100 Notable alumni of Centre College

Thomas D. Baird was an educator born in Newark, Ohio, United States. Baird was the first professor of mathematics of Westminster College, and the fifth principal of Baltimore City College. He died in Baltimore, Maryland.

Abram Comingo was a Democratic Representative representing Missouri from March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1875. He was a slaveholder.

Hall Terry Snoddy also known as Terry Snowday was an American college football player.

John Richard Barret was a slave owner and U.S. Representative from Missouri.

Samuel Johnson Pugh was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

William Morgan Beckner was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

Thomas Moore Paschal was a U.S. Representative from Texas.

Andrew McConnell January Cochran was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Robert Lee "Chief" Myers was an American football coach and athletic director foundational in the success of the Centre Praying Colonels football programs of Centre College in the period from 1917 to 1925. This era included the 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game, one of the sport's greatest upsets.

Herbert Hunt "Flash" Covington, also called "the Mayfield Flash", was an American football, basketball, and baseball player for the Centre Praying Colonels of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Edwin C. Kubale was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky from 1928 to 1937 and Southwestern Presbyterian University—now known as Rhodes College—in Memphis, Tennessee from 1938 to 1941, compiling a career headcoaching record of 67–47–8. Kubale played college football at the Center position at Centre.

Boyd Winchester was a United States representative from Kentucky. He was born in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. He pursued preparatory studies and then attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia. He graduated from the law department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1857 and commenced practice in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jo Ellen Powell is a career member of the United States Foreign Service who served as Consul General in Frankfurt, Germany and was nominated as the US ambassador to Mauritania by Barack Obama on July 15, 2010. She has been known in Frankfurt for her active engagement with Germany's Muslim community, as well as with students, through the "Windows on...

Edward William Cornelius Humphrey, also known as "Alphabet Humphrey" and "Judge Humphrey", was a theological and legal scholar and influential member of the National Presbyterian General Assembly. A Harvard graduate with an honorary degree from Amherst, he was also an 1864 graduate of Centre College, of which he became a trustee in 1885. He was a trustee of the Louisville...

Lewis Craig Humphrey was an American Kentucky newspaper editor who began his journalistic career as a reporter at the Louisville daily newspaper, the Louisville Evening Post, under the supervision of editor and publisher Richard W. Knott. Upon Knott's death, Humphrey became chief editor of the paper.

John Mason Martin was a U.S. representative from Alabama, son of Joshua Lanier Martin.

Matthew Duncan Ector was an American legislator, a Texas jurist, and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

John William Lewis was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

Emmet O'Neal was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and an ambassador to the Philippines. A member of the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame, his brother was Louisville Mayor Joseph T. O'Neal.

Asa Porter Grover was a United States representative from Kentucky. He was born near Phelps, New York where he attended the common schools before moving to Kentucky in 1837. He attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and taught school in Woodford and Franklin Counties. In addition, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1843 and commenced practice...

James Redwick "Red" Weaver was an American football player and coach.

Thomas Zanzinger Morrow was a lawyer, judge, and politician from Kentucky. He was one of twenty-eight men who founded the Kentucky Republican Party. His brother-in-law, William O. Bradley, was elected governor of Kentucky in 1895, and his son, Edwin P. Morrow was elected to that same office in 1919.

John Finis Philips was a United States representative from Missouri and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

John Bennett Dawson was an American politician who served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from the state of Louisiana.

Glover H. Cary was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky.

Edward Wester Creal was a U.S. representative from Kentucky.

James Madison "Red" Roberts was an American football player and coach. He played football for the Centre Praying Colonels in Danville, Kentucky. Roberts was thrice selected All-Southern, and a unanimous choice for the Associated Press Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869-1919 era. After college Roberts, played in the early National Football League (NFL) for the Toledo Maroons and the Akron...

Elijah Hise Norton was a U.S. congressman from Missouri during the United States Civil War.

