34 Notable alumni of Andrews University
Updated: June 14, 2026 EliteDegrees
Andrews University is ranked #1,511 in the world and #367 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 34 notable alumni from Andrews University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Andrews University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Beryl Esembe
1972-. (aged 54)
philanthropist
anthropologist
sociologist
Beryl-Adolphs Nalowa Esembe is a Cameroonian sociologist and anthropologist. She was trained in Cyprus by the present anti-Human trafficking coordinator for the European Commission. She is the author of the book Because I am a Foreigner - Migrant Women In Cyprus Speak Out, the first book published about human trafficking in the Republic of Cyprus. She is a Seventh-day Adventist...
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2. Ella Simmons
educator
official
Ella Simmons is a Seventh-day Adventist administrator and educator. As the only woman to be a vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, she is the highest ranking female official in the history of the denomination, with the exception of three woman treasurers in the pioneer era.
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3. David Hegarty
1945-. (aged 81)
keyboardist
organist
composer
David Howard Hegarty is an American organist and composer. He has served as organist at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco since 1978.
4. John Leonora
1928-2006 (aged 78)
John Leonora was an endocrinologist and faculty member at Loma Linda University. His research focused on the role of hypothalamic "factors" for indirectly controlling the metabolism of such avascular tissues as dental enamel, dentin, and the Islands of Langerhans (pancreas).
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5. Lynne Waihee
1946-. (aged 80)
politician
Lynne Kobashigawa Waihee was First Lady of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994. Born in Hawaii and married to the first Native Hawaiian governor of the state, she was raised in Kalihi. Educated at Andrews University, her first vocation was teaching. She used her position as first lady to raise the standard of children's literacy in Hawaii. She helped found a...
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6. Jon Dybdahl
1942-2023 (aged 81)
writer
Jon Lee Dybdahl was a professor of theology and a college administrator who served as president of Walla Walla University from 2002 until 2006.
7. Ole A. Olsen
1845-1915 (aged 70)
Seventh-day Adventist minister
Ole Andres Olsen was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator. who served as the General Conference president of the Seventh-day Adventist church organization globally from 1888 to 1897.
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8. Leslie Pollard
1956-. (aged 70)
religious figure
Leslie N. Pollard is a Seventh-day Adventist minister, author, and administrator. He served as the president of Oakwood University from 2011 to 2025.
9. Shirley Neil Pettis
1924-2016 (aged 92)
journalist
politician
Shirley Neil Pettis was an American journalist and politician who served two terms as a U.S. representative from California between 1975 and 1979. She was first elected to fill the seat after her husband, Jerry Pettis, died in office.
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10. Delbert Baker
1953-. (aged 73)
Seventh-day Adventist minister
writer
Delbert W. Baker is a Seventh-day Adventist minister, author, educator, and administrator. Formerly the tenth president of Oakwood University and a vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (2010–2015), Baker is currently the vice chancellor of the Adventist University of Africa.
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11. Karl Rhoads
1963-. (aged 63)
lawyer
politician
Karl Allen Rhoads is an American politician, lawyer and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since 2016 representing District 13. Rhoads previously served consecutively from 2012 to 2016 representing District 29 in the Hawaii House of Representatives and from November 2006 to 2012 in the District 28 seat.
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12. John C. Sheehan
1915-1992 (aged 77)
university teacher
chemist
John Clark Sheehan was an American organic chemist whose work on synthetic penicillin led to tailor-made forms of the drug. After nine years of hard work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), he became the first to discover a practical method for synthesizing penicillin V. While achieving total synthesis, Sheehan also produced an intermediate compound, 6-aminopenicillanic acid, which turned...
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13. A. G. Daniells
1858-1935 (aged 77)
Seventh-day Adventist minister
Arthur Grosvenor Daniells was an American Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator, most notably the longest serving president of the General Conference. He began to work for the church in Texas in 1878 with Robert M. Kilgore and also served as secretary to James and Ellen White for one year, and later worked as an evangelist. In 1886, he was called...
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14. Neal C. Wilson
1920-2010 (aged 90)
Seventh-day Adventist minister
Neal Clayton Wilson served as the president of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1979 to 1990. Wilson was head of the North American Division when elected on January 3, 1979, to take the place of the ailing former General Conference president Robert Pierson, who had resigned for reasons of health.
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15. Robert S. Folkenberg
1941-2015 (aged 74)
pastor
Robert Stanley Folkenberg was an American pastor who served as General Conference president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1990 through to his resignation in 1999. His tenure was marked by an unprecedented growth in church membership and his “Global Mission initiative” in the Adventist Church. He was forced to resign for fraud and misappropriation of funds. During his tenure...
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16. Ellet J. Waggoner
1855-1916 (aged 61)
physician
editing staff
preacher
theologian
Ellet Joseph "E.J." Waggoner was a Seventh-day Adventist particularly known for his impact on the theology of the church, along with friend and associate Alonzo T. Jones at the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference Session. At the meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Ellet J. Waggoner along with Alonzo T. Jones presented a message on justification supported by Ellen...
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17. George McCready Price
1870-1963 (aged 93)
lecturer
geologist
writer
George McCready Price was a Canadian creationist. He produced several anti-evolution and creationist works, particularly on the subject of flood geology. His views did not become common among creationists until after his death, particularly with the modern creation science movement starting in the 1960s.
