81 Notable alumni of Duquesne University

Stephen Patrick Sinko was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a guard and tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Boston Redskins from 1934 to 1936 and the Los Angeles Bulldogs from 1937 to 1938. Sinko served as the head football coach at Boston University from 1957 to 1963, compiling a record of 23–36–3.

Enos Claire Kirkpatrick was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1912 through 1915 for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Baltimore Terrapins. He went to college at Duquesne University.

James Lawrence Smith was an American Major League Baseball infielder often referred to as "Greenfield Jimmy" or "Bluejacket".

Donald Emil Ziegler was a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Theodore Leo Moritz was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Alfred Watterson McCann was an American muckraking journalist, radio commentator and natural foods campaigner. His views on food were dismissed by historians and medical experts as quackery.

Ronald Oscar Champagne is an American higher education administrator.

Edward Jay Allen was an entrepreneur and prominent businessman based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In his younger years, he had been a pioneer in the Oregon Territory for a few years. He was an officer in the Civil War and survived major battles.

Frank Israel Smizik is an American attorney and politician who represented the 15th Norfolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives January 2001 until January 2, 2019.

Jerry Clack was an American scholar who was professor of classical languages at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He was also a political activist, public relations executive, and was involved in activities of the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and Citizens for Global Solutions. Clack died in April 2019 at the age of 92.

Albert Leon Mamaux was an American professional baseball player and manager.

Herman Peter Eberharter was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

John Kenneth Miljus (Serbian Cyrillic Џон Кенет Миљуш or Serbian Latin Džon Kenet Miljuš) (June 30, 1895 – February 11, 1976) nicknamed "Big Serb" and "Jovo", was a Serbian-American baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball between 1915 and 1929. Miljus was most likely the first Serbian-American to play in professional baseball.

Lewis Howard "Hicks" Moren was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched six seasons from 1903 to 1910: two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1908, Moren was credited by the New York Press for inventing the knuckleball; however Eddie Cicotte is today more often cited as the inventor of the pitch. Moren...

Donetta Wypiski Ambrose is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Philip Andrew Miscimarra is a partner in the labor and employment practice of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, and he is a former American government official who served as the chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He first joined the NLRB as a board member appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013, and he was named chairman by...

Thomas Tribone is the founder and CEO of Franklin Park Infrastructure Inc. Franklin Park owns and manages energy and infrastructure businesses worldwide. The firm's main operating companies are located in North and South America, India, China and the Middle East. Franklin Park's business includes renewable and conventional energy, transportation, energy storage, logistics, biofuels and higher education. He is also Chairman...

Elmer Joseph Holland was an American World War I veteran who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania during the mid-20th-century.

Kelsey Leonard is a water governance researcher specializing in Indigenous water rights at the University of Waterloo. She was the first Native American woman to earn a science degree from the University of Oxford, which she earned in 2012. She earned an MSc in water science, policy and management from St. Cross College, one of the thirty-eight colleges of the...

Ernest P. "Ernie" Kline was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate and the 25th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1971 to 1979.

Foster Provost is an American computer scientist, information systems researcher, and Professor of Data Science, Professor of Information Systems and Ira Rennert Professor of Entrepreneurship at New York University's Stern School of Business. He is also the Director for the Data Science and AI Initiative at Stern's Fubon Center for Technology, Business and Innovation. Professor Provost has a Bachelor of...

Paul Vincent "Polly" Birch was an American basketball player and coach.

Henry Ellenbogen was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, serving from 1933 to 1938.

Gary Anthony Siplin was a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing the 19th District from 2003. Previously he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 through 2002.

Chelsea Abdullah is a Kuwaiti-American writer. She is the author of the fantastical Sandsea Trilogy.

David Stewart Cercone is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Matthew Heyden "Matt" Smith is an American politician. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 37th district from January 2013 until June 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2007 to 2012. He was elected to the State Senate in the 2012 election.

Keith Donohue is an American novelist. He is the author of six novels: The Girl in the Bog (2024), The Motion of Puppets (2016), The Boy Who Drew Monsters (2014), Centuries of June (2011), Angels of Destruction (2009), and The Stolen Child (2006). His acclaimed 2006 novel The Stolen Child, about a changeling, was inspired by the Yeats poem of...

William H. Cross is an American mountaineer.

Donald Allen Bailey was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania. He was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983, Auditor General of Pennsylvania from 1985 to 1989, and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate and Governor of Pennsylvania. His Congressional District (PA-21) included all of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania...