Samuel Howard Camnitz was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies (1913) in the National League and for the Pittsburgh Rebels (1914–15) in the Federal League. A native of Covington, Kentucky, he batted and threw right-handed. In an 11-season career, Camnitz posted a 133–106 record with 915 strikeouts and a 2.75...

Robert Charles Wickliffe was an American politician. He was a U.S. representative from Louisiana.

Samuel Dickinson Burchard was a 19th-century American Presbyterian Church minister from New York.

Given Campbell was a Confederate officer best known for leading the final escape of Jefferson Davis in the last days of the Civil War.

Joshua Fry Bell was an American politician. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Congress for one term.

Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn was an American politician and lawyer who was a Democratic U.S. Representative and Senator from Kentucky and Governor of Panama Canal Zone. A skilled and spirited orator, he was a prominent trial lawyer known for his skill at swaying juries.

Frank Leslie Chelf was a United States representative from Kentucky. He was born on a farm near Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He graduated from Masonic Home High School and lived at the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home (now Masonic Homes of Kentucky) in Louisville, KY. He attended the public schools as well as Centre College at Danville, Kentucky and St. Mary's College....

Tom Riner is an American politician and pastor who served as a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 41st District from 1982 until 2017. He was defeated by Attica Scott in the 2016 Democratic primary for the seat. The New York Times once wrote regarding Tom's stance of political discourse, "He looks for God everywhere, and...

James M. Birney was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He served as the 13th lieutenant governor of Michigan and as the U.S. Minister to the Netherlands.

James Andrew McKenzie was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and uncle of John McKenzie Moss.

Theophilus Toulmin Garrard was a politician, Union general in the American Civil War, farmer, and businessman.

Leslie Combs II was an American racehorse owner and breeder. He was the founder and owner of the Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

Mary Hall Surface is an American theatre director, playwright, and teaching artist. Based in Washington, DC, her work focuses on theatre productions for family audiences and writing inspired by art.

George Brown Martin was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who served as a United States Senator from Kentucky as a member of the Democratic Party.

Ernest S. Croot III is a mathematician and professor at the School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology. He is known for his solution of the Erdős–Graham conjecture, and for contributing to the solution of the cap set problem.

Thomas Hanson Paynter was a United States Senator and Representative from Kentucky.

Joseph Horace Lewis was an American lawyer, military leader and politician. He served as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and later a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the court of last resort in Kentucky at the time.

Thomas Cruse was a brigadier general in the United States Army who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in action on July 17, 1882, at the Battle of Big Dry Wash, Arizona. An 1879 graduate of West Point, he served in numerous campaigns on the Western Frontier and later in the Philippines. He retired as a...

King Swope was an American attorney and politician who served as a U.S. representative from Kentucky.

Andrew Fleming West was an American classicist, and first dean of the Graduate School at Princeton University.

George Madison Adams was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, nephew of Green Adams, and slaveowner.

Robert Michael Duncan Jr. is an American attorney who serves as the Kentucky Deputy Attorney General. He previously served as the United States Attorney in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2017 to 2021.

Claude Matthews was an American politician who served as the 23rd governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1893 to 1897. A farmer, he was nominated to prevent the loss of voters to the Populist Party. The Panic of 1893 occurred just before he took office, leading to severe economic problems during his term. Republicans took the Indiana General...

William Thompson Martin was an American lawyer and politician who became a Confederate States Army major general during the American Civil War. He later served in the Mississippi state senate, and was a delegate to four Democratic National Conventions. Martin was the president of the Natchez, Jackson, and Columbus Railroad, of which he oversaw the construction in 1884.

Thomas Clay McCreery was an American politician who was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1868 to 1871 and again from 1873 to 1879.

Theodore O'Hara was a poet and an officer for the United States Army in the Mexican–American War, and a Confederate colonel in the American Civil War. He is best known for the poems "Bivouac of the Dead", which is quoted in many cemeteries, and "The Old Pioneer".

Tom Thurman is an American filmmaker.

