34 Notable alumni of Southeast Missouri State University
Updated: June 13, 2026 EliteDegrees
Southeast Missouri State University is ranked #2,123 in the world and #534 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 34 notable alumni from Southeast Missouri 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 Southeast Missouri State University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Edward D. Hays
1872-1941 (aged 69)
lawyer
judge
politician
Edward Dixon Hays was a U.S. Representative from Jackson, Missouri. He was later a key staff member with the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to his election to congress he had lived his whole life in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.
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2. Ralph Emerson Bailey
1878-1948 (aged 70)
lawyer
politician
Ralph Emerson Bailey was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1925 to 1927.
3. Rob Vescovo
1977-. (aged 49)
politician
Robert Vescovo is an American politician who served in the Missouri House of Representatives and was formerly the Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Majority Floor Leader for 4 years.
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4. Orville Zimmerman
1880-1948 (aged 68)
head teacher
lawyer
politician
Orville Zimmerman was a U.S. representative from Missouri.
5. Joe Tuineau
1981-. (aged 45)
rugby union player
Joseph Mark Laifone Tuineau is a Tonga international rugby union footballer. He plays in the lock position for the France based Pro D2 side, Dax. Tuineau also represents Tonga at international level.
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6. Sam Aaron Baker
1874-1933 (aged 59)
politician
Samuel Aaron Baker was an American educator and Republican politician who served as the 36th Governor of Missouri.
7. Edgar Jones
1984-. (aged 42)
American football player
Edgar Devon Jones is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played for the Ravens for five seasons from 2007 to 2011. He also played for...
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8. John E. Miller
1929-2014 (aged 85)
businessperson
politician
John Elvis Miller was a United States representative and United States Senator from Arkansas and later was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
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9. Betty Cooper Hearnes
1927-2023 (aged 96)
politician
Betty Sue Hearnes was an American Democratic Party politician from Missouri.
10. Bill Burlison
1931-2019 (aged 88)
lawyer
politician
Billy Dean Burlison was an American lawyer and politician who held office in the states of Missouri and Maryland.
11. D. V. Chanaka
1987-. (aged 39)
politician
Denagama Vitharanage Chanaka Dinushan is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was elected as the United People's Freedom Alliance candidate, representing the Hambantota Electoral District at the general parliamentary elections held in August 2015.
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12. Gregg A. Sturdevant
military personnel
Gregg A. Sturdevant is a retired United States Marine Corps Major General. At the time of his retirement, he was the Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for U.S. Pacific Command. From February 2012 to February 2013, he commanded the Third Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), which included U.S. Marine Corps aviation assets then located at Camp Leatherneck / Camp Bastion...
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13. A. S. J. Carnahan
1897-1968 (aged 71)
administrator
teacher
diplomat
politician
Albert Sidney Johnson Carnahan was an American educator, diplomat and Democratic Party politician who represented southeastern Missouri in the United States House of Representatives for fourteen years between 1945 and 1961. He was the patriarch of the Carnahan family, a prominent political family in Missouri into the 21st century. He began his career as a teacher and school administrator.
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14. Steven Tilley
1971-. (aged 55)
politician
Steven Tilley is an American lobbyist and former Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives. He represented District 106 (Perry, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties) in the Missouri House of Representatives. A Republican, Tilley was elected to the House in November 2004. He became the Majority leader in January 2008. On August 13, 2012, Tilley resigned from the Missouri...
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15. Roger Mosby
1951-. (aged 75)
Roger C. Mosby is the former president, CEO, and 14th chief scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America. He was previously vice president of human resources for Kinder Morgan. Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, his parents and family moved to Union County, Illinois, where he attended elementary and high school. He graduated from Shawnee High School in Wolf Lake,...
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16. Terry Hanson
1947-. (aged 79)
television presenter
association football coach
Terry Hanson is a retired American radio personality of the John Boy and Billy Big Show, a nationally syndicated radio show. He was the first head of Turner Broadcasting Sports and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Men's Soccer Coach of the Year. His family owns and operates Hanson Enterprises, a company founded in 1995, with experience in...
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17. Seth J. McKee
1916-2016 (aged 100)
military officer
Seth Jefferson McKee was a United States Air Force general who served as Commander in Chief, North American Air Defense Command/Commander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command from 1969 to 1973.
