73 Notable alumni of Hampden-Sydney College
Updated: June 12, 2026 EliteDegrees
Hampden-Sydney College is ranked #3,402 in the world and #890 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 73 notable alumni from Hampden-Sydney 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 Hampden-Sydney College won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. William H. Ewing
1841-1924 (aged 83)
politician
William Henry Ewing was an American Democratic politician who represented Prince Edward County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1910 to 1914.
2. Peter Winston
1836-1920 (aged 84)
politician
Peter Winston was an American physician and Democratic politician who represented Prince Edward County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1914 until shortly before his death in 1920.
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3. W. H. Whiting, Jr
1862-1949 (aged 87)
William Henry Whiting Jr. was the acting president of Hampden–Sydney College from 1904 to 1905 and again from 1908 to 1909.
4. Thomas E. Glascock
1932-. (aged 94)
politician
Thomas Edwin Glascock is an American attorney and Democratic politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1982 to 1983. While in the House, he was one of thirty-five delegates who voted for a resolution to bring the Equal Rights Amendment to the floor. In 1985, he ran in the 92nd district but was defeated by Independent candidate...
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5. Louis S. Epes
1882-1935 (aged 53)
lawyer
judge
politician
Louis Spencer Epes was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He served as a member of the Senate of Virginia and was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
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6. Dan McFarlan
1873-1924 (aged 51)
baseball player
Anderson Daniel McFarlan was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played in 1895 for the Louisville Colonels, and 1899 for two different teams, the Brooklyn Superbas and Washington Senators.
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7. James Jones
1980-. (aged 46)
basketball player
James Jones was a medical doctor, planter and politician who also served as an officer in the War of 1812. Jones served several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Nottoway County as well as U.S. Representative from Virginia's 19th congressional district.
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8. Robert K. Brock
1878-1962 (aged 84)
politician
Robert Kincaid Brock was an American Democratic politician who served twice as a member of the Virginia Senate, from 1912 to 1916 and again from 1936 to 1948.
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9. Richard McIlwaine
1834-1913 (aged 79)
theologian
Richard McIlwaine was the eleventh President of Hampden–Sydney College from 1883 to 1904. He wrote an autobiographical account of his life experiences titled Memories of Three Score Years and Ten.
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10. Harry R. Houston
1878-1960 (aged 82)
politician
Harry Rutherford Houston was a Virginia politician. He represented Elizabeth City County in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served as that body's Speaker from 1916 until 1920.
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11. James R. Thornton
1853-1911 (aged 58)
James Riddle Thornton was an acting president of Hampden–Sydney College for two and a half weeks in 1904.
12. John M. Hart
1866-1955 (aged 89)
politician
John Marion Hart was an American Democratic politician who served as a member of the Virginia Senate, representing the state's 4th district. Hart resigned his seat in the Senate before the expiration of his second term in order to accept appointment as collector of internal revenue for the Western District of Virginia by President Woodrow Wilson.
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13. Alexander McKelway
1866-1918 (aged 52)
Christian minister
trade unionist
journalist
Alexander Jeffrey McKelway was an American Presbyterian minister, and journalist. A supporter of the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson he is best known as a Progressive Era reformer, especially as an activist for child labor restrictions at the state and national level. He served as editor of the Presbyterian Standard magazine and as southern secretary of the National Child Labor Committee,...
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14. William Daniel
1826-1897 (aged 71)
politician
William Daniel, Jr. was an American slaveowner, lawyer, legislator and jurist who served on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, that state's highest court, from 1846 to 1865.
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15. Robert Atkinson Gibson
1846-1919 (aged 73)
priest
Robert Atkinson Gibson was the sixth Episcopal bishop of Virginia.
16. Elisha E. Meredith
1848-1900 (aged 52)
lawyer
politician
Elisha Edward Meredith was a U.S. representative from Virginia.
17. Thomas Atkinson
1807-1881 (aged 74)
Catholic priest
Thomas Atkinson was the third Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina.
