List of Alpha Phi Alpha members

The list of Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) brothers (commonly referred to as Alphas) includes initiated and honorary members. Alpha Phi Alpha is the first inter-collegiate Greek-letter organization established for Black college students. Convened in December 1905 as a literary society with the first presiding officer being CC Poindexter, it was established as a fraternity on December 4, 1906, at Ithaca, New York. Alpha Phi Alpha opened chapters at other colleges, universities, and cities, and named them with Greek letters. Members traditionally pledge into a chapter, although some members were granted honorary status before the fraternity discontinued the practice of granting honorary membership. A chapter name ending in "Lambda" denotes an alumni chapter. The only alumni chapters that have not ended in "Lambda" are Rho Chapter, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as the Omicron Lambda Alpha chapter in Washington, DC and the Omicron Lambda Beta chapter in Illinois, which were both intermediate chapters but became alumni chapters after the discontinuation of intermediate chapters.

No chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is designated Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet that traditionally signifies "the end". Deceased brothers are respectfully referred to as having their membership transferred to Omega Chapter, the fraternity's chapter of sweet rest. Frederick Douglass is distinguished as the only member initiated posthumously when he became an exalted honorary member of the Omega chapter in 1921.

The fraternity through its college and alumni chapters serves the community through nearly a thousand chapters in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.

The fraternity has been led by 36 General Presidents. Its membership includes two premiers; four governors; a vice president, four senators; a Supreme Court justice; two presidential candidates; Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Lenin Peace Prize, Kluge Prize, Golden Globe, Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award winners; French Légion d'honneur and Croix de Guerre laureates; at least four Rhodes Scholars; eighteen diplomats; fourteen Presidential Medal of Freedom, seven Congressional Gold Medal, and seventeen Spingarn Medal recipients; and eighteen Olympians. Buildings, monuments, stadiums, arenas, courthouses, and schools have been named after Alpha men, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Thurgood Marshall Public Policy Building at the University of Maryland, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the Whitney Young Memorial Bridge, the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the Paul Robeson Plaza at Rutgers University, the Jack Trice Stadium at Iowa State University, the John H. Johnson School of Communication at Howard University, the Oscar W. Ritchie Pan-African Cultural Arts Center at Kent State University, the Arvarh E. Strickland General Classroom Building at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the G. Larry James Memorial Stadium, the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse, the John H. Stroger Cook County hospital, the John Hope Franklin Memorial Plaza in Tulsa Oklahoma, the Stephan P. Mickle Sr. Courthouse, the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, the A. Maceo Smith Federal Building, the Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University, and the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The House of Alpha

The House of Alpha was first published in the December 1923 edition of The Sphinx Magazine. The poem would later be attributed to Bro. Sidney P. Brown and quickly became a staple within the fraternity. When speaking about the poem in 1981, Brown cited his experiences with Beta (Washington, D.C.), Theta (Chicago), Xi Lambda (Chicago Alumni), and Eta Lambda (Atlanta Alumni) as collective inspirations for the poem. Loyalty to the Fraternity was repeatedly urged by brothers on the part of those who were among the initiated, and for every chapter with the vision of a fraternity house. The statement has become a manifesto for the national fraternity and chapters, as each may symbolically be referred to as a "House of Alpha".

Eugene K. Jones, sometimes referred to as "The Visionary Jewel", once said:

Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest of Negro Fraternities, with all of its members presumably far above the average American and having a good and practical understanding of the salient factors involved in the Negro's problem...should be able to take into their hands the leadership in the Negro's struggle for status.

Here follows a list of notable Alphas.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Founders

Name Original chapter Notability References Henry Arthur Callis Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; 6th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha; physician Charles Henry Chapman Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; Professor of Agriculture at FAMU Eugene Kinckle Jones Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; first Executive Director of the National Urban League; member of President Franklin D Roosevelt's Black Cabinet George Biddle Kelley Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; first Black licensed engineer of New York Nathaniel Allison Murray Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; career educator Robert Harold Ogle Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; professional staff member to the US Congressional Committee on Appropriations Vertner Woodson Tandy Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha; architect, whose most famous commission was the mansion of Harlem millionaire Madam C.J. Walker

Charter for Alpha Phi Alpha's Alpha chapter with signatures of founders, Cornell University, circa 1906

Academia

Educators

Ninety-five percent of all Black colleges have been headed by an Alpha.

Name Original chapter Notability References Herman Branson Beta Gamma President of Central State University and Lincoln University; co-discoverer of the alpha helix; sickle-cell physicist James P. Brawley Alpha Delta President of Clark College Calvin Burnett Delta Lambda President of Coppin State University Julius Chambers Gamma Beta Attorney who argued in the Supreme Court case styled Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education; third Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; president of North Carolina Central University James Cheek Beta Rho President of Howard University Thomas W. Cole Jr. Alpha Sigma First President of Clark Atlanta University, president of West Virginia State University, Interim Chancellor of University of Massachusetts Amherst Thomas W. Cole Sr. Alpha Sigma President of Wiley College; 21st General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Matthew Davage Alpha Phi President of Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University William B. Delauder Beta Alpha President of Delaware State University James Douglas Delta Theta President of Texas Southern University John Malcus Ellison Gamma First African American President of Virginia Union University, 1941 Ernest A. Finney Jr. Delta Alpha Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court; South Carolina House of Representatives; Interim President of South Carolina State University Floyd H. Flake Zeta Gamma Lambda Former US Congressman from New York; president of Wilberforce University; pastor of Greater Allen Cathedral of New York Elson S. Floyd Mu Zeta First African American President of three universities: Western Michigan University, University of Missouri, and Washington State University Luther H. Foster Jr. Beta Gamma Fourth President of Tuskegee University Luther H. Foster Sr. Gamma Phi President of Virginia State University Norman Francis Sigma Lambda President of Xavier University; President of Louisiana Recovery Authority; 2006 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Robert Michael Franklin Jr. Eta Lambda President of Morehouse College James R. Gavin Gamma Mu President of Morehouse School of Medicine Hugh M. Gloster Alpha Rho President of Morehouse College; Physician, Founder and namesake of the Morehouse School of Medicine Hugh M. Gloster Society George Gore Jr. Tau Lambda Fifth President of Florida A&M University; Interim President of Fisk University; founder of Alpha Kappa Mu honor society Ervin V. Griffin Sr. Beta Theta President of West Virginia State College William H. Hale Beta Kappa President of Langston University Jaffus Hardrick Zeta Xi 14th President of Florida Memorial University G. Lamar Harrison Beta President of Langston University Cornelius Henderson Alpha Phi President of Gammon Theological Seminary Charles A. Hines Beta President of Prairie View A&M University; Major General Ernest Holloway Beta Kappa 14th President of Langston University John Hope Eta Lambda First Black President of Morehouse College; president of Atlanta University; co-founder of the Niagara Movement and NAACP; fourth president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History; 1936 Spingarn Medal recipient Freeman A. Hrabowski III Gamma Iota President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; social activist Frederick S. Humphries Beta Nu Eighth President of Florida A&M University William P. Hytche Sr. Beta Kappa President of University of Maryland Eastern Shore Charles S. Johnson Gamma Editor of the National Urban League's Opportunity magazine; first Black President of Fisk University Walter M. Kimbrough Zeta Pi President of Dillard University; author Raphael Lanier Mu Lambda United States Ambassador to Liberia; first president of Texas Southern University Thomas F. Law Delta Rho First President of Saint Paul's College John H. Lewis Zeta President of Morris Brown College Joseph T. McMillan Jr. Beta First President of Huston–Tillotson College John A. Middleton Nu Eta Lambda President of Morris Brown College Luna Mishoe Alpha Pi Lambda President of Delaware State University Elfred A. Packard Chi Lambda 22nd President of Wilberforce University Frederick D. Patterson Alpha Nu Third President of Tuskegee University; co-founder of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF); 1987 Presidential Medal of Freedom; 1988 Spingarn Medal recipient Benjamin Payton Beta Delta Fifth President of Tuskegee University Henry Ponder Beta Kappa President of Talladega College, Fisk University and Benedict College; 28th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha; vice chairman of the World Policy Council Earl Richardson Delta Nu President of Morgan State University John B. Slaughter Kappa Tau President of University of Maryland and Occidental College; first African American Director of the National Science Foundation Kent J. Smith Jr. Beta Sigma 16th President of Langston University Louis Wade Sullivan Alpha Rho Secretary of Health and Human Services; co-founder and first President of Morehouse School of Medicine Ronald Temple Delta Gamma Lambda President of City Colleges of Chicago Jack Thomas Tau Lambda 11th President of Western Illinois University; first African American President of WIU; author; national and international keynote speaker/lecturer Gregory J. Vincent Alpha Rho Lambda President of Hobart College and William Smith College; Professor; Attorney, civil rights and social justice expert Walter Washington Gamma Upsilon President of Alcorn State University; 24th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Charles H. Wesley Zeta President of Central State University; president of Wilberforce University; executive director and president of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH); 14th general president and historian of Alpha Phi Alpha Sidney David Williams Beta Zeta Fourth President of Elizabeth City State University

