58 Notable alumni of Loyola University New Orleans
Updated: June 14, 2026 EliteDegrees
Loyola University New Orleans is ranked #1,876 in the world and #463 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 58 notable alumni from Loyola University New Orleans sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Janet Mary Riley
1915-2008 (aged 93)
academic
Janet Mary Riley was an American civil rights activist and first female law professor in New Orleans. Riley dedicated her career to social justice reform, where her proposed "equal management" in reference to community property law was adopted by the Louisiana legislature in 1978 and formally incorporated into the Civil Code in 1980. In addition, Janet Mary Riley heavily involved...
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2. Lydia Y. Nichols
1992-. (aged 34)
curator
writer
arts administrator
Lydia Y. Nichols is an American writer, specifically focusing on race, culture and the environment. She currently works as the Chief Cultural Columnist for BayouBrief.com, a public interest news source in Louisiana.
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3. Richard Alvin Tonry
1935-2012 (aged 77)
lawyer
politician
Richard Alvin Tonry was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 1st congressional district for a partial term in 1977.
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4. Brent Crayon
musician
Brent Crayon is an American pianist, musical director, orchestrator and copyist.
5. Víctor J. Montilla
1970-. (aged 56)
businessperson
Víctor José Montilla is a Puerto Rican businessman, publishing senior executive, and broadcaster.
6. Tony Dagradi
1952-. (aged 74)
saxophonist
Anthony Arnold "Tony" Dagradi is an American jazz saxophonist.
7. Amy Guidry
1976-. (aged 50)
painter
Amy Guidry is an American artist in Lafayette, Louisiana.
8. Franklin Foil
1964-. (aged 62)
military officer
lawyer
politician
Franklin Johnson Foil is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate for the 16th district, serving since 2020. He formerly represented the 70th district in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2008 until 2020.
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9. Jim McCafferty
1916-2006 (aged 90)
basketball coach
James Joseph "Big Jim" McCafferty was an American basketball coach for the Loyola Wolf Pack and Xavier Musketeers.
10. Steven Spooner
1970-. (aged 56)
pianist
Steven Spooner is an American pianist, and currently Professor of Piano at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.
11. Mary Ann Vial Lemmon
1941-. (aged 85)
judge
Mary Ann Vial Lemmon is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
12. Kim Gandy
1954-. (aged 72)
women's rights activist
lawyer
politician
Kim Gandy is an American feminist who, from 2001 to 2009, was the president of the National Organization for Women. Since 2012, she has been the president and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. In 2009, Gandy was a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University...
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13. Ben Bagert
1944-. (aged 82)
pianist
lawyer
politician
Bernard John Bagert Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He served in the Louisiana State House from 1970 to 1984 and the Louisiana State Senate from 1984 to 1992, representing Orleans Parish as a Democrat.
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14. A. J. McNamara
1936-2014 (aged 78)
engineer
lawyer
judge
politician
Abel John "A. J." McNamara, was a Louisiana politician and judge who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980 and as a United States district judge of the New Orleans–based United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1982 to 2001.
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15. Royd Anderson
1972-. (aged 54)
film director
filmmaker
Royd Anderson is a Cuban-American filmmaker and historian based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He specializes in documentary films pertaining to tragic Louisiana events often overlooked by historians.
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16. Ronnie Virgets
1942-2019 (aged 77)
journalist
Ronald Edward Virgets was an American writer, commentator, and journalist. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, he lived there for most of his life.
17. Greer Grimsley
1956-. (aged 70)
opera singer
Greer Grimsley is an American bass-baritone who has had an active international opera career for the last three decades. He has sung leading roles with all of America's leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Seattle Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, and the Houston Grand Opera. He...
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18. Joe Leydon
1952-. (aged 74)
historian
film critic
journalist
Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for Variety since 1990, he is the author of Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See (Michael Wiese Productions), and was a contributing critic for Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. As of July 2021 he has 1225 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes....
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19. Carl H. Brans
1935-. (aged 91)
physicist
Carl Henry Brans is an American mathematical physicist best known for his research into the theoretical underpinnings of gravitation elucidated in his most widely publicized work, the Brans–Dicke theory.
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20. Sarah Jaffe
1980-. (aged 46)
editing staff
writer
journalist
television journalist
radio journalist
Sarah L. Jaffe is an American labor journalist. She is the author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt and Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone (2021), and most recently From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire (2024). Jaffe is a columnist for The Progressive and New...
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21. James Domengeaux
1907-1988 (aged 81)
lawyer
politician
James R. Domengeaux was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served in the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1941 to 1949. He was a cultural activist of Cajun and Louisiana Creole descent who is best remembered for his efforts to preserve the French language in his native state.
