List of Shaw University people

This is a list of people associated with Shaw University, a historically black private college in Raleigh, North Carolina. It includes alumni, faculty, and presidents.

Notable alumni

Academics

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

Arts and entertainment

• Shirley Caesar (B.S. 1984), pastor and gospel music artist
• Kayden Carter (B.A. 2012), professional wrestler in WWE
• Gladys Knight (honorary doctorate), singer, Gladys Knight & the Pips, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Lords of the Underground (attended), hip-hop group founded in the early 1990s, when all three of its members were students attending Shaw

Business

• Celeste Beatty (1984), first black female brewery owner
• Willie Otey Kay (1912), prominent dressmaker in Raleigh
• Calvin E. Lightner (1907 or 1908), architect and mortician
• William Gaston Pearson (1886), prominent principal, colloquially referred to as "Durham's Black Superintendent", in Durham, NC, and co-founder of Mechanics & Farmers Bank
• Ida Van Smith (1939), one of the first African American female pilots and flight instructors in the US

Civil rights

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

Government

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

Law

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

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

• Clinton Caldwell Boone, physician, dentist, and minister
• John Eagles, pharmacy owner in Raleigh, North Carolina; son of John S. W. Eagles, sergeant in USCT, public official, and state legislator in North Carolina
• Louise Celia Fleming (1885), black medical missionary (1862–1899)
• John Walcott Kay (1912), prominent physician in Wilmington, co-founder of Community Hospital
• Aaron McDuffie Moore (1888), doctor and medical director
• Manassa Thomas Pope (1885), prominent physician in Raleigh; ran for mayor in 1919
• Lawson A. Scruggs (1887), physician and civil rights activist
• John P. Turner (1906), surgeon, hospital administrator, and educator

Sports

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

Notable faculty

• Helen Asemota, Nigeria-born biochemist and agricultural biotechnologist; professor 2005–2012
• Gaston Alonzo Edwards (1875–1943), African American architect, and educator; founded the building department

Presidents of Shaw University

References