# List of West Virginia University alumni

This list of West Virginia University alumni includes notable people from published sources that previously attended West Virginia University.

## Arts and entertainment

* Michael Ammar – world-renowned magician; WVU Distinguished Alumni Award winner 2003
* Emily Calandrelli – science communicator, host and producer for Netflix's Emily's Wonder Lab and children's STEM science programming block Xploration Station
* Paul Dooley – actor, writer, comedian
* Conchata Ferrell – actress; known for playing Berta the housekeeper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men
* Antoine Fuqua – director of Training Day, Shooter, Replacement Killers; attended, but did not graduate
* Steve Harvey – Emmy-winning host of Family Feud; attended, but did not graduate
* Cheryl Hines – actress, Curb Your Enthusiasm; attended but did not graduate
* Mike Hodge (B.A. in journalism, minor in theater) – actor and actors' labor union executive; former President of SAG-AFTRA New York local
* Taylor Kinney – actor; portrays Lt. Kelly Severide in NBC's drama Chicago Fire; stars in The Other Woman
* Don Knotts – television and movie actor
* Richard Kuranda – theatrical producer and artistic director Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Signature Theatre Company, Raue Center for the Arts
* Billy Mays – television advertiser featured on Discovery Channel's PitchMen and known for promoting several as seen on TV products; attended but did not graduate; died in 2009
* Kathleen Noone – portrays Edna Wallace on the NBC soap opera Passions; known to have attended
* Ben Reed – actor; played quarterback for the West Virginia University football team
* John A. Russo – screenwriter and film director; co-wrote Night of the Living Dead
* Chris Sarandon – television and movie actor, voice of Jack Skellington
* David Selby – actor
* Robert Ellis Silberstein – manager of Diana Ross, Billy Preston, Meat Loaf
* Curt Wootton - star of YouTube series Pittsburgh Dad

## Athletics

* Joe Alexander – American-Israeli current professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv
* Michael Baker – football player
* Terry Bowden – Yahoo sports analyst
* Tommy Bowden – former head football coach for Clemson University and Tulane University
* Wesley Brooks – basketbal coach, head coach of the Utah State Aggies women's basketball team
* John Browning – former NFL defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs
* Marc Bulger – former NFL quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, and Baltimore Ravens
* Da'Sean Butler (born 1987) – basketball player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Premier League
* Niccolò Campriani – Olympic gold- and silver medal-winning sport shooter; won gold in the men's 50 metre rifle three positions and silver in the men's 10 metre air rifle at the 2012 Summer Olympics
* Jevon Carter – current NBA player for the Chicago Bulls
* Mike Compton – two-time Super Bowl Champion and former NFL guard for the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars
* Devin Ebanks – professional basketball player
* James "Clayster" Eubanks – professional Call of Duty player, two-time Call of Duty Championship winner
* D'or Fischer (born 1981) – American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli National League
* Mike Gansey – former basketball player in the NBA Development League; current general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers
* Jedd Gyorko – former second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals
* Major Harris – quarterback for West Virginia University in their 1988 undefeated season
* Sue Haywood – professional mountain bike racer
* Chris Henry – former NFL wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals
* Johannes "Joe" Herber – former professional and German international basketball player
* Jeff Hostetler – Super Bowl Champion and former NFL quarterback for the Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, and New York Giants; starting quarterback in Super Bowl XXV
* Chuck Howley – former NFL linebacker for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, and Super Bowl V MVP
* Sam Huff – former NFL linebacker; inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982
* Bob Huggins – former head coach of the West Virginia University men's basketball team and former West Virginia University basketball player
* Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley – former NBA basketball player for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers; first pick in the 1957 NBA draft
* Hal Hunter – football coach
* Bruce Irvin – Super Bowl Champion and current NFL linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks
* James Jett – Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter and former NFL wide receiver for Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
* Adam "Pacman" Jones – NFL cornerback, currently a free agent
* Greg Jones – three-time NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion, 2005 Most Outstanding Wrestler award winner, former associate head coach for the West Virginia University wrestling team, current Blackzilians wrestling coach
* Brian Jozwiak – former NFL offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs
* Ken Kendrick – owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball
* Steve Kline – former Major League Baseball pitcher
* Ellis Lankster – current NFL cornerback for the New York Jets
* Ashley Lawrence – soccer player for the Canada national team
* Oliver Luck – former NFL quarterback, athletic director of West Virginia University, first Commissioner of the XFL, president/general manager of the Houston Dynamo, father of Andrew Luck
* Billy Joe Mantooth – former NFL linebacker for the Houston Oilers
* Pat McAfee – former NFL punter for the Indianapolis Colts
* Casey Mitchell (born 1988) – basketball player for Elitzur Ashkelon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Dan Mozes – 2006 Rimington Trophy winner
* Adrian Murrell – former running back for New York Jets
* Solomon Page – former NFL offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers
* Lee Patton – legendary basketball coach, WVU Sports Hall of Fame
* Tarik Phillip (born 1993) – British-American basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League
* Kevin Pittsnogle – former basketball player in the NBA Development League
* Adrian Pledger (born 1976) – basketball player
* Jerry Porter – former NFL wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars
* Wil Robinson – former ABA basketball player; All-American at West Virginia
* Rich Rodriguez – former head football coach of the University of Michigan; current head football coach of the University of Arizona
* Todd Sauerbrun – former All-Pro NFL punter (five different teams)
* Owen Schmitt – former NFL fullback for the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, and Oakland Raiders
* Floyd B. "Ben" Schwartzwalder – former head coach of the 1959 National Championship Syracuse University football team
* Heath Slater – professional wrestler, former wrestler at WVU
* Steve Slaton – former NFL running back for the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins; current CFL running back for the Toronto Argonauts
* Geno Smith – current NFL quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks
* Dave Stephenson – former NFL guard for the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers
* Darryl Talley – West Virginia University all-time team member and former NFL Linebacker for the Buffalo Bills
* Rod Thorn – former NBA and ABA basketball player and current President of Basketball Operation for the NBA
* John Thornton – former NFL defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals
* Virginia Thrasher – current WVU rifle team member and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in air rifle
* Yutaro Tsukada – professional soccer player
* Mike Vanderjagt – former NFL placekicker for the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys
* Jerry West – former NBA basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers and Hall of Famer; considered one of the greatest NBA and college basketball players of all time; is the image on the logo for the NBA
* Pat White – former NFL quarterback for the Miami Dolphins
* Andrew Wright – current defender/midfielder for Morecambe F.C.
* John Writer – Olympic gold and silver medal-winning sports shooter
* Amos Zereoué – former NFL running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots

