39 Notable alumni of Roosevelt University
Updated: June 14, 2026 EliteDegrees
Roosevelt University is ranked #2,032 in the world and #505 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 39 notable alumni from Roosevelt 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 Roosevelt University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. George L.P. Weaver
1912-1995 (aged 83)
civil rights advocate
trade unionist
George Leon-Paul Weaver was an American labor leader, active in promoting civil rights both in the United States and internationally. After serving as Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs in both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, he was elected chair of the governing body of the International Labour Organization, a United Nations body, in 1968. He was the first...
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2. Jake Bernstein
1946-. (aged 80)
day trader
Jake Bernstein is President of Network Press, Inc. in Santa Cruz, California. Bernstein claims expertise in seasonal trading and has developed methods of trading in futures markets, and has been a featured speaker at many investment conferences and trading seminars. In 1999, Bernstein was fined by the National Futures Association $200,000 and permanently barred from NFA membership for not using...
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3. Louis A. Lerner
1935-1984 (aged 49)
diplomat
publisher
Louis Abraham Lerner was an American businessman, publisher, political activist and ambassador. He received a B.A. in 1960 from Roosevelt University. In 1956–57, he studied Scandinavian affairs in Denmark. Lerner's father was publisher Leo Lerner.
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4. Don Hahnfeldt
1944-2017 (aged 73)
politician
Don Hahnfeldt was an American politician.
5. Howard W. Carroll
1942-2021 (aged 79)
politician
Howard W. "Howie" Carroll was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served in the Illinois General Assembly.
6. Kenneth Slowik
1954-. (aged 72)
historian
cellist
conductor
curator
Kenneth Slowik is an American cellist, viol player, and conductor. Curator of Musical Instrument Collection at the National Museum of American History and Artistic Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society. He took an interest in music and organology from an early age. He studied at the University of Chicago, the Chicago Musical College, the Peabody Conservatory, the Salzburg Mozarteum...
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7. Sharon Patton
1944-. (aged 82)
historian
curator
art historian
Sharon F. Patton is an American historian who specializes in African art.
8. Raymond F. Clevenger
1926-2016 (aged 90)
lawyer
politician
Raymond Francis Clevenger was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan between 1965 and 1967.
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9. Rey Colón
politician
Rey Colón was an alderman of the 35th Ward of the City of Chicago. He was first elected in 2003. He served three terms and was defeated in a reelection bid on February 24, 2015.
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10. Teri Clark Linden
1966-. (aged 60)
film actor
actor
stage actor
Teri Clark Linden is an American actress, best known for her film roles in Super 8, Jack Reacher and Love & Other Drugs.
11. Florence Cole Talbert
1890-1961 (aged 71)
opera singer
Florence Cole Talbert-McCleave, also known as Madame Florence Cole-Talbert, was an American operatic soprano, music educator, and musician. Called "The First Lady in Grand Opera" by the National Negro Opera Guild, she was one of the first African American women and black opera artists performing abroad who received success and critical acclaim in classical and operatic music in the 20th...
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12. Amy Leslie
1855-1939 (aged 84)
opera singer
stage actor
writer
journalist
actor
Lillian West, better known by the pen name Amy Leslie, was an American actress, opera singer, and drama critic.
13. Lee Stern
1926-. (aged 100)
sports executive
financier
Lee B. Stern is the longest tenured trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. He has been one of the most successful traders in the commodities market throughout his membership, and is well known for his involvement in the Chicago sports scene. He was the President of the North American Soccer League's Chicago Sting, and remains a director and minority...
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14. Irving Slosberg
1947-. (aged 79)
politician
Irving Slosberg is a former Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 91st District, which stretches from Boynton Beach to Boca Raton in southeastern Palm Beach County, from 2012 to 2016. Slosberg ran for state Senate twice: In 2006, when he lost a bid to the state Senate in the Democratic primary, and in 2016, when he...
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15. Patricia Van Pelt
1957-. (aged 69)
politician
Patricia Van Pelt Watkins is an American politician who served in the Illinois Senate, representing the 5th district, from 2013 to 2023. The 5th district is located on the West Side of Chicago. Prior to her service as a member of the Illinois Senate she was a community activist and ran for Mayor of Chicago.
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16. Emil Jones
1935-. (aged 91)
politician
Emil Jones Jr. is an American politician who was the president of the Illinois Senate from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Jones served in the Illinois Senate from 1983 to 2009, where he served as President of the Illinois Senate from 2003 to the end of his term. Previously, he was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from...
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17. Clarice Assad
1978-. (aged 48)
singer
composer
jazz musician
Clarice Assad is a Brazilian-American composer, pianist, arranger, singer, and educator from Rio de Janeiro. Her work is influenced by popular Brazilian culture, Romanticism, world music, and jazz. She comes from a musical family, which includes her father, guitarist Sergio Assad, her uncle, guitarist Odair Assad, and her aunt, singer-songwriter Badi Assad.
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18. Timuel Black
1918-2021 (aged 103)
military personnel
Timuel Dixon Black Jr. was an American educator, civil rights activist, historian and author. A native of Alabama, Black was raised in Chicago, Illinois, and studied the city's African-American history. He was active in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, most notably participating in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Chicago Freedom Movement during 1965 and 1966. Black was part...