18. Robert Strange
1796-1854 (aged 58)
lawyer
judge
politician
Robert Strange was an American politician who served as a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1836 and 1840.
19. Henry Bell Gilkeson
1850-1921 (aged 71)
teacher
lawyer
politician
Henry Bell Gilkeson was an American lawyer, politician, school administrator, and banker in West Virginia.
20. Samuel Lightfoot Flournoy
1846-1904 (aged 58)
teacher
lawyer
politician
Samuel Lightfoot Flournoy was an American lawyer, politician, and businessperson in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Flournoy served as a state senator representing the 12th Senatorial District in the West Virginia Senate (1885–1890) and served three terms as mayor of Romney, West Virginia. Flournoy unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the West Virginia Democratic Party gubernatorial nomination in 1900.
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21. Charles A. Bernier
1890-1963 (aged 73)
basketball coach
baseball player
Charles Arthur "Yank" Bernier was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college administrator. He served as the head football coach at Hampden–Sydney College from 1912 to 1916 and again from 1923 to 1938 and at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI)—now known as Virginia Tech— from 1917 to 1919, compiling a career college football...
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22. William Henry Brodnax
1786-1834 (aged 48)
lawyer
politician
William Henry Brodnax was a nineteenth-century American militia Brigadier General and American politician from Virginia.
23. James A. Harrell, III
1971-. (aged 55)
politician
James Andrew "Jim" Harrell III served three terms as a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's ninetieth House district, including constituents in Alleghany and Surry counties. As of 2011, Harrell is a lobbyist, running his own firm, James A. Harrell III and Associates, LLC, in Raleigh.
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24. Neal Hunt
1942-. (aged 84)
politician
Neal K. Hunt is an American real estate businessman and politician who served as a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing constituents in Wake County in the fifteenth district of the North Carolina Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 2004. He previously served two terms in an at-large seat on the Raleigh City Council.
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25. Elbert Lee Trinkle
1876-1939 (aged 63)
lawyer
businessperson
politician
Elbert Lee Trinkle was an American politician who served as the 49th Governor of Virginia from 1922 to 1926.
26. Samuel B. Pryor
1816-1866 (aged 50)
politician
Samuel B. Pryor was the first mayor of Dallas, Texas.
27. Gerald Fauth
Gerald Fauth is an American businessperson who served on the National Mediation Board. Fauth was first appointed to the NMB by President Donald Trump in 2017 and served as its Chairman from November 2017 to June 2018 and again from July 2021 to June 2022. Prior to joining the NMB, he was the president of G.W. Fauth & Associates Inc.,...
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28. James Sloan Kuykendall
1878-1928 (aged 50)
lawyer
politician
James Sloan Kuykendall was an American farmer, lawyer, and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Kuykendall was twice elected as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County (1907–1908 and 1919–1920). Kuykendall also served three terms as the mayor of Romney and later fulfilled the position of city attorney.
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29. George Washington Hopkins
1804-1861 (aged 57)
lawyer
diplomat
judge
politician
George Washington Hopkins was a nineteenth-century United States politician, diplomat, lawyer, judge and teacher.
30. William Spong Jr
1920-1997 (aged 77)
lawyer
politician
William Belser Spong Jr. was an American Democratic Party politician and a United States senator who represented the state of Virginia from 1966 to 1973.
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31. John Peter Mettauer
1787-1875 (aged 88)
gynecologist
surgeon
John Peter Mettauer was an American surgeon and gynecologist. He was the son of surgeon Francis Joseph Mettauer.
32. William Ballard Preston
1805-1862 (aged 57)
lawyer
politician
William Ballard Preston was an American politician who served as a Confederate States Senator from Virginia from February 18, 1862, until his death in November. He previously served as the 19th United States Secretary of the Navy from 1849 to 1850. He is also the cousin of William Campbell Preston and William Preston.
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33. William Overton Callis
1756-1814 (aged 58)
lawyer
politician
William O. Callis was the son of William Harry Callis and Mary Jane Cosby. He was a childhood friend of Presidents James Madison and James Monroe, was with Washington at Yorktown, and was known to Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson, and Benedict Arnold.
