List of Alpha Phi Alpha members

Alpha Phi Alpha is the first inter-collegiate Greek-letter organization established for Black college students.^[1] Convened in December 1905 as a literary society with the first presiding officer being CC Poindexter, it was established as a fraternity on December 4, 1906, at Ithaca, New York. Alpha Phi Alpha opened chapters at other colleges, universities, and cities, and named them with Greek letters. Members traditionally pledge into a chapter, although some members were granted honorary status before the fraternity discontinued the practice of granting honorary membership. A chapter name ending in "Lambda" denotes an alumni chapter.^[2] The only alumni chapters that do not end in "Lambda" are Rho Chapter, located in Philadelphia, as well as the Omicron Lambda Alpha chapter in Washington, D.C. and the Omicron Lambda Beta chapter in Illinois, which were both intermediate chapters but became alumni chapters after the discontinuation of intermediate chapters.

No chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is designated Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet that traditionally signifies "the end". Deceased brothers are respectfully referred to as having their membership transferred to Omega Chapter, the fraternity's chapter of sweet rest.^[3] Frederick Douglass is distinguished as the only member initiated posthumously when he became an exalted honorary member of the Omega chapter in 1921.^[4]

The fraternity, through its college and alumni chapters, serves the community through nearly a thousand chapters in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.^[5]

The fraternity has been led by 36 general presidents. Its membership includes two premiers; four governors; a vice president, four senators; a Supreme Court justice; two presidential candidates; Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Lenin Peace Prize, Kluge Prize, Golden Globe, Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award winners; French Légion d'honneur and Croix de Guerre laureates; at least four Rhodes Scholars; eighteen diplomats; fourteen Presidential Medal of Freedom, seven Congressional Gold Medal, and seventeen Spingarn Medal recipients; and eighteen Olympians.

Buildings, monuments, stadiums, arenas, courthouses, and schools have been named after Alpha men, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Thurgood Marshall Public Policy Building at the University of Maryland; the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans; the Whitney Young Memorial Bridge; the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium; the Paul Robeson Plaza at Rutgers University; the Jack Trice Stadium; the John H. Johnson School of Communication at Howard University; the Oscar W. Ritchie Pan-African Cultural Arts Center at Kent State University; the Arvarh E. Strickland General Classroom Building at the University of Missouri-Columbia; the G. Larry James Stadium at Stockton University; the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts; the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County; the John Hope Franklin Memorial Plaza in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the Stephan P. Mickle Sr. Courthouse in Gainesville, Florida; the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, California; the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago; A. Maceo Smith High School and the A. Maceo Smith Federal Building in Dallas; the Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University; the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport; Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium at Grambling State University; Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport; and The Whitney M. Young School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University.