Floyd Flake Norman Francis Charles S. Johnson Louis Sullivan

Scholarship

Name Original chapter Notability References David H. Blackwell Tau Professor of Mathematics University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley); first Black person admitted to the National Academy of Sciences; first tenured black professor in UC Berkeley history; former Chair of the Department of Statistics William Jelani Cobb Kappa Phi Lambda Professor of Journalism at Columbia University; former Professor of History and Director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut; author of The Substance of Hope; staff writer at The New Yorker magazine; contributor to MSNBC TV; Dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism Kevin Cokley Xi Eta Author of The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism; former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Black Psychology; University of Texas at Austin educational psychology professor; first Black person admitted to the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers; Association of Black Psychologists Distinguished Psychologist William P. Foster Upsilon Creator of the Florida A&M University Marching "100" Band E. Franklin Frazier Delta Nu Lambda American sociologist; author of The Negro Family, Black Bourgeoisie, and On Race Relations; Fisk University Professor; recipient of 1940 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for the most significant work in the field of race relations; Guggenheim Fellowship Award recipient John Hope Franklin Alpha Chi President of American Historical Association; 1995 Spingarn Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and 2006 Kluge Prize recipient; author of From Slavery To Freedom; namesake of the John Hope Franklin Memorial Plaza at the site of the Tulsa, Oklahoma "Black Wall Street" massacre and race riot. Ernest J. Harris Gamma Delta Research entomologist; developer of the "male annihilation" method of insect control adopted by over 20 countries; original Montford Point Marine and 2017 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal Hobart Jarrett Alpha Sigma Member of the Wiley College Debate Team that in 1935 defeated the University of Southern California national champions; author of the second volume of The History of Sigma Pi Phi Elgy Johnson Alpha Omicron Mathematician Marshall Jones Beta Pi Lambda Acclaimed research scientist in the field of laser additive technologies; 2017 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Kelly Miller Beta (honorary) Leading African-American intellectual for more than half a century; first Black person admitted to Johns Hopkins University James A. Porter Beta Scholar whose book Modern Negro Art became a standard reference work on Black art in America J. Marshall Shepherd Kappa Phi Lambda Physicist; NASA meteorologist; international expert on weather and global climate change; university professor Warren Washington Epsilon Zeta Lambda Climate change scientist; 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for Science recipient; first African American President of the American Meteorological Society; awarded 2010 National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama; presidential advisor to Presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes; professor of climatology at the University of Oregon Robert E. Weems Jr. Theta Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University; acclaimed for extensive and systematic research on African American consumerism; lecturer and author of books on the economic history of African Americans including Black Business in the Black Metropolis, Desegregating the Dollar, and Business in Black and White Cornel West Zeta Beta Lambda Professor of religion at Harvard and Princeton; author and social activist Roger L. Youmans Upsilon Surgeon; University of California Berkeley medical professor; author of When Elephants Fight: An American Surgeon's Chronicle of Congo

John Franklin Kelly Miller Cornel West

Rhodes scholars

The Rhodes Scholarship is the world's oldest and arguably most prestigious international fellowship. The scholarships have been awarded to applicants annually since 1902 by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford based on academic qualities, as well as those of character.

Name Original chapter Notability References Heyward Dotson Eta 1970 Rhodes Scholar; former NBA player Norman Washington Manley Beta Beta Lambda 1914 Rhodes Scholar; Premier of Jamaica; founder of Jamaica's People's National Party Westley Moore Sigma Sigma 2001 Rhodes Scholar; New York Times bestselling author Randal Pinkett Kappa Phi Lambda 1994 Rhodes Scholar; fourth winner of NBC's reality show The Apprentice Andrew Zawacki Kappa Pi 1994 Rhodes Scholar

Westley Moore

Business

Name Original chapter Notability References Mark D. Banks Delta Alpha Lambda President of Logos Consulting Jesse Binga Theta (honorary) Founder of Binga State Bank in Chicago Henry Brown Alpha Eta Lambda Vice President for Marketing Affairs and Development with Anheuser-Busch W. Melvin Brown Beta Delta CEO of American Development Corporation Thomas J. Burrell Theta CEO of Burrell Advertising Theodore Colbert III Gamma Lambda CEO, Boeing Defense, Space & Security Allen Counts Beta Chairman of Doley Securities, Inc.; former President of Mcclendon, Pryor, Counts (once the largest black-owned investment bank in the US) Nathaniel Goldston Delta Psi Lambda CEO and founder of Gourmet Services Brett J. Hart Epsilon CEO and President of United Airlines Alonzo F. Herndon Eta Lambda (honorary) Founder and President of Atlanta Life Insurance; namesake of the Alonzo Herndon Stadium at Morris Brown College Norris Herndon Sigma President of Atlanta Life Insurance Eugene Jackson Epsilon Psi CEO of World African Network Charles James III Delta Zeta CEO of James Produce Clifton Jeter Beta CEO of the Agricultural Federal Credit Union; CFO of Kennedy Center John H. Johnson Theta Founder of Johnson Publishing Company, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines; the first Black person to appear on the Forbes 400 "Rich List"; namesake of Howard University's School of Communications; Presidential Medal of Freedom and 1966 Spingarn Medal recipient; a portion of Chicago's famed Michigan Avenue was renamed "John H. Johnson Avenue" Joe W. Laymon Delta Phi Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Services; Chevron Corporation L. D. Milton unknown President of Citizens Bank Randy Parker Eta Psi CEO Hyundai Automotive Corporation North America Henry Parks Kappa Founder of Parks Sausage William F. Pickard Epsilon Xi CEO Global Automotive Alliance; professor University of Michigan School of Business; 2001 Michigan Citizen of the Year award winner; business lecturer Samuel Pierce Alpha Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; argued before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Martin Luther King Jr. and The New York Times in the important First Amendment case styled New York Times v. Sullivan; first African-American to serve on the board of directors of a Fortune 500 company Jonathan Rodgers Alpha Epsilon CEO of TV One; president of CBS Television Stations; executive producer for the CBS Morning News and weekend evening newscasts Joshua Smith Delta Xi CEO of Maxima Corporation Robert F. Smith Alpha Founder of Vista Equity Partners; namesake of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University Everette Taylor Theta Iota CEO of PopSocial, co-founder of GrowthHackers Don Thompson Gamma Rho CEO and President of McDonald's, worldwide

Alonzo Herndon Gerald Albright Duke Ellington

Entertainment

Music

Name Original chapter Notability References Cannonball Adderley Beta Nu Jazz saxophonist Gerald Albright Iota Chi Jazz saxophonist Jerry Butler Xi Lambda Songwriter, composer; former lead singer of The Impressions; 1991 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; 1993 NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame inductee Duke Ellington Alpha Zeta Lambda Composer, bandleader, actor; Grammy Award winner; 1959 Spingarn Medal and 1969 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; Pulitzer Prize in recognition of his musical genius Marc Gay Beta Singer in the R&B group Shai Lionel Hampton Phi Jazz percussionist and bandleader; National Medal of Arts recipient; Goodwill Ambassador for the United States Antonio Hart Sigma Jazz saxophonist Donny Hathaway Beta Songwriter and arranger for The Staple Singers, Jerry Butler, and Aretha Franklin; singer who recorded duets with Roberta Flack; recorded the theme song to the TV series Maude Fletcher Henderson Alpha Phi Pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music Carl Martin Beta Singer in the R&B group Shai Lionel Richie Alpha Nu Lambda Singer and member of the Commodores; Grammy Award and Academy Award winner; 2003 Hollywood Walk of Fame honoree Noble Sissle Theta Jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, and singer of the Harlem Renaissance; lyricist of Shuffle Along, which became the first hit musical on Broadway written by and about African-Americans Lanzel Smith Jr. Delta Zeta International Disc Jockey and multi-faceted producer Darnell Van Rensalier Beta Singer in the R&B group Shai Jonathan White Gamma Delta Jazz composer, saxophonist

