Notable Alumni of Centre College

John C. Breckinridge 1821–1875

14th US Vice President and Confederate general

Also attended: Transylvania University, Princeton University

Father: Cabell Breckinridge (Colby-Sawyer College, Princeton University)

Child: Clifton Rodes Breckinridge (Washington and Lee University)

Adlai Stevenson I 1835–1914

23rd Vice President of the United States

Also attended: Illinois Wesleyan University

Child: Adlai Stevenson II (Illinois State University, Northwestern University)

Fred M. Vinson 1890–1953

13th Chief Justice of the United States

John Sherman Cooper 1901–1991

US Senator from Kentucky, jurist and diplomat

Also attended: Yale University, Harvard University

John Marshall Harlan 1833–1911

U.S. Supreme Court justice, the Great Dissenter

Also attended: Transylvania University

Cassius M. Clay 1810–1903

Abolitionist and US ambassador to Russia

Also attended: Yale University, Transylvania University

Child: Laura Clay (University of Kentucky, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Sibling: Brutus J. Clay (Centre College)

Joseph Holt 1807–1894

Union Army general and lawyer in Buchanan administration

James B. McCreary 1838–1918

Governor of Kentucky

Also attended: Cumberland University

William Alexander Richardson 1811–1875

Democratic politician from Illinois

Also attended: Transylvania University

Augustus Owsley Stanley 1867–1958

38th Governor of Kentucky

Also attended: University of Kentucky

George Graham Vest 1830–1904

Politician and lawyer known for oratory

Also attended: Transylvania University

John Young Brown 1835–1904

31st Governor of Kentucky and U.S. Representative

Nathan L. Bachman 1878–1937

U.S. senator from Tennessee

Also attended: University of Virginia-Main Campus

George B. Martin 1876–1945

US Senator from Kentucky, lawyer and judge

Beriah Magoffin 1815–1885

21st Governor of Kentucky during the early Civil War

Also attended: Transylvania University

Richard P. Ernst 1858–1934

U.S. senator from Kentucky

Also attended: University of Cincinnati-Main Campus

Thomas H. Paynter 1851–1921

US senator and representative from Kentucky

Basil W. Duke 1838–1916

Confederate general and later historian

Also attended: Georgetown College, Transylvania University

Abraham Buford II 1820–1884

Confederate brigadier general

Also attended: The United States Military Academy at West Point

Thomas C. McCreery 1816–1890

US Senator from Kentucky

George W. Harkins 1810–1861

Choctaw chief and attorney

John M. Robsion 1873–1948

U.S. senator and representative from Kentucky

Juris Doctor · Class of 1900

Also attended: Ohio Northern University, Wilmington College

J. C. S. Blackburn 1838–1918

Kentucky senator and governor of Panama Canal Zone

Sibling: Luke Pryor Blackburn (Transylvania University)

Thomas Theodore Crittenden 1832–1909

24th Governor of Missouri

George Madison Adams 1837–1920

Former U.S. Representative from Kentucky

William Campbell Preston Breckinridge 1837–1904

U.S. representative from Kentucky, 1885–1895

Also attended: University of Louisville

Father: Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (Union College)

Child: Sophonisba Breckinridge (University of Chicago, Wellesley College)

Caleb Powers 1869–1932

U.S. representative and former Kentucky Secretary of State

Also attended: Valparaiso University

Claude Matthews 1845–1898

23rd governor of Indiana

John Y. Brown, Sr. 1900–1985

Kentucky attorney and Democratic politician

Also attended: University of Kentucky

Child: John Y. Brown Jr. (University of Kentucky)

Glover H. Cary 1885–1936

US representative from Kentucky

Boyd Winchester 1836–1923

US representative from Kentucky and diplomat

Also attended: University of Louisville, University of Virginia-Main Campus

Isaac Tigrett 1947–

Co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe and House of Blues

Philip B. Coulter 1939–

Political scientist, professor emeritus at UNO

Also attended: University of Kentucky, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, SUNY at Albany

Kern Alexander 1939–

Education finance professor at University of Illinois

Also attended: Indiana University-Bloomington, Western Kentucky University

Ernest S. Croot III 1972–

Mathematician and professor at Georgia Tech

Also attended: University of Georgia

Theodore O'Hara 1820–1867

Poet and Confederate colonel

William Preston Johnston 1831–1899

Lawyer, poet and Confederate soldier

Also attended: Yale University

Father: Albert Sidney Johnston (Transylvania University, The United States Military Academy at West Point)

Tom Thurman 1962–

Documentary filmmaker

Stephen Rolfe Powell 1951–2019

Glass artist who taught at Centre College

Also attended: Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

Matthew Arnold 1974–

Film and television director and writer

Also attended: University of Southern California

Lewis Craig Humphrey 1875–1927

Kentucky newspaper editor

Tiffany Reisz 1975–

Author of the Original Sinners series

Also attended: Asbury Theological Seminary, Stephens College

Mary Hall Surface 1958–

Playwright and theatre director

Child: Malinda Kathleen Reese (Vassar College)

Edgar Diddle 1895–1970

Western Kentucky University basketball coach

Stan Robb 1901–1959

NFL lineman for the Canton Bulldogs

Red Roberts 1900–1945

American football player and college coach

Jim German 1917–1945

NFL quarterback in the 1940s

Earl Bartlett 1908–1987

NFL halfback

John Tanner 1897–1976

Early NFL football player

Homer Rice 1927–2024

Football coach, former Georgia Tech athletics director

Howie Camnitz 1881–1960

MLB pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Gene Bedford 1896–1977

Baseball and American football player

Also attended: Southern Methodist University

Jim Jones 1876–1953

Major League Baseball outfielder

Yi Ku 1931–2005

Korean prince and head of the House of Yi

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fushimi Hiroaki 1932–

Former Japanese prince, 24th head of Fushimi-no-miya

Lewis W. Green 1806–1863

Presbyterian minister and university president

Ormond Beatty 1815–1890

Seventh president of Centre College

Also attended: Yale University

Charles William Forman 1821–1894

Presbyterian missionary, founder of Forman Christian College

Also attended: Princeton Theological Seminary

Sophia Alcorn 1883–1967

Educator, inventor of the Tadoma method

Samuel D. Burchard 1812–1891

Presbyterian minister from New York