# List of Spelman College people

The list of Spelman College people includes notable alumnae and faculty of Spelman College.
| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Stacey Abrams | 1995 | Politician, House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly and State Representative for the 89th House District; first African-American woman in the U.S. to win a major party's nomination for governor |
| Adrienne Adams | 1982 | First African-American speaker of the New York City Council |
| Erika Anderson | 2012 | Engineer, noted advocate for women of color in STEM |
| Tina McElroy Ansa | 1971 | Author, Baby of the Family, Ugly Ways, The Hand I Fan With, and You Know Better |
| Blanche Armwood | 1906 | Educator, activist; first African-American woman in the state of Florida to graduate from an accredited law school; Armwood High School in Tampa, FL is named in her honor |
| AverySunshine | 1998 | Singer and pianist |
| Brenda S. Banks | 1971 | Archivist, Deputy Director of the Georgia Department of Archives and History and founder of Banks Archives Consultants |
| Mary Barksdale | 1942 | Past president, Jack and Jill |
| Loretta Copeland Biggs | 1976 | Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina |
| Janet Bragg | 1931 | Aviation pioneer; first African-American woman to obtain a commercial pilot license |
| Rosalind G. Brewer | 1984 | Chief Executive Officer, Walgreens; Chief Operating Officer, Starbucks; Executive Vice President, Walmart Stores, Inc. and President Walmart Stores South, USA; Board of Directors, Lockheed Martin |
| Ada E. Brown | 1996 | First African-American woman federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas |
| Linda Goode Bryant | 1981 | Documentary filmmaker, Flag Wars; Peabody Award winner and 2004 Guggenheim Fellow |
| Selena Sloan Butler | 1888 | Founder of first black parent-teacher organization, the National Congress for Colored Parents & Teachers; co-founder of the National Parent-Teacher Association |
| Sheila L. Chamberlain | 1981 | Pilot, lawyer |
| Pearl Cleage | 1971 | Novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and journalist |
| Lisa Cook | 1986 | First African-American woman to be confirmed as a Federal Reserve governor |
| Taylor Darling | 2004 | Elected official from the 18th district of the New York State Assembly |
| Cassi Davis | 1988 | Actress, House of Payne |
| Ethel McGhee Davis | 1919 | Student Adviser and Dean of Women at Spelman College |
| Ruth A. Davis | 1966 | 24th Director General of the United States Foreign Service; director, Foreign Service Institute and two-time recipient of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service |
| Phire Dawson | 2008 | "Barker's Beauty" on The Price Is Right |
| Mattiwilda Dobbs | 1937 | Opera singer; served on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Opera and the National Endowment for the Arts |
| Marian Wright Edelman | 1960 | Founder of the Children's Defense Fund; MacArthur Fellow; Heinz Award; Presidential Medal of Freedom |
| Christine King Farris | 1948 | Public speaker and educator who taught at Spelman College, eldest and last living sibling of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. |
| Eleanor Ison Franklin | 1948 | Medical physiologist and endocrinologist |
| Tia Fuller | 1998 | Saxophonist, composer, and educator |
| Nora A. Gordon | 1888 | Began the tradition of Spelman missionary work to Africa |
| Beverly Guy-Sheftall | 1966 | Author, feminist scholar, founder of Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman College |
| Evelynn M. Hammonds | 1976 | Dean of Harvard College, Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University |
| Marcelite J. Harris | 1964 | First African-American woman to obtain the rank of General in the United States Air Force |
| Paula Hicks-Hudson | 1973 | First African-American female mayor of Toledo, Ohio |
| Pamela Gunter-Smith | 1973 | First African-American president of York College of Pennsylvania |
| Varnette Honeywood | 1972 | Creator of the Little Bill character |
| Clara Ann Howard | 1887 | Baptist missionary in Africa, longtime Spelman staff |
| Alexine Clement Jackson | 1956 | Chair, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and former National President of the YWCA |
| Adrienne-Joi Johnson | 1988 | Actress, House Party, Baby Boy |
| Bernette Joshua Johnson | 1964 | First African-American and second female Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Clara Stanton Jones | 1934 | First African-American president of the American Library Association |