Lionel Hampton Lionel Richie Noble Sissle

Film, television, and theatre

Name Original chapter Notability References Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Alpha Epsilon Actor, best known for Candyman, The Get Down, The Greatest Showman, Baywatch, Aquaman, Watchmen; 2020 Emmy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor Darryl M. Bell Delta Zeta Actor, best known for A Different World Bret E. Benson Mu Gamma Actor in TV and film; motivational speaker, best known for ATLANTA, Fatal Attraction, Angie's List Benny Boom Pi Rho Director of music videos; director of 2017 Tupac biography movie All Eyez On Me Rusty Cundieff Alpha Delta Actor, writer; director of Tales from the Hood and Chappelle's Show; correspondent on TV Nation Rel Dowdell Alpha Chi Writer and director of feature films Train Ride and Changing the Game Todd Duncan Mu Lambda First Black person to sing with a major opera company; the original Porgy in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess; 1984 George Peabody Medal of Music recipient Andra Fuller Tau Alpha Actor, best known for Black Jesus, RoomieLoverFriends, The L.A. Complex Kevin Grevioux Beta Writer, producer, actor in Underworld films, The Mask, Steel, Congo, Planet of the Apes Gary Hardwick Epsilon Producer, writer, director of The Brothers, Deliver Us from Eva, Radio, and Bring It On Omari Hardwick Zeta Pi Actor in Saved, Dark Blue, Power, and The A-Team Rob Hardy Beta Nu Film director, film producer, screenwriter, and television director Hill Harper Kappa Phi Lambda Actor on The Good Doctor, CSI: NY; author of Letters to a Young Brother Lanre Idewu Alpha Theta Actor, producer best known for South Side, Sherman’s Showcase, Arrested Development, The Game, The Choir Barry Jenkins Iota Delta First African American director to win an Oscar Academy Award for Best Picture (Moonlight); Director of 2019 Golden Globe Award-winning movie If Beale Street Could Talk Christian Keyes Zeta Beta Television and movie actor, singer, and model; Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Let's Stay Together, Moonlight, Sex Chronicles Vaughn Lowery Alpha Model, actor, and president/founder of 360 Magazine; model for Joe Boxer, Gap, Fila, Target, Old Navy, Dasani, Skechers, and Ecko Unlimited; runway model for Tommy Hilfiger, Phat Farm, and Karl Kani Yohance Myles Beta Upsilon Television and movie actor; Containment, Into the Badlands, 2 Guns William Packer Beta Nu Producer and director of films, including The Gospel, Pandora's Box, Stomp the Yard, Trois, and Roots (2016 remake); first African American to produce the Academy Awards Oscar presentations ceremony (2022) Joseph C. Phillips Iota Zeta Lambda Actor on The Cosby Show, General Hospital, and Strictly Business; political commentator on NPR's News and Notes with Ed Gordon Randal Pinkett Kappa Phi Lambda Fourth winner of NBC's reality show The Apprentice; Rhodes Scholar Kevin Powell Zeta Eta Cast member of The Real World: New York; political activist; poet; writer; entrepreneur Tim Reid Eta Lambda Actor, Sister, Sister, WKRP in Cincinnati, That '70s Show Paul Robeson Nu NFL player; actor; singer; attorney; social activist, 1945 Spingarn Medal recipient; Stalin Peace Prize laureate Terrell Tilford Alpha Epsilon Television and movie actor, Soul Food, Days Of Our Lives, Guiding Light, One Life To Live, The Protector name=Lawrence Varnado

Hill Harper Paul Robeson

|- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard" | class="fn" | Drew Watkins | style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Beta | class="note" | Producer of Inside the NBA; two-time Emmy Award winner | style="text-align:center;" | |- style="vertical-align:top;" class="vcard" | class="fn" | Keenen Ivory Wayans | style="text-align:center;" class="org" | Gamma Phi | class="note" | Creator of comedy series In Living Color; actor, comedian, writer, director; Emmy Award winner | style="text-align:center;" | }}

Government, law, and public policy

Note: individuals who belong in multiple sections appear in the first relevant section.

US Vice Presidents and Supreme Court

Name Original chapter Notability References Hubert Humphrey Honorary 38th Vice President of the United States; 1968 Presidential candidate; Senator from Minnesota; Mayor of Minneapolis; 1979 Congressional Gold Medal and 1980 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Thurgood Marshall Nu First African American Justice of US Supreme Court; attorney in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka; first Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; 1946 Spingarn Medal and 1993 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; authored the Constitution for the newly independent African nation of Kenya

Hubert Humphrey Thurgood Marshall

Cabinet and Cabinet-level ranks

Name Original chapter Notability References Lee P. Brown Epsilon Beta Director of National Drug Control Policy; first African-American mayor of Houston, Texas Robert J. Brown Mu Lambda Special Assistant to President Nixon for Minority Affairs William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. Psi Secretary of Transportation; first Black Supreme Court law clerk; co-author of the brief in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka; co-counsel on the landmark case McLaughlin v. Florida, which established the constitutionality of interracial marriages; editor of the Harvard Law Review; 1995 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Don Cravins Jr. Nu Psi Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development; Executive Vice President and COO of the National Urban League; Louisiana State Legislature Malcolm Jackson Delta Phi Chief Information Officer and Assistant Administrator: Office of Environmental Information Rayford Logan Omicron First Executive Director of the National Urban League; member of President Franklin D Roosevelt's Black Cabinet; second Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); 1980 Spingarn Medal recipient; 15th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Samuel Pierce Alpha Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; argued before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Martin Luther King Jr. and The New York Times in the important First Amendment case styled New York Times v. Sullivan; first African-American to serve on the Board of Directors of a Fortune 500 company Emmett Scott Honorary Special Assistant to the Secretary of War Ron C. Sims Zeta Pi Lambda Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; served as King County Executive, King County, Washington Louis Wade Sullivan Alpha Rho Secretary of Health and Human Services; co-founder and first President of Morehouse School of Medicine

Lee Brown Samuel Pierce Louis Sullivan Don R. Cravins Jr.

Members of the United States Congress

Further information: United States Congress

Name Original chapter Notability References Edward Brooke Beta Senator from Massachusetts; Attorney General of Massachusetts; Chairman Emeritus of World Policy Council; 1967 Spingarn Medal and 2004 Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient Roland Burris Beta Eta Senator from Illinois, appointed to fill the seat vacated by President Barack Obama; first Black Illinois Attorney General Hansen Clarke Gamma Lambda Representative from Michigan Emanuel Cleaver Eta Gamma Representative from Missouri; Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri Danny K. Davis Gamma Delta Representative from Illinois William Dawson Theta Representative from Illinois; first African-American chairman of a regular House Committee (Committee on Expenditures in Executive Department); Dawson Technical Institute at Kennedy-King College (Chicago) is named in his honor Ron Dellums Delta Omicron Representative from California; co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus; Mayor of Oakland; led the fight in the US against South African apartheid; namesake of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland Julian C. Dixon Alpha Delta Representative from California Chaka Fattah Zeta Omicron Lambda Representative from Pennsylvania Floyd H. Flake Zeta Gamma Lambda Representative from Illinois; president of Wilberforce University Harold Ford Sr. Beta Omicron Representative from Tennessee; legislator of Tennessee William H. Gray Rho Representative from Pennsylvania; House Majority Whip and House Democratic Whip; CEO of the United Negro College Fund Al Green Beta Nu Representative from Texas Earl F. Hilliard Alpha Rho Representative from Alabama; Legislator of Alabama Steven Horsford Eta Lambda Representative from Nevada Gregory W. Meeks Zeta Zeta Lambda Representative from New York; New York State Assembly Ralph Metcalfe Alpha Xi Representative from Illinois; co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus; 1932 and 1936 Olympian; Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building (Chicago) is named in his honor Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Eta First Black Representative from New York (Harlem); Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee; first African American Chairman of a major committee in the U.S. House of Representatives; early civil rights and racial equality legislation advocate; long-time pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church Charles B. Rangel Alpha Gamma Lambda Representative from New York; co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus; the first Black person to chair the Committee on Ways and Means; New York State Assembly Representative; Marine combat veteran awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals David Scott Beta Nu Representative from Georgia Robert C. Scott Sigma Representative from Virginia Bennett M. Stewart Xi Lambda Representative from Illinois Raphael Warnock Alpha Gamma Lambda Senator from Georgia; first African American Senator elected from Georgia; Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta

William Dawson Ron Dellums Julian Dixon Chaka Fattah Harold Ford Sr. William H. Gray

US Governors and Lieutenant Governors

Name Original chapter Notability References Justin Fairfax Kappa Omicron Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia Walter A. Gordon Alpha Epsilon 17th Governor of the United States Virgin Islands; Federal District Judge of the United States Virgin Islands Westley Moore Sigma Sigma 2001 Rhodes Scholar; 63rd Governor of Maryland Joe Rogers Omicron Tau Lieutenant Governor of Colorado Roy L. Schneider Beta 25th Governor of the United States Virgin Islands Charles Wesley Turnbull Gamma Iota 26th Governor of the United States Virgin Islands James R. Williams Alpha Tau Lieutenant Governor of Ohio candidate; 25th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha

Ralph Metcalfe Adam Powell Jr.

