# List of Eastern Kentucky University alumni

Eastern Kentucky University is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. Following is a list of some of its notable alumni.

## Athletics

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Josh Anderson | Non-degreed | | Professional baseball player |
| Richie Bancells | 1981 | M.S. sports science | Head Athletic Trainer for the Baltimore Orioles |
| Yeremiah Bell | 2002 | | Professional football player with Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals |
| Joanna Bernabei-McNamee | 1999 | M.S. sports administration | Head coach for Boston College Eagles women's basketball |
| Steve Bird | 1983 | | Professional football player and football special teams coordinator for South Carolina State |
| Elmo Boyd | | | Professional football player with the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers |
| Chad Bratzke | 1994 | | Professional football player with the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts |
| Wally Chambers | 1973 | | Professional football player with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers; 1973 Defensive NFL Rookie of the Year Award |
| Al Clark | | | Professional baseball umpire |
| Earle Combs | 1919 | Education | Professional baseball player with the New York Yankees, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
| Danny Copeland | 1989 | | Professional footaball player with the Washington Redskins and Super Bowl XXVI champions |
| Dale Dawson | | | Professional football player with the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers |
| Jessamyn Duke | | | Professional mixed martial artist formally for the UFC |
| Jason Dunn | 1995 | | Professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs |
| Matt Figger | 1995 | | College basketball coach |
| Charlie Fisher | | M.S. | College football coach |
| George Floyd | 1982 | | Profesesional football player with the New York Jets and member of the College Football Hall of Fame |
| Christian Friedrich | 2008 | | Professional baseball player with the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres |
| Simon B. Gray | | M.S. sports administration | Athletic director of Niagara University |
| Myron Guyton | 1989 | | Professional football player with the New York Giants and New England Patriots |
| Ole Hesselbjerg | 2015 | Physics | Runner who competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics for Denmark |
| Sam Holbrook | | | Major League Baseball umpire |
| Chris Isaac | 1981 | | Professional gridiron football player with the Canadian Football League |
| John Jackson | 1988 | | Professional football player with the Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Aaron Jones | 1988 | | Professional football player with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and Miami Dolphins |
| Roy Kidd | 1955 | | College football coach and member of the College Football Hall of Fame |
| W. H. Lyon | | | College football coach |
| Antwaun Molden | 2008 | | Professional football player with the Houston Texans |
| Mark Montgomery | 1992 | | College softball head coach |
| Tom Riginos | 1993 | M.A. physical education and sports administration | Head baseball coach of the Winthrop Eagles |
| Chrissy Roberts | 1998 | | College basketball coach |
| Dallas Robinson | 2006 | | Bobsledder in the 2014 Winter Olympics |
| Michael Scot | | M.A. physical education | Director of the New South Wales Institute of Sport and chief executive officer of Sport New Zealand |
| Garfield Smith | 1968 | | Professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics and the San Diego Conquistadors |
| Steve Smith | | M.S. | Head basketball coach at Oak Hill Academy |
| Teddy Taylor (football) | | | College football coach and two-time All-American college football player |
| Corey Walden | 2015 | | Professional basketball player, 2019 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP |

## Business

| Name | Class | Major | Notability | References |
| Don McNay | 1981 | Journalism and political science | Chartered financial consultant, financial author, and The Huffington Post contributor | |

## Education

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Lori Stewart Gonzalez | | Communication disorders | 23rd President of Ohio University |
| Kishonna Gray | 2005, 2007 | Criminal justice, M.S. justice studies | Researcher in communication and gender studies at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences |
| Teresa W. Haynes | 1975, 1978, 1984 | B.S. and M.A. mathematics and education, M.S. mathematics | Professor of mathematics and statistics at East Tennessee State University known for her research in graph theory |
| Don Showalter | 1964 | Chemistry and math | Professor emeritus and former chairman of the department of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point |
| Aaron Thompson | 1978 | Political science and sociology | President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education |

## Entertainment

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Chuckie Campbell | 2007 | M.A. English literature and creative writing | Rapper, poet, and author |
| Sam Champion | 1983 | Broadcast news | Weather editor and anchor for Good Morning America and ABC News |
| Mallory Ervin | | Political science | Miss Kentucky 2009 and The Amazing Race contestant |
| Faith Esham | Non-degreed | M.S. clinical psychology | Opera singer |
| Carl Hurley | 1966 | B.S. and M.A. education | Comedian and motivational speaker; former EKU professor |
| Laura Kirkpatrick | Non-degreed | Art | America's Next Top Model cycle 13 runner up |
| Homer Ledford | 1954 | | Bluegrass musician and maker of dulcimers |
| Lee Majors | 1962 | History and physical education | Actor known for Six Million Dollar Man and The Fall Guy |
| Mike Morgan | 1970 | Education | Singer-songwriter and record producer |
| Dan Patrick | Non-degreed | | Co-host of ESPN's SportsCenter |

