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Our Alumni

  • Charles Grayson Summersell, BA, Class of 1929 & MA, Class of 1930.  professor of history at The University of Alabama (1935-71); Dean of Libraries, The University of Alabama (1971-8); member of the staff of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet (WWII); Summersell, along with his wife, the former Frances Sharpley (1902-2003), organized what became a quite lucrative business endeavor, creating educational filmstrips for k-12 schools. He and his wife endowed both the Charles G. Summersell Chair in Southern History and the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South.
  • Carl Elliot, Sr., BA & MA, Class of 1933. U.S. House of Representatives, 7th Alabama Congressional District (1949-65); author of the Library Services Act of 1956, which provided library funding to rural areas; co-author of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which led to the creation of the federal student loan program, allowing Americans of all economic backgrounds the chance to go to college; first recipient of The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award (1990); namesake of the Carl A. Elliot Society.
  • Malcolm Cook McMillan, BA, Class of 1935 & MA, Class of 1939. Hollifield Professor of Southern History at Auburn University (1948-78).
  • Allen Johnston Going, BA, Class of 1938 & MA, Class of 1940. Associate Dean of Men, The University of Alabama (1942-57); Professor of History, University of Houston (1957-80), Dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of Houston (1974-5).
  • Clanton W. Williams, MA, Class of 1938. Chief Historian, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II; UA faculty member (1929-55); President, University of Houston (1956-61); Executive Director, Alabama Commission on Higher Education (1970-74).
  • Peter E. Brownback II, BA, Class of 1943 & MA, Class of 1947. Associate Dean, The University of Alabama (1948-52); CIA (1953-67); Agency for International Development (1968-80).
  • Betsy Plank, BA, Class of 1944. Considered the “First Lady of Public Relations,” a pioneer in the field of Public Relations education; first woman chair of the Public Relations Society of America; endowed the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at The University of Alabama.
  • Conwell A. Anderson, MA, Class of 1950 & PhD, Class of 1954. President, Judson College (1960-5); President, Roanoke Female College, (1966-79).
  • David M. N. Ross, MA, Class of 1952. Brevet Brigadier General, U.S. Army (1943-4); Commanding Officer of the 172nd Infantry Regiment, 43rd Infantry Division, in action against the enemy in the Solomon Islands, in 1943; Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for gallantry in action.
  • William C. Harris, BA, Class of 1954 & PhD, Class of 1965. Professor of history emeritus at North Carolina State University. Author of at least five books, including Lincoln and the Border States: Preserving the Union (2012), which won both the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize (for Civil War scholarship) and the Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award.
  • Richard Shelby, BA, Class of 1957. U.S. House of Representatives, 7th Alabama Congressional District (1979-1987); U.S. Senator, Alabama (1987-2023).
  • F. David Matthews, BA & MA, Class of 1961. Eleventh U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1975-77); President of The University of Alabama (1969-75 and 1977-1980); President of the Kettering Foundation (1981-2021); Professor of History at The University of Alabama (1965-80).
  • Donald W. Stewart, BA, Class of 1962. U.S. Senator from Alabama (1978-81); Attorney noted for role in lawsuit against the Monsanto Corporation for PCB contamination in Anniston, Alabama.
  • Arthur P. Bagby, III, BA, Class of 1963. President of Bagby Elevator Company.
  • Wilburt S. Brown, PhD, Class of 1963. Major General, USMC. During WWI: served in 4th Marine Brigade (Purple Heart); during WWII: helped pioneer US military coordinated fire tactics; commanded: 15th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division; 11th Marine Artillery Regiment, 1st Marine Division (Legion of Merit with Combat “V” and Oak Leaf Cluster); during Korean War: commanded 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division (early 1951) (Silver Star); commanding general of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (1952-3); retired December 1953 as Major General. Entered The University of Alabama as an undergraduate junior the following year and received his PhD in 1963.
  • Harvey H. Jackson, III, MA, Class of 1966. Emeritus Professor of History, Jacksonville State University.
  • Tennant S. McWilliams, MA, Class of 1967. Professor of History and Dean Emeritus, The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
  • Charles “Chuck” Gordon, BA, Class of 1968. Film and television producer. Producer credits include such films as Die Hard (1988), Die Hard II (1990), Field of Dreams (1989), Waterworld (1995), and October Sky (1999); writing credits include The Sonny & Cher Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
  • Barbara Tidswell Park, BA, Class of 1969. Author of the popular Junie B. Jones children’s book series, which has sold over 55 million copies and spent over 180 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list; winner of seven Children’s Choice Awards and four Parents’ Choice Awards; founder of Sisters in Survival, a nonprofit organization that assists women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
  • Catherine J. Randall, BA, Class of 1973; MA, Class of 1996; & PhD, Class of 2001. Former news anchor at CBS-affiliate WCFT-TV; Chairwoman of the Board of Pettus Randall Holdings, LLC and The Alabama Academy of Honor; member of the board of directors for Alabama Power Company, Mercedes Benz-USI, Alabama Archives and History Foundation, The David Mathews Center for Civic Life, National Collegiate Honors Council, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and the Alabama Law Foundation; named one of the top 31 women graduates of the Twentieth Century at The University of Alabama; Tuscaloosa’s Philanthropist of the Year and Pillar of the Community (2004); Tuscaloosa’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Women of Distinction (2005); Tuscaloosa County Civic Hall of Fame (2012); Alabama Academy of Honor as one of Top 100 Outstanding Living Alabamians (2004); namesake of the Catherine J. Randall Premiere Award, one of the seven highest honors given annually by The University of Alabama.