John Christian Bullitt was a lawyer and civic figure in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He founded the law firm known today as Faegre, Drinker, Biddle & Reath. Erected in 1907, Bullitt's bronze statue adjacent to City Hall was the work of artist John J. Boyle and was dedicated to his legacy of reforming Philadelphia City government.

Major General Allen Wyant Gullion was an American Army officer who served as the 19th Judge Advocate General of the United States Army from 1937 to 1941 and the 17th Provost Marshal General of the United States Army from 1941 to 1944.

Richard Pretlow Ernst was a U.S. senator from Kentucky who served from 1921 to 1927. He was a Republican.

Nathan Lynn Bachman was a United States senator from Tennessee from 1933 until his death. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Brutus Junius Clay was a U.S. representative from Kentucky, and a son of Green Clay. His brother Cassius Marcellus Clay also was a politician in the state, and they both joined the Union Democratic Party at the time of the American Civil War.

Stephen "Steve" Rolfe Powell was an American glass artist based at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he taught for more than 30 years. He often created elaborately colored three-foot glass vessels incorporating murrine.

Caleb Powers was a United States representative from Kentucky and the first Secretary of State of Kentucky convicted as an accessory to murder.

William Birney was an American professor, Union Army general during the American Civil War, attorney and author. An ardent abolitionist, he was noted for encouraging thousands of free black men to join the Union army.

Edgar Allen Diddle was an American college men's basketball coach, who also coached college football and baseball teams. He is known for coaching at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in history to coach 1,000 games at one school. Diddle was known as one of the early pioneers of the...

William Preston Johnston was a lawyer, scholar, poet, and Confederate soldier. He was the son and biographer of Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was a president of Louisiana State University and the first president of Tulane University from 1884 in the same year that the school was renamed from the University of Louisiana.

Ormond Beatty was an American educator and academic administrator. He was the seventh president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

John Todd Stuart was a lawyer and a U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Jeffrey H. Hoover is an American politician and attorney who served as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2017 to 2018, and was the first Republican to be elected speaker since 1920.

Abraham "Abe" Buford II was an American soldier, Confederate brigadier general, and landowner. After serving in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War, Buford joined the Confederate States Army in 1862 and served as a cavalry general in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. After the war, he retired to his native Kentucky and became a thoroughbred...

John Young Brown was an American politician from the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky who represented the state in the United States House of Representatives and served as its 31st governor of Kentucky. Brown was elected to the House of Representatives for three non-consecutive terms, each of which was marred by controversy. He was first elected in 1859, despite his own...

Eugenia Crittenden "Crit" Luallen is an American politician who served as the 56th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from November 13, 2014, to December 8, 2015. Luallen previously served as Kentucky State Auditor.

Lewis Warner Green was an American Presbyterian minister, educator, and academic administrator. He was the president of Hampden–Sydney College, Transylvania University, and Centre College for various periods between 1849 and 1863.

William Campbell Preston Breckinridge was a lawyer and Democratic politician from Kentucky; a U.S. Representative from 1885 to 1895. He was a scion of the Breckinridge political family: grandson of Senator John Breckinridge, and first cousin of Vice President John C. Breckinridge.

George Washington Harkins was an attorney and prominent chief of the Choctaw tribe during Indian removal.

Augustus Owsley Stanley I was an American politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th governor of Kentucky and also represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. From 1903 to 1915, Stanley represented Kentucky's 2nd congressional district in the House of Representatives, where he gained a reputation...

John Young Brown was an American attorney and politician. He was a state representative for six two-year terms, serving one as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1932 and as majority floor leader in 1966, during the term of Governor Edward T. Breathitt. He was elected to one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4,...

James Ben Ali Haggin was an American attorney, rancher, investor, art collector, and a major owner and breeder in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing. Haggin made a fortune in the aftermath of the California Gold Rush and was a multi-millionaire by 1880.

Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-time All-American at quarterback, and led the Centre Praying Colonels to an upset victory over Harvard in 1921. McMillin was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as...