Diplomats

Name Original chapter Notability References Samuel Clifford Adams Jr. Alpha Chi U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Niger Orison Rudolph Aggrey Beta Mu Lambda Ambassador to Republic of The Gambia, Republic of Senegal, and Romania Archibald Carey Jr. Theta Diplomat; attorney; Circuit Court Judge; Pastor Walter Carrington Sigma Ambassador to Republic of Senegal and Federal Republic of Nigeria Horace Dawson Nu Ambassador to Republic of Botswana; Director of the Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center, Howard University; Chairman of the World Policy Council Frederick Douglass (honorary) Minister to Republic of Haiti; anti-slavery activist Edward R. Dudley Alpha Omicron United States Ambassador to Liberia; First African American to hold the rank ambassador; Justice of the New York Supreme Court Walter A. Gordon Alpha Epsilon U.S. Federal District Court Judge; Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands; First All-American football player in University of California history and California state champion in wrestling and boxing; Chartering member of Alpha Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Lionel Hampton Phi Goodwill Ambassador; jazz percussionist and bandleader; National Medal of Arts recipient James A. Joseph Beta Sigma Ambassador to South Africa; Under Secretary of Interior Kenton Keith Upsilon Ambassador to State of Qatar Raphael Lanier Mu Lambda Minister to Liberia; first president of Texas Southern University Delano Lewis Upsilon Ambassador to South Africa; President and Chief Executive Officer of National Public Radio; President of The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company Frenise A. Logan Alpha Chi Diplomatic cultural affairs attache' in Madras and Calcutta, India; Historian; Poet Donald McHenry Eta Tau Ambassador to United Nations John H. Morrow Delta Iota First United States Ambassador to Guinea after its independence; first US Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Gerald Eustis Thomas Sigma Ambassador to Guyana and Kenya; Admiral, US Navy Terence Todman Delta Zeta Ambassador to Republic of Chad, Guinea, Costa Rica, Spain, Denmark, and Argentina Lester Walton Eta Minister to Liberia Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr. Sigma Ambassador to Norway and Minister to Romania Franklin H. Williams Nu Ambassador to Republic of Ghana and the United Nations; President of the Phelps-Stokes Fund Andrew Young Beta Ambassador to the United Nations; Representative from Georgia; two-term Mayor of Atlanta; 1990 Governor of Georgia candidate; 1978 Spingarn Medal, 1981 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and French Légion d'honneur recipient

Robert Scott Charles Turnbull Frederick Douglass

Mayors

Name Original chapter Notability References Dennis Archer Alpha Upsilon Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; Mayor of Detroit, Michigan; first Black President of the American Bar Association Richard Arrington Jr. Gamma Kappa First Black Mayor of Birmingham Ras J. Baraka Alpha Alpha Lambda Mayor of Newark, New Jersey; Grammy Award-winning music producer; educator; author Thomas V. Barnes Gamma Rho Mayor of Gary, Indiana Marion Barry Beta Xi Mayor of Washington, D.C.; first Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Ted Berry Alpha Alpha First Black Mayor of Cincinnati; board member of the NAACP Byron Brown Delta Epsilon Senator of New York; first Black Mayor of Buffalo Willie Brown Xi Rho First Black Mayor of San Francisco; Speaker of the California State Assembly; the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is in part named in his honor Melvin Carter Beta Nu First Black Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota Lawrence D. Crawford Epsilon Mayor of Saginaw, Michigan David Dinkins Beta First Black Mayor of New York City Gow Fields Mu Zeta Lambda First Black Mayor of Lakeland, Florida Anthony Ford Xi Iota Mayor of Stockridge, Georgia Maynard Jackson Alpha Rho First Black and three-term Mayor of Atlanta; Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is in part named in his honor Harvey Johnson Jr. Beta Omicron First Black Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi Kwame Kilpatrick Beta Nu Mayor of Detroit who resigned after pleading guilty to felony charges stemming from a text message scandal; convicted of federal charges including racketeering and extortion Henry L. Marsh III Gamma First African American Mayor of Richmond Rudolph McCollum Jr. Beta Mayor of Richmond James McGee Xi First Black Mayor of Dayton Wayne M. Messam Iota Delta First Black Mayor of Miramar, Florida Ernest Nathan Morial Beta Tau Louisiana State Legislature; first Black Mayor of New Orleans; namesake of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans Marc Morial Psi Louisiana State Legislature; Mayor of New Orleans; 8th CEO of the National Urban League J.O. Patterson Alpha Chi First African American Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee Timothy L. Ragland Upsilon Eta First African American and youngest Mayor in the history of Talladega, Alabama Norm Rice Zeta Pi Lambda First and only African-American Mayor of Seattle Eugene Sawyer Beta Upsilon Mayor of Chicago Frank Scott Jr. Kappa Eta Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas AC Wharton Beta Omicron Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee Lionel Wilson Alpha Epsilon First Black Mayor of Oakland Randall Woodfin Alpha Rho Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama

Marion Barry Byron Brown Willie Brown David Dinkins

Judges and lawyers

Name Original chapter Notability References Ralph Bailey Jr. Alpha Pi First full-time African-American male judge in Henry County, Georgia Robert Benham Eta Lambda Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia Joe Brown Kappa Eta Host of the syndicated show Judge Joe Brown; presided over James Earl Ray's last appeal for Ray's conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Robert L. Carter Nu Pivotal role in Sweatt v. Painter, Brown v. Board of Education, and NAACP v. Alabama; US District Court Judge; 2004 Spingarn Medal recipient; Federal District Appellate Judge Julius Chambers Gamma Beta Attorney in the Supreme Court case styled Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education; third Director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; president of North Carolina Central University U. W. Clemon Omicron Lambda U.S Federal District Court Judge for Alabama Christopher Darden Epsilon Mu Prosecutor in the murder trial of O. J. Simpson Milton C. Davis Gamma Phi Assistant Attorney General of the state of Alabama who researched and wrote opinions which led Governor George Wallace to pardon Clarence Norris, the last known surviving defendant in the international cause célèbre case of the Scottsboro Boys; 29th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Harry T. Edwards Theta Zeta Lambda Justice for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Jerome Farris Alpha Rho First Black Federal Judge appointed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Ernest A. Finney Jr. Delta Alpha Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court; South Carolina House of Representatives; Interim President of South Carolina State University; attorney in the civil rights case styled The Friendship 9 Charles Hamilton Houston Sigma Chief architect of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's strategy for racial equality in dismantling the Jim Crow laws; first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review; 1950 Spingarn Medal recipient Charles Preston Howard Sr. Gamma Phi Co-founder of the National Bar Association, the oldest and largest organization of African American Attorneys Harry E. Johnson Beta Tau President of the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., which oversees the fundraising, design, and construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial; 31st General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Damon Keith Alpha Zeta Chief Justice of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan who famously ruled in United States v. Sinclair (upheld in United States v. US District Court) that President Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell had to disclose the transcripts of illegal wiretaps that Mitchell had authorized without first obtaining a search warrant; 1974 Spingarn Medal recipient Belford Lawson Jr. Epsilon Co-founder of New Negro Alliance; successfully argued in United States Supreme Court cases styled New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co. to safeguard the right to boycott, and Henderson v. United States which abolished segregation in railroad dining cars; 16th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Robert Anthony Malloy Zeta Omicron Lambda Judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands Greg Mathis Gamma Lambda Host of television series Judge Mathis Daryl D. Parks Beta Nu Managing partner in the law firm that represented the parents of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, and the family of Eric Garner Aubrey E. Robinson Jr. Alpha U.S. Federal District Judge for the District of Columbia (DC) Jawn Sandifer Alpha Omicron Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court; one of two staff lawyers for the NAACP who successfully argued Henderson v. United States Michael A. Shipp Delta Iota Nominated as a judge for the US District Court for the District of New Jersey by President Obama on January 23, 2012 Arthur Shores Alpha Beta Attorney in Lucy v. Adams, which prevented the University of Alabama from denying admission to applicants solely on account of race or color; civil rights activist; namesake of the Arthur Davis Shores Law Center and A. D. Shores Park in Birmingham, Alabama Charles Z. Smith Beta Nu First African-American to serve as Washington State Supreme Court Justice 1998-2002; first African-American to serve as King County Superior Court judge and Seattle Municipal Court judge; served as a special assistant to United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (1960-64) to investigate corruption related to Teamster Union pension funds; brought an indictment in Chicago against Teamster Union President James Hoffa; appointed by President Clinton in 1999 to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom A. P. Tureaud Beta Attorney in Garner v. Louisiana, which legalized sit-in protests at segregated private businesses and restaurants Reggie B. Walton Alpha Zeta Federal Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Horace Ward Alpha Rho Senator of Georgia; first African American to serve on the federal bench in Georgia

