List of West Virginia University alumni

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

Arts and entertainment

Don Knotts, five-time Emmy Award-winning American actor best known for his role as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show

• Emily Calandrelli – host and producer for 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
• Cheryl Hines – actress, Curb Your Enthusiasm; attended but did not graduate
• Taylor Kinney – actor; portrays Lt. Kelly Severide in NBC's drama Chicago Fire; stars in The Other Woman
• Don Knotts – television and movie actor
• 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^[1]
• John A. Russo – screenwriter and film director; co-wrote Night of the Living Dead^[2]
• Chris Sarandon – television and movie actor, voice of Jack Skellington
• David Selby – actor
• Curt Wootton – actor; known for being the co-creator and star of Pittsburgh Dad, a series of YouTube videos; also appeared in The Mercury Men on the Syfy network

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
• 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
• 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
• Mike Compton – two-time Super Bowl Champion and former NFL guard for the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars^[3]
• James "Clayster" Eubanks – professional Call of Duty player, two-time Call of Duty Championship winner
• D'or Fischer (born 1981) - American-Israeli basketball player
• Mike Gansey – former basketball player in the NBA Development League
• Jedd Gyorko – current second baseman for the San Diego Padres
• Major Harris – quarterback for West Virginia University in their 1988 undefeated season
• Sue Haywood – professional mountain bike racer
• Johannes "Joe" Herber – former professional and German international basketball player
• Chris Henry – former NFL wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals
• 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 – current 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; was the 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 – current NFL cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals
• 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,^[4] current Blackzilians wrestling coach^[5]
• 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^[6]
• Oliver Luck – former NFL quarterback, athletic director of West Virginia University, and president/general manager of the Houston Dynamo
• Billy Joe Mantooth – former NFL linebacker for the Houston Oilers
• Pat McAfee – current 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
• Kevin Pittsnogle – former basketball player in the NBA Development League
• 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- Current WWE Superstar and 4-time WWE Tag Team Champion. 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.
• 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
• 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 and is the image on the logo for the NBA
• Pat White – former NFL quarterback for the Miami Dolphins
• Bill Wiltrout – Alaskan Hall of Fame high school coach and educator
• Andrew Wright – current defender/midfielder for Morecambe F.C.
• John Writer – Olympic gold and silver medal-winning sports shooter^[7][8]
• Amos Zereoue – 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

Business

• Gregory Babe – US CEO of Bayer Corporation^[9]
• 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^[10]
• Maggie Hardy Magerko – President of 84 Lumber Company and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (attended for two years but did not graduate)^[11]

Education

• Todd H. Bullard – former president of Potomac State College and Bethany College
• Joseph DiSarro (Ph.D.), professor and chair in the Department of Political Science at Washington & Jefferson College^[12]
• Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa'i – Nigeria's Minister of Education
• Patrick Vaughan – historian and professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
• Charles M. Vest – President Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Journalists

• A.J. Clemente – former anchor for KFYR-TV
• Fred Griffith – longtime Cleveland, Ohio television host^[13]
• Frank Kearns – foreign correspondent and broadcast journalist with CBS News 1953–1971; WVU Professor of Journalism 1971–1983 (died 1986)
• Melanie Lofton – news anchor at WHSV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Harrisonburg, Virginia
• Frank Lovece
• Joedy McCreary – Associated Press sports writer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
• Asra Nomani
• Wayne Slater
• Matthew Tabeek – Assistant managing editor at CBS Sports Digital CBSSports.com
• Michael Tomasky

Military

Bantz J. Craddock, former US European Command (USEUCOM), NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and commanding officer of Allied Command Operations (ACO)

• Ret. Gen. Earl E. Anderson – Marine Corps General
• 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
• Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Allen Sinclair – Army officer in Afghanistan who pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and action unbecoming of an officer in 2014^[14]

Music

• Velvet Brown – tuba soloist, music educator
• Jay Chattaway – a Star Trek music score writer
• Fuzzy Knight – writer of the WVU Fight Song and country-western actor
• Kathy Mattea – country music singer
• James Valenti – tenor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York
• Zack Wilson – composer of electronic music

Politics

• Carl George Bachmann – US 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 C. Berger – federal judicial nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
• Frank L. Bowman – politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives
• Virginia Mae Brown – first woman to head the Interstate Commerce Commission
• Becky Cain – past president of the League of Women Voters
• William G. Conley – 18th Governor of West Virginia
• William Harrison Courtney – special assistant to President Clinton
• Joseph M. Devine – Governor of North Dakota from 1898 to 1899^[15]
• David Ginsburg (1912–2010) – presidential adviser and executive director of the Kerner Commission^[16]
• 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 – US 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
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• John G. Trueschler – former member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1979)
• Cecil H. Underwood – youngest (25th) and oldest (32nd) Governor of West Virginia

Science

• Katherine Johnson – mathematician and NASA computer scientist
• Jon McBride – astronaut
• Kim Weaver – astrophysicist

Other notable alumni

• Kevin Knepp – 2008 1st Team All American NCAA Badminton Award winner
• James Lent – Senior executive Director of Construction for exquisite homes and private estates.
• Taylor Moreland – 2008 1st Team All American NCAA Badminton Award winner
• Patrick "Seton" O'Connor – Executive Producer of The Dan Patrick Show (attended but did not graduate)^[17][18]
• Melanne Pennington – 1984 Miss West Virginia
• Patsy Ramsey – mother of Jon Benet Ramsey and Miss West Virginia in 1977
• Lawrence Tisdall – NYPD police officer and PBA delegate

References

1. NBC Universal, Inc. "NBC.com – Passions – About". NBC Universal, Inc. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
2. West Virginia University. "John Russo | WVU Magazine". West Virginia University. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
3. "Michael Eugene Compton". databaseBasketball.com. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
4. "Greg Jones Wrestling". WVU Athletics. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
5. "Greg Jones Blackzilian Bio".
6. "Ellis Lankster". NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
7. "WVU Sports Hall of Fame". wvusports.com.
8. "Olympic Games Medals (Results)". olympic.org.
9. Del Jones (November 17, 2008). "Bayer exec hopeful that Obama won't be a pain for business". USA Today. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
10. Vijayan, Jaikumar (January 10, 2008). "White House cuts paper out of federal budget". Computerworld. IDG. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
11. Vijayan, Jaikumar (April 24, 1997). "White House cuts paper out of federal budget". Joe Hardy Passed Over Sons For Successor at 84 Lumber. wsj.com. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
12. "DiSarro, Joseph". Political Science Department, Washington & Jefferson College. Archived from the original on 2012-01-29. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
13. "Fred Griffith". Cleveland Seniors. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
14. "Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair pleads guilty to charges in sex case, March 6, 2014". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
15. "Joseph M. Devine". National Governors Association. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
16. Grimes, William. "David Ginsburg, Longtime Washington Insider, Dies at 98", The New York Times, May 25, 2010. Accessed June 1, 2010.
17. "The Dan Patrick Show". Retrieved 19 August 2011.
18. Perloff, Andrew. "DanPatrick.com". Retrieved 19 August 2011.