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34. Burr Harrison
1904-1973 (aged 69)
lawyer
judge
politician
Burr Powell Harrison was a Virginia lawyer, judge and Democratic politician who was a member of the Byrd Organization and served as U.S. Congressman representing Virginia's 7th congressional district (as had his father).
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35. Eugene W. Hickok
1951-. (aged 75)
Eugene W. Hickok is a former United States Deputy Secretary of Education, serving from 2003 to 2005 under President George W. Bush, and a former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, serving from 1995 to 2001 under Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond.
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36. Thomas Watkins Ligon
1810-1881 (aged 71)
lawyer
politician
Thomas Watkins Ligon, a Democrat, was the 30th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1854 to 1858. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives, serving Maryland's third Congressional district from 1845 until 1849. He was the second Maryland governor born in Virginia and was a minority party governor, who faced bitter opposition from...
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37. Roger Atkinson Pryor
1828-1919 (aged 91)
army officer
lawyer
judge
politician
Roger Atkinson Pryor was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and judge. A journalist and U.S. Congressman from Virginia known as a Southern "fire eater" for his fiery oratory in favor of slavery and later secession from the United States and belligerence toward abolitionist colleagues, during the American Civil War Pryor served as a general in the Confederate Army as...
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38. Paul Reiber
1947-. (aged 79)
lawyer
judge
Paul L. Reiber is the chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. Reiber graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1970 and from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts in 1974. Reiber was in private practice in Rutland until becoming a partner in Kenlan, Schwiebert & Facey in 1986. He also served for six years on Vermont's Judicial Nominating Board. He...
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39. Peter M. McCoy Jr
1978-. (aged 48)
lawyer
politician
Peter Michael McCoy Jr. is an American attorney and politician who served as the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina from 2020 to 2021. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2011 to 2020.
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40. Moses Waddel
1770-1840 (aged 70)
writer
Christian minister
Moses Waddel was an American educator and minister in antebellum Georgia and South Carolina. Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author of the bestselling book Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt.
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41. Andrew Hunter
1804-1888 (aged 84)
lawyer
Andrew H. Hunter was a Virginia lawyer, slaveholder, and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, including the Confederate House of Delegates. He was the Commonwealth's attorney for Jefferson County, Virginia, who prosecuted John Brown for the raid on Harpers Ferry.
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42. Robert Humphreys
1893-1977 (aged 84)
politician
Robert Humphreys was an American politician. He was briefly a member of the United States Senate from Kentucky.
43. William Lawrence Scott
1828-1891 (aged 63)
politician
William Lawrence Scott was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, a prominent railroad executive, as well as a prominent horse breeder and horse racer.
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44. Landon Garland
1810-1895 (aged 85)
academic
Landon Cabell Garland, an American, was professor of physics and history and university president three times at different Southern Universities (Randolph Macon, Alabama, Vanderbilt) while living in the Southern United States for his entire life. He served as the second president of Randolph–Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, from 1836 to 1846; then professor from 1847 to 1855, and then third...
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45. Hugh A. Garland
1805-1854 (aged 49)
lawyer
Hugh Alfred Garland was an American lawyer and politician. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1833. In 1838 to 1841 he served as clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
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46. John S. Preston
1809-1881 (aged 72)
politician
John Smith Preston was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was also a wealthy planter and attorney who became prominent in South Carolina politics in the 19th century. An ardent secessionist, he was the state's delegate dispatched to help convince the Virginia Secession Convention to join South Carolina in seceding from the antebellum Union in the months...
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47. Hank Crisp
1896-1970 (aged 74)
American football player
baseball player
basketball coach
Henry Gorham Crisp was an American football, basketball, baseball and track coach and college athletics administrator. In spite of an accident when he was 13 years old that resulted in the loss of his right hand, Crisp went on to letter in football, basketball and track at both Hampden–Sydney College and Virginia Tech – then known primarily as VPI.