Kwame Kilpatrick Marc Morial Norm Rice Joe Brown Robert Carter

Other US political and legal figures

Name Original chapter Notability References William T. Andrews Eta New York State Assembly Michael L. Ankton Theta Kappa Justice of the Peace, Clark County Quorum Court, Clark County, Arkansas Calvin Ball III Kappa Phi Lambda Howard County Executive Daniel T. Blue Jr. Gamma Beta North Carolina House of Representatives; Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives; 2002 Democratic candidate for the United States Senate Roy A. Burrell Eta Chi Louisiana House of Representatives; former member of the Shreveport City Council; former president of the Delta Upsilon Lambda chapter Randy D. Dunn Omicron Xi Lambda Missouri House of Representatives Al Edwards unknown Texas House of Representatives; considered the father of the Juneteenth Holiday Kambrell Garvin Xi Phi South Carolina House of Representatives Patrick O. Jefferson Beta Phi Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 11; lawyer in Arcadia, Louisiana Carl McCall Theta Zeta Legislator of New York; Comptroller of New York; 2002 Democratic candidate for Governor of New York William Byron Rumford Gamma Phi Lambda Member of the California State Legislature C. O. Simpkins Sr. Dillard University Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Caddo Parish, 1992 to 1996 Albert Vann Alpha Xi Lambda New York State Assembly Herb Wesson Nu California State Assembly; Speaker of the California State Assembly Tyrone Yates Alpha Alpha Ohio House of Representatives

Government officials outside the U.S.

Name Original chapter Notability References Joseph Boakai Eta Epsilon Lambda President of Liberia, previously Vice President serving under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf E. David Burt Nu Beta Member of Parliament; Deputy Leader of the Progressive Labour Party; former Senator, Bermuda Shawn Crockwell Rho Chi Member of Parliament and Minister of Tourism, Development & Transport, Bermuda Clifton Stanley Hardy Tau Chief auditor for the Republic of Liberia, European correspondent for the Associated Negro Press in Paris, a government adviser on export-import banking issues for Liberia Stuart Hayward Beta House of Assembly of Bermuda Norman Washington Manley Beta Beta Lambda Premier of Jamaica; founder of Jamaica's People's National Party; 1914 Rhodes Scholar Prince K. Moye Eta Epsilon Lambda Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Liberia Diallo Rabain Epsilon Theta Lambda Member of Parliament; former Opposition Senate Leader and Senator, Bermuda Edward Richards Epsilon Theta Lambda First Premier of Bermuda Lawrence Scott Epsilon Theta Lambda Member of Parliament, Bermuda; son of former Premier of Bermuda William Alexander Scott Peter Turnquest Eta Gamma Member of Parliament, Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement Party, the Bahamas

Journalists and media personalities

Name Original chapter Notability References Ron Allen Psi News correspondent for NBC and ABC Tony Brown Alpha Upsilon Commentator on the syndicated television show Tony Brown's Journal; founding dean of Howard University's School of Communication Malvin Russell Goode Omicron First Black news correspondent for ABC as a United Nations reporter Jay Harris Nu Theta Sportscaster for ESPN on SportsCenter and ESPNEWS Corey Hébert Alpha Rho Celebrity physician, radio talk show host, Chief Medical Editor for National Broadcasting Company for the Gulf Coast, first Black Chief Resident of Pediatrics at Tulane University, chief executive officer of Community Health TV Shannon Lanier Epsilon Delta Author of Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family; TV personality; journalist; descendant of President Thomas Jefferson Roland S. Martin Pi Omicron Editor of the Chicago Defender; radio talk show host; contributor to CNN; anchor for TV One network news Harry S. McAlpin Gamma Epsilon First African American White House Press Correspondent; CBS National (DC) reporter; journalist; attorney Lu Palmer Alpha Kappa Chicago Sun-Times columnist; community activist; campaign manager for Harold Washington mayoral race Stuart Scott Mu Zeta Sportscaster for ESPN on SportsCenter Chuck Stone Alpha Kappa Speechwriter for Adam Clayton Powell Jr.; first president of the National Association of Black Journalists; Tuskegee Airman Lewis Ossie Swingler Beta Beta Editor of the Sphinx; editor in chief of the Memphis World; co-founder and editor in chief of the Tri-State Defender; southern vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha during the Montgomery bus boycott Pierre Thomas Theta Iota ABC Network News Senior Justice Correspondent; 2012 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Journalist of the Year Award winner; two-time Emmy Award winner (2001 and 2009); winner of the George Foster Peabody and Alfred I DuPont Awards Stan Verrett Beta Sportscaster for ESPN on SportsCenter and ESPNEWS

Literature

Name Original chapter Notability References Countee Cullen Eta Poet of the Harlem Renaissance Eric Jerome Dickey Kappa Eta Author E. Lynn Harris Kappa Kappa Author, playwright Chester Himes Kappa Author whose works include If He Hollers Let Him Go and a series of Harlem Detective novels Lawrence Ross Alpha Epsilon Author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities Carl Weber Beta Gamma Author Clint Wilson Alpha Delta Author, Whither the Black Press?; journalist; Howard University professor Frank Yerby Theta Best-selling author

Countee Cullen

Armed services

Name Original chapter Notability References Terrence Adams Upsilon Eta Brigadier General, United States Air Force Ronald L. Bailey Zeta Lambda Major General, United States Marine Corps; first African American Commander of the 1st Marine Division William Banton Beta First Black Brigadier General in the USAF; clinical faculty member of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine; first African American president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society Arnold Gordon Bray Zeta Gamma Brigadier General; United States Army David L. Brewer Gamma Zeta Admiral, United States Navy; Superintendent of L.A. Unified School District, community activist Charles Q. Brown Eta Upsilon Four star general; Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Previously U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff; 1st African American military service chief. Wesley A. Brown Sigma Lieutenant Commander; first Black graduate from United States Naval Academy; the Wesley A. Brown Field House at the US Naval Academy is named in his honor Alvin Bryant Zeta Lambda Brigadier General; U.S. Army Roscoe Cartwright Zeta Alpha General, United States Army, founder of ROCKs, Inc., an international organization for U.S Armed Forces commissioned officers Anthony J. Cotton Eta Omicron United States Air Force four-star general U.S. Air Force Global Strike Force Commander Victor Daly Alpha French Croix de Guerre recipient; novelist and author Gracus K. Dunn Nu Alpha Brigadier General, United States Army Amos M. Gailliard Jr. Zeta Zeta Lambda One-star general, United States Army, New York Guard Walter E. Gaskin Delta Eta Three-star general, United States Marine Corps Fred A. Gorden Mu Beta Lambda Brigadier General; first African-American First Captain of the West Point Academy Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Gamma First African American admiral, United States Navy; first African American to command a US fleet; the Arleigh Burke-class warship USS Gravely (DDG 107) was named in his honor and commissioned on November 20, 2010 Benjamin Thurman Hacker Epsilon Mu Lambda Rear Admiral, United States Navy Clifton Stanley Hardy Tau Commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, regional translator for the 365th Infantry (French), World War I Edward Honor Beta Sigma Lieutenant General, United States Army James E. Huger Alpha Zeta Montford Point Marine; awarded Congressional Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama; former executive director and general secretary of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; Alpha Award of Merit recipient Prince C. Johnson III Eta Epsilon Lambda Brigadier General, Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS), Armed Forces of Liberia James McCall Psi Major General Chief in the Pentagon Budget Office Charles McGee Tau Colonel, United States Air Force; original Tuskegee Airman and 30-year career officer in the USAF; holds an Air Force record 409 fighter combat missions flown in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal, and Army Commendation Medals; awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007; inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2011; promoted to brigadier general in 2019 Winston E. Scott Alpha Phi Lambda Astronaut, Johnson Space Center Ronald D. Sullivan Beta Brigadier general (United States) William J. Walker Theta Psi Lambda Major General, United States Army, commanding general, District of Columbia National Guard Bobby Wilks Alpha Eta First African American Coast Guard aviator; first African American to reach the rank of Coast Guard captain Darryl K. Williams Gamma Iota Lieutenant General, Commanding General of combined arms and Senior Mission Commander at Fort Lee, Virginia Johnnie E. Wilson Theta Theta Lambda Four-star general, United States Army Daniel Dee Ziankahn Eta Epsilon Lambda Major General, Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of Liberia