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18. Peter Kinder
1954-. (aged 72)
lawyer
politician
journalist
Peter Dickson Kinder is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2017. He was appointed as a co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority in August 2017, serving in that post until he resigned in June 2018.
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19. Eugene Amano
1982-. (aged 44)
American football player
Eugene Philip Amano is a Filipino-American former professional football offensive lineman who played nine seasons for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL) from 2004 to 2013. He played both as a center and guard. In 2010, he replaced eight-time All-Pro selection Kevin Mawae as the starting center. Amano is believed to be the only full-blooded Filipino to...
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20. Stephen N. Limbaugh, Sr
1927-. (aged 99)
lawyer
judge
Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Sr. is a former United States District Judge who held concurrent appointments to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri from 1983 until his retirement in 2008. He was appointed by president Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s after a distinguished...
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21. Antonius Cleveland
1994-. (aged 32)
basketball player
Antonius Cleveland is an American professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Southeast Missouri State University. He played in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks.
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22. Conlan Carter
1934-. (aged 92)
athletics competitor
television actor
aircraft pilot
actor
film actor
Chester Conlan Carter is an American film, stage and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the medic "Doc" in the American drama television series Combat!, for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
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23. Linda M. Godwin
1952-. (aged 74)
astronaut
Linda Maxine Godwin is an American scientist and retired NASA astronaut. Godwin joined NASA in 1980 and became an astronaut in July 1986. She retired in 2010. During her career, Godwin completed four space flights and logged over 38 days in space. Godwin also served as the assistant to the director for exploration, Flight Crew Operations Directorate at the Johnson...
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24. David Limbaugh
1952-. (aged 74)
journalist
lawyer
David Scott Limbaugh is a conservative American political commentator and author who has also worked as a professor and as a lawyer. He is the younger brother of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.
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25. James T. Conway
1947-. (aged 79)
military officer
James Terry Conway is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Among his previous postings were Director of Operations (J-3) on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Commanding General of 1st Marine Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force, taking part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the First Battle...
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26. Dan Connolly
1982-. (aged 44)
American football player
Daniel Paul Connolly is an American former professional football player. He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2005 after playing college football at Southeast Missouri State. Connolly played eight seasons for the New England Patriots, winning Super Bowl XLIX over the Seattle Seahawks in his final season.
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27. Cedric the Entertainer
1964-. (aged 62)
screenwriter
film director
television actor
voice actor
film actor
Cedric Antonio Kyles, known professionally as Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. He hosted BET's ComicView during the 1993–1994 season and Def Comedy Jam in 1995. He is best known for co-starring with Steve Harvey on The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, as one of The Original Kings of Comedy, and for starring...
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28. Roy Thomas
1940-. (aged 86)
television writer
comics artist
screenwriter
fanzine editor
film director
Roy William Thomas Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes—particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America—and...
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29. Neal E. Boyd
1975-2018 (aged 43)
opera singer
Neal Evans Boyd was an American singer who developed an interest in opera after listening to the performances of the Three Tenors. Despite being raised in conditions of poverty within the U.S. state of Missouri, he achieved a degree in music and eventually entered the third season of America's Got Talent, winning that year's competition. In addition to music, he...
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30. Rush Limbaugh
1951-2021 (aged 70)
radio pundit
writer
journalist
children's writer
radio personality
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of The Rush Limbaugh Show, which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM radio stations from 1988 until his death in 2021.
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31. Shelley Keeney
1979-. (aged 47)
politician
Shelley Keeney is a former state representative from the U.S. state of Missouri having served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017. She represented Missouri's 145th Legislative District, which consists of all of Bollinger County, Madison County, and the southern portion of Perry County, Missouri. She is a member of the Republican Party.
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32. Clyde A. Vaughn
1946-. (aged 80)
Clyde A. Vaughn is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General who served as Director of the Army National Guard.
33. Chris Mosley
American football coach
American football player
Chris Mosley is an American football coach who last served as an assistant offensive line coach with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He has been the team's assistant offensive line coach since 2012.
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34. Robert Mayer
1957-. (aged 69)
politician
Julius Robert von Mayer was a German physician, chemist, and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics. He is best known for enunciating in 1841 one of the original statements of the conservation of energy or what is now known as one of the first versions of the first law of thermodynamics, namely that "energy can be neither created...
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