rockford Files, Harry O, Oz
 * Carl Betz – actor, The Donna Reed Show, Judd for the Defense
 * Peter Brunette – film critic (The Hollywood Reporter) and film historian
 * John Clayton (1976) – NFL writer and reporter for ESPN
 * Werner Herzog – filmmaker (did not officially graduate)
 * Bill Hillgrove (1962) – sports journalist, radio personality, broadcaster
 * Jesse Joyce – stand-up comedian and writer
 * Mark Madden – former World Championship Wrestling commentator, writer, ESPN Radio personality
 * Terry McGovern – film actor, television broadcaster, radio personality, voice-over specialist, and acting instructor
 * Nick Perry – radio-TV personality, infamous after being indicted in scandal involving rigging of Pennsylvania Lottery
 * Joe Starkey – writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; ESPN Radio personality
 * Tim J. Sullivan (1994) – deputy sports editor for the New York Post

Business

 * Alan N. Braverman – Senior Executive Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company, 2003–present
 * Pat Dudley (MA) – President and marketing director of Bethel Heights Vineyard
 * Ed Grier – President of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California
 * Stanley R. Gumberg - real estate developer
 * Tom Tribone – founder and CEO of Guggenheim Global Infrastructure Company

Religion

 * Most Rev. Richard Henry Ackerman – Bishop of Covington (Kentucky), 1960-1978; attended the Second Vatican Council
 * Most Rev. Daniel DiNardo (1969) – Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (2006–present)
 * Most Rev. Ralph Leo Hayes – Bishop of Helena (1933–1935), Rector of the Pontifical North American College (1935–1944), and Bishop of Davenport (1944–1966)
 * Most Rev. Vincent Leonard – Bishop of Pittsburgh (1969–1983)
 * Zola Levitt – Messianic Jewish teacher, author, and television host
 * Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida (1964) – Cardinal, Archbishop of Detroit (1990–present)
 * Thomas L. Thompson (1962) – Biblical theologian, closely associated with the Biblical minimalism movement
 * Sister Anne Nasimiyu Wasike (died 2018) – theologian, religious sister, and author
 * Most Rev. David Zubik (1971) – Bishop of Green Bay (2003–2007), Bishop of Pittsburgh (2007–present)

Sports

 * Mike Basrak – played center and linebacker for NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers
 * Joe Beimel – relief pitcher for Pittsburgh Pirates
 * Leigh Bodden – NFL defensive back, New England Patriots
 * Boyd Brumbaugh – former NFL player and first-round draft pick
 * Donn Clendenon (1978) – MLB player for Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets; 1969 World Series MVP
 * Chuck Cooper – first African American player to be drafted into the NBA
 * Mickey Davis – former NBA player for Milwaukee Bucks
 * Aldo Donelli – player and head coach in NFL; member of United States National Soccer Hall of Fame
 * Al Federoff, Major League Baseball player
 * Candace Futrell – WNBA player
 * Chip Ganassi – former professional racecar driver; current professional race team owner
 * Sihugo Green – NBA player (1957; 1959–1966)
 * Korie Hlede – WNBA player
 * Mike James – professional basketball player, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards; has won one NBA Championship
 * Shawn James – professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv
 * Ray Kemp - professional football player, first African-American to play for Pittsburgh Steelers
 * Stefan Lundberg – professional soccer player for Pittsburgh Riverhounds
 * Barry Nelson – former NBA player
 * Norm Nixon – professional basketball player for Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, 2-time NBA champion and 4-time All-Star
 * Cumberland Posey – Negro league baseball player, manager, and team owner; Baseball Hall of Famer
 * Dave Ricketts – former MLB player
 * Dick Ricketts – NBA's first overall pick in annual player draft (1955); also played Major League Baseball
 * Art Rooney – Pittsburgh Steelers founder and former owner, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
 * Dan Rooney – Pittsburgh Steelers president and chairman, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
 * Jimmy Smith – former MLB player; won one World Series
 * Dwayne Woodruff – defensive back for NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers (1979–1990), won one Super Bowl; founding partner of Woodruff, Flaherty & Fardo law firm (now Flaherty Fardo, LLC); currently Judge of Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh

Politics and law

 * Donald A. Bailey – politician and lawyer
 * Derrick Bell – legal theorist
 * Mark Ciavarella – Disbarred former Luzerne County judge following the Kids for cash scandal.
 * Anthony Colaizzo – Democratic member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1989-1999
 * Father James Cox – Roman Catholic priest, labor activist, and presidential candidate
 * Bob Cranmer – County Commissioner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1995-1999; former Chairman of Republican Party of Allegheny County
 * Henry Ellenbogen – Pennsylvania Congressman (1933-1938)
 * Gerald Feierstein (M.A. c:a 1975) – diplomat
 * Joseph M. Gaydos (1947) – Pennsylvania delegate to U.S. House of Representatives; first Slovak-American elected to Congress
 * General Michael V. Hayden (1967) (1969) – retired United States Air Force General; former Director of CIA
 * Ernest Kline – Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 1971–1979; dropped out because of inability to pay
 * Catherine Baker Knoll – Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
 * Thomas Patrick Melady (1970) – diplomat and professor at the Institute of World Politics
 * Charles Owen Rice – Roman Catholic priest; labor activist
 * Karen Garver Santorum – wife of U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
 * Thomas E. Scanlon – Congressman (1941-1945)
 * Bud Shuster – Congressman (1972-2001)
 * William S. Stickman IV - Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
 * Terry Van Horne (1968) – member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1981–2000
 * Samuel A. Weiss – judge and Congressman (1941 to 1946)

Music



 * Joseph Carl Breil – first person to compose a score specifically for a motion picture
 * Jared DePasquale – composer
 * Gene Forrell – composer and conductor
 * Henry Mazer - conductor and recording artist for Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra
 * Sammy Nestico – composer and arranger of big band music
 * William Schultz (1950) – President and CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
 * Bobby Vinton (graduated 1956; honorary Doctorate in Music in 1978) – "The Polish Prince," recording artist, called most successful love singer of rock era

Literature

 * Ray DiPalma (1966) – poet and visual artist
 * Keith Donohue – novelist; Director of Communications for National Historical Publications and Records Commission
 * Linda O. Johnston – author of mystery and romance novels
 * Jerome Loving (MA) - professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin
 * Sean Parnell – author of Outlaw Platoon
 * Michael Mann - professor of German literature at the University of California, Berkeley and son of Thomas Mann

Other

 * George Delahunty – physiologist, endocrinologist, and Lilian Welsh Professor of Biology at Goucher College
 * Dennis Fitch – member of flight crew of United Airlines Flight 232 that crash-landed in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989, credited with saving 185 of 296 aboard, cited as example of benefits of Cockpit Resource Management
 * Constance Flanagan – professor of civil society and community studies
 * Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow - nurse and professor
 * Jenna Morasca - model
 * Monique Samuels - television personality, The Real Housewives of Potomac
 * Laurie Trok - graphic artist
 * Miftah Ismail -Pakistan Finance Minster

Notable faculty

 * Francesco Cesareo – Renaissance historian, President of Assumption College (former Dean of the McAnulty College of Liberal Arts)
 * Jerry Clack - Professor of Classical Languages
 * Antony Davies – economist and speaker
 * Radhika Gajjala – communications and a cultural studies professor
 * Samuel John Hazo – author of poetry, fiction, essays and plays (Emeritus McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English)
 * James Houlik – tenor saxophonist (Professor of Saxophone and Chair of Woodwinds)
 * Patrick Juola – expert in field of computer linguistics and security, credited with co-creating original biometric word list (Professor of Computer Science)
 * Maureen Lally-Green – Judge on Superior Court of Pennsylvania (Adjunct Professor at School of Law)
 * Aaron L. Mackler – conservative rabbi (Professor of Theology)
 * Cardinal Adam Maida – Archbishop of Detroit 1990-2009 (former adjunct Professor of Theology at School of Law)
 * Magali Cornier Michael – feminist literary theorist (Associate Professor of English and co-director of Women's and Gender Studies program)
 * John E. Murray – author of Murray on Contracts; former dean of University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Villanova University School of Law (University Chancellor and Professor of Law)
 * James Purdy – scholar of digital rhetoric
 * John Walker – concert organist, choirmaster, recording artist (Adjunct Professor of Organ and Sacred Music (1997–2006))
 * Cyril Wecht – forensic pathologist
 * Michael Welner – forensic psychiatrist

Heads of Duquesne University
Duquesne University was founded in 1878 as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost by a group of Spiritan priests under the leadership of Father Joseph Strub.