# List of Duquesne University people

This is a list of notable persons affiliated with Duquesne University, including alumni, current and former faculty members, and students.

## Notable alumni
### Media

* Tom Atkins – actor, Lethal Weapon, The Rockford Files, Harry O, Oz
* Carl Betz – actor, The Donna Reed Show, Judd for the Defense
* Peter Brunette – film critic (The Hollywood Reporter) and film historian
* John Clayton (1976) – NFL writer and reporter for ESPN
* Werner Herzog – filmmaker (did not officially graduate)
* Bill Hillgrove (1962) – sports journalist, radio personality, broadcaster
* Jesse Joyce – stand-up comedian and writer
* Mark Madden – former World Championship Wrestling commentator, writer, ESPN Radio personality
* Terry McGovern – film actor, television broadcaster, radio personality, voice-over specialist, and acting instructor
* Nick Perry – radio-TV personality, infamous after being indicted in scandal involving rigging of Pennsylvania Lottery
* Joe Starkey – radio personality for KDKA-FM

### Business

* Alan N. Braverman – Senior Executive Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company, 2003–present
* Pat Dudley (MA) – President and marketing director of Bethel Heights Vineyard
* Ed Grier – former President of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California
* Stanley R. Gumberg - real estate developer
* Tom Tribone – founder and CEO of Guggenheim Global Infrastructure Company

### Religion

* Most Rev. Richard Henry Ackerman – Bishop of Covington (Kentucky), 1960-1978; attended the Second Vatican Council
* Most Rev. Daniel DiNardo (1969) – Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (2006–present)
* Most Rev. Ralph Leo Hayes – Bishop of Helena (1933–1935), Rector of the Pontifical North American College (1935–1944), and Bishop of Davenport (1944–1966)
* Most Rev. Vincent Leonard – Bishop of Pittsburgh (1969–1983)
* Zola Levitt – Messianic Jewish teacher, author, and television host
* Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida (1964) – Cardinal, Archbishop of Detroit (1990–present)
* Thomas L. Thompson (1962) – Biblical theologian, closely associated with the Biblical minimalism movement
* Sister Anne Nasimiyu Wasike (died 2018) – theologian, religious sister, and author
* Most Rev. David Zubik (1971) – Bishop of Green Bay (2003–2007), Bishop of Pittsburgh (2007–present)

### Sports

* Mike Basrak – played center and linebacker for NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers
* Joe Beimel – relief pitcher for Pittsburgh Pirates
* Leigh Bodden – former NFL defensive back
* Boyd Brumbaugh – former NFL player and first-round draft pick
* Donn Clendenon (1978) – MLB player for Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets; 1969 World Series MVP
* Chuck Cooper – first African American player to be drafted into the NBA
* Mickey Davis – former NBA player for Milwaukee Bucks
* Aldo Donelli – player and head coach in NFL; member of United States National Soccer Hall of Fame
* Al Federoff, Major League Baseball player
* Candace Futrell – WNBA player
* Chip Ganassi – former professional racecar driver; current professional race team owner
* Sihugo Green – NBA player (1957; 1959–1966)
* Korie Hlede – WNBA player
* Mike James – former professional basketball player, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards; has won one NBA Championship
* Shawn James – former professional basketball player
* Ray Kemp - professional football player, first African-American to play for Pittsburgh Steelers
* Christian Kuntz – long snapper for the Pittsburgh Steelers
* Stefan Lundberg – professional soccer player for Pittsburgh Riverhounds
* Barry Nelson – former NBA player
* Norm Nixon – professional basketball player for Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, 2-time NBA champion and 4-time All-Star
* Cumberland Posey – Negro league baseball player, manager, and team owner; Baseball Hall of Famer
* Dave Ricketts – former MLB player
* Dick Ricketts – NBA's first overall pick in annual player draft (1955); also played Major League Baseball
* Art Rooney – Pittsburgh Steelers founder and former owner, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
* Dan Rooney – Pittsburgh Steelers former president and chairman, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame, former United States Ambassador to Ireland
* Jimmy Smith – former MLB player; won one World Series
* Dwayne Woodruff – defensive back for NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers (1979–1990), won one Super Bowl; founding partner of Woodruff, Flaherty & Fardo law firm (now Flaherty Fardo, LLC); currently Judge of Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh

### Politics and law

* Donald A. Bailey – politician and lawyer
* Derrick Bell – legal theorist
* Mark Ciavarella – Disbarred former Luzerne County judge following the Kids for cash scandal.
* Anthony Colaizzo – Democratic member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1989-1999
* Father James Cox – Roman Catholic priest, labor activist, and presidential candidate
* Bob Cranmer – County Commissioner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1995-1999; former Chairman of Republican Party of Allegheny County
* Henry Ellenbogen – Pennsylvania Congressman (1933-1938)
* Gerald Feierstein (M.A. c:a 1975) – diplomat
* Joseph M. Gaydos (1947) – Pennsylvania delegate to U.S. House of Representatives; first Slovak-American elected to Congress
* General Michael V. Hayden (1967) (1969) – retired United States Air Force General; former Director of CIA
* Ernest Kline – Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 1971–1979; dropped out because of inability to pay
* Catherine Baker Knoll – Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
* Thomas Patrick Melady (1970) – diplomat and professor at the Institute of World Politics
* Guy Reschenthaler – member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district
* Charles Owen Rice – Roman Catholic priest; labor activist
* Karen Garver Santorum – wife of former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
* Thomas E. Scanlon – Congressman (1941-1945)
* Bud Shuster – Congressman (1972-2001)
* William S. Stickman IV - Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
* Terry Van Horne (1968) – member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1981–2000
* Samuel A. Weiss – judge and Congressman (1941 to 1946)

### Music

* Joseph Carl Breil – first person to compose a score specifically for a motion picture
* Jared DePasquale – composer
* Gene Forrell – composer and conductor
* Henry Mazer - conductor and recording artist for Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra
* Sammy Nestico – composer and arranger of big band music
* William Schultz (1950) – President and CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
* Bobby Vinton (graduated 1956; honorary Doctorate in Music in 1978) – "The Polish Prince," recording artist, called most successful love singer of rock era

### Literature

* Ray DiPalma (1966) – poet and visual artist
* Keith Donohue – novelist; Director of Communications for National Historical Publications and Records Commission
* Linda O. Johnston – author of mystery and romance novels
* Jerome Loving (MA) - professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin
* Sean Parnell – author of Outlaw Platoon
* Michael Mann - professor of German literature at the University of California, Berkeley and son of Thomas Mann

### Other

* George Delahunty – physiologist, endocrinologist, and Lilian Welsh Professor of Biology at Goucher College
* Dennis Fitch – member of flight crew of United Airlines Flight 232 that crash-landed in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989, credited with saving 185 of 296 aboard, cited as example of benefits of Cockpit Resource Management
* Constance Flanagan – professor of civil society and community studies
* Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow - nurse and professor
* Jenna Morasca - model
* Monique Samuels - television personality, The Real Housewives of Potomac
* Laurie Trok - graphic artist
* Miftah Ismail -Pakistan Finance Minister

## Notable faculty

* Francesco Cesareo – Renaissance historian, President of Assumption College (former Dean of the McAnulty College of Liberal Arts)
* Jerry Clack - Professor of Classical Languages
* Antony Davies – economist and speaker
* Radhika Gajjala – communications and a cultural studies professor
* Samuel John Hazo – author of poetry, fiction, essays and plays (Emeritus McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English)
* James Houlik – tenor saxophonist (Professor of Saxophone and Chair of Woodwinds)
* Patrick Juola – expert in field of computer linguistics and security, credited with co-creating original biometric word list (Professor of Computer Science)
* Maureen Lally-Green – Judge on Superior Court of Pennsylvania (Adjunct Professor at School of Law)
* Conor Lamb – former member of the United States House of Representatives, current distinguished lecturer of law
* Aaron L. Mackler – conservative rabbi (Professor of Theology)
* Cardinal Adam Maida – Archbishop of Detroit 1990-2009 (former adjunct Professor of Theology at School of Law)
* Magali Cornier Michael – feminist literary theorist (Associate Professor of English and co-director of Women's and Gender Studies program)
* John E. Murray – author of Murray on Contracts; former dean of University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Villanova University School of Law (University Chancellor and Professor of Law)
* Ron Polansky -- philosopher and educator
* James Purdy – scholar of digital rhetoric
* John Walker – concert organist, choirmaster, recording artist (Adjunct Professor of Organ and Sacred Music (1997–2006))
* Cyril Wecht – forensic pathologist
* Michael Welner – forensic psychiatrist

## Heads of Duquesne University

Duquesne University was founded in 1878 as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost by a group of Spiritan priests under the leadership of Father Joseph Strub.