Joy Flowers Conti is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Matthew Gaydos was an American lawyer, World War II veteran, and Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, serving 8 terms from 1968 to 1992. Gaydos was the first Slovak American to serve in the United States Congress.

Thomas Patrick Melady was an American diplomat and author. From 2002 until his death he served as the Senior Diplomat in residence at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.

Judah Samet was a Hungarian-American businessman, speaker, and Holocaust survivor. At the age of six, he and his family were taken from Debrecen, Hungary, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they spent eleven months. After the Second World War the family immigrated to Israel, where he subsequently served in the Israel Defense Forces and worked as a teacher. He later...

Randy Vulakovich is an American politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 38th district from January 6, 2015, to January 1, 2019. He previously served in the 40th legislative district. He was elected in a special election on August 7, 2012. Vulakovich was reelected to a full term in 2014 in the newly established...

Robert Wesley "Bob" Cranmer is a veteran, businessman, author, and politician, best known as a former Republican County Commissioner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 1996 to 2000. He is the author of the horror novel The Demon of Brownsville Road.

Jamila Bey is an American journalist and public speaker. She was host of a weekly radio program The Sex, Politics And Religion Hour: SPAR With Jamila on Voice of Russia, and writes for The Washington Post's blog, She the People. Before working for the Washington Post and the Voice of Russia, Bey spent around a decade working as a producer...

David William Ricketts was an American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball who played parts of six seasons (1963, 1965, 1967–1970) with the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Ricketts was a reserve catcher on the 1967 World Series champion Cardinals and their 1968 pennant winners. He later served as a longtime bullpen coach of the Cardinals (1974–1975, 1978–1991),...

Austin John Murphy Jr. was an American politician from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1959 to 1968 representing Washington County, Pennsylvania and again representing Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 48 from 1969 to 1970, a member of the Pennsylvania Senate representing Pennsylvania Senate, District 46 from...

Lewis Carlo Merletti was the 19th Director of the United States Secret Service. He succeeded Eljay B. Bowron, and was sworn in on June 6, 1997, by the Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin. A 25-year veteran of the United States Secret Service, Merletti has also served as Assistant Director in the Office of Training, and as the Special Agent...

William Shaw Stickman IV is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Carl Breil was an American lyric tenor, stage director, composer and conductor. He was one of the earliest American composers to compose specific music for motion pictures. His first film was Les amours de la reine Élisabeth (1912) starring Sarah Bernhardt. He later composed and arranged scores for several other early motion pictures, including such epics as D. W....

Edward James Burns is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Dallas in Texas since 2017. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska from 2009 to 2017.

David Morehouse is an American businessman and former president and chief executive officer of Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. During his tenure, the Penguins won three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, 2017), reached four Stanley Cup finals, and sold out every game for 14 seasons. Prior to his career with the Penguins, Morehouse served in politics as a member...

Mark Joseph Seitz is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of El Paso since 2013. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Dallas from 2010 to 2013.

Catherine Baker Knoll was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. She was the 30th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving under Governor Ed Rendell from 2003 to 2008, when she died in office. Prior to that, she served as the 72nd Pennsylvania treasurer from 1989 to 1997. She was the first woman to be lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

Mark Paoletta is an American attorney who served in roles in the first Donald Trump administration. From January 8, 2018, to January 20, 2021, Paoletta served as general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. Prior to this, Paoletta served as chief counsel and assistant to Vice President Mike Pence from January 20, 2017, to January 5, 2018.

Patricia E. Deegan is an American disability-rights advocate, psychologist and researcher. She has been described as a "national spokesperson for the mental health consumer/survivor movement in the United States." Deegan is known as an advocate of the mental health recovery movement and is an international speaker and trainer in the field of mental health.

Joseph Ronald Beimel is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners, and Colorado Rockies.

Thomas John Hopko was an Eastern Orthodox Christian priest and theologian. He was the Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary from September 1992 until July 1, 2002 and taught dogmatic theology there from 1968 until 2002. In retirement, he carried the honorary title of Dean Emeritus.

Sihugo "Si" Green was an American professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duquesne Dukes, he was selected as the first pick of the 1956 NBA draft by the Rochester Royals.

Richard James Ricketts Jr. was an American professional basketball and baseball player. Ricketts was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1955 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks out of Duquesne University. Ricketts played professional basketball and baseball simultaneously and retired from basketball to play baseball. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1959 and had a 10-season...

Elmer Greinert "Bud" Shuster was an American politician who represented Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1973 to 2001. He was best known for his advocacy of transportation projects, including Interstate 99.