## Authors

* Maggie Anderson – poet
* Allen Appel – writer
* Matt Carson – novelist
* Stephen Coonts – New York Times bestselling author
* Paul Russell Cutright – historian and biologist
* Chip Ingram – Christian writer
* Chuck Kinder – novelist
* Ann Pancake – author
* Jayne Anne Phillips – Pulitzer Prize-winning author

## Business

* Heather Bresch – CEO of Mylan, Inc.
* John Chambers – President and CEO of Cisco Systems
* Karen S. Evans – de facto CIO of the United States under President George W. Bush
* Maggie Hardy Magerko – President of 84 Lumber Company and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (attended for two years but did not graduate)
* Richard Wallen – CEO and general manager of Grant County Public Utility District

## Education

* Charles E. Bayless – president of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology
* Todd H. Bullard – former president of Potomac State College and Bethany College
* Margaret Buchanan Cole – mathematician, retired professor emeritus from WVU
* Joseph DiSarro (Ph.D.) – professor and chair in the Department of Political Science at Washington & Jefferson College
* Wanda Franz (Ph.D.) – professor and anti-abortion activist
* Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa'i – Nigeria's Minister of Education
* Steven E. Shreve – university professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University
* Patrick Vaughan – historian and professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
* Charles M. Vest – president emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

## Journalists

* Frank Kearns (died 1986) – foreign correspondent and broadcast journalist with CBS News 1953–1971; WVU Professor of Journalism 1971–1983
* Frank Lovece
* Asra Nomani
* Michael Tomasky – editor in chief of Democracy, editor of The New Republic
* Ken Ward Jr. – reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail; 2018 MacArthur Fellow

## Military

* Ret. Gen. Earl E. Anderson – Marine Corps general
* Corporal Thomas W. Bennett – US Army conscientious objector corporal who served as a combat medic
* Ret. Gen. Bantz J. Craddock – United States Army, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe
* Brig. Gen. Frank Kendall Everest, Jr – test pilot and pioneer of rocket aircraft
* Gen. Robert H. Foglesong – retired commander, US Air Force in Europe; former president of Mississippi State University
* COL Ronald J. Lattanzi - retired, U.S. Army Special Forces

