Notable Alumni
| Name | Class year | Notability | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lil Hardin Armstrong | 1915 | jazz pianist/composer, second wife of Louis Armstrong | |
| Constance Baker Motley | 1941-1942 | first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate | |
| Marion Barry | 1960 | former mayor of Washington, D.C. | |
| Mary Frances Berry | former Chair, United States Commission on Civil Rights; former Chancellor University of Colorado at Boulder | ||
| John Betsch | 1967 | Jazz percusionist | |
| Joyce Bolden | first African-American woman to serve on the Commission for Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music | ||
| Otis Boykin | 1942 | Inventor, control device for the heart pacemaker | |
| St. Elmo Brady | first African American to earn a doctorate in Chemistry | ||
| Cora Brown | first African-American woman elected to a state senate | ||
| Henry Alvin Cameron | 1896 | Educator, decorated World War I veteran | |
| J.O. Patterson, Jr. | 1958 | First African American to occupy the office of Mayor of Memphis. Tennessee State Representative, State Senator, Memphis Councilman, Jurisdictional Bishop in the Church of God in Christ | |
| Elizabeth Hortense (Golden) Canady | past national president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority | ||
| Alfred O. Coffin | first African American to earn a doctorate in zoology | ||
| Johnnetta B. Cole | anthropologist, former President of Spelman College and Bennett College | ||
| William L. Dawson (politician) | 1909 | U.S. Congressman (1943-1970) | |
| Arthur Cunningham | 1951 | Musical Composer, studied at Juilliard and Columbia University | |
| Charles Diggs | United States House of Representatives Michigan (1955-1980) | ||
| Mahala Ashley Dickerson | 1935 | first black female attorney in the state of Alabama and first black president of the National Association of Women Lawyers | |
| W. E. B. Du Bois | 1888 | sociologist, scholar, first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard | |
| Venida Evans | 1969 | Actress, best known for Ikea commercials | |
| Etta Zuber Falconer | 1953 | first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics; former Chair, mathematics department at Spelman College | |
| John Hope Franklin | 1935 | historian, professor, scholar, author of landmark text From Slavery to Freedom | |
| Victor O. Frazer | United States House of Representatives (1995-1997) | ||
| Alonzo Fulgham | former acting chief and operating officer of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | ||
| Nikki Giovanni | 1967 | poet, author, professor, scholar | |
| Louis George Gregory | Hand of the Cause in the Bahá'í Faith | ||
| Alcee Hastings | U.S. Congressman and former U.S. district court judge | ||
| Roland Hayes | concert singer | ||
| Perry Wilbon Howard | Assistant U.S. Attorney General under President Herbert Hoover | ||
| Elmer Imes | 1903 | Renowned Physicist and Second African-American to earn a Ph.D in Physics | |
| Esther Cooper Jackson | 1940 | Founding editor of Freedomways Journal | |
| Leonard Jackson (actor) | 1952 | Actor, Five on the Black Hand Side; The Color Purple | |
| Robert James | former NFL cornerback | ||
| Judith Jamison | Pioneering Dancer and Choreographer; former artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | ||
| Ted Jarrett | R&B recording artist and producer | ||
| Dr. Charles Jeter | 1971 | father of Derek Jeter | |
| Ben Jobe | 1956 | Legendary basketball coach, Southern University | |
| Lewis Wade Jones | 1931 | Sociologist; Julius Rosenwald Foundation Fellow at Columbia University | |
| Ella Mae Johnson | 1921 | at age 105 years old, Ella Mae Johnson traveled to Washington, DC to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama | |
| Matthew Knowles | 1973 | Father and manager of Beyoncé Knowles | |
| Nella Larsen | 1908 | Novelist, Harlem Renaissance era | |
| Julius Lester | 1960 | Author of children's books and former professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst | |
| David Levering Lewis | Two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner | ||
| John Lewis | Congressman, civil rights activist, former President of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) | ||
| Jimmie Lunceford | 1925 | famous bandleader in the swing era | |
| Aubrey Lyles | 1903 | Vaudville performer | |
| E.M. Lysonge | 1998 | Former SGA President. Currently serves as Vice President, Legal Affairs at Churchill Downs Incorporated | |
| Mandisa | 2001 | Grammy and Dove Award-nominated Christian contemporary singer/songwriter, ninth-place finalist in the fifth season (2006) of American Idol | |
| Patti J. Malone | 1880 | Fisk Jubilee Singer | |
| Louis E. Martin | 1933 | Godfather of Black Politics | |
| Wade H. McCree | 1941 | Second African-American United States Solicitor General; Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | |
| Samuel A. McElwee | 1883 | State Senator during the Reconstruction Era and the first African American elected three times to the Tennessee General Assembly | |
| Robert McFerrin | first African American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera and father of Bobby McFerrin | ||
| Leslie Meek | 1987 | Administrative Law Judge, wife of Congressman Kendrick Meek | |
| Ronald E. Mickens | Physicist, winner of the Edward Bouchet Award | ||
| Theo Mitchell | 1960 | Senator, South Carolina General Assembly | |
| Undine Smith Moore | first Fisk graduate to receive a scholarship to Juilliard, Pulitzer Prize Nominee | ||
| Diane Nash | founding member of SNCC | ||
| Rachel B. Noel | Politician; first African-American to serve on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education | ||
| Hon. Hazel O'Leary | former U.S. Secretary of Energy | ||
| Helen Phillips | 1928 | first African-American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus | |
| Annette Lewis Phinazee | 1939 | first black woman to earn a doctorate in library sciences from Columbia University | |
| Anita Ponder | Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLC; Super Lawyers (2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009) | ||
| Alma Powell | wife of Gen. Colin Powell | ||
| Kay George Roberts | orchestral conductor | ||
| Bradley T Sheares | former CEO Reliant Pharmaceuticals; former President, H.H. Division, Merck & Co. | ||
| Martha Lynn Sherrod | Presiding District Court Judge, first African American to win an at-large election in North Alabama since Reconstruction | ||
| Lorenzo Dow Turner | 1910 | Linguist and Chair, African Studies at Roosevelt University | |
| A. Maceo Walker | 1930 | Businessman, Universal Life Insurance, Tri-State Bank | |
| Ron Walters | 1963 | Scholar of African-American politics, Chair, Afro-American Studies Brandeis University | |
| Margaret Murray Washington | 1890 | Lady Principal of Tuskegee Institute and third wife of Booker T. Washington | |
| Ida B. Wells | American civil rights activist and women's suffrage advocate | ||
| Charles H. Wesley | 1911 | President of Wilberforce University from 1942 to 1947, and President of Central State College from 1947-1965; third African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard | |
| Kym Whitley | actress, comedienne | ||
| Frederica Wilson | 1963 | U.S. Representative for Florida's 17th congressional district | |
| Tom Wilson (producer) | 1953 | Music producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa | |
| Yetta Young | 1991 | First to produce all African-American celebrity cast of the Obie-Award winning play The Vagina Monologues. Actresses have included Academy Award Winner Mo'Nique and Academy Award Nominee Taraji P. Henson | |
| Frank Yerby | 1938 | first African-American to publish a best-selling novel |
Read more about this topic: Fisk University
Famous quotes containing the word notable:
“a notable prince that was called King John;
And he ruled England with main and with might,
For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.”
—Unknown. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury (l. 2–4)