Notable Alumni of The University of the South

Edmund Kirby Smith 1824–1893

Confederate States Army general

Also attended: The United States Military Academy at West Point

Howard Baker 1925–2014

Tennessee senator and diplomat

Also attended: Tulane University of Louisiana, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Spouse: Nancy Kassebaum (University of Kansas, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Father: Howard Baker, Sr. (The University of Tennessee-Knoxville)

Frank Kelso 1933–2013

Admiral, Chief of Naval Operations 1990 to 1994

Also attended: United States Naval Academy

Archibald Butt 1865–1912

Military aide to Presidents Roosevelt and Taft

Harry P. Cain 1906–1979

Former US senator from Washington

Attended until 1929

Vail M. Pittman 1880–1964

19th Governor of Nevada

Luke Lea 1879–1945

US Senator from Tennessee and newspaper publisher

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Lee M. Thomas 1944–

EPA Administrator under Ronald Reagan

Also attended: University of South Carolina-Columbia

William Crawford Gorgas 1854–1920

22nd Surgeon General of the US Army

Father: Josiah Gorgas (The United States Military Academy at West Point)

George C. Nichopoulos 1927–2016

American physician of Greek descent

Also attended: The University of Alabama

Douglass Adair 1912–1968

Historian of Federalist Papers authorship

Also attended: Yale University, Harvard University

Jeff McMahan 1954–

Moral philosopher, former Oxford professor

Anson Mount 1973–

Actor known for Hell on Wheels

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Brian Reynolds 1967–

Video game designer, former IGDA chairman

Jean Yarbrough 1900–1975

Film director of many Abbott and Costello films

Julian Adams 2000–

Producer, writer, actor and architect

Also attended: Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus

Father: Weston Adams (University of South Carolina-Columbia)

Mother: Elizabeth Nelson Adams (University of South Carolina-Columbia)

Ward Greene 1892–1956

Writer, journalist and King Features general manager

Jon Meacham 1969–

Presidential biographer and historian

William Alexander Percy 1885–1942

Mississippi lawyer and poet, author of Lanterns on the Levee

Also attended: Harvard University

Father: LeRoy Percy (University of Virginia-Main Campus)

John Jeremiah Sullivan 1974–

Writer, southern editor of The Paris Review

Joe B. Hall 1928–2022

Kentucky basketball coach, 1978 national champion

Also attended: University of Kentucky

Gene Robinson 1947–

Retired bishop of Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire

Hudson Stuck 1863–1920

Episcopal priest who co-led first Denali South Peak ascent

Katharine Wilkinson 1983–

Climate activist and writer

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 2005