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22. Charles Anthony
1929-2012 (aged 83)
opera singer
Charles Anthony Caruso, better known by his stage name of Charles Anthony, was an American actor and tenor noted for his portrayal of comprimario characters in opera. Anthony had the distinction of appearing in more performances at the Metropolitan Opera than any other performer. He celebrated his fiftieth anniversary with the company in 2004, and gave his farewell in the...
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23. Mia Borders
1987-. (aged 39)
singer
Mia Borders is an American singer-songwriter from New Orleans, Louisiana, mixing soul, funk, rhythm and blues, and electronic music.
24. AM
songwriter
singer-songwriter
guitarist
singer
AM is an American songwriter, musician, composer and producer born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, raised in New Orleans, and currently residing in the Los Angeles Echo Park neighborhood in California. AM or A.M. refers to his band and is also the moniker for this artist. Known for his seamless fusing of pop, soul, funk and world music, recording artist AM has...
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25. Marguerite Piazza
1921-2012 (aged 91)
opera singer
television actor
Marguerite Piazza was an American soprano, entertainer and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana.
26. Bryan Hymel
1979-. (aged 47)
opera singer
Bryan Hymel is an American operatic tenor who was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and graduated from Jesuit High School and Loyola University New Orleans.
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27. John W. Houghtaling II
1971-. (aged 55)
lawyer
John Houghtaling is an American attorney and oil and gas executive.
28. Michael S. Harrison
police officer
Michael S. Harrison is an American former police officer who served as commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) from 2019 to 2023. He was also the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) from 2014 to 2019.
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29. J. Skelly Wright
1911-1988 (aged 77)
lawyer
judge
James Skelly Wright was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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30. Richard W. Leche
1898-1965 (aged 67)
lawyer
judge
politician
Richard Webster Leche was an American attorney, judge, and politician, elected as the 44th governor of Louisiana. He served from 1936 until 1939, when he resigned. Convicted on federal charges of misuse of federal funds, Leche was the first Louisiana chief executive to be imprisoned.
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31. Hunter Wendelstedt
1971-. (aged 55)
baseball umpire
Harry Hunter Wendelstedt III is an American baseball umpire who has worked in the National League in 1998–1999 and throughout both major leagues since 2000. His father Harry Hunter Wendelstedt Jr. was an NL umpire from 1966 to 1998. Hunter Wendelstedt goes by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father.
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32. Catherine Lacey
1985-. (aged 41)
writer
novelist
Catherine Lacey is an American writer.
33. Manuel Esquivel
1940-2022 (aged 82)
politician
Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel KCMG, PC was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as the second prime minister of Belize from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was the first time an opposition party had won a general election in Belize.
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34. Sean O'Keefe
1956-. (aged 70)
politician
Sean Charles O'Keefe is a university professor at Syracuse University Maxwell School, former chairman of Airbus Group, Inc., former secretary of the Navy, former administrator of NASA, and former chancellor of Louisiana State University (LSU). He is a former member of the board of directors of DuPont.
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35. Fred Crane
1918-2008 (aged 90)
hotel manager
actor
program maker
film actor
radio personality
Herman Frederick Crane was an American film and television actor and radio announcer. He is probably best known for his role as Brent Tarleton in the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind, speaking the opening lines in the movie during the opening scene with Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Stuart Tarleton (George Reeves).
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36. Mary Anne Franks
1977-. (aged 49)
jurist
university teacher
Mary Anne Franks is an American legal scholar, author, activist, and media commentator. She is a professor of law and the Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law at George Washington University Law School, where her areas of expertise and teaching include First Amendment law, Second Amendment law, criminal law, criminal procedure,...
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37. Moon Landrieu
1930-2022 (aged 92)
lawyer
judge
politician
Moon Edwin Landrieu was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th mayor of New Orleans from 1970 to 1978. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New Orleans' Twelfth Ward in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966. He served on the New Orleans City Council as a member at-large from 1966 to 1970,...
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38. Shalanda Young
1977-. (aged 49)
policy advisor
politician
Shalanda Delores Young is an American political advisor and government official who served as the 43rd director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously worked as the staff director of the United States House Committee on Appropriations.
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39. Earl Long
1895-1960 (aged 65)
lawyer
politician
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Louisiana on three occasions (1939–1940, 1948–1952, and 1956–1960). A member of the Democratic Party, he held the same position that his brother, Huey Long, held years earlier (1928–1932).
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40. Kyan Douglas
1970-. (aged 56)
television personality
presenter
Kyan Douglas is an American television personality and stylist. He was the grooming expert on the American television program Queer Eye from 2003 to 2007.
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41. Sammis Reyes
1995-. (aged 31)
basketball player
American football player
Sammis Daniel Reyes Martel is a Chilean professional football tight end and former basketball player. The first player from Chile to play in the National Football League, Reyes grew up playing basketball as a youth member of their national team before moving to the United States on an athletic scholarship at 14. He played college basketball for the Hawaii Rainbow...
