21 Notable alumni of Southwestern University
Updated: June 16, 2026 EliteDegrees
Southwestern University is ranked #2,089 in the world and #523 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 21 notable alumni from Southwestern 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 Southwestern University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Robert Lee Henry
1864-1931 (aged 67)
lawyer
politician
Robert Lee Henry was an American lawyer and politician who served ten terms as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas from 1897 to 1917.
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2. Scott Terry
1959-. (aged 67)
baseball player
Scott Ray Terry is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during six seasons at the major league level for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals.
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3. Carlton Massey
1930-1989 (aged 59)
American football player
Carlton Massey was an American professional football player who was a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns (1954–1956) and Green Bay Packers (1957–1958). He attended Southwestern University and the University of Texas.
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4. Joan Bray
1945-. (aged 81)
journalist
teacher
politician
trade unionist
Joan Bray is a former teacher, journalist, and union leader. She was a Democratic member of both the Missouri House of Representatives (1993–2002) and Missouri State Senate (2003–2010). She resides with her husband, Carl Hoagland, in St. Louis, Missouri. She has two children, Noel and Kolby.
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5. Ernest H. Hereford
1894-1958 (aged 64)
Ernest 'H' Hereford was Dean of North Texas Agricultural College from 1946–49, when the school was renamed Arlington State College he served as President from 1949 until his death in 1958. The college would later become the University of Texas at Arlington in 1965. His tenure included the expansion of the school system, the changing nature of the school away...
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6. William Hawley Atwell
1869-1961 (aged 92)
lawyer
judge
William Hawley Atwell, frequently known as W. H. Atwell, was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
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7. Jessie Daniel Ames
1883-1972 (aged 89)
civil rights advocate
missionary
Jessie Daniel Ames was a suffragist and civil rights leader from Texas who helped create the anti-lynching movement in the American South. She was one of the first Southern white women to speak out and work publicly against lynching of African Americans, murders which white men claimed to commit in an effort to protect women's "virtue." Despite risks to her...
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8. James Marion West Jr
1903-1957 (aged 54)
businessperson
James Marion West Jr. was a Texas oilman. He was the son of James Marion West Sr., the businessman who created the West family fortune, and brother of Wesley West. He was nicknamed "Silver Dollar Jim" because of his habit of throwing silver dollar coins toward passersby on the street. He was also called "Diamond Jim" because of the diamond-studded...
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9. John Marvin Jones
1882-1976 (aged 94)
lawyer
judge
politician
John Marvin Jones was a United States representative from Texas and a Judge of the United States Court of Claims.
10. Carl Reynolds
1903-1978 (aged 75)
baseball player
Carl Nettles Reynolds was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1927–1931), Washington Senators (1932, 1936), St. Louis Browns (1933), Boston Red Sox (1934–1935) and Chicago Cubs (1937–1939). He was born in LaRue, Texas, and attended Southwestern University. Reynolds betted and threw right-handed.
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11. Robert Ewing Thomason
1879-1973 (aged 94)
lawyer
judge
politician
Robert Ewing Thomason was an American politician and judge. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member and Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, the mayor of El Paso, a member of the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 16th congressional district, and a United States district judge of the Western District of Texas.
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12. Phillip Wellman
1961-. (aged 65)
baseball manager
baseball coach
baseball player
Phillip Lane Wellman, is an American professional baseball coach and manager. He is the current bench coach for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Wellman entered minor league baseball as a player in 1984 and began coaching in 1988. Wellman attended Sam Houston State University and Southwestern University.
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13. J. Frank Dobie
1888-1964 (aged 76)
journalist
writer
James Frank Dobie was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for his many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range. He was known in his lifetime for his outspoken liberal views against Texas state politics, and he carried out a long, personal war against what he...
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14. Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker
1898-1949 (aged 51)
journalist
Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker was an American journalist and author; winner of the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence for his series of articles on the practical operation of the Five Year Plan in the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed "Red" from the color of his hair.
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15. Robert Homer Simpson
1912-2014 (aged 102)
meteorologist
Robert H. Simpson was an American meteorologist, hurricane specialist, first director of the National Hurricane Research Project (NHRP) from 1955 to 1959, and a former director (1967–1974) of the National Hurricane Center (NHC). He was the co-developer of the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale with Herbert Saffir. His wife was Joanne Simpson.
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16. Ana Alicia
1956-. (aged 70)
film actor
actor
television actor
Ana Alicia Ortiz Torres is a Mexican-American retired actress who performed in theatre and on television. After getting her television start by spending a year on the daytime soap-opera Ryan's Hope, she gained international recognition for her role as scheming vineyard heiress Melissa Agretti on the long-running primetime soap opera Falcon Crest which she portrayed for seven seasons from 1982...
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17. Stanley Hauerwas
1940-. (aged 86)
peace activist
ethicist
philosopher
theologian
Stanley Martin Hauerwas is an American Protestant theologian, ethicist, and public intellectual.
18. Mike Timlin
1966-. (aged 60)
baseball player
Michael August Timlin is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. Timlin played on four World Series championship teams in an 18-year career; the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays, 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, 2004 Boston Red Sox, and 2007 Boston Red Sox.
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19. Bill Engvall
1957-. (aged 69)
singer
songwriter
television actor
actor
film actor
William Ray Engvall Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Engvall has released a number of stand-up comedy albums through Warner Records and the defunct BNA Records. His commercially successful album is the 1996 debut Here's Your Sign, certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album derives its name from Engvall's signature routine "here's...
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20. Pete Sessions
1955-. (aged 71)
advocate
business executive
businessperson
politician
Peter Anderson Sessions is an American politician who serves in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 17th congressional district as a member of the Republican Party. He chaired the House Rules Committee from 2013 to 2019 and is a former chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
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21. John Tower
1925-1991 (aged 66)
politician
John Goodwin Tower was an American politician and military veteran who represented Texas in the United States Senate from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas since Reconstruction. Tower is known for leading the Tower Commission, which investigated the Iran-Contra Affair in the Reagan administration.
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