Walter E. Gaskin Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Benjamin Hacker Winston E. Scott Johnnie Wilson

Religion

Name Original chapter Notability References John Hurst Adams Alpha Omicron Founder of the Congress of National Black churches; Senior Bishop of the A.M.E. church; civil rights activist; President of Paul Quinn College Vinton R. Anderson Xi 92nd Bishop of African Methodist Episcopal Church; President of World Council of Churches James H. Cone Beta Chi Author of Black Theology & Black Power; considered the "father of Black Liberation Theology"; Distinguished Professor of Theology at Union Theological Seminary Tyrone Crider Theta Mu Lambda National Director of Operation PUSH Harold Davis Beta Sigma President of American Baptist Churches; pastor Cain Hope Felder Beta First national director of the United Methodist Black Caucus; Professor of Theology at Howard University and Princeton University; editor of The African American Jubilee Bible Robert E. Hayes Jr. Huston–Tillotson University Bishop in the United Methodist Church T. J. Jemison Beta Upsilon Co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); President of National Baptist Convention; organized the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of 1953 E. Edward Jones Delta Sigma President of National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. from 1986 to 2003 Martin Luther King Jr. Sigma 1962 Nobel Peace Prize; civil rights activist; co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in his honor; 1957 Spingarn Medal, 1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and 2004 Congressional Gold Medal recipient; first African American with a memorial on the National Mall Otis Moss Jr. Alpha Rho Pastor, theologian, author, lecturer, civil rights activist, aide to Martin Luther King jr.; author of Preach!: The Power and Purpose Behind our Praise Clementa C. Pinckney Gamma Gamma Senior Pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; one of nine people slain in the 2015 Charleston church shooting; his eulogy was delivered by President Barack Obama; South Carolina State Senator J. Alfred Smith unknown President of Progressive National Baptist Convention

Cain Hope Felder Martin Luther King Jr.

Science

Sixty percent of all Black male doctors and sixty-five percent of all Black male dentists are Alphas.

Name Original chapter Notability References Leonidas H. Berry Xi Pioneer in the medical sciences of gastroscopy and endoscopy; inventor of the Berry endoscope; President of the National Medical Association 1965-1966; author of I wouldn't take Nothin' for My Journey: Two Centuries of an Afro-American Minister's Family Herman Branson Beta Gamma President of Central State University and Lincoln University; co-discoverer of the Alpha helix; sickle-cell physicist William Warwick Cardozo Kappa Physician; pioneer researcher of sickle cell anemia; Howard University professor of Medicine; Chief of Staff, Gastroenterology at Providence Hospital George Sherman Carter Nu Nuclear physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project James P. Comer Gamma Eta Prominent child psychiatrist; founder of the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University Child Study Center; associate dean at the Yale University School of Medicine Lloyd Hall Theta Chemist who contributed to the science of food preservation; author of 59 United States patents; a number of his inventions were also patented in foreign countries LaSalle Leffall Jr. Beta Nu President of American College of Surgeons; president of American Cancer Society Julian Herman Lewis Theta First African American to hold both an MD and a Ph.D.; groundbreaking research scientist exploring differences in disease expressions by race; expert on blood typing and race-based medical diagnosis and treatment Garrett A. Morgan Delta Alpha Lambda Inventor who originated a respiratory protective hood (similar to modern gas masks) and a hair-straightening preparation; patented a type of traffic light signal Earl W. Renfroe Theta Orthodontist; for many years, he was acknowledged as one of the best hands-on clinical orthodontics instructors in the world; a dental facility in Barbados is named after him J. Marshall Shepherd Iota Delta Physicist; NASA meteorologist; professor at University of Georgia; expert on global climate change and environmental issues Louis Wade Sullivan Alpha Rho Secretary of Health and Human Services; co-founder and first President of Morehouse School of Medicine Levi Watkins Jr. Beta Omicron Chief of cardiovascular surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital; performed the world's first human implantation of the automatic implantable defibrillator; first African-American medical student at Vanderbilt University

Garrett Morgan

Service and social reform

Name Original chapter Notability References William J. Barber II Gamma Beta North Carolina NAACP State President, 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius award recipient, architect of the Moral Mondays Movement, author of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays Ezell Blair Jr. Beta Epsilon Civil rights activist and member of the Greensboro Four Cornell William Brooks Delta Phi 18th President/CEO of the NAACP; attorney; social and civil rights activist Julius Chambers Gamma Beta Attorney in the Supreme Court case styled Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education; third director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; president of North Carolina Central University Frederick Douglass Omega (honorary) United States Ambassador to Haiti; anti-slavery activist W. E. B. Du Bois Epsilon (honorary) Co-founder of Niagara Movement and NAACP; founder and editor-in-chief of The Crisis; first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard University; 1920 Spingarn Medal recipient; author of The Souls of Black Folks Lloyd L. Gaines Alpha Psi Central figure of one of the most important cases in the Civil Rights Movement, the Supreme Court case Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada Lester Granger Theta Zeta 3rd Executive Secretary of the National Urban League Dick Gregory Beta Eta 1968 Presidential candidate; comedian, social activist, writer George Edmund Haynes Beta Founder and first President of the National Urban League; first African American to receive a PhD from Columbia University John Hope Eta Lambda First Black President of Atlanta University; president of Atlanta University; co-founder of the Niagara Movement and NAACP; fourth president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); 1936 Spingarn Medal recipient T. J. Jemison Beta Upsilon Co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; President of the National Baptist Convention; organized the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of 1953 Charles S. Johnson Gamma Editor of the National Urban League's Opportunity magazine; first Black President of Fisk University Lyman T. Johnson Gamma Plaintiff whose successful legal challenge opened the University of Kentucky to African-American students in 1949 Eugene K. Jones Alpha Co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; second Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President Franklin D Roosevelt's Black Cabinet Martin Luther King Jr. Sigma 1962 Nobel Peace Prize; civil rights activist; co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in his honor; 1957 Spingarn Medal, 1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and 2004 Congressional Gold Medal recipient; first African American with a memorial on the National Mall Martin Luther King III Eta Lambda President and CEO of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change; former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Rayford Logan Omicron First Executive Director of the National Urban League; Member of President Franklin D Roosevelt's Black Cabinet; 2nd Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); 1980 Spingarn Medal recipient; 15th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Joseph Lowery Eta Lambda Co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); delivered the benediction at the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009; 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Floyd McKissick Alpha Rho 2nd President of Congress of Racial Equality; Founder of Soul City Jesse E. Moorland Beta Co-founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); namesake of Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center Marc Morial Psi Louisiana State Legislature; Mayor of New Orleans; 8th CEO of the National Urban League Hugh Bernard Price Eta Alpha Lambda 7th President of the National Urban League Paul Robeson Nu NFL player, actor and singer; social activist, 1945 Spingarn Medal recipient; Stalin Peace Prize laureate Jawn Sandifer Alpha Omicron Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court; one of two staff lawyers for the NAACP who successfully argued Henderson v. United States Ozell Sutton Pi Lambda Co-founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; 2012 Congressional Gold Medal recipient; 26th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity; Original Monford Point Marine Heman Sweatt Alpha Sigma Plaintiff in the US Supreme Court case styled Sweatt v. Painter, which successfully challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation established by the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson Channing Heggie Tobias Beta Chairman of the NAACP, Director of the Phelps-Stokes Fund; 1948 Spingarn Medal recipient C. T. Vivian Eta Lambda Civil rights activist and aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; author and humanitarian Wyatt Tee Walker Gamma Co-founder and 3rd Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); civil and human rights activist Alfred Bitini Xuma unknown President of the African National Congress Max Yergan Theta 2nd President of the National Negro Congress; Co-founder of the International Council on African Affairs; 1933 Spingarn Medal recipient Whitney Young Beta Mu 4th President of the National Urban League; 1968 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; namesake of the Whitney Young Memorial Bridge

