# List of East Texas A&M University people

The following is a list of notable people associated with East Texas A&M University, formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce, located in the American city of Commerce, Texas.

## Notable alumni
### Politics and government

* Randy Alexander – Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Springdale, Arkansas
* Lindley Beckworth – former judge of United States Customs Court
* Mary Lou Bruner – Republican candidate for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education; received a master's degree in Special Ed. from the Commerce campus (when it was called East Texas State University)
* Lanell Cofer – former politician and lawyer
* Mike Conaway – Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 11th congressional district
* Phil Dyer – former mayor of Plano, Texas
* Marsha Farney (formerly Marsha Gonyaw) – Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Williamson County; received bachelor's and master's degrees in professional education from the Commerce campus in the early 1990s
* Brady P. Gentry – former politician
* Jimmy Hickey Jr. – Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate from Texarkana, Arkansas; obtained Bachelor of Business Administration from the Texarkana campus
* Justin Holland – Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 33rd district
* Alphonso Jackson – former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under U.S. President George W. Bush
* Tom Price – judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 1997–2015
* Sam Rayburn – Democratic representative for Texas's 4th congressional district and long-term Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
* Sam W. Russell – former lawyer and politician
* Hilda G. Tagle – senior judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
* Jimmy Turman – former politician and educator, served in the Texas House of Representatives and also was speaker of the house until 1963
* Gary VanDeaver – former school superintendent for the New Boston Independent School District and incoming Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives; received doctorate in education from TAMU-Commerce

### Media and arts

* Duane Allen – lead singer of The Oak Ridge Boys
* Tia Ballard – actress for Funimation Entertainment
* Linda Brookover – screenwriter, film producer, essayist on film topics
* Will Creedle – novelist and thought leader in the field of website ADA compliance
* Jim Fiscus – photographer specializing in editorial and advertising photography, including several campaigns for the Showtime series Dexter
* Morgan Garrett – voice actress
* Adrian Hall – former theater director
* Trenton Doyle Hancock – fine artist
* Colleen Hoover – New York Times bestselling author
* Jerrod Knight – radio personality and voice actor
* Staley T. McBrayer – newspaper publisher and inventor of the Vanguard web offset press for newspaper printing
* John Charles Norman – advertising executive and graphic designer, chief creative officer, TBWA Chiat Day, Los Angeles
* Bill O'Neal – author who has written more than 30 books and 300 articles and book reviews on the American West
* Robyn O'Neil – artist known for large-scale graphite on paper drawings
* William A. Owens – author, folklorist and educator
* Gary Panter – illustrator and set designer of Pee Wee's Playhouse
* Jeff Parrott – painter
* Key Poulan – composer
* Freda Ross – news director at WBAP-AM, Dallas, TX
* Michael Sampson – New York Times best-selling author
* Michael Schwab – graphic designer and illustrator, attended 1970–1972
* Mark Seliger – photographer noted for his portraiture; regular front-page photographer for Rolling Stone, where he began working in 1987
* Jordan Randall Smith – founder and music director of Symphony Number One
* Erin Trieb – photographer
* Lester Van Winkle – sculptor
* Renée Witterstaetter – comic book colorist, editor, and writer
* Ralph C. Wood – scholar of theology and English literature
* Susan Wood – poet
* John Clifton Wright – author

### Athletes and coaches

* Autry Beamon – former NFL player
* Bobby Bounds – former Arena League Football player
* Chad Brown – NFL official, refereed Super Bowls XXXV and XLV
* Marv Brown – former Detroit Lion
* Curtis Buckley – former NFL player
* Althea Byfield – former professional basketball player and netball bronze medal winner for Jamaica
* John Carlos – former sprinter; professional football player; human rights activist
* Bob Carpenter – former NBA player
* Jake Carter – former NBA player
* Rob Childress – former college baseball coach at Texas A&M
* Tim Collier – former NFL cornerback
* Ricky Collins – former CFL wide receiver
* Derrick Crawford – former Arena Football League player
* Will Cureton – former starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns
* Clint Dolezel – former Arena Football League all-star quarterback; head coach for the Philadelphia Soul in the AFL
* Buck Fausett – former MLB player
* Harry Fritz – former professional tennis player, also was a member of East Texas State's men's tennis team that won the 1972 NAIA National championship
* Bill Gaines – former professional basketball player
* Jon Gilliam – former Kansas City Chiefs player, played in Super Bowl I
* Ernest Hawkins – Winningest football coach in Texas A&M-Commerce athletic history, also lead the team an NAIA National Championship title in 1972
* Scott Highsmith – football coach currently serving as an offensive analyst for Southern Miss, previously served as head coach at Belhaven and East Texas Baptist
* Ross Hodge – current head coach for North Texas Men's Basketball Team
* Rich Houston – American football player
* Lee Johnson – former NBA player
* Vernon Johnson – former professional football player
* Bo Kelly – former Arena League Football player for the Arizona Rattlers
* Kader Kohou – Ivorian NFL cornerback for the Miami Dolphins
* John Lotz – former men's basketball coach at Florida
* Dee Mackey – former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers
* Kyle Mackey – former NFL quarterback for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins
* Harvey Martin – former defensive end in the National Football League and Super Bowl XII MVP
* Danny Mason – current CFL Defensive End for the Ottawa RedBlacks
* Kevin Mathis – former starting cornerback for the Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys
* Durwood Merrill – former MLB umpire
* Shelby Metcalf – former head coach of men's basketball at Texas A&M
* Mike Miller – former head coach of the Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team, current assistant coach for the Washington Wizards
* Larry Nemmers – former NFL official
* Rex Norris – former defensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma
* John Pearce – former football coach at Stephen F. Austin State University
* Luis Perez – quarterback for the Arlington Renegades of the XFL
* Dave Philley – former MLB player
* Ron Poe – former high school football coach, one of the winningest high school football coaches in Texas history and state champion in 1979
* Herb Raybourn – former MLB player, scout, and New York Yankees director of Latin American Operations
* Bryn Roy – professional Canadian football player
* Davarus Shores – Bronze Metal winner at the 2017 World Games competing in American Football representing the United States
* Wes Smith – former NFL player for the Green Bay Packers
* Aundra Thompson – former NFL player for the Green Bay Packers
* Michael Trigg – former ArenaBowl-winning player and head coach
* Charles Tuaau – former professional football player
* Darrell Tully – former NFL player; superintendent of schools at Spring Branch ISD in the Houston area
* Alan Veingrad – NFL football player
* Devondrick Walker – professional European basketball player
* Sam Walton – NFL football player
* Curtis Wester – former Canadian Football League player
* Dwight White – Hall of Fame NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl Champion
* Darrell Williams – former professional basketball player
* Antonio Wilson – former professional football player for the Minnesota Vikings and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League
* Wade Wilson – former NFL quarterback

### Military personnel

* Chris Adams – United States Air Force officer and author

### Other

* Ali Abdullah Al-Daffa – mathematician and scientist
* T. Don Hutto – co-founder of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)