List of Shaw University people

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This is a list of Shaw University people from Shaw University a historically black private college in Raleigh, North Carolina; it includes alumni, faculty, and presidents.

• Ezekiel Ezra Smith (A.B. 1878), president of Fayetteville State University and U.S. Ambassador to Liberia (1888–1890)^[1]
• Edward Hart Lipscombe (A.B. 1879, A.M. 1882), educator, minister, principal of the Western Union Institute^{[citation needed]}
• Charles L. Purce, (A.B.) president of Selma University and Simmons College of Kentucky^[2]
• James B. Dudley (A.B. 1881), professor and president of North Carolina A&T State University (1896–1925)^[3]
• Peter Weddick Moore (A.B. 1887), founder and first president of Elizabeth City Normal College, (now Elizabeth City State University)^[4]
• James E. Shepard (A.B. 1894), founder and first president of North Carolina Central University^[5]
• John O. Crosby (1914), founder and first president of North Carolina A&T State University^[6]
• Benjamin Arthur Quarles (B.A. 1931), historian, administrator, scholar, educator, and writer^[7]
• James E. Cheek (B.A. 1955), president of Shaw University, president emeritus of Howard University, 1983 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom^[8]
• William L. Pollard (B.A. 1967), president of the Medgar Evers College (2009–2013)^{[citation needed]}

• Shirley Caesar (B.S. 1984), pastor and gospel music artist^[9]
• Gladys Knight (B.A. 1966 and honorary doctorate), singer, Gladys Knight & the Pips, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame^[10]
• 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^[11]

• Calvin E. Lightner (1907 or 1908), architect and mortician^[12]
• Ida Van Smith (1939), one of the first African American female pilots and flight instructors in the US^[13]
• Lee Johnson (1975), president and CEO of Mechanics & Farmers Bank^[14]
• Celeste Beatty (1984), first black female brewery owner^[15]
• 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^[16]

• Max Yergan (1914), civil rights activist; Spingarn Medal recipient^[17]
• Ella Baker (1927), leader of SNCC and civil rights activist^[18]

• 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^[19]
• 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^[20]
• Henry Plummer Cheatham (A.B. 1882), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives 1889–1893^[21]
• Adam Clayton Powell Jr., (D.D. 1934), Congressman from New York, 1945–71^[22]
• 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^[23]
• George H. Jackson, Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1892 to 1893^[24]
• Rita Walters (1952), member of Board of Library Commissioners for the Los Angeles Public Library^[25]
• Vernon Malone (1953), Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, 14th Senate district, including constituents in Wake County^[26]
• Charles D. Walton (B.A. 1971), first African-American member of the Rhode Island Senate^[27]
• Luther Jordan (B.A. 1997), member of the North Carolina Senate 1993–2002^[28]
• Thomas O. Fuller, state senator of the North Carolina Senate in 1898^[29]

• Roger Demosthenes O'Kelly (B.L. 1909), lawyer, first deaf and black lawyer^[30]
• Glenford Eckleton Mitchell (B.A. 1960), member of Universal House of Justice (1982–2008)^[31]
• 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^[32]

• Lenard Moore (B.A. 1980), first African American President of the Haiku Society of America^[33]
• Shelia P. Moses (B.A. 1983), best-selling author, nominated for the National Book Award and NAACP Image Award^[34]

• 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^[35]

• Louise Celia Fleming (1885) black medical missionary (1862–1899)^[36]
• Manassa Thomas Pope (1885), prominent physician in Raleigh; ran for mayor in 1919^[37]
• John P. Turner (1906), surgeon, hospital administrator, and educator
• 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

• Carrenza M. "Schoolboy" Howard, Negro Leagues pitcher
• Charlie Brandon (1964), Grey Cup champion and all-star CFL football player^[38]
• Van Green (1973), NFL player^[39]
• James "Bonecrusher" Smith (B.A. 1975), first heavyweight boxing champion with a college degree^[40]
• Ronald "Flip" Murray (2002), professional basketball player^[41]
• Julius Gregory (2011), Arena Football League player^[42]

• Helen Asemota, Nigeria-born biochemist and agricultural biotechnologist; professor from 2005 to 2012^[43]
• Gaston Alonzo Edwards (1875–1943), African American architect, and educator; founded the building department^[44][45]