33 Notable alumni of Lamar University

Alvin Joseph Brooks Jr. is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of Lamar University's men's basketball team. Brooks returned to Lamar as men's basketball head coach on April 1, 2021. Prior to Lamar, he most recently served as an assistant coach for the Houston Cougars. Brooks has also served as Director of Basketball Operations for the Kentucky...

Joshua Jermaine Goodwin is an American retired basketball player. After three seasons playing collegiately for Lamar, he spent two years playing professionally in several countries.

H. Palmer Hall was a poet, fiction writer, essayist, editor, and librarian who lived in San Antonio, Texas. A Vietnam veteran who grew up near the Big Thicket in southeast Texas, Hall's writing often examines themes of war and its impact on the veterans who fight them. His work also examines the environment and how it nourishes us. Called an...

Wayne Earl Shaw is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. He represented the 3rd district in the Oklahoma State Senate from 2012 to 2020.

Tyrin J. Atwood is an American professional basketball player for Iskra Svit of the Slovak Basketball League.

Michael Joseph Truncale is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Brian Lee Sanches is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Harry Brinkley "Brink" Bass was a U.S. Navy pilot who was twice awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions in the Pacific theater during World War II. Bass died over Saint Bonnet le Froid, in southern France when his plane was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887) was named in his honor.

Florene Miller Watson was an American aviator and educator from Texas. Watson was one of the first Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) volunteers. She went on to fly for the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) throughout World War II. During that time, she worked as a trainer, ferried aircraft and was a test pilot.

John Hirasaki is an American mechanical engineer who worked for the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Apollo 11 mission, the first crewed mission to the Moon. In 1969 he – along with Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and William Carpentier – became one of the first five known humans to view lunar rocks inside...

Elvin Ernesto Santos Ordóñez is a Honduran politician who served as the vice president of Honduras from January 2006 to November 2008, when he resigned to stand as a Liberal Party candidate for the presidency in the 2009 elections. For the 2005 election the constitution was amended to create a single vice president. (Hondurans previously elected three 'presidential designates' on...

Keith Carter is an American photographer, educator, and artist noted for his dreamlike photos of people, animals and objects.

Brian Douglas Birdwell is an American politician who has served in the Texas Senate for District 22 since 2010. He is a survivor of the September 11, 2001 attacks against The Pentagon.

Reggie Begelton is an American professional football wide receiver for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Lamar. He has also played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL):

James Michael Sarbaugh is an American baseball coach who most recently served as the third base coach for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a former minor league baseball player and minor league manager for the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A farm team of the Guardians. He also served as the third base/infielders coach for the...

Clayton Allen Hensley is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, and San Francisco Giants.

Robert Lee McDill is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including The Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Anne Murray, and B. J. Thomas. His music credits in film include...

James Micah Hoffpauir is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He was drafted in 2000 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 44th round (1,301st overall), but he did not sign and returned to college. The Cubs selected him in the 13th round (393rd overall) of the 2002 draft. He is a distant cousin of former...

Tamara Abalde Díaz is a Spanish basketball player, currently player for Spanish team Durán Maquinaria Ensino. She played for Spain in the 2008 Summer Games and for the Lamar Cardinals in the NCAA. She is 6 feet, one inch, and weighs 159 pounds.

Nicholas Valentino Lampson is an American politician who is a former Democratic congressman representing the 22nd congressional district and the 9th congressional district of Texas. He served five terms in Congress between 1997 and 2009.

Justin Adam Harding is a South African professional golfer.

Kevin Charles Millar is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is a current analyst for MLB Network and NESN. He played in MLB for the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays from 1998 through 2009. He is currently a host along with Siera Santos...

Kelly Adam Asbury was an American film director, writer, voice actor, and illustrator. He was best known for directing the animated films Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Shrek 2 (2004), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and UglyDolls (2019).

Brian Philip Babin is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the U.S. representative from Texas's 36th congressional district since 2015. The district includes much of southeastern Houston, some of its eastern suburbs, and some more exurban and rural areas to the east.

Jack Bascom Brooks was an American Democratic Party politician from the state of Texas who served 42 years in the United States House of Representatives, initially representing Texas's 2nd congressional district from 1953 through 1967, and then, after district boundaries were redrawn in 1966, the 9th district from 1967 to 1995. He had strong political ties to other prominent Texas...

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.

Karen Gay Silkwood was an American laboratory technician and labor union activist known for reporting concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility.

Phyllis Ann Davis was an American actress who appeared primarily on television. She co-starred on the 1978–1981 dramatic detective series Vega$ as Beatrice Travis, office manager and girl Friday for the show's main character, Las Vegas private detective Dan Tanna, played by Robert Urich.

Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., better known by his stage name The Big Bopper, was an American musician and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include "Chantilly Lace", "Running Bear", and "White Lightning", the last of which became George Jones's first number-one hit in 1959.

George William Bailey is an American actor. His roles include Staff Sergeant Luther Rizzo in M*A*S*H (TV series 1979–1983), Lieutenant/Captain Thaddeus Harris in the Police Academy films (1984–1994), and Captain Felix Maxwell in Mannequin (1987). He played Detective Lieutenant Louie Provenza on TNT's television crime drama The Closer and its spin-off series Major Crimes from 2005 to 2018.

Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips Jr. was an American football coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers from 1975 to 1980 and the New Orleans Saints from 1981 to 1985.

Evelyn Rodriguez Miralles is a Venezuelan-American engineer that served as the chief principal engineer with CACI International at NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Texas. Her work at the virtual reality laboratory at NASA furthered human spaceflight by training United States astronauts to perform spacewalks and working outside a spacecraft in micro-gravity. Miralles is currently the Associate vice president for Strategic...