List of Johnson C. Smith University alumni

Johnson C. Smith University is a private historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[1][2] It was called Biddle Memorial Institute from 1867 to 1876 and Biddle University from 1876 to 1922.^[1][3]

Following is a list of some of its notability members.

Name	Graduation year	Notability	References
John Hurst Adams	1947	was an American civil rights activist and Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He also served as a college president.	[4]
Trezzvant Anderson	non-degreed	Journalist and author	[5][6]
Tim Beamer	1971	Professional football player	[7][8]
Harold Boulware		Civil rights attorney and judge in the United States.	[9]
Frederick C. Branch	1942	First African American officer in the United States Marine Corps	[10]
Jack S. Brayboy	1943	Football player, coach, teacher, and university administrator, all at Johnson C. Smith University	[11]
Tyrone Britt	1967	Professional basketball player	[12]
Vanderbilt Brown	1907	One of the first physicians to finish training in World War I with the Medical Reserve Corps
Mickey Casey	non-degreed	Professional baseball player	[13]
Eva Clayton	1955	United States House of Representatives from North Carolina	[14]
Gregory Clifton	non-degreed	Professional football player with the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins	[15][16]
Dorothy Counts	1964	One of the first black students to attend Harry P. Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina	[17]
Grover Covington		Professional player with the Canadian Football League	[18][19]
John O. Crosby	non-degreed	First president of what is now North Carolina A&T State University	[20]
Daniel Wallace Culp	1876	Pastor, principal, and doctor; first graduate of Biddle University	[21]
Sadye Curry	1963	First African-American woman to become a gastroenterologist in the United States	[22]
Charlie Smith Dannelly	1962	North Carolina Senate and Charlotte City Council	[23]
Bill Davis	1963	Head football coach at South Carolina State University, Savannah State University, Tennessee State University, and Johnson C. Smith University	[24]
De'Audra Dix	2009	Professional football player with the Canadian Football League	[25]
Edward R. Dudley	1932	U.S. Ambassador to Liberia; first African American ambassador	[26]
Bill Dusenbery		Professional football player with New Orleans Saints	[27]
Thereasea Elder	non-degreed	First African American public health nurse in Charlotte, North Carolina	[28]
Richard Erwin	1947	Judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeal; first black federal judge in North Carolina	[29]
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo	1933	Ghanaian minister of religion, playwright, educator, and founder of Zion College in Ghana	[30]
Malcolm Graham	1985	North Carolina Senate and Charlotte City Council	[31]
Leford Green	2011	National Track Athlete of the Year in 2010 and 2011; 2012 Summer Olympics Jamaican National Olympic Track and Field team	[32]
Chet Grimsley	1978	Author and first white student to garner accolades as All-CIAA and All-American at JCSU and at a historically Black college or university	[33]
Larry D. Hall	1978	North Carolina House of Representatives	[34]
Norman Washington Harllee		Supervisor of Dallas's public schools for Black children; principal of Dallas Colored High School	[35]
Reginald Hawkins	1943	Civil rights activist; first African-American to run for Governor of North Carolina	[36]
Bun Hayes	1929	Professional baseball player	[37]
JoAnn Haysbert		Chancellor and Provost of Hampton University; president of Langston University	[38]
Henry Aaron Hill	1936	Organic chemist; first Black president of the American Chemical Society	[39]
Quentin Hillsman		Basketball coach at Syracuse University	[40]
Cheris F. Hodges	1999	Author of African-American romance novels
Delois Huntley		One of four black students to integrate Charlotte schools	[41]
Cecil Ivory	1946	Presbyterian minister and civil rights leader	[42]
Sara Dunlap Jackson	1943	National Archives and Records Administration archivist, Military Archives Division	[43]
Benny Johnson	1970	Professional football player with the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints	[44]
J. Charles Jones	1960	Co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)	[36]
Edward Joyner	1994	Basketball coach at Hampton University	[45]
Boise Kimber	1981	Baptist minister and civil rights activist	[46]
William Lindsay	1931	Professional baseball player	[47][48]
Earl Manigault	non-degreed	Regarded as one of the greatest never to have played in the National Basketball Association	[49]
Vince Matthews	1970	Winner of two gold medals for sprinting at the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics	[50][51]
Mildred Mitchell-Bateman	1941	Director of the Division of Professional Services at the West Virginia Department of Mental Health; chair of the Psychiatry Department at Marshall University	[52]
Catherine Mae McKee McCottry	1941	was the first female African American physician in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the first female African American obstetrician and gynecologist in Charleston, South Carolina.	[53]
Eddie McGirt	1948	Head football coach and athletic director at Johnson C. Smith University	[54]
Curly Neal	1962	Member of the Harlem Globetrotters	[55]
Pettis Norman	1962	Professional football player with the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers	[56]
Melanie Harrison Okoro	2005	Marine estuarine and environmental scientist	[57]
Trevin Parks	2013	Professional basketball player and college basketball coach	[58]
Obie Patterson	1965	Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland Senate	[59]
Don Pullen	1963	Jazz pianist and organist	[60][61]
Zilner Randolph		Jazz trumpeter and music educator	[62]
Twiggy Sanders	1974	Member of the Harlem Globetrotters	[63][64]
Jawn Sandifer	1935	New York Supreme Court justice; staff lawyer for the NAACP	[65]
Gary Siplin	1976	Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives	[66]
Marvin Scott	1966	Sociology professor at Butler University	[67]
Chris Smith	1992	Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives	[68]
Clarence F. Stephens	1938	Chair of the State University of New York at Potsdam mathematics department	[69][70]
John Taylor		Professional football player	[71]
Steel Arm Johnny Taylor		Professional baseball player and college baseball coach	[72]
Evelyn Terry		North Carolina House of Representatives	[73]
John Terry	non-degreed	Professional football player
Sandra L. Townes	1966	Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York	[74]
Skeets Tolbert		Jazz clarinetist	[75]
Faya Ora Rose Touré	1966	Civil rights activist, lawyer, and first black female judge in Alabama	[76]
Orval Tucker		Professional baseball player
McKinley Washington Jr.	1961	South Carolina Senate and South Carolina House of Representatives	[77]
Ola B. Watford	1946	Geophysicist with the United States Department of Commerce	[78]
Bob Wells	1968	Professional football player	[79][80]
Avon Williams	1940	Tennessee State Senate and civil right attorney	[81]
Danielle Williams	2014	Winner of the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships for sprint hurdles	[82]
Shermaine Williams	2011	Sprinter and 2012 Summer Olympics representative for Jamaica	[83]
Emanuel Wilson	non-degreed	Professional football player with the Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers	[84]
Draff Young		Professional basketball coach