36 Notable alumni of Birmingham Southern College
Updated: June 15, 2026 EliteDegrees
Birmingham Southern College is 4193st in the world, 1st in North America, and 1091st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 36 notable alumni from Birmingham Southern College sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Birmingham Southern College won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Perry O. Hooper, Sr
1925-2016 (aged 91)
lawyer
judge
Perry Oliver Hooper Sr. was an American jurist who served as the 27th chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1995 to 2001. He was the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected to his state's highest court.
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2. Jakob Sigurðarson
1982-. (aged 44)
basketball player
Jakob Örn Sigurðarson is an Icelandic basketball coach and former player. He was named the Icelandic men's basketball player of the year in 2011. Jakob won the Icelandic championship in 2000 and 2009, and the Swedish championship in 2011.
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3. Royce W. Murray
1937-2022 (aged 85)
university teacher
chemist
Royce W. Murray was an American chemist and chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests were focused on electrochemistry, molecular designs, and sensors. He published over 440 peer-reviewed articles in analytical, physical, inorganic, and materials chemistry, and trained 72 Ph.D. students, 16 master’s students, and 58 postdoctoral fellows, 45 of whom have gone...
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4. Ann Fowler
1948-. (aged 78)
beauty pageant contestant
Ann Fowler is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Birmingham, Alabama, who was named Miss Alabama 1969. She would later marry and divorce American television executive Roone Arledge.
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5. George Huddleston, Jr
1920-1971 (aged 51)
politician
George Huddleston Jr. was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama.
6. Laurie Calvin Battle
1912-2000 (aged 88)
politician
lawyer
insurance broker
farmer
professor
Laurie Calvin Battle was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. He was in the United States Army Air Forces and served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II.
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7. Jason Sabio
1986-. (aged 40)
association football player
Jason Abbott Abantao Sabio is a Filipino soccer player who plays as a center-back or a right-back. He is more comfortable at central defense because of his leap, speed, and communication skills.
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8. Connor Robertson
1981-. (aged 45)
baseball player
James Connor Robertson is an American former right-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He was drafted out of Birmingham Southern College in the 31st round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics.
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9. Reynold N. Hoover
1961-. (aged 65)
lawyer
military officer
Reynold Nelson Hoover is a retired lieutenant general of the United States Army, who served as the deputy commander of the United States Northern Command.
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10. William Acker
1927-2018 (aged 91)
lawyer
judge
William Marsh Acker Jr. was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
11. J. T. Waggoner
1937-. (aged 89)
politician
James Thomas "Jabo" Waggoner Jr. is an American politician who is a Republican member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 16th District since 1990. He received his B.A. from Birmingham Southern College and his J.D. from the Birmingham School of Law.
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12. Rostislav Vergun
1982-. (aged 44)
basketball player
basketball coach
Rostislav Mykolaevich Vergun is a Belarusian professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently the assistant coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg and the head coach of Belarus national team.
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13. John McDuffie
1883-1950 (aged 67)
lawyer
judge
politician
John McDuffie was a United States representative from Alabama and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
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14. Donald Heflin
1958-. (aged 68)
diplomat
Donald L. Heflin is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Cape Verde from 2015 to 2018.
15. Morgan Murphy
1972-. (aged 54)
journalist
writer
Morgan Murphy is an American author. He serves as a captain in the United States Navy Reserve. He is a former national security advisor to Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville, and a former press secretary to the U.S. Secretary of Defense. He is also a candidate in the Republican primary for the 2026 United States Senate election in Alabama.
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16. Watt Key
1970-. (aged 56)
children's writer
novelist
writer
Albert Watkins Key, Jr., publishing under the name Watt Key and Albert Key, is an American fiction author who is known for writing young-adult survival fiction. A resident of Alabama, his debut novel Alabama Moon was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2006 and was the 2007 winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for older readers. It received...
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17. Walter P. McConaughy
1908-2000 (aged 92)
diplomat
Walter Patrick McConaughy Jr. was a career American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to a number of countries.
18. Henry V. Graham
1916-1999 (aged 83)
military personnel
Henry Vance Graham was an American Army National Guard general known for protecting black activists during the civil rights movement. He is most famous for asking Alabama governor George Wallace to step aside and permit black students to register for classes at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1963 during the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" incident.
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19. Luther Terry
1911-1985 (aged 74)
surgeon
Luther Leonidas Terry was an American physician and public health official. He was appointed the ninth Surgeon General of the United States from 1961 to 1965, and is best known for his warnings against the dangers and the impact of tobacco use on health.
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20. Howard Cruse
1944-2019 (aged 75)
draftsperson
caricaturist
comics artist
Howard Cruse was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with Barefootz, he was the founding editor of Gay Comix in 1980, created the gay-themed strip Wendel during the 1980s, and reached a more mainstream audience in 1995 when an imprint...