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48. Philip W. McKinney
1832-1899 (aged 67)
lawyer
politician
Philip Watkins McKinney was an American lawyer, soldier and politician. McKinney served in the Virginia House of Delegates, was the Commonwealth attorney for Prince Edward County, and was elected as the 41st Governor of Virginia, serving from 1890 to 1894.
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49. Thomas S. Bocock
1815-1891 (aged 76)
lawyer
politician
Thomas Salem Bocock was a Confederate politician and lawyer from Virginia. After serving as an antebellum United States Congressman, he was the speaker of the Confederate States House of Representatives during most of the American Civil War.
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50. William Branch Giles
1762-1830 (aged 68)
lawyer
politician
William Branch Giles was an American politician and long-term Senator from Virginia who served as the 24th Governor of Virginia. He served in the House of Representatives from 1790 to 1798 and again from 1801 to 1803; in between, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and was an Elector for Jefferson (and Aaron Burr) in 1800....
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51. William H. Cabell
1772-1853 (aged 81)
lawyer
judge
politician
William H. Cabell was a Virginia lawyer, politician, plantation owner, and judge aligned with the Democratic-Republican party. He served as a Member of the Virginia House of Delegates, as Governor of Virginia, and as a judge on what later became the Virginia Supreme Court. Cabell adopted his middle initial in 1795—which did not stand for a name—to distinguish himself from...
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52. Hamilton Rowan Gamble
1798-1864 (aged 66)
lawyer
judge
Hamilton Rowan Gamble was an American jurist and politician who served as the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court at the time of the Dred Scott case in 1852. Although his colleagues voted to overturn the 28-year precedent in Missouri of "once free always free," Gamble wrote a dissenting opinion. During the American Civil War, he was appointed as...
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53. John Wayles Eppes
1773-1823 (aged 50)
lawyer
politician
John Wayles Eppes was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1803 to 1811 and again from 1813 to 1815. He also served in the U.S. Senate (1817–1819). His positions in Congress occurred after he served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Chesterfield County (1801–1803).
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54. Ed McMullen
1964-. (aged 62)
diplomat
Edward Thomas McMullen Jr. is an American political strategist and diplomat, who served as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland from 2017 to 2021.
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55. William Cabell Rives
1793-1868 (aged 75)
diplomat
lawyer
politician
William Cabell Rives was an American lawyer, planter, politician and diplomat from Virginia. Initially a Jackson Democrat as well as member of the First Families of Virginia, Rives served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing first Nelson County, then Albemarle County, Virginia, before service in both the U.S. House and Senate (his final term as a Whig). Rives also...
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56. George H. Denny
1870-1955 (aged 85)
George Hutcheson Denny was an American academic and former president at both Washington and Lee University and the University of Alabama. Both a football coach and an educator, he ultimately was appointed Washington and Lee's president in 1901, and served in that position until his resignation in 1912 to become president at Alabama. Denny served as president of Alabama from...
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57. George M. Bibb
1776-1859 (aged 83)
lawyer
judge
politician
George Mortimer Bibb was an American lawyer and politician and the seventeenth United States Secretary of the Treasury. He was chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and twice represented Kentucky as a senator in Congress, serving from 1811 to 1814 and from 1829 to 1835.
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58. John Leighton Stuart
1876-1962 (aged 86)
diplomat
missionary
John Leighton Stuart was a missionary educator, the first President of Yenching University and later United States ambassador to China. He was a towering figure in U.S.-China relations in the first half of the 20th century, a man TIME magazine described as "perhaps the most respected American in China." According to one Chinese historian, "there was no other American of...
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59. Robert Hurt
1969-. (aged 57)
lawyer
politician
Robert Hurt is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 5th congressional district from 2011 to 2017, where he served on the Financial Services Committee as vice chair of the Capital Markets Subcommittee and Housing and Insurance Subcommittee.