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18. Stewart W. Bainum, Jr
1946-. (aged 80)
businessperson
politician
Stewart W. Bainum Jr. is an American businessman and politician. Bainum is chairman of Choice Hotels International, Inc. Since the 1980s, Bainum has led businesses including four current or former publicly listed companies: Choice Hotels; HCR Manor Care, which operates nursing and assisted living facilities; Vitalink Pharmacy Services; and Sunburst Hospitality.
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19. Jan Paulsen
1935-. (aged 91)
Seventh-day Adventist minister
theologian
Dr. Jan Paulsen is a Seventh-day Adventist Church leader. Paulsen has served in Africa, Europe and America. He was president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists from March 1999 to June 2010.
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20. Melba Phillips
1907-2004 (aged 97)
writer
physicist
university teacher
nuclear physicist
Melba Newell Phillips was an American physicist and a pioneer science educator. One of the first doctoral students of J. Robert Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley, Phillips completed her PhD in 1933, a time when few women could pursue careers in science. In 1935, Oppenheimer and Phillips published their description of the Oppenheimer–Phillips process, an early contribution to...
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21. Gary Hamel
1954-. (aged 72)
businessperson
economist
Gary P. Hamel is an American management consultant. He is a founder of Strategos, an international management consulting firm based in Chicago.
22. John D. Waihee III
1946-. (aged 80)
lawyer
lobbyist
politician
John David Waiheʻe III is an American politician who served as the fourth governor of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994. He was the first American of Native Hawaiian descent to be elected to the office from any state of the United States. After his tenure in the governor's office, Waiheʻe became a nationally prominent attorney and lobbyist.
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23. Surangel Whipps Jr
1968-. (aged 58)
politician
Surangel Samuel Whipps Jr. is a Palauan businessman and politician who has served as the president of Palau since 2021. He served as senator from 2008 to 2016. He is from the state of Ngatpang. Whipps assumed office as the President of Palau on 21 January 2021, after winning the 2020 Palauan presidential election. He won reelection in 2024.
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24. Wintley Phipps
1955-. (aged 71)
singer
Wintley Augustus Phipps, Sr. is a Trinidadian-American singer, songwriter, record producer, minister, and founder of the U.S. Dream Academy, Songs of Freedom Publishing Company, and Coral Records Recording Company. He features a booming bass-baritone voice, usually singing inspirational gospel music. He is an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister.
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25. Ted N. C. Tele Miguel Wilson
1950-. (aged 76)
theologian
pastor
Seventh-day Adventist minister
Theodore Norman Clair Wilson (born May 10, 1950), an ordained Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) minister, was the President of the General Conference (GC), the worldwide governing organization of the SDA Church, (2010–2025). On July 4, 2025, he was succeeded by Erton Köhler.
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26. Aung La Nsang
1985-. (aged 41)
mixed martial arts fighter
Aung La Maung Nsang is a Burmese and American professional mixed martial artist. He competed in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of ONE Championship, where he is a former ONE Middleweight and ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion, and was the second two-division champion in ONE history, having held both belts simultaneously.
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27. Patrick Allen
1951-. (aged 75)
politician
theologian
Sir Patrick Linton Allen ON GCMG CD KStJ is a Jamaican statesman and former Seventh-day Adventist pastor, who has served as the sixth and current governor-general of Jamaica since 26 February 2009.
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28. Clifton Davis
1945-. (aged 81)
comedian
television actor
Christian minister
songwriter
stage actor
Clifton Duncan Davis is an American actor, singer, songwriter, minister, and author.
29. Barry Black
1948-. (aged 78)
chaplain
military officer
Seventh-day Adventist minister
Barry Clayton Black is the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. He began serving as Senate chaplain on June 27, 2003, becoming the first African American and first Seventh-day Adventist to hold the office.
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30. Mathew D. Staver
1956-. (aged 70)
activist
lawyer
pastor
Mathew D. "Mat" Staver is an American lawyer and former pastor of several Seventh-day Adventist churches who became a Southern Baptist. He is a former dean of Liberty University's law school. In 1989, he founded the nonprofit organization Liberty Counsel, where he serves as chairman. ProPublica called him "a leading Christian legal theorist."
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31. Michael D. West
1953-. (aged 73)
biologist
Michael D. West is an American biogerontologist, and a pioneer in stem cells, cellular aging and telomerase. He is the founder and CEO of AgeX Therapeutics, a startup focused on the field of experimental gerontology.
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32. Karen Osborn
1974-. (aged 52)
marine biologist
annelidologist
scientific collector
curator
Karen Joyce Osborn is a marine scientist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Invertebrate Zoology department. She is known for her work in marine biology specializing in mid-water invertebrates.
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33. Lloyd J. Richardson
1950-. (aged 76)
politician
Lloyd Josiah Richardson is a Sint Maarten politician of the United People's Party (UPP). He has been a member of Parliament since 10 October 2010, serving as President of Parliament from 1 December 2014 to 12 October 2015.
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34. Christopher Mwashinga
1965-. (aged 61)
Christian minister
poet
writer
Christopher R. Mwashinga, Jr is a Tanzanian author and poet from Mbeya, Tanzania who lives in the United States. He has published books of Christian poetry, theology, mission, and religious history. His poetry has been published in reputable anthologies in the United States, and other countries including Kenya, Singapore, and Tanzania. He writes in English and Kiswahili.
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