10 Notable alumni of Wiley College
Updated: June 12, 2026 EliteDegrees
Wiley College is ranked #6,361 in the world and #1,662 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 10 notable alumni from Wiley 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 Wiley College won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Lois Towles
1912-1983 (aged 71)
activist
model
teacher
classical pianist
Lois Towles was an American classical pianist, music educator, and community activist. Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, she grew up in the town straddling the Arkansas and Texas line. From an early age, she was interested in music and began piano lessons at age 9. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, she obtained a bachelor's degree from Wiley...
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2. Walter McAfee
1914-1995 (aged 81)
astronomer
Walter Samuel McAfee was an American scientist and astronomer, notable for participating in the world's first lunar radar echo experiments with Project Diana.
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3. Bill Spiller
1913-1988 (aged 75)
golfer
Bill Spiller was an American professional golfer who helped break the color barrier in the sport.
4. David Abner Jr
1860-1928 (aged 68)
journalist
David Abner Jr. was an American educator. He was the first president of Guadalupe College and then of Conroe College.
5. Maxine Horner
1933-2021 (aged 88)
politician
Maxine Edwyna Cissel Horner was one of the first African American women to serve in the Oklahoma Senate, serving from 1986 to 2004, along with Vicki Miles-LaGrange. Horner held the position of Democratic Caucus Chair, as well as Chair of Business and Labor and Government Operations, and Vice-Chair of Adult Literacy.
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6. James L. Farmer, Jr
1920-1999 (aged 79)
human rights defender
activism
university teacher
politician
James Leonard Farmer Jr. was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement "who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr." In 1942 he was a co-founder of what became known as CORE, or the Congress of Racial Equality. He was the initiator and organizer of the first Freedom...
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7. Henrietta Bell Wells
1912-2008 (aged 96)
social worker
Henrietta Bell Wells was the first female member of the debate team at Wiley College, a historically black college in Texas. She participated with them in 1935, when their nearly undefeated season culminated in defeating the team of nationally ranked University of Southern California.
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8. Al Jackson
1935-2019 (aged 84)
baseball player
Alvin Neill Jackson, affectionately referred to as "Little" Al Jackson, was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1959 to 1969. His 43 wins with the New York Mets were the franchise record until Tom Seaver eased past the mark in 1969. In July 2021, he was posthumously honored with the New York Mets Hall of...
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9. Heman Marion Sweatt
1912-1982 (aged 70)
civil rights advocate
Heman Marion Sweatt was an African-American civil rights activist who confronted Jim Crow laws. He is best known for the Sweatt v. Painter lawsuit, which challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine and was one of the earliest of the events that led to the desegregation of American higher education.
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10. Ernest Lyon
1860-1930 (aged 70)
diplomat
Ernest A. Lyon was an African-American minister, educator and diplomat.