Frederick Douglass W. E. B. Du Bois Dick Gregory Charles S. Johnson Martin Luther King III Joseph Lowery Marc Morial Whitney Young

Sports

Olympics

Name Original chapter Notability References Dave Albritton Kappa 1936 Olympian, high jump; inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame, 1980 Don Barksdale Gamma Xi 1948 Olympian and first African American to play with the USA Olympic Basketball Team; NBA player Walt Bellamy Gamma Eta 1960 Olympian NBA player; NBA Rookie of the Year (1962); NBA Hall of Fame (1993) Quinn Buckner Gamma Eta 1976 Olympian; NBA player James Butts Eta Pi Lambda 1976 Olympian, track and field Sayon Cooper Delta Xi 2000 Olympian, track and field Otis Davis Alpha Delta Winner of two gold medals for record-breaking performances in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meters relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics Phil Edwards Eta Olympic athlete and winner of five bronze medals Edward Gourdin Alpha Eta 1924 Olympian; first man to make 25 feet in the long jump Chris Huffins Alpha Epsilon Bronze medalist in the 2000 Olympics G. Larry James unknown 1968 Olympian; 4x400 meter relay gold medalist, 400-meter race silver medalist Cornelius Johnson unknown 1932 and 1936 Olympian; high jump Mel Lattany Zeta Pi Gold medal winner at the IAAF World Cup, Summer Universiade, and Liberty Bell Classic; was not able to compete in the 1980 Olympics due to the US boycott on Russia, but held the world record that year in 100m Ralph Metcalfe Nu Xi Representative from Illinois; 1932 and 1936 Olympian; the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago is named in his honor Manteo Mitchell Nu Zeta 2012 silver medalist in track and field Godfrey Murray Epsilon 1972 track and field Olympian Jesse Owens Kappa 1936 Olympian in track and field; Associated Press Athlete of the Year, 1936; 1976 Presidential Medal of Freedom and 1990 Congressional Gold Medal recipient; namesake of the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University Fritz Pollard Jr. Alpha Gamma 1936 Olympian, 110m hurdles Mike Powell Omicron Eta 1988 and 1992 Olympian, long jump Andrew Stanfield Alpha Alpha Lambda 1952 and 1956 Olympian, track and field Eddie Tolan Epsilon 1932 Olympian, 100 and 200 meters Lenny Wilkens Zeta Pi Lambda NBA player and coach; 1996 Olympian, basketball coach Archibald Williams Alpha Epsilon 1936 Olympian, track and field John Woodruff Omicron 1936 Olympian, track and field Kevin Young Gamma Xi 1988 and 1992 Olympian, track and field

Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe Mike Powell

American basketball

Name Original chapter Notability References Nate Archibald Theta Delta Lambda NBA player; Basketball Hall of Fame; voted one of the NBA 50 All-Time Greatest Players Don Barksdale Gamma Xi 1948 Olympian and first African American to play with the USA Olympic Basketball Team; first African American consensus All American college basketball player; NBA player; first African American to play in the NBA All-Star game; Basketball Hall of Fame Walt Bellamy Gamma Eta 1960 Olympian NBA player, Basketball Hall of Fame Junior Bridgeman Delta Chi Lambda NBA player; 12 years in the NBA; his number was retired by the Milwaukee Bucks Quinn Buckner Gamma Eta 1976 Olympian; NBA player, 10 seasons in the NBA Todd Day Kappa Kappa NBA player, nine seasons in the NBA Heyward Dotson Eta NBA player Wayne Embry Delta Upsilon NBA player and General Manager; five-time NBA All-Star; Basketball Hall of Fame Clyde Fletcher Kappa Kappa NBA player, player for Arkansas Razorbacks 1990 NCAA Final Four team Walt Frazier unknown NBA player; Basketball Hall of Fame; two-time NBA Champion; seven-time NBA All-Star, 4x All NBA First Team; two-time All NBA Second Team; seven-time All-Defensive First Team; NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team George Gregory Eta In 1931, the first black basketball player selected as an All-American Dolly King unknown NBL player (predecessor of the NBA) Stan McKenzie Delta Lambda NBA player, seven seasons in the NBA Jim McMillian Eta NBA player; three-time college All-American; three-time Haggerty Award winner; nine seasons in the NBA Chris Mills Eta Epsilon Lambda NBA player, 10 seasons in the NBA Bobby Phills Beta Sigma NBA player, Continental Basketball Association player Garrett Temple Nu Psi NBA player Wes Unseld unknown NBA player and coach; Basketball Hall of Fame Walt Wesley Upsilon NBA player, ten seasons in the NBA Lenny Wilkens Zeta Pi Lambda NBA player and coach; second most wins all-time in NBA history; 1994 NBA Coach of the Year; 1996 Olympian; Basketball Coach; Basketball Hall of Fame; twice inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, the first and only African American so honored John "Hot Rod" Williams Rho Iota NBA player, 13 seasons in the NBA