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19. Gus Savage
1925-2015 (aged 90)
politician
editor
Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage was an American entrepreneur, publisher and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. He served six terms from 1981 to 1993.
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20. Toni Harp
1947-. (aged 79)
politician
Toni Nathaniel Harp is an American politician who served as the 50th Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut. Harp, a Democrat, was previously a state senator in Connecticut from 1993 to 2013. A resident of New Haven, Harp represented the western half of the city as well as part of West Haven while in the Connecticut Senate.
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21. Mike Quigley
1958-. (aged 68)
lawyer
teacher
legislative assistant
politician
Michael Bruce Quigley is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 5th congressional district since the April 7, 2009 special election. The district includes most of Chicago's North Side and several of its western suburbs. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Quigley is a former member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, where he...
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22. Ron Williams
1949-. (aged 77)
businessperson
Ronald Allen Williams is an American businessman and board director on corporate, public sector and non-profit boards. He is the former chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aetna Inc. and is the founder, chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC.
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23. Jesse Brown
1944-2002 (aged 58)
politician
Jesse Brown was an American politician and Marine Corps veteran who served as the second United States secretary of veterans affairs under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.
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24. Melissa Bean
1962-. (aged 64)
consultant
businessperson
politician
Melissa Bean is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2011. Bean is a member of the Democratic Party.
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25. Rick Yancey
1962-. (aged 64)
screenwriter
novelist
writer
science fiction writer
children's writer
Richard Yancey is an American author who writes works of suspense, fantasy, and science fiction aimed at young adults.
26. Anthony Braxton
1945-. (aged 81)
pianist
saxophonist
university teacher
flautist
composer
Anthony Braxton is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto sax. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago and was a key early member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He received great acclaim for his 1969 double-LP record For Alto, the...
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27. Eddie Harris
1934-1996 (aged 62)
jazz musician
pianist
saxophonist
composer
recording artist
Eddie Harris was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known compositions are "Freedom Jazz Dance", popularized by Miles Davis in 1966, and "Listen Here".
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28. Robert Lamm
1944-. (aged 82)
musician
composer
guitarist
pianist
singer
Robert William Lamm is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his songwriting, vocals, and keyboard melodies, most significantly on the band's debut studio album, Chicago Transit Authority (1969). Lamm wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including "Questions 67 & 68", "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?",...
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29. Harold Washington
1922-1987 (aged 65)
lawyer
politician
Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor at the age of 60. He served as mayor from April 29, 1983, until his death in 1987. Born in Chicago and raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood, Washington...
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30. Merle Dandridge
1975-. (aged 51)
singer
television actor
film actor
voice actor
stage actor
Merle Dandridge is an American actress and singer. She is best known for performing in Broadway musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Spamalot, Rent, and Once on This Island, as well as her video game roles as Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2 and Marlene in The Last of Us franchise. She played the leading role of Grace Greenleaf in the...
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31. Bobby Rush
1946-. (aged 80)
priest
insurance broker
politician
Bobby Lee Rush is an American politician, activist, and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district for three decades, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party.
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32. Carla Hayden
1952-. (aged 74)
university teacher
librarian
Carla Diane Hayden is an American librarian who served as the 14th librarian of Congress. Hayden was both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post. Appointed in 2016, she was the first professional librarian to hold the post since 1974. In May 2025, she was dismissed from the post by President Donald Trump. On July...
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33. Moshe Kletenik
1954-. (aged 72)
rabbi
Moshe Kletenik is an American rabbi who was President of the Rabbinical Council of America.
34. Herschell Gordon Lewis
1929-2016 (aged 87)
film score composer
actor
film producer
director
screenwriter
Herschell Gordon Lewis was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter" subgenre of horror films. He is often called the "Godfather of Gore" (a title also given to Lucio Fulci), though his film career included works in a range of exploitation film genres including juvenile delinquent films, nudie-cuties, two children's films and at least one rural comedy. On...
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35. Robert McFerrin
1921-2006 (aged 85)
opera singer
Robert Keith McFerrin Sr. was an American operatic baritone, notable for being the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His voice was described by critic Albert Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times as "a baritone of beautiful quality, even in all registers, and with a top that partakes of something of a tenor's...
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36. Art Porter, Jr
1961-1996 (aged 35)
saxophonist
jazz musician
Arthur Lee Porter Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist. He was the son of jazz musician Art Porter Sr. and the namesake of "The Art Porter Bill".
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37. Amy Madigan
1950-. (aged 76)
film producer
film actor
stage actor
television actor
actor
Amy Marie Madigan is an American actress. Known for her work on screen and stage, her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
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38. Wang Tien-ging
1947-. (aged 79)
politician
Wang Tien-ging is a Taiwanese politician who served in the Legislative Yuan from 1990 to 2002.
39. Hussein al-Araj
1951-. (aged 75)
politician
Hussein Abdallah al-Araj is a Palestinian former mayor and government minister. He was the acting mayor of Nablus, one of the largest cities in the West Bank. He was in office, heading a local government committee, from April 2004 to April 2005. He was succeeded by another local government committee led by Ghassan Hammouz. Al-Araj was also the Palestinian National...
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