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60. Jonathan Martin
1977-. (aged 49)
journalist
writer
Jonathan Martin is an American political journalist. He is Politico’s politics bureau chief and senior political columnist, the co-author of the 2012 book The End of the Line: Romney vs. Obama: The 34 Days That Decided the Election, and the co-author of the 2022 book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future.
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61. Robert Lewis Dabney
1820-1898 (aged 78)
biographer
theologian
university teacher
architect
Robert Lewis Dabney was a Southern Presbyterian pastor and theologian, Confederate army chaplain, and architect from Virginia. He was also chief of staff and biographer to Stonewall Jackson; his biography of Jackson remains in print today.
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62. Paul Trible
1946-. (aged 80)
lawyer
politician
Paul Seward Trible Jr. is an American attorney, politician and academic administrator. Trible was the president of Christopher Newport University from 1996 until his retirement in 2022. A Republican, he represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms and the U.S. Senate for one. Trible was the first Republican Class I Senator from Virginia.
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63. Francis Schaeffer
1912-1984 (aged 72)
writer
philosopher
theologian
pastor
Francis August Schaeffer was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, a prolific author in her own right. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted what he claimed was a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics, which he believed would answer the questions...
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64. John S. Mosby
1833-1916 (aged 83)
lawyer
military personnel
John Singleton Mosby, also known by his nickname "Gray Ghost", was an American military officer who was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War. His command, the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (known as Mosby's Rangers or Mosby's Raiders) was a partisan ranger unit noted for its lightning-quick raids and its ability to elude Union Army pursuers and blend...
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65. Skipp Sudduth
1956-. (aged 70)
television actor
stage actor
television director
film actor
Robert Lee "Skipp" Sudduth IV is an American theater, film and television actor. He appeared in the 1998 film Ronin and the TV drama Third Watch.
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66. Sterling Price
1809-1867 (aged 58)
military officer
businessperson
politician
Sterling Price was an American politician and military officer who was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, fighting in both the Western and Trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War. He rose to prominence during the Mexican–American War and served as governor of Missouri from 1853 to 1857. He is remembered today for his service in Arkansas (1862–1865)...
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67. John Phillips
1935-2001 (aged 66)
actor
director
producer
composer
guitarist
John Edmund Andrew Phillips was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the leader of the vocal group the Mamas & the Papas and remains frequently referred to as Papa John Phillips. In addition to writing the majority of the group's compositions, he also wrote "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" in 1967 for former...
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68. Scott Cooper
1970-. (aged 56)
actor
television actor
screenwriter
film actor
film director
Scott Cooper is an American filmmaker and former actor. He is known for the films Crazy Heart (2009), Out of the Furnace (2013), Black Mass (2015), Hostiles (2017), Antlers (2021), The Pale Blue Eye (2022), and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025).
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69. William Henry Harrison
1773-1841 (aged 68)
statesperson
diplomat
military officer
politician
William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causing a brief constitutional crisis, since presidential succession was not then fully defined in the U.S. Constitution. Harrison was the last president born as...
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70. Stephen Colbert
1964-. (aged 62)
screenwriter
television presenter
comedian
actor
television producer
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the Comedy Central news satire show The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014, and the CBS talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015.
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71. William D. Reynolds
1867-1951 (aged 84)
translator
Bible translator
William D. Reynolds was an American Southern Presbyterian (PCUS) missionary and Bible translator in Korea.
72. W. Taylor Reveley II
1917-1992 (aged 75)
basketball player
Christian minister
academic administrator
university teacher
Walter Taylor Reveley II served as the 18th president of Hampden-Sydney College from 1963 to 1977. Founded in 1775 with other colonial colleges, Hampden-Sydney is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in America. During Reveley's presidency, a time of significant social and political unrest throughout the country, the faculty increased by more than 40 percent, the student body...
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73. John M. P. Atkinson
1817-1883 (aged 66)
theologian
John Mayo Pleasants Atkinson was the tenth President of Hampden–Sydney College from 1857 to 1883. He was the first alumnus of the college to be named its president and is the longest tenured president to date (26 years).
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