List of Shaw University people

This is a list of notable alumni of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Academics

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

Arts and entertainment

 * Shirley Caesar (B.S. 1984), pastor and gospel music artist
 * Gladys Knight (B.A. 1966 and 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

Business

 * Calvin E. Lightner (1907 or 1908), architect and mortician
 * Ida Van Smith (1939), one of the first African American female pilots and flight instructors in the US
 * Lee Johnson (1975), president and CEO of Mechanics & Farmers Bank
 * Celeste Beatty (1984), first black female brewery owner
 * 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

Civil rights

 * Max Yergan (1914), civil rights activist; Spingarn Medal recipient
 * Ella Baker (1927), leader of SNCC and civil rights activist

Government

 * 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
 * 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
 * Henry Plummer Cheatham (A.B. 1882), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives 1889–1893
 * Adam Clayton Powell Jr., (D.D. 1934), Congressman from New York, 1945–71
 * 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
 * George H. Jackson, Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1892 to 1893
 * Rita Walters (1952), member of Board of Library Commissioners for the Los Angeles Public Library
 * Vernon Malone (1953), Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, 14th Senate district, including constituents in Wake County
 * Charles D. Walton (B.A. 1971), first African-American member of the Rhode Island Senate
 * Luther Jordan (B.A. 1997), member of the North Carolina Senate 1993–2002
 * Thomas O. Fuller, state senator of the North Carolina Senate in 1898

Law

 * Roger Demosthenes O'Kelly (B.L. 1909), lawyer, first deaf and black lawyer
 * Glenford Eckleton Mitchell (B.A. 1960), member of Universal House of Justice (1982–2008)
 * 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

Journalism

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

Religion

 * 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

Science and medicine

 * Louise Celia Fleming (1885) black medical missionary (1862–1899)
 * Manassa Thomas Pope (1885), prominent physician in Raleigh; ran for mayor in 1919
 * 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

Sports

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