  • John D. “Johnny” Johns, BA, Class of 1974. President and COO of Protective Life Corporation (1996-2002); CEO & Chairman of the Board, Protective Life Corporation (2003-2017); former chairman of the Birmingham Business Alliance, the Business Council of Alabama, and the Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
  • Sylvester Croom, Jr., BA, Class of 1975. Member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Head football coach at Mississippi State University (2004-08), becoming the first African-American head football coach at an SEC university; NFL assistant coach for teams such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, Saint Louis Rams, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, and the San Diego Chargers (1987-2004; 2009-16).
  • Sally Wiggin, BA, Class of 1975. Former news anchor at Birmingham’s WBRC and Pittsburgh’s WTAE. Winner of the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award; National Headliners Award; National Sigma Delta Chi Award for Journalistic Merit; and the United Press International Best Special Award. From 1993-2017, Wiggin was host of the Pittsburg Steelers pre-game show.
  • Peter N. Derzis, BA, Class of 1977. ESPN Senior Vice President of College Sports Programming and ESPN Events (1990-2001).
  • Stephen R. Avera, BA, Class of 1978. Senior Vice-President, Secretary and General Counsel at Flowers Foods, Inc. (1986-2019).
  • Sue Bell Cobb, BA, Class of 1978. Thirtieth Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (2007-11). First female chief justice in Alabama.
  • Finis E. “Fess” St. John, IV, BA, Class of 1978. Partner, St. John and St. John, Llc (1983-present); Trustee, The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees (2001-18); Chancellor, The University of Alabama System (2018-24)
  • Stewart D. McLaurin, BA, Class of 1981. President, The White House Historical Association (2014-present).
  • John E. Fleming, BA, Class of 1984. Editor at Large, Anniston Star (1998-2011); Executive Editor, Center for Sustainable Journalism: JJIE/Youth Today (2011-20).
  • Joe Scarborough, BA, Class of 1985. U.S. House of Representatives, 1st Florida Congressional District (1995-2001); Host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe (2007-present).
  • Cynthia L. Almond, BA, Class of 1987. Alabama House of Representatives, 63rd District (2021-2025); President, Alabama Public Service Commission (2025-present). First woman to represent Tuscaloosa County in the Alabama State Legislature.
  • John H. Merrill, BA, Class of 1987. Alabama House of Representatives, 62nd District (2010-2014); 53rd Secretary of State of Alabama (2015-2022).
  • Thomas B. Albritton, BA, Class of 1989. Director, Alabama Ethics Commission.
  • Liles C. Burke, BA, Class of 1991. United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (2017-present).
  • Carl Borick, BA, Class of 1993. Director, The Charleston Museum (2014-present).
  • Reverend Wilson Fallin, Jr., PhD, Class of 1995. Professor emeritus of History in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Montevallo; president of Birmingham-Easonian Baptist Bible College (1972-82; 1988-present); president of Selma University (1983-8); visiting professor at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University; Pastor, New Zion Baptist Church in Bessemer (1968-83), Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Bessemer (1988-present); Birmingham-area Civil Rights activist and leader, confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fallin is the first African-American to earn a PhD in history from The University of Alabama.
  • R. Reid McKee, BA, Class of 1997. Assistant Chief Counsel, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2010-16); Immigration Judge, U.S. Department of Justice (2016-present).
  • Mark D. Nelson, BA, Class of 1997. President and Chief Executive Officer or Bristol Bay Industrial, a subsidiary of BBNC, a chartered corporation wholly owned by Alaska’s First Peoples, primarily of Eskimo, Aleut, and Denaʼina descent, that provides a wide range of services to the oil and gas, mining and metals, chemicals, telecommunications, utilities, and related industries.
  • Vice Admiral Andrew L. “Woody” Lewis, USN Retired, MA, Class of 1998. Senior Vice President of Policy and Projects, Business Executives for National Security (2021-present); Commander of the United States Second Fleet and of NATO Joint Force Command for the Atlantic (2018-21); Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy (2017-18); Commander of Carrier Strike Group 12 (2014-15); command of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (2013-14); commander of Carrier Air Wing 3 (2008-13).
  • Merrily Harris, BA, Class of 1988 & MA, Class of 2007. Director, Executive Secretariat, National Archives and Records Administration.
  • Stephen McNair, BA, Class of 2004. President of McNair Historic Preservation, a national historic preservation consulting firm headquartered in Mobile, AL.
  • Todd Schwarzschild, BA, Class of 2004. CNN Producer (2005-13); Documentary Producer (2009-21); Vice President of Programming and Production Back9 Network (2013-14); General Manager & Channel Leader Rated Red Media (2016-21); Vice President of Content goHUNT (2021-present).
  • Olivia Arnold, BA, Class of 2008. Director of the Paul W. Bryant Museum (2021-present).
  • R. Isabela Morales, BA, Class of 2012. Education and Exhibit Manager at the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum and founding editor of Princeton University’s expansive public history initiative, The Princeton & Slavery Project. Author of Happy Dreams of Liberty: An American Family in Slavery and Freedom (OUP, 2022), which is the recipient of the following awards: 2023 Frederick Douglass Book Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; 2023 Tom Watson Brown Book Award from the Society of Civil War Historians; 2023 Shapiro Book Prize from the Huntingdon Library’s Shapiro Center for American History and Culture; 2023 William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Book Prize from the American Society for Legal History; and the 2024 James F. Sulzby Book Award from the Alabama Historical Association.

