31 Notable alumni of Jackson State University
Updated: June 16, 2026 EliteDegrees
Jackson State University is ranked #1,505 in the world and #365 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 31 notable alumni from Jackson State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Jackson State University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Patricia Jessamy
1948-. (aged 78)
lawyer
Patricia Coats Jessamy was the State's Attorney of Baltimore, Maryland. She was appointed to head the office in 1995 and won reelection three times.
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2. Hillman Terome Frazier
1950-. (aged 76)
politician
Hillman Terome Frazier is a Democratic member of the Mississippi Senate, representing the 27th District since 1993. From 1980 to 1993, he served in the Mississippi House of Representatives. During his time in the legislature, he authored legislation to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a state holiday and to formally adopt the 13th amendment.
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3. Reuben D. Jones
Reuben D. Jones is a retired United States Army major general. In his final assignment, he served as the deputy commanding general of operations for the Installation Management Command from June 3, 2011, to December 3, 2012.
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4. Mattie Hunter
1954-. (aged 72)
politician
Mattie Hunter is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 3rd district since 2003. She is the Senate secretary for the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and the Senate majority caucus whip. Hunter is also the 20th Ward Democratic Committeewoman.
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5. Rosalind Peychaud
1948-. (aged 78)
politician
Rosalind Magee Peychaud is an American politician and community leader. She served as a Democratic state representative for Louisiana’s 91st District from 2002 to 2004. In 2009, she was appointed deputy chief of staff for U.S. Representative Joseph Cao, a Republican representing Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, where she worked in the New Orleans district office.
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6. Felicia C. Adams
1960-. (aged 66)
lawyer
Felicia C. Adams is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi from 2011 to 2017.
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7. Erik R. Fleming
1965-. (aged 61)
politician
Erik Robert Fleming is an American politician who was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives representing the 72nd District (which includes parts of Hinds and Madison counties) from 1999 to 2008. He has been the Democratic nominee twice for one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats. He faced incumbent Republican Thad Cochran in the November 4, 2008...
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8. Judy Sullivan
1943-. (aged 83)
engineer
Judy Sullivan is an American retired biomedical engineer who worked for NASA during the Apollo 11, Apollo 10, Apollo 9, Apollo 8, and Gemini 12 missions. She was the lead biomedical engineer for the Apollo 9 and Apollo 11 missions. Sullivan was the only woman in her department, and one of only a relative few women working for NASA in...
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9. Robert G. Clark, Jr
1928-2025 (aged 97)
politician
Robert George Clark Jr. was an American politician who served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1968 to 2004, representing the 47th district. He was the first African-American member of the Mississippi Legislature since 1894.
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10. George Flaggs Jr
1953-. (aged 73)
politician
George Flaggs Jr. is an American politician who served as Mayor of Vicksburg, Mississippi from 2013 to 2025. An independent, Flaggs won his first term as mayor in 2013 and was reelected in 2017 and again in 2021, before losing another re-election bid in 2025. Prior to becoming mayor, Flaggs was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from...
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11. Vasti Jackson
1959-. (aged 67)
singer-songwriter
record producer
Vasti Jackson is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the musical director and guitarist for Z. Z. Hill, Johnnie Taylor, Denise LaSalle, Little Milton, Bobby Bland and Katie Webster and has worked with gospel artists including the Williams Brothers, the Jackson Southernaires, and Daryl Coley.
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12. Curt Ford
1960-. (aged 66)
baseball player
Curtis Glenn Ford is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, from 1985 through 1990.
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13. Carlton W. Reeves
1964-. (aged 62)
lawyer
judge
Carlton Wayne Reeves is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and chair of the United States Sentencing Commission.
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14. Dave Clark
1962-. (aged 64)
baseball player
David Earl Clark is an American former baseball outfielder who is the first base coach for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the first base coach and outfield instructor for the Detroit Tigers. He served as manager of the Houston Astros Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks (2005–2007), and led them to the Texas...
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15. Emmelie Prophète
1971-. (aged 55)
poet
writer
journalist
Emmelie Prophète, also known as Emmelie Prophète Milcé, is a Haitian writer and diplomat. From November 2022 till April 2024, she served as the justice minister of Haiti.
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16. Rod Paige
1933-2025 (aged 92)
politician
Roderick Raynor Paige Sr. was an American academic and politician who served as the 7th United States secretary of education from 2001 to 2005 during the George W. Bush administration. He was the first African American to serve as the secretary of education. His tenure as education secretary was noted for his involvement in the creation and passage of the...
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17. Cornell William Brooks
1961-. (aged 65)
lawyer
Cornell William Brooks is an American lawyer and activist. He was chosen to be the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in May 2014. He previously served as president of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark, New Jersey, and as executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington.
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18. Dorothy Moore
1946-. (aged 80)
singer
Dorothy Moore is an American blues, gospel, and R&B singer best known for her 1976 hit song, "Misty Blue".
19. Robert Brazile
1953-. (aged 73)
American football player
Robert Lorenzo Brazile Jr., nicknamed "Dr. Doom", is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). Brazile played from 1975 to 1984 for the Houston Oilers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
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20. Audie Norris
1960-. (aged 66)
basketball player
basketball coach
Audie James Norris is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Norris played for the National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers, from 1982 to 1985. His former teammate Mychal Thompson gave him the nickname "The Atomic Dog", because of his brutal in-game dunks.
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21. James Meredith
1933-. (aged 93)
lawyer
civil rights advocate
James Howard Meredith is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississippi after the intervention of the federal government (an event that was a flashpoint in the civil rights movement). Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address,...
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22. Laphonza Butler
1979-. (aged 47)
political adviser
union organizer
politician
Laphonza Romanique Butler is an American labor union official and former politician who served as a United States senator from California from 2023 to 2024. Butler began her career as a union organizer, and served as president of California SEIU State Council from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a regent of the University of...
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23. Shedeur Sanders
2002-. (aged 24)
American football player
Shedeur Deion Sanders is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Jerry Rice Award, Deacon Jones Trophy, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award before being selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft....
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24. Travis Hunter
2003-. (aged 23)
American football player
Travis Hunter Jr. is an American professional football cornerback and wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Heisman Trophy with the latter in 2024. Known for his two-way playing ability, Hunter is the only player in college football history to win...
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25. Walter Payton
1954-1999 (aged 45)
American football player
Walter Jerry Payton was an American professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "Sweetness", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time.
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26. Bennie Thompson
1948-. (aged 78)
teacher
politician
Bennie Gordon Thompson is an American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 2nd congressional district since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Thompson served as the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023. He was both the first Democrat and the first African American to chair...
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27. Cassandra Wilson
1955-. (aged 71)
singer
songwriter
jazz singer
recording artist
jazz musician
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating blues, country, and folk music into her work. She has won...
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28. Kiese Laymon
1974-. (aged 52)
writer
novelist
Kiese Laymon is an American writer. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, Long Division (2013), and two memoirs, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (2013) and the award-winning Heavy: An American Memoir (2018). Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.
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29. Bill Evans
1929-1980 (aged 51)
composer
bandleader
jazz pianist
conductor
William LaVar Evans is a college basketball head coach, currently the head coach at USU Eastern.
30. George T. French Jr
university president
George T. French Jr. is an American academic administrator and university president. He is the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University in downtown Atlanta, serving since September 2019. He previously served as the 14th president of Miles College from March 2006 until August 2019.
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31. Emmett C. Burns, Jr
1940-2022 (aged 82)
politician
Emmett C. Burns Jr. was an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. He served five terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Maryland's District 10 in Baltimore County. Burns was a member of the Economic Matters Committee.
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