John Woodruff

American football

Name Original chapter Notability References Emmanuel Arceneaux Delta Kappa NFL player, Minnesota Vikings Bobby Bell Mu National Football League (NFL) player, Pro Football Hall of Fame Gordon Bell Epsilon NFL player Khari Blasingame Kappa Theta NFL player Leroy Bolden Gamma Tau NFL player Jowon Briggs Alpha Alpha Professional Football Player - Cleveland Browns, Defensive Tackle Wes Chandler Theta Sigma NFL player; four-time Pro Bowl player; two-time college All American; 2014 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Michael Clayton Nu Psi NFL player Emerson Cole Alpha Xi Lambda NFL player; first African American to be drafted by the Cleveland Browns and a member of the 1950 NFL championship team; University of Toledo Hall of Fame Don Coleman Gamma Tau NFL player; first African American All-American football player at Michigan State University; first MSU player to have jersey retired; first African American to serve on the MSU coaching staff; member of College Football Hall of Fame Greg Coleman Beta Nu NFL player; first African American punter in the NFL Marco Coleman Nu Mu NFL player; 14 seasons in the NFL; Pro Bowler Canute Curtis Pi Mu NFL player Garrett Dickerson Alpha Mu NFL player with the New York Giants Chris Doleman Omicron NFL player, Pro Football Hall of Fame; eight-time Pro Bowl selection; three-time First Team All-Pro selection; two-time Second Team All-Pro selection; four-time First Team All NFC; two-time Second Team All NFC; NFL 1990's All-Decade Team Donald Driver Delta Kappa NFL player; three-time Pro Bowler; author Carl Eller Mu NFL player, 2004 Pro Football Hall of Fame Mel Farr Jr. Gamma Xi NFL player Mike Farr Gamma Xi NFL player Charles Fisher Pi Mu NFL player, 12 years in the NFL Julius Franks Epsilon First African American to become an All-American football player at the University of Michigan Kyle Fuller Tau Alpha NFL player Derrick Gaffney Theta Sigma NFL player, nine years in the NFL Nesby Glasgow Alpha Xi NFL player, 14 years in the NFL Barrett Green Pi Mu NFL player, seven years in the NFL Sammy Green Theta Sigma NFL player Rosey Grier Gamma Nu NFL player; two-time Pro Bowler; singer; actor; best known for The Thing with Two Heads; helped apprehend Sirhan Sirhan in the immediate aftermath of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination Charles Haley Xi Delta NFL player; 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame; 5-time Super Bowl Champion (San Francisco 49ers 1988 & 1989; Dallas Cowboys 1992, 1993, & 1995); five-time Pro Bowl player P. J. Hall Theta Mu NFL player with the Oakland Raiders Jackie Harris Delta Sigma Lambda NFL player; 10 seasons in NFL Dennis Harrison Kappa Theta NFL player; played in Super Bowl XV and Pro Bowl T. J. Heath Xi Xi NFL player, Jacksonville Jaguars Darryl Henley Gamma Xi NFL player and college All American Eddie Hinton Zeta Zeta NFL player, Baltimore Colts; played in Super Bowl V; former all-time leading receiver at the University of Oklahoma Darius Holland Alpha Iota NFL player, 10 seasons in the NFL Jalyx Hunt Tau Tau Professional Football Player - Philadelphia Eagles, Defensive End Michael Hunter Gamma Eta NFL player Germain Ifedi Pi Omicron NFL player Duke Ihenacho Epsilon Mu NFL player Michael Jackson Mu Xi NFL player, 8 years in the NFL Charlie Janerette Gamma Nu NFL player, six years in the NFL, first African American to play against the all-White University of Alabama football team Trezelle Jenkins Epsilon NFL player Demetrious Johnson Zeta Alpha NFL player; founder of the Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation Ron Johnson Epsilon NFL player; two-time Pro Bowler; College Football Hall of Fame; college football All-American; chairman of the National Football Foundation Tyrell Johnson Theta Upsilon NFL player; starting strong safety for the Minnesota Vikings, 2008 to present Dhani Jones Epsilon NFL player, 11 seasons in the NFL; TV personality Jaryd Jones-Smith Omicron NFL player with the Houston Texans Steve Jordan Alpha Gamma NFL player; six-time Pro Bowler Lewis Kelly Beta Delta NFL player, 6 seasons Reggie Kelly Kappa Beta NFL player Carnell Lake Gamma Xi NFL player; five-time Pro Bowler; NFL 1990s All-Decade Team Henry Lawrence Beta Nu NFL player; two-time Pro Bowler Mark Lee Alpha Xi NFL player, 11 years in the NFL Mike Merriweather Nu Chi NFL player, three-time Pro Bowl player Ronald Moore Gamma Chi NFL player Bill Munsey Mu NFL player CFL player Adrian Murrell Pi Mu NFL player, 10 years in the NFL Marques Murrell Pi Nu NFL player Vince Newsome Alpha Xi NFL player, current assistant director of pro personnel for Baltimore Ravens Roman Oben Alpha Pi NFL player, nine years in the NFL Brig Owens Alpha Alpha NFL player, 11 years in the NFL; included in the list of "70 Greatest Redskins" Michael Pittman Sr. Epsilon Beta NFL player, 10 years in the NFL Fritz Pollard Alpha Gamma One of the first two Black players in the NFL in 1920; first Black head coach in the NFL; 2005 Pro Football Hall of Fame Marcus Pollard Epsilon Kappa NFL player, 14 years in the NFL Jethro Pugh Beta Zeta NFL player, 13 years in the NFL Jay Ratliff Omicron Kappa NFL player; three-time Pro Bowl selection; First Team All-Pro selection Ken Riley Beta Nu NFL player, 15 years in the NFL, Pro Football Hall of Fame 2023 Paul Robeson Nu NFL player; two-time college football All-American; College Football Hall of Fame; actor and singer; social activist; 1945 Spingarn Medal recipient; Stalin Peace Prize laureate Eddie Robinson Beta Iota Lambda Head of the Grambling State University football program for 56 years; the winningest coach in college football history; first coach to record 400 wins; 408 total career wins Darius Rush Theta Nu NFL player Bernard Russ Pi Mu NFL player Art Shell Delta Nu NFL player, four-time Pro Bowl player; Pro Football Hall of Fame; second Black head coach in the NFL Max Starks Theta Sigma NFL player, two-time Super Bowl Champion Sandy Stephens Mu NFL player; First African American All-American Quarterback, Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Lemuel Stinson Eta Upsilon NFL player Woody Strode Alpha Delta NFL player; one of the first two African-Americans to play in the NFL's modern (post-World War II) era; actor; nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor Billy Taylor Epsilon University of Michigan football All-American and school record holder of rushing yardage, CFL player Jesse Thomas Gamma Tau NFL player John Thornton Pi Mu NFL player, nine years in the NFL Willie Thrower Gamma Tau NFL player, first African American quarterback in the NFL modern era Wallace Triplett Gamma Nu NFL player, first African-American to be drafted into and play in the NFL Gene Upshaw Gamma Chi Lambda NFL and AFL player; 1987 Pro Football Hall of Fame; president of National Football League Players Association (NFLPA); NFLPA Headquarters building in Washington, D.C. named in his honor Anthony Walker Jr. Alpha Mu NFL player with the Indianapolis Colts Kenny Washington Alpha Delta One of the first two African-Americans to play in the NFL's modern (post-World War II) era; member of the College Football Hall of Fame Gerald Williams Omicron Kappa NFL player; 11 seasons in the NFL J. Mayo Williams Alpha Gamma NFL player; one of the first African Americans to play professional football; recording artist elected to the Blues Hall of Fame Reggie Williams Theta Zeta NFL player; 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee; 1986 NFL Man of the Year; 1987 Sports Illustrated Co-Sportsman of the Year; former Cincinnati City Councilman Eric C. Wright Zeta Alpha NFL player, two-time Pro Bowl player Jason Wright Alpha Mu NFL player, businessman, team president of the Washington Football Team; first and only African American NFL team president

Donald Driver Rosey Grier Paul Robeson

Other athletics

Name Original chapter Notability References George Altman Beta Omicron Major League Baseball player Earl Burl III Delta Kappa Major League Baseball player Gerald Harris Pi Professional MMA fighter; The Ultimate Fighter (UFC), FCF, TFC, and International Fight League Eulace Peacock Psi Member of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame; rival of Jesse Owens Fred Valentine Beta Omicron Major League Baseball player Willis Ward Epsilon University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame; second African American to letter in varsity football at Michigan; three-time track and field All-American and eight-time Big Ten champion; famous for being excluded from the 1934 Michigan vs. Georgia Tech football game due to being African American Gerald Williams unknown Major League Baseball player

Other Alphas

Name Original chapter Notability References David Bailey Gamma Beta 2017 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor recipient; Special Agent of the United States Capitol Police who prevented a massacre of members of the United States Congress during an attack in Alexandria, Virginia Abraham Bolden Alpha Psi First African-American U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to the White House detail (John F. Kennedy); author of The Echo from Dealey Plaza Raymond Cannon Mu First Editor of The Sphinx, the official publication of Alpha Phi Alpha; 12th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Albert I. Cassell Alpha Architect, designed buildings for Howard University, Morgan State University, and Virginia State University Cornelius Langston Henderson Epsilon Structural engineer and bridge builder; designed the Canadian approach to the Ambassador Bridge linking the U.S. and Canada; designed and built the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the first vehicular subway tunnel (under the Detroit River) between two nations Hamilton Holmes Alpha Rho First African-American male student admitted to the University of Georgia; first African-American student to attend the Emory University School of Medicine James Hood Alpha Phi First African-American male student admitted to the University of Alabama Henry McKee Minton Rho Co-founder of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity; co-founder of Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia; 1891 Valedictorian of Phillips Exeter Academy E. Frederic Morrow Alpha Alpha Lambda First African American to hold an executive position at the White House as Administrative Officer for Special Projects under President Dwight Eisenhower; NAACP field secretary; CBS TV writer; author of Black Man in the White House, Way Down South Up North, Forty Years a Guinea Pig, and A Black Man's View From the Top Hilyard Robinson Eta Architect; designed buildings for Howard University, Hampton University and Langston Terrace Dwellings in Washington, D.C.; architect of Tuskegee, Alabama Army Airfield; first and only African American to design a US airbase

Further reading

• Mason, Herman (1999). The Talented Tenth: The Founders and Presidents of Alpha (2nd ed.). Winter Park, FL: Four-G. ISBN 1-885066-63-5.
• Wesley, Charles H. (1969). The History of Alpha Phi Alpha, A Development in College Life (11th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Foundation.
• Wesley, Charles H. (1981). The History of Alpha Phi Alpha, A Development in College Life (14th ed.). Chicago, IL: Foundation. ASIN: B000ESQ14W.

External links

• The House of Alpha on YouTube
• Alpha Phi Alpha official site (archived link)
• List of Alpha Phi Alpha chapters