### Table

| | Name | Tenure | Title |
| 1. | Rev. William P. Power | 1878–1885 | Rector of the Pittsburgh Catholic College |
| 2. | Rev. John S. Willms | 1885–1886 | Rector of the Pittsburgh Catholic College |
| 3. | Rev. John T. Murphy | 1886–1899 | President of the Pittsburgh Catholic College (In 1911, the school achieved university status.) |
| 4. | Rev. Martin A. Hehir | 1899–1931 | President of the Pittsburgh Catholic College (In 1911, the school achieved university status.) |
| 4. | Rev. Martin A. Hehir | 1899–1931 | President of Duquesne University |
| 5. | Rev. Jeremiah J. Callahan | 1931–1940 | President of Duquesne University |
| 6. | Rev. Raymond V. Kirk | 1940–1946 | President of Duquesne University |
| 7. | Rev. Francis P. Smith | 1946–1950 | President of Duquesne University |
| 8. | Rev. Vernon F. Gallagher | 1950–1959 | President of Duquesne University |
| 9. | Rev. Henry J. McAnulty | 1959–1980 | President of Duquesne University |
| 10. | Rev. Donald S. Nesti | 1980–1988 | President of Duquesne University |
| 11. | Dr. John E. Murray, Jr. | 1988–2001 | President of Duquesne University |
| 12. | Dr. Charles J. Dougherty | 2001–2016 | President of Duquesne University |
| 13. | Dr. Ken Gormley | Appointed | President of Duquesne University |

### Graphical timeline

* Heads of Duquesne Universityvte

### References for notable alumni

* ↑ "Tom Atkins". NNDB. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Prominent Alumni". Duquesne University, GradSource Profile. The El Group. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Biography for Werner Herzog at IMDb. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "NFF Announces 2007 Major Awards Recipients". Pittsburgh Panthers Football. May 17, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Rouvalis, Cristina (March 2, 2000). "Mark Madden: The mouth that roars". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Acting Teacher". terrymcgovern.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Weiskind, Ron (April 23, 2003). "Obituary: Nick Perry / TV bowling kingpin, dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Joe Starkey | Audacy". www.audacy.com. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
* ↑ "Ed Grier Named President of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California". Hotel.Online. July 25, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Obituary: Stanley R. Gumberg / Real estate developer, philanthropist (May 30, 1927 - Feb. 16, 2009)" by Elwin Green February 9, 2009
* ↑ "Archbishop Daniel DiNardo will speak about St Augustine". St. Martha Adult Faith Formation. St. Martha Catholic Church. September–November 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Staley, Tony (October 10, 2003). "New bishop to lead Green Bay Diocese". The Compass. Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Duquesne University Football History". CSTV.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Joe Beimel Profile". Scout.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Goldstein, Richard (September 19, 2005). "Donn Clendenon, 70, M.V.P. for the 1969 'Miracle Mets,' Dies". New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Chuck Cooper, one of the NBA's first Black players". The African American Registry. September 29, 2005. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Aldo Teo Donelli". National Soccer Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Candace Futrell, Duquesne University". WNBA Draft. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Chip Ganassi Biography". Havoline. Archived from the original on March 22, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Axelrod, Phil (March 16, 2005). "50 years ago, Sihugo Green and Dick Ricketts led Duquesne to the title in basketball's No. 1 tournament – the NIT". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Korie Hlede". freeplayers.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Mike James Info Page". NBA.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Norm Nixon Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Personal Profiles: Cumberland Posey". Negro Leagues Baseball eMuseum. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Dick Ricketts Statistics". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Jimmy Smith Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ Boykowycz, Andrea (November 2, 2002). "Woodruff, Dwayne". Progress Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Donald A. Bailey". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
* ↑ "Derrick Bell". Faculty Profiles. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Cox, James R." Our Campaigns. October 8, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
* ↑ "Editorial: Cranmer's county". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 1, 1998. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
* ↑ "Editorial: Cranmer's exit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 7, 1999. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
* ↑ "Henry Ellenbogen". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
* ↑ "Gerald Feierstein". Bureau of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
* ↑ "Joseph M. Gaydos". NNDB. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
* ↑ "Michael Hayden". Notable Names Data Base. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
* ↑ Gurman, Sadie (May 15, 2009). "Obituary: Ernest P. Kline / Lieutenant governor under Shapp". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
* ↑ "Catherine Baker Knoll". Notable Names Data Base. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
* ↑ "Terry E. Van Horne (Democrat)". Official Pennsylvania House of Representatives Profile. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Archived from the original on October 11, 2000.
* ↑ von Rhein, John (August 4, 2002). "Henry Mazer, 84: Longtime CSO associate conductor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
* ↑ "Jerome Loving". Department of English. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
* ↑ "Outlaw: Former infantry officer shares experiences, pledges to help others". United States Army. March 1, 2012.
* ↑ "School of Human Ecology" (PDF).
* ↑ "Jerry Clack Lectureship Fund". The Classical Association of the Atlantic States. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
* ↑ "Hon. Conor Lamb". www.duq.edu. Retrieved February 27, 2025.

### References for heads of Duquesne University

* "Duquesne's Leaders". Early History. Duquesne University. Archived from the original on May 28, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2007.