| Tayari Jones | 1991 | Award-winning author of An American Marriage and English professor at Emory University |
| Bettina Judd | 2005 | Artist and poet |
| Annie Brown Kennedy | 1945 | Politician and lawyer; first Black woman to serve in the North Carolina House of Representatives |
| Alberta Williams King | (high school) | Mother of Martin Luther King Jr. |
| Bernice King | 1986 | President, SCLC, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. |
| Audrey F. Manley | 1955 | President Emerita of Spelman College, former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, former Acting Surgeon General of the United States |
| Marian Mereba | 2011 | Singer, songwriter, and producer |
| Harriet Mitchell Murphy | 1949 | First African-American female judge in Texas |
| Tanya Walton Pratt | 1981 | Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana |
| Deborah Prothrow-Stith | 1975 | First female Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor at Harvard School of Public Health |
| Keshia Knight Pulliam | 2001 | Actress The Cosby Show, House of Payne |
| Reisha Raney | | CEO of Encyde Corporation and first black women to serve as a Maryland state officer in the Daughters of the American Revolution |
| Tanika Ray | 1994 | Actress and television personality |
| Bernice Johnson Reagon | 1970 | Founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock; MacArthur Fellow; Professor Emeritus American University Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution National Museum American History; National Humanities Medal; Heinz Award |
| LaTanya Richardson | 1971 | Actress (The Fighting Temptations, Losing Isaiah, Malcolm X) and wife of actor Samuel L. Jackson |
| Ruby Robinson | 1963 | Civil rights activist, Executive Secretary of SNCC |
| Shaun Robinson | 1984 | Co-anchor, Access Hollywood; former host, TV One Access |
| Esther Rolle | attended | Actress, Good Times |
| Dovey Johnson Roundtree | 1938 | Trial attorney, military veteran, AMEC minister, and civil rights pioneer; landmark case: Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company |
| Eva Rutland | 1937 | Author, When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story; winner of the 2000 Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award, and author of more than 20 romance novels |
| Kiron Skinner | 1981 | College professor and former Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State |
| Brenda V. Smith | 1980 | Law professor, American University; appointed by Nancy Pelosi to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission |
| Daphne L. Smith | 1980 | First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT |
| Maxine Smith | 1949 | Academic, civil rights activist, and school board official |
| Hemlocke Springs | 2021 | Singer, songwriter, and producer |
| Sharmell Sullivan | 1990 | Miss Black America 1991, "TNA Knockout", and wife of professional wrestler Booker T |
| Sue Bailey Thurman | 1920 | Founder and first chairperson, National Council of Negro Women's National Library |
| Alice Walker | attended | Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, The Color Purple |
| Talitha Washington | 1996 | African-American mathematician and STEM activist |
| Rolonda Watts | 1980 | Journalist, actor, writer, former talk show host |
| Ella Gaines Yates | 1949 | First African-American director of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System |

## Notable faculty

* Alma Jean Billingslea (born 1946), civil rights activist and author
* Sylvia Bozeman (born 1947), mathematician and educator
* Ayoka Chenzira (born 1953), director, producer, writer, and animator
* Pearl Cleage (born 1948), author
* Jelani Cobb (born 1969), writer, author, educator
* Julie Dash (born 1952), filmmaker
* Etta Zuber Falconer (1933–2002), educator and mathematician
* Christine King Farris (born 1927), author, sister of Martin Luther King Jr.
* Shirley Franklin (born 1945), former Atlanta mayor
* Cornelia Gillyard (born 1941), chair of the chemistry department
* Beverly Guy-Sheftall (born 1946), black feminist scholar
* Marionette Holmes, economist
* Joyce Johnson (born Joyce Finch), concert pianist and college organist
* Sophia B. Jones (1857–1932), first African-American faculty member, organized nursing program
* Shirley McBay (born 1935), founder of the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network
* LaVon Mercer (born 1959), American-Israeli basketball player
* Opal J. Moore (born 1953), educator and poet
* Glenda Price, former president of Marygrove College
* Angelino Viceisza, economist
* Howard Zinn (1922–2010), historian