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21. Bob Jones
1883-1968 (aged 85)
evangelist
radio personality
academic administrator
Robert Reynolds Jones Sr. was an American evangelist, pioneer religious broadcaster, and the founder and first president of Bob Jones University.
22. Bruce Maxwell
1990-. (aged 36)
professional baseball player
Bruce Tyrone Maxwell III is a German–born American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics from 2016 through 2018.
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23. Howell Heflin
1921-2005 (aged 84)
politician
university teacher
lawyer
judge
military officer
Howell Thomas Heflin was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1997.
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24. Robert Aderholt
1965-. (aged 61)
lawyer
politician
Robert Brown Aderholt is an American politician and attorney from Alabama. A socially conservative member of the Republican Party and a member of the Tea Party Caucus, he is currently serving as a U.S. representative, representing Alabama's 4th congressional district since 1997. The district includes most of Tuscaloosa County north of the Black Warrior River, as well as Birmingham's far...
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25. Walker Hayes
1979-. (aged 47)
singer-songwriter
Charles Edgar Walker Hayes is an American country pop singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Reason to Rhyme in 2011 on Capitol Records Nashville, and Boom (2017), Country Stuff the Album (2022), New Money (2023), and 17 Problems (2025), on RCA Records. Hayes has charted multiple singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts;...
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26. Pat Buttram
1915-1994 (aged 79)
dub actor
television actor
voice actor
actor
film actor
Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram was an American character actor. He was known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the television series Green Acres. He is primarily remembered for his distinctive voice, which "has been described as sounding like a handful of gravel thrown in a Mix-Master."
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27. Kim Hawthorne
film actor
actor
television actor
Kimberly Hawthorne is an American actress. She began her career appearing on Broadway and daytime soap operas, before landing supporting roles on the prime time dramas. From 2000 to 2005, Hawthorne was regular cast member in the CBC Television police drama, Da Vinci's Inquest. From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Kerissa Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series,...
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28. Jennifer Hale
1972-. (aged 54)
voice actor
musician
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian and American voice actress. She is well known for her work in video game franchises such as Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, BioShock Infinite, Metroid Prime, Halo, Overwatch, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In 2013, she was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most prolific video game voice actor,...
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29. Glenn Shadix
1952-2010 (aged 58)
comedian
television actor
film actor
voice actor
stage actor
William Glenn Shadix-Scott was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his roles as Otho Fenlock in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and the Mayor of Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
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30. Amanda Bearse
1958-. (aged 68)
television actor
film director
television director
film actor
Amanda Bearse is an American actress, comedian and director. She starred in the 1985 supernatural horror film Fright Night, and later starred as Marcy Rhoades D'Arcy in the Fox sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997). Bearse later began working as a television director, directing over 90 episodes of several comedy series.
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31. J. Gordon Melton
1942-. (aged 84)
historian
sociologist
university teacher
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and was the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas where he resides. He is also an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.
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32. Robert L. Williams
1868-1948 (aged 80)
lawyer
judge
Robert Lee Williams was an American lawyer, judge, and the third governor of Oklahoma. Williams played a role in the drafting of the Oklahoma Constitution and served as the first Oklahoma Supreme Court chief justice. He also served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and as a United States...
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33. John Cohen
1966-. (aged 60)
baseball player
John Cohen is an American former baseball player and coach who is currently the 16th athletic director for the Auburn University Tigers. He is former head baseball coach of Mississippi State University, where he also served as the athletic director from 2016 to 2022.
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34. Kate Jackson
1948-. (aged 78)
actor
television actor
manufacturer
model
film actor
Lucy Kate Jackson is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series Charlie's Angels (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987). Her film roles include Making Love (1982) and Loverboy (1989). She is a three-time Emmy Award nominee and four-time Golden Globe Award nominee, and Photoplay...
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35. Harvie Branscomb
1894-1998 (aged 104)
university teacher
librarian
academic administrator
Bennett Harvie Branscomb was an American theologian and academic administrator. He served as the fourth chancellor of Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1946 to 1963. Prior to his appointment at Vanderbilt, he was the director of the Duke University Libraries and dean of the Duke Divinity School. Additionally, he served as a professor of Christian theology...
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36. Charles Gaines
1942-. (aged 84)
actor
writer
outdoor enthusiast
bodybuilder
screenwriter
Charles Latham Gaines, Jr. is an American writer and outdoorsman, notable for numerous works in both the fiction and non-fiction genres. His writing most typically concerns the outdoors sports of fishing in general and fly fishing in particular, as well as upland bird hunting and mountaineering, often with an intellectual and philosophical bent, and an eye towards the various cultures...
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