18 Notable alumni of Wesleyan College
Updated: June 14, 2026 EliteDegrees
Wesleyan College is 4938st in the world, 1st in North America, and 1307st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 18 notable alumni from Wesleyan College sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Wesleyan College won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Clare de Graffenried
1849-1921 (aged 72)
labor leader
investigator
Mary Clare de Graffenried was an American labor researcher and writer, who worked as an investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor beginning in 1888. She wrote a number of influential articles on the conditions of working-class people, particularly women and children, including the controversial 1891 essay "The Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mill." Her work is notable for its...
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2. Viola Ross Napier
1881-1962 (aged 81)
politician
Viola Ross Napier was, along with Bessie Kempton, one of the first two women elected to the House of Representatives in the U.S. state of Georgia following the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gave women the right to vote. Napier was also the first female lawyer to argue in front of the Georgia Court of...
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3. Mary Ross Banks
1846-1910 (aged 64)
writer
Mary Ross Banks was an American writer of the long nineteenth century. Her literary fame came to her suddenly and was the result of one book, Bright Days on the Old Plantation (Boston, 1882).
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4. Barbara S. Pope
1951-. (aged 75)
Barbara Spyridon Pope was United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1989 to 1993. She came to prominence during the Tailhook scandal for her opposition to the initial investigation conducted by Rear Admiral Duvall M. Williams, Jr., which she felt was a whitewash.
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5. Richard S. Rust
1815-1906 (aged 91)
writer
Richard Sutton Rust was an American Methodist preacher, abolitionist, educator, writer, lecturer, secretary of the Freedmen's Bureau, and founder of the Freedmen's Aid Society. He also helped found multiple educational institutions including his namesake Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the oldest historically black United Methodist-related college.
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6. Toni Jennings
1949-. (aged 77)
teacher
politician
Antoinette Jennings is an American politician who was the 16th lieutenant governor of Florida.
7. Shivani Siroya
business executive
Shivani Siroya is the founder and chief executive officer of Tala, a smartphone lending app. She founded the app in 2011 to offer instant credit scores to people in underrepresented markets such as Kenya, Tanzania, India, and the Philippines. The app also acts as a lender and has granted more than $225M in microloans as of 2018.
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8. Sara Branham
1888-1962 (aged 74)
microbiologist
physician
Sara Elizabeth Branham Matthews was an American microbiologist and physician best known for her research into the isolation and treatment of Neisseria meningitidis, a causative organism of meningitis.
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9. Lucille Soong
1935-. (aged 91)
film actor
actor
television actor
Lucille Soong is a Chinese-American actress. In the 1960s she occasionally worked under the stage name Soong Ling. She is best known for her role as Jenny Huang in the television series Fresh Off the Boat (2015–2020). She has appeared in films and television shows since 1959, and is the author of the autobiography Wild Orchid: From Beijing to La-La...
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10. Betty Maxwell
1994-. (aged 32)
model
beauty pageant contestant
Baciliky Andris "Betty" Maxwell is an American singer, actress, model, author, and beauty pageant titleholder from Warner Robins, Georgia, who was crowned Miss Georgia 2015. On September 13, 2015, she was crowned Miss America 2016 by Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev. She is the first Miss Georgia to be crowned Miss America since Neva Jane Langley, Miss America 1953.
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11. Soong Ai-ling
1889-1973 (aged 84)
politician
Soong Ai-ling, legally Soong E-ling or Eling Soong, Christian name Nancy, was a Chinese businesswoman, the eldest of the Soong sisters and the wife of H. H. Kung (Kung Hsiang-Hsi), who was the richest man in the early 20th century Republic of China.
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12. Phaedra Parks
lawyer
reality television participant
Phaedra Creonta Parks is an American attorney, legal analyst, television personality, author, activist, and businesswoman.
13. Soong Ching-ling
1893-1981 (aged 88)
politician
Soong Ch'ing-ling was a Chinese politician. She was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, therefore known by Madame Sun Yat-sen and the "Mother of Modern China". A member of the Soong family, she and her family played a significant role in shaping the Republic of China. As a prominent leader of the left wing of the Kuomintang (KMT), she founded the...
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14. John Pemberton
1831-1888 (aged 57)
pharmaceutical industry
businessperson
inventor
John Stith Pemberton was an American pharmacist, chemist, and Confederate States Army officer who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. On May 8, 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold the rights to the drink shortly before his death in 1888.
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15. Sòng Měilíng
1898-2003 (aged 105)
public figure
politician
Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang (Chinese: 蔣夫人), was a Chinese politician and socialite. The youngest of the Soong sisters, she married Chiang Kai-shek and played a prominent role in Chinese politics and foreign relations in the first half of the 20th century.
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16. George W. Cole
1827-1875 (aged 48)
military personnel
physician
George W. Cole was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. His wartime commands included the 2nd United States Colored Cavalry Regiment, and he attained the rank of major general by brevet. In 1867 Cole was accused of murder after he killed L. Harris Hiscock, a member of the New York State Assembly. Cole accused Hiscock...
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17. Kathryn Stripling Byer
1944-2017 (aged 73)
poet
writer
Kathryn Stripling Byer, also called Kay Byer, was an American poet and teacher. She was named by Governor Mike Easley as the fifth North Carolina Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2009. She was the first woman to hold the position.
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18. James Beverly
1968-. (aged 58)
politician
James Theodore Beverly is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, Beverly has represented the 143rd district in the Georgia House of Representatives since January 2013. He has served as Minority Leader since January 2021.
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