24 Notable alumni of Dillard University

Danny C. Williams Sr. is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma from 2012 to 2017.

Solomon T. Clanton was a leader in the Baptist Church. He was educated in New Orleans and Chicago and became the first black graduate of the theological department at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary at Morgan Park, Chicago, Illinois, associated with the University of Chicago. He spent his career as an educator and leader in the Baptist Church. He served...

Autumn Knight is an American interdisciplinary artist working with performance, installation, and text from Houston, Texas who lives and works in New York City.

Eloise Alberta Veronica Thompson was an American educator, playwright, poet, and journalist. She married fellow journalist and activist Noah D. Thompson.

Napoleon Bracy Jr. is an American politician. He serves as a Democratic member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing Mobile County, Alabama. In May 2017, he opposed the bill for the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which would make it harder to remove Confederate monuments in Alabama; he argued, "People that sponsor bills like this don't care about me."

John Wesley Edward Bowen Sr. was born into American slavery and became a Methodist clergyman, denominational official, college and university educator. He was one of the first African Americans to earn a Ph.D. degree in the United States. He is credited as the first African American to receive the Ph.D. degree from Boston University, which was granted in 1887.

Gladys W. Royal is one of a small number of early African-American biochemists. Part of one of the few African-American husband-and-wife teams in science, Gladys worked with George C. Royal on research supported by the United States Atomic Energy Commission. She later worked for many years as principal biochemist at the Cooperative State Research Service of the U.S. Department of...

Ted Ellis is an American artist and former environmental chemist. Ellis is best known for his African-American themed art and styles which blend elements of folk art, naturalism and impressionism. His personal rendition of Barack Obama in acrylic, Obama, the 44th President, was presented in honor of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.

Professor Sheila Dinotshe Tlou is a Botswana nurse, specialist in HIV/AIDS and women's health, and nursing educator. She was Minister of Health from 2004 to 2008. Professor Tlou is a distinguished advocate for human resources for health issues. She is a recognized visionary leader and champion.

Renée Gill Pratt is an American politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was also Director of the Center for Student Retention and Success in Southern University at New Orleans. On July 25, 2011, she was found guilty of racketeering. For this crime, she served a four-year sentence.

Harold Raymond Battiste Jr. was an American music composer, arranger, performer, and teacher. A native of, and later community leader in, New Orleans, he is best known for his work as an arranger on records by Barbara George, Sam Cooke, Joe Jones, Lee Dorsey, Sonny and Cher, Dr. John, and others.

Nita Landry, better known as Dr. Nita, is an American obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN), author, and television correspondent. She co-hosted the daily syndicated talk show The Doctors for several seasons and has made recurring appearances on various national television shows. Landry is a contributor to several women's interest magazines and is a frequent speaker at public engagements related to women's...

Ruth Simmons is an American professor and academic administrator. Simmons served as the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black university (HBCU), from 2017 until 2023. From 2001 to 2012, she served as the 18th president of Brown University, where she was the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution. During her time at Brown, Simmons...

Alice Dunbar Nelson was an American poet, journalist, and political activist. Among the first generation of African Americans born free in the Southern United States after the end of the American Civil War, she was one of the prominent African Americans involved in the artistic flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance. She gained recognition for her poetry, short stories, and essays...

Jericho Brown is an American poet and writer. Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown has worked as an educator at institutions such as the University of Houston, the University of San Diego, and Emory University. His poems have been published in The Nation, New England Review, The New Republic, Oxford American, and The New Yorker, among others. He released...

Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the Marsalis musical family, when sons Branford and Wynton became popular jazz musicians.

Beulah Elizabeth Richardson, known professionally as Beah Richards and Bea Richards, was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was also a poet, playwright, author and activist.

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was an American publisher, politician, and Union Army officer who served as the 24th governor of Louisiana from December 9, 1872, to January 13, 1873. Pinchback is commonly referred to as the first African-American governor and the second lieutenant governor (after Oscar Dunn) in the United States. His recognition as the first African-American governor is disputed....

Andrew Jackson Young Jr. is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. A member of the Democratic Party, Young later became active in politics, serving...

Garrett Isaac Morris is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast and was the first Black cast member of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.

John Hope Franklin was an American historian who focused on the history of the United States. He is best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947 and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold.

Samella Sanders Lewis was an American visual artist and art historian. She worked primarily as a printmaker and painter. She has been called the "Godmother of African American Art". She received Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association (CAA) in 2021.

Benjamin Elijah Mays was an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. Mays taught and mentored many influential activists, including Martin Luther King Jr, Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson, and Donn Clendenon, among others. His rhetoric and intellectual pursuits focused on Black self-determination. Mays' commitment to social...