Notable Alumni of Transylvania University

Jefferson Davis 1808–1889

Only president of the Confederate States

Also attended: The United States Military Academy at West Point

John C. Breckinridge 1821–1875

14th US Vice President and Confederate general

Also attended: Centre College, Princeton University

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

Child: Clifton Rodes Breckinridge (Washington and Lee University)

Richard Mentor Johnson 1780–1850

9th Vice President of the United States

Sibling: John T. Johnson (Transylvania University)

Albert Sidney Johnston 1803–1862

Confederate States Army general

Also attended: The United States Military Academy at West Point

Child: William Preston Johnston (Yale University, Centre College)

Stephen F. Austin 1793–1836

Empresario known as the Father of Texas

David Rice Atchison 1807–1886

US Senator from Missouri and Senate president pro tempore

Happy Chandler 1898–1991

Governor of Kentucky and Baseball Commissioner

Also attended: University of Kentucky, Harvard University

John Marshall Harlan 1833–1911

U.S. Supreme Court justice, the Great Dissenter

Also attended: Centre College

Luke Pryor Blackburn 1816–1887

Physician and 28th governor of Kentucky

Sibling: J. C. S. Blackburn (Centre College)

Cassius M. Clay 1810–1903

Abolitionist and US ambassador to Russia

Also attended: Yale University, Centre College

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

Sibling: Brutus J. Clay (Centre College)

Richard Hawes 1797–1877

Second Confederate governor of Kentucky; US Representative

James G. Birney 1792–1857

Abolitionist, politician and attorney

Also attended: Princeton University

Child: James M. Birney (Yale University, Centre College)

Child: William Birney (Yale University, Centre College)

Francis Preston Blair Jr. 1821–1875

Union Army major general and U.S. senator

Also attended: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Father: Francis Preston Blair (Transylvania University)

Sibling: Montgomery Blair (The United States Military Academy at West Point)

James Speed 1812–1887

US Attorney General appointed by Lincoln in 1864

George Graham Vest 1830–1904

Politician and lawyer known for oratory

Also attended: Centre College

William Alexander Richardson 1811–1875

Democratic politician from Illinois

Also attended: Centre College

William T. Barry 1784–1835

Postmaster General under President Andrew Jackson

Also attended: College of William and Mary

George W. Jones 1804–1896

One of Iowa's first two U.S. senators

Francis Preston Blair 1791–1876

Newspaper editor and presidential advisor

Child: Francis Preston Blair Jr. (Transylvania University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Child: Montgomery Blair (The United States Military Academy at West Point)

Wilson Shannon 1803–1877

14th and 16th governor of Ohio

Also attended: Ohio University-Main Campus

Joseph O. Shelby 1830–1897

Confederate cavalry commander in the Civil War

B. Gratz Brown 1826–1885

20th Governor of Missouri and US senator

Also attended: Yale University

Lazarus Powell 1812–1867

19th Governor of Kentucky and US senator

Richard Yates 1815–1873

13th Governor of Illinois during the Civil War

Also attended: Illinois College, Georgetown College, Miami University-Oxford

Child: Richard Yates (Illinois College, MacMurray College)

John Hunt Morgan 1825–1864

Confederate general in the American Civil War

James Turner Morehead 1797–1854

12th governor of Kentucky and U.S. Senator

Jesse D. Bright 1812–1875

U.S. senator from Indiana

Thomas Ford 1800–1850

8th Governor of Illinois

William Orlando Butler 1791–1880

Army major general and 1848 Democratic vice-presidential nominee

John Calvin McCoy 1811–1889

Missionary and surveyor, father of Kansas City

Albert Kellogg 1813–1887

Physician and first resident botanist of California

Charles Allen Thomas 1900–1982

Chemist and Manhattan Project figure

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

John E. Fryer 1938–2003

Psychiatrist and gay rights advocate

Also attended: Vanderbilt University

Eger V. Murphree 1898–1962

Chemist, co-inventor of fluid catalytic cracking

Also attended: University of Kentucky

Lewis Sayre 1820–1900

Orthopedic surgeon who created the AMA journal

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Child: Reginald Sayre (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Clyde Roper 1937–

Zoologist who studies giant squid

Bachelor of Arts

Also attended: University of Miami

Eugene C. Barker 1874–1956

Historian at the University of Texas

Also attended: Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, The University of Texas at Austin

Joseph Rodes Buchanan 1814–1899

Physician and professor of physiology

Anne Hazen McFarland 1867–1930

Physician and medical journal editor

Also attended: Northwestern University, University of Kentucky

Charles Wilkins Short 1794–1863

Botanist and physician who worked mainly in Kentucky

Also attended: University of Pennsylvania

Father: Peyton Short (College of William and Mary)

Richard Owen Currey 1816–1865

Doctor, Presbyterian minister and University of Nashville professor

Also attended: University of Pennsylvania

Elisha Warfield 1781–1859

American physician and medical researcher

Ned Beatty 1937–2021

Actor with over 160 film and television roles

William Windom 1923–2012

Actor of stage and screen

Also attended: Williams College

Thomas Holley Chivers 1809–1858

Physician-turned-poet, friend of Edgar Allan Poe

James Lane Allen 1849–1925

Novelist, author of A Kentucky Cardinal

Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts · Class of 1877

Gil Rogers 1934–2021

American television and film actor

Thomas Satterwhite Noble 1835–1907

Painter, first head of McMicken School of Design

B. O. Flower 1858–1918

Muckraking journalist and editor of The Arena

Bianca Spriggs 1981–

Poet, professor and multidisciplinary artist

Also attended: University of Kentucky, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee

Matthew Harris Jouett 1788–1827

Portrait painter

Kyle Smith 1992–

Defender for FC Cincinnati

George M. Varnell 1882–1967

Olympic hurdler; Gonzaga's first basketball coach

Also attended: University of Chicago

Lee Rose 1936–2022

College basketball coach, formerly Purdue head coach

Cy Barger 1885–1964

Former Major League Baseball pitcher

Earl A. Davis 1889–1965

American college football and basketball coach

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Vanderbilt University

Arthur Ford 1897–1971

Psychic and spiritualist medium

Sanders D. Bruce 1825–1902

Union Army colonel and horse breeding expert

James McChord 1785–1820

Presbyterian minister and educator

William L. Breckinridge 1803–1876

American pastor and educator

Father: John Breckinridge (College of William and Mary, Washington and Lee University)