David Allen Zubik is a retired American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Pittsburgh from 2007 to 2025. He previously served as Bishop of Green Bay from 2003 to 2007, and as Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh from 1997 to 2003.

Derrick Samuel Alston Sr. is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. In February 2023, Alston became the second head coach of the Montreal Alliance of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He previously coached primarily in the NBA G League, including as the head...

Walter Joseph "Joe" Marm Jr. is a retired United States Army colonel and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Isiaha Mike is a Canadian professional basketball player for Bayern Munich of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Duquesne Dukes and the SMU Mustangs.

Lionel Pretoria Conacher MP, nicknamed "the Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was Canadian football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. He was also a member of the Toronto Maple...

Donald Panoz was an American entrepreneur who founded two pharmaceutical companies.

Daniel Milton Rooney was an American professional football executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL), and son of the Steelers' founder, Art Rooney. He held various roles within the organization, most notably as president, owner and chairman.

Joshua Rosenthal is the founder and director of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, a holistic nutrition school based in New York City.

Miftah Ismail is a Pakistani political economist who served as the Federal Minister of Finance from April 2022 to September 2022. He had previously served in the same office, from April 2018 to May 2018 in Khaqan Abbasi's cabinet. Prior to that, he served as the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, chairman of the...

Samuel Louis Nestico was an American jazz composer and arranger. Nestico is best known for his arrangements for the Count Basie orchestra.

Donn Alvin Clendenon was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1961 to 1972. He is most notable for his performance during the 1969 World Series when he won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award by hitting three home runs to help lead the team known as the Miracle Mets...

Arthur Joseph Rooney II is an American professional football executive and lawyer who is the owner and president of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).

Carl Lawrence Betz was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera Love of Life; he is best remembered for playing Donna Reed's television husband, Dr. Alex Stone, from 1958 to 1966 in the ABC sitcom The Donna Reed Show. Then between 1967 and 1969, Betz played defense...

Derrick Albert Bell Jr. was an American lawyer, legal scholar, and civil rights activist. Bell first worked for the U.S. Justice Department, then the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where he supervised over 300 school desegregation cases in Mississippi.

Floyd "Chip" Ganassi Jr. is an American businessman, former racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scene for over 30 years. He is owner and CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing which operates teams in the IndyCar Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World...

Michael Vincent Hayden is a retired United States Air Force four-star general and former director of the National Security Agency, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He currently works as a visiting professor at the George Mason University – Schar School of Policy and Government and co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center's Electric Grid...

Lamman Rucker is an American actor. Rucker began his career on the daytime soap operas As the World Turns and All My Children, before roles in The Temptations and Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too?. He played Will Brown in the 2008 film Meet the Browns and its television adaptation. In 2016,...

Jenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model, professional wrestler and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor: The Amazon in 2003. In 2009, she worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Timothy John McConnell Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duquesne Dukes and the Arizona Wildcats. After going undrafted, McConnell joined the Philadelphia 76ers in 2015 and spent four seasons with the team before signing with the Pacers in 2019.

Stanley Robert Vinton is an American singer and actor, who hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid tribute to his Polish heritage. One of his most popular songs is "Blue Velvet" (a cover of the 1951 song recorded by Tony Bennett) which...

Kenneth Neil Slater is an American educator, composer, and pianist. In 2008, he retired as professor emeritus. He has composed over 80 works for jazz ensemble and has written for symphony, chamber groups, a cappella choir, opera, and musical theatre.

Gerald Michael Feierstein was the United States Ambassador to Yemen under President Barack Obama from September 2010 to October 2013. Since December 2013, Feierstein has served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs in the Department of State.

Norman Ellard Nixon is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played with Scavolini Pesaro in Italy. Nicknamed "Stormin' Norman", he is a two-time NBA All-Star. He won two NBA championships with the Lakers in 1980 and 1982, at the...

Michael Perry James is an American professional basketball player and the team captain for AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague.

Adam Joseph Maida is an American Catholic prelate who served as archbishop of Detroit in Michigan from 1990 to 2009, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. He previously served as bishop of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1984 to 1990.

David John Bird is dean emeritus of the historic Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, the oldest church structure in continuous use in San Jose. He is a parish priest who reads and writes poetry and is particularly fond of Alfred Lord Tennyson. As a theologian, he emphasizes a liberal, compassionate, and inclusive approach and is devoted to ecumenism. Bird promotes Christian unity...

Daniel Nicholas DiNardo is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as Archbishop of Galveston-Houston from 2006 to 2025. He previously served as Coadjutor and later Bishop of Sioux City from 1997 to 2004.