Notable Alumni of Wilberforce University

Hastings Banda 1890–1997

First president of Malawi

Also attended: University of Chicago, Central State University, Meharry Medical College

Bayard Rustin 1912–1987

Civil rights activist, organizer of 1963 March on Washington

Charlotte Maxeke 1871–1939

South African religious leader and political activist

Charity Adams Earley 1918–2002

First Black woman officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps

Also attended: Ohio State University-Main Campus

Shontel Brown 1975–

US representative for Ohio's 11th district

Bachelor of Science

Also attended: Cuyahoga Community College District

Floyd H. Flake 1945–

Former congressman, pastor and Wilberforce University president

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1970

Also attended: Northeastern University, St John's University (NY), United Theological Seminary

Richard H. Cain 1825–1887

Minister, bishop, abolitionist and politician

John R. Fox 1915–1944

WWII Army lieutenant and Medal of Honor recipient

Victoria Gray Adams 1926–2006

Civil rights activist, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party founder

Also attended: Jackson State University

Dorothy Vaughan 1910–2008

Mathematician and NASA human computer

Bachelor of Science · Class of 1929

William Julius Wilson 1935–

Harvard sociologist and professor emeritus

Bachelor of Arts · Sociology · Class of 1958

Also attended: Bowling Green State University-Main Campus, Washington State University

Child: Paula Wilson (Washington University in St Louis, Columbia University in the City of New York)

James B. Dudley 1859–1925

President of North Carolina A&T State University

Also attended: Harvard University, Shaw University

George Russell 1923–2009

Jazz pianist, composer and music theorist

William Grant Still 1895–1978

Composer of symphonies, ballets and operas

Also attended: Oberlin College

Frank Foster 1928–2011

Jazz saxophonist, arranger and bandleader

Horace Henderson 1904–1988

Jazz pianist, arranger and bandleader

Sibling: Fletcher Henderson (Clark Atlanta University)

Lillian Hayman 1922–1994

Actress and singer known for One Life to Live

Betty Allen 1927–2009

Operatic mezzo-soprano and music educator

Katherine D. Tillman 1870–1922

Writer, poet and journalist

Charles Freeman Lee 1927–1997

Jazz trumpeter

Also attended: Central State University

Regina M. Anderson 1901–1993

Playwright, librarian and Harlem Renaissance figure

Also attended: University of Chicago, Columbia University in the City of New York, CUNY--City College

Hallie Quinn Brown 1849–1949

African-American educator and activist

Bachelor of Science · Class of 1873

Ossian Sweet 1895–1960

Detroit physician acquitted of murder in 1925

Also attended: Howard University

Mary G. Evans 1891–1966

Pastor of Chicago's Cosmopolitan Community Church