## Music

* Velvet Brown – tuba soloist, music educator
* Jay Chattaway – Star Trek music score writer
* Little Jimmy Dickens – country music singer
* Charles Wesley Godwin – new-age folk/country singer/songwriter
* Fuzzy Knight – writer of the WVU Fight Song and country-western actor
* Scott Krippayne – singer/songwriter
* Kathy Mattea – country music singer
* James Valenti – tenor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York

## Politics

* Victor A. Arredondo – former Minister of Education at the State of Veracruz, Mexico, 2004–2010
* Carl George Bachmann – United States Congressman, Republican Minority Whip 1931–1933
* Clark S. Barnes – West Virginia Senate, District 15, 2004–present
* William Wallace Barron – 26th governor of West Virginia
* Irene Berger – United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia
* Frank L. Bowman – politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives
* Eric Brooks – West Virginia House of Delegates
* Virginia Mae Brown – first woman to head the Interstate Commerce Commission
* Becky Cain – past president of the League of Women Voters
* Geno Chiarelli – West Virginia state delegate
* William G. Conley – 18th governor of West Virginia
* William Harrison Courtney – special assistant to President Clinton
* Joseph M. Devine – governor of North Dakota 1898–1899
* David Ginsburg (1912–2010) – presidential adviser and executive director of the Kerner Commission
* William E. Glasscock – 13th governor of West Virginia
* Howard Mason Gore – 17th governor of West Virginia
* Kathleen M. Hawk – director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
* Robert Lynn Hogg – represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, 1930–1933
* Brad Hoylman – sitting New York State Senator representing the 27th District which includes Midtown, Times Square, and Greenwich Village of lower Manhattan
* Nancy Jacobs – Maryland State Senator (1973)
* Sen. Harley M. Kilgore – chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on War Mobilization during World War II
* Tim Mahoney – United States Congressman from Florida
* Joe Manchin – 34th governor of West Virginia; United States Senator from West Virginia
* William C. Marland – 24th governor of West Virginia
* Edward F. McClain – member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
* Darrell McGraw – former West Virginia Attorney General, former Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court
* Andy McKenzie, former West Virginia Senate and mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia
* Carlos Eduardo Mendoza – United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
* M. Blane Michael – Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
* Alan Mollohan – United States Congressman
* Arch A. Moore, Jr. – 28th and 30th governor of West Virginia
* Ephraim F. Morgan – 16th governor of West Virginia
* Matthew M. Neely – 22nd governor of West Virginia
* Asra Nomani – former Wall Street Journal reporter, author and Islamic reform and feminism activist
* Corey Lee Palumbo – West Virginia Senate, District 17, 2009 – present and West Virginia House of Representatives 2003–2009
* Mike Pantelides – mayor of Annapolis, Maryland
* Tom Pridemore – West Virginia House of Delegates and football player
* Jeff Pyle – Pennsylvania State Representative
* Stuart F. Reed – politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives
* Clay Riley – West Virginia state delegate
* Nelson Stamler – New Jersey state senator, assemblyman, judge, and prosecutor
* Virginia Starcher – member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, 1986–1990
* Paul S. Stull – member of the Maryland House of Delegates
* William S. Thompson – United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia
* John G. Trueschler – former member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1979)
* Cecil H. Underwood – youngest (25th) and oldest (32nd) governor of West Virginia
* Christopher C. Wilkes – Judge, West Virginia Circuit Court

## Royalty

* Princess Sarah Culberson – Mende princess and philanthropist

## Science and technology

* Ann Bartuska – ecologist and biologist, Senior advisor at Resources for the Future and former Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics at United States Department of Agriculture
* James M. Bobbitt – chemist and professor at the University of Connecticut
* Emily Calandrelli – science communicator; host of science programs and author of science books for children
* Dianne Dorland – engineer and first female president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
* Frances Harshbarger (1902–1987) – mathematician
* Steven C. Hayes – psychologist
* Katherine Johnson – mathematician, NASA computer scientist, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
* Robert Kerns – psychologist
* Jon McBride – NASA astronaut
* Kim Weaver – astrophysicist

## Other notable alumni

* Cynthia Germanotta – philanthropist, co-founder of Born This Way; Lady Gaga's mother
* Patsy Ramsey – mother of JonBenet Ramsey; Miss West Virginia 1977