Joseph Holt was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. As a leading member of the Buchanan administration, he succeeded in convincing Buchanan to oppose the secession of the South. He returned to Kentucky and successfully battled the secessionist element thereby helping to keep Kentucky in the Union. President Abraham Lincoln appointed him the Judge Advocate General of the United States...

Thomas Theodore Crittenden was an American politician and military officer who served as the 24th Governor of Missouri from 1881 to 1885. He was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War.

Hiroaki Fushimi is a former Japanese prince, the only son of Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi and 24th head of the Fushimi-no-miya shinnōke (one of the four branch houses of the Imperial Family of Japan). He became a commoner since the passing of the Imperial Household Law of 1947. If the law had not been changed, he would have been 4th in...

Jacqueline Layne Coleman is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky since 2019. She has worked as a high school administrator, teacher, and basketball coach. Coleman is the founder and president of Lead Kentucky, a nonprofit organization focused on education policy reform. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

John Sherman Cooper was an American politician, jurist, and diplomat. He served three non-consecutive, partial terms in the United States Senate before being elected to two full terms in 1960 and 1966, representing Kentucky. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to India from 1955 to 1956 and U.S. Ambassador to East Germany from 1974 to 1976. He was the first...

Adlai Ewing Stevenson I was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Grover Cleveland. A member of the Democratic Party, Stevenson served as a U.S. Representative for Illinois in the late 1870s and early 1880s. He was the founder of the Stevenson political family.

Frederick Moore Vinson was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th chief justice of the United States from 1946 until his death in 1953. Vinson was one of the few Americans to have served in all three branches of the U.S. government. Before becoming chief justice, Vinson served as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1924 to...

William Alexander Richardson was a prominent Illinois Democratic politician before and during the American Civil War. A protege of Stephen Douglas, Richardson was an ardent proponent of Jacksonian democracy, popular sovereignty, and strict constructionism. During the American Civil War, he switched from supporting the conflict to join the Copperhead wing of the Democratic party and bitterly criticize President Abraham Lincoln.

Basil Wilson Duke was a Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. Afterward, he achieved renown as a historian. His most notable role in the war was second-in-command to his brother-in-law John Hunt Morgan. Duke later wrote a popular account of what was called Morgan's Raid (1863). He took over Morgan's command in 1864 after U.S. soldiers killed Morgan....

Beriah Magoffin was the 21st governor of Kentucky, serving during the early part of the Civil War. Personally, Magoffin supported slavery, believed in the right of a state to secede from the Union, and sympathized with the Confederacy. Nevertheless, when the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a position of neutrality in the war, Magoffin ardently held to it, refusing calls for...

George Graham Vest was an American politician. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was known for his skills in oration and debate. Vest, a lawyer as well as a politician, served as a Missouri Congressman, a Confederate Congressman during the Civil War, and finally a U.S. Senator.

Cassius Marcellus Clay was an American planter, politician, military officer and abolitionist who served as the United States ambassador to Russia from 1863 to 1869.

John Marshall Harlan was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Dissenter" due to his many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties, including the Civil Rights Cases, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Giles v. Harris....

John Cabell Breckinridge was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861, and as a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinridge is the youngest vice president in U.S. history. He was also the Southern...

Yi Ku was a Korean prince who was head of the House of Yi from 1970 until 2005. He was a grandson of Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. Through Kuni Asahiko his maternal great-grandfather, Ku was a second-cousin to Emperor Emeritus Akihito of Japan.

Alexander Graves was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.

William Patterson Alexander was an American missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii. His family continued to influence the history of Hawaii.

John Marshall Robsion was an American politician who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Republican Party.

James Streshly Jackson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

James Bennett McCreary was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky. He represented the state in both houses of the U.S. Congress and served as its 27th and 37th governor of Kentucky. Shortly after graduating from law school, he was commissioned as the only major in the 11th Kentucky Cavalry, serving under Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan during the...

Phillip Norris "Army" Armstrong was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, from 1918 to 1919 and professionally for one season, in 1922, with the Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League (NFL). Armstong served as the head football coach at Carroll College—now known as Carroll University—Waukesha, Wisconsin from 1923 to...