Rhodes Scholars

  • James Holtzclaw Kirkpatrick*, 1904
  • Wyatt Rushton, 1916
  • Carl Stanley McGee, 1992
  • Mallory Ann Hayes, 1995
  • Kate Herndon, 2024

* UA’s first Rhodes Scholar and member of the initial class of Rhodes Scholars.

Marshall Scholars

  • Jackson Foster, 2022

Truman Scholars

  • Robert Allsbrook, 1992
  • Carl Stanley McGee, 1989

Voyager Scholarship: the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service

  • Kate Herndon, 2023
  • Camila Lopez, 2025

Eisenhower Global Scholars

  • John Richardson, 2024

Fulbright Student Scholars

  • Joseph E. Hearn, 1949
  • Ashley Tickle Odebiyi, 2020
  • Andrew Deaton, 2022
  • Hiraku Abe, 2024

Fulbright Teaching Assistant Scholars

  • Eric Fager, 2024

IEA Fulbright Award

  • Tori Jessen, 2024

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar

  • Camila Lopez, 2024-5

John Fraser Ramsey Award Winners

  • Carl Stanley McGee, 1991
  • Mallory Ann Hayes Rottinghaus, 1994
  • Mark David Nelson, 1996
  • Andrew Christopher Todd, 2002
  • Charlotte Watters, 2017
  • Emily Adams, 2019
  • Logan Goulart, 2020
  • Jackson Foster, 2021
  • Kate Herndon, 2024
  • Emily Adcock, 2025

The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Frederick Douglass Book Prize

Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize in Naval History

The American Civil War Museum Jefferson Davis Award