## Law

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Tom Colbert | 1976 | M.A. | Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court |
| Pleas Jones | | Education | Associate justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (subsequently renamed the Kentucky Supreme Court) |
| James E. Keller | 1966 | | Justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court |
| Debra H. Lambert | 1983 | | Associate justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court and former Judge on the Kentucky Court of Appeals |
| Danny C. Reeves | 1978 | | Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky |
| Gregory N. Stivers | 1982 | | Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky |

## Literature and journalism

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Gwenda Bond | | Journalism | Novelist |
| Silas House | | English | Novelist |
| John Samples | 1978 | Political science and government | Author, political theorist, and vice president of the Cato Institute |
| Crystal Wilkinson | 1985 | Journalist | Writer, poet, educator, and winner of the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence |

## Military

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Ken Keen | 1974 | Mathematics | Lt. General and Military Deputy Commander of United States Southern Command |
| Jeffrey H. Norwitz | 1974 | Law enforcement | Counter-terrorism and law enforcement officer with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and John Nicholas Brown Chair of Counterterrorism at the Naval War College |
| Craig E. Williams | | Philosophy | Vietnam War Army veteran and co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation |

## Politics

| Name | Class | Major | Notability |
| Bob Babbage | 1973 | Journalism and political science | Kentucky State Auditor and Kentucky Secretary of State. |
| J. C. W. Beckham | Non-degreed | | Governor of Kentucky and a United States Senator |
| Larry Belcher | | | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Linda H. Belcher | | Elementary education | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Elmer Begley | | | Secretary of State of Kentucky |
| Leila Feltner Begley | | | Secretary of State of Kentucky |
| Josh Branscum | 2007 | Construction management | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Josh Bray | | Business Administration | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Dwight Butler | | | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Josh Calloway | | Certificate health and safety | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| John Carney | | Master | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Jared Carpenter | 2000 | | Kentucky Senate |
| Jack Coleman | | | Kentucky House of Representatives and city commissioner of Harrodsburg, Kentucky |
| Carl Day | | | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Alecia Webb-Edgington | | M.A. Criminal justice | Kentucky House of Representatives and executive director of the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security |
| Clyde Evans | | Master | Ohio House of Representatives |
| Danny Ford (politician) | 1974 | | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Deanna Frazier | 1991 | Communication disorders | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Terry Goodin | 1989 | | Indiana House of Representatives |
| J. Dudley Goodlette | 1970 | Political science | United States House of Representatives |
| Mike Harmon | | Math, statistics, and theater | Kentucky House of Representatives and Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts |
| Kim King | 2004 | Fitness and wellness management | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Ashley Tackett Laferty | | | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| C. Ed Massey | 1989 | Criminal justice and police science | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Bobby McCool | 1991 | Education | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Frances Jones Mills | | | Kentucky House of Representatives and Kentucky State Treasurer |
| Virgil Moore | 1961 | Mathematics | Kentucky Senate |
| C. Wesley Morgan | | Accounting | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Rick Nelson | 1988 | M.A. | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Steve Pence | 1976, 1978 | Business education, M.S. business management | Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky |
| Darryl M. Scott | | Business administration | Delaware House of Representatives |
| Thaksin Shinawatra | 1975 | Criminal justice | Prime Minister of Thailand |
| Kevin Sinnette | 1984 | | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Liz Stefanics | | | New Mexico Senate and Santa Fe County Commission |
| Brandon J. Storm | 2000 | Police administration | Kentucky Senate |
| Ken Upchurch | | Political science | Kentucky House of Representatives |
| Steve West | 1993 | Communications | Kentucky Senate |
| Janssen Willhoit | 2000 | | Vermont House of Representatives |

## Science and medicine

| Name | Class | Major | Notability | References |
| Eula Bingham | 1951 | Chemistry and biology | Occupational health scientist | |
| Ranthony Edmonds | 2013 | M.S. mathematical sciences | Mathematician specializing in commutative ring theory, factorization theory, and applied algebraic topology | |

## Other

| Name | Class | Major | Notability | References |
| Andrew C. Thornton II | 1971 | Law enforcement | Head of "The Company" drug smuggling ring | |