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42. María Celeste Arrarás
1960-. (aged 66)
journalist
María Celeste Arrarás Mangual, better known as María Celeste, is a Puerto Rican broadcast journalist, author, and television personality, who has won three national Emmy Awards for journalism. In 2005, she became the first female recipient of the Legacy Award by Broadcast and Multi Channel for outstanding achievement in Hispanic Television. In 2006, Arrarás was included on the cover of...
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43. Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe
1923-2016 (aged 93)
politician
Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe III was an American fighter ace, Democratic Party politician, insurance executive, and funeral director. As a Marine pilot in World War II he received the Navy Cross for five of the seven kills he recorded over Okinawa. After the war he entered politics, serving as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1960 to 1964...
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44. Mitch Landrieu
1960-. (aged 66)
lawyer
politician
Mitchell Joseph Landrieu is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 61st mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 51st lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 2004 to 2010.
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45. Tom Benson
1927-2018 (aged 91)
businessperson
Thomas Milton Benson Jr. was an American businessman, philanthropist and sports franchise owner. He was the owner of several automobile dealerships before buying the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) in 1985 and the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2012.
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46. Jeff Landry
1970-. (aged 56)
police officer
lawyer
businessperson
politician
Jeffrey Martin Landry is an American politician and attorney serving since 2024 as the 57th governor of Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2016 to 2024 as the 45th attorney general of Louisiana and from 2011 to 2013 as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district.
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47. G-Eazy
1989-. (aged 37)
songwriter
rapper
singer
record producer
Gerald Earl Gillum, known professionally as G-Eazy, is an American rapper. Based in Oakland, California, he began his career in 2006 and released two independent studio albums before signing with RCA Records to release his third album and major label debut, These Things Happen (2014). It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "I Mean...
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48. David Draiman
1973-. (aged 53)
singer
songwriter
David Michael Draiman is an American heavy metal singer. Noted for his distorted baritone voice and percussive singing style, he has been the lead vocalist of Disturbed since 1996. He has written some of the band's most successful singles, such as "Stupify", "Down with the Sickness", "Indestructible", and "Inside the Fire". In 2006, he was ranked at No. 42 on...
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49. Norman Francis
1931-. (aged 95)
academic
Norman Christopher Francis was an American academic who served as president of Xavier University of Louisiana from 1968 to 2015. He was the first Black and first lay president of the school, and the second African American to ever serve as president of a Catholic university in the United States.
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50. Hunt Downer
1946-. (aged 80)
lawyer
politician
Hunt Downer is an American politician. He served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
51. Ellis Marsalis Jr
1934-2020 (aged 86)
pianist
jazz musician
music educator
pedagogue
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.
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52. Robert William Muench
1942-. (aged 84)
Catholic priest
Catholic bishop
Robert William Muench is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Muench served as bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Louisiana from 2002 to 2018. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Covington in Kentucky from 1996 to 2002 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in Louisiana from 1990 to...
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53. Dick Clark
1928-2023 (aged 95)
university teacher
politician
Richard Wagstaff Clark was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted American Bandstand from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid game show from 1973 to 1988 and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which broadcast New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City's Times Square.
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54. Eboni K. Williams
1983-. (aged 43)
television personality
television presenter
lawyer
television actor
celebrity
Eboni Kiuhnna Williams is an American lawyer and television host. She hosts the nightly news show The Grio with Eboni K. Williams on TheGrio. She co-hosted a talk show on WABC Radio in New York City and was a co-host of Fox News' 2017 show Fox News Specialists. In October 2020, she was cast in The Real Housewives of New...
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55. Robert Wilkie
1962-. (aged 64)
lawyer
Robert Leon Wilkie Jr. is an American lawyer and government official who served as the 10th United States secretary of veterans affairs from 2018 to 2021, during the first Trump administration. He was previously Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness from November 2017 to July 2018. A Naval intelligence officer in the Reserve, he was Assistant Secretary of...
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56. Ed Feighan
1947-. (aged 79)
politician
Edward Farrell "Ed" Feighan is a former American politician. He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a Democratic Party U.S. Representative from 1983 to 1993, serving Ohio's 19th congressional district.
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57. Joseph Cao
1967-. (aged 59)
advocate
lawyer
teacher
politician
Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao is a Vietnamese-American politician who was the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is the first Vietnamese American and first native of Vietnam to serve in Congress.
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58. Michael Smith
1979-. (aged 47)
sports journalist
sports commentator
Michael Smith CC OBC FRS was a British-Canadian biochemist and businessman. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kary Mullis for his work in developing site-directed mutagenesis. Following a PhD in 1956 from the University of Manchester, he undertook postdoctoral research with Har Gobind Khorana (himself a Nobel Prize winner) at the British Columbia Research Council in Vancouver,...
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