24 Notable alumni of
Chicago State University
Updated:
Chicago State University is 1985th in the world, 683rd in North America, and 643rd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 24 notable alumni from Chicago State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu
- Occupations
- politicianaccountantPresident of Nigeria
- Biography
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Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu GCFR is a Nigerian politician who is serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and senator for Lagos West in the Third Republic.
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Mamie Till
- Occupations
- writercivil rights advocateteacher
- Biography
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Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley was the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old youth murdered in Mississippi on August 28, 1955, after being accused of offending a white grocery store cashier named Carolyn Bryant. For Emmett's funeral in Chicago, Mamie Till insisted that the coffin containing his body be left open because, in her words, "I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby." After her son's murder, Mamie Till became an educator and activist in the Civil Rights Movement.
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Mary Alice
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Mary Alice Smith, known professionally as Mary Alice, was an American television, film, and stage actress. Alice was known for her roles as Leticia "Lettie" Bostic on the sitcom A Different World (1987–1989) and Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama Sparkle, and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her recurring role on the series I'll Fly Away. Alice also performed on the stage, and received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her appearance in the 1987 production of August Wilson's Fences.
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Jack Dongarra
- Occupations
- university teachermathematiciancomputer scientistengineer
- Biography
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Jack Joseph Dongarra FRS is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer Science in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Tennessee. He holds the position of a Distinguished Research Staff member in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Turing Fellowship in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and is an adjunct professor and teacher in the Computer Science Department at Rice University. He served as a faculty fellow at the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study (2014–2018). Dongarra is the founding director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. He was the recipient of the Turing Award in 2021.
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Michael Colyar
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Michael K. Colyar is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, voiceover artist, television/radio personality, and author.
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William J. Walker
- Born in
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United States - Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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William J. Walker is a retired United States Army major general and former Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the 38th House Sergeant at Arms and the first African-American to hold the office. He last served as the 23rd Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard. This responsibility includes command of the District of Columbia Army and Air National Guard units. Walker previously served in the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Special Agent and was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in January 2003, with his final assignment being Deputy Assistant Administrator in Charge of the Office of Strategic Warning Intelligence. Walker is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow.
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David Holston
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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David Holston is an American professional basketball player for JDA Dijon Basket of France's LNB Pro A. He played college basketball at Chicago State University (CSU). In 2019, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the French LNB Pro A.
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John Mallee
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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John Daniel Mallee is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He is the current assistant hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). As an MiLB player, Mallee was a shortstop and second baseman. He has previously been the hitting coach of the Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies.
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James A. Banks
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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James Albert Banks is an American educator and the Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies Emeritus and founding director of the University of Washington's Center for Multicultural Education, which is now the Banks Center for Educational Justice. He focuses on the discipline of multicultural education.
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Danny K. Davis
- Enrolled in Chicago State University
- In 1968 graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherteacher
- Biography
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Daniel K. Davis is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from Illinois's 7th congressional district, elected in 1996. The district serves much of western Chicago, as well as the Loop. It also includes several of Chicago's inner western suburbs, such as Bellwood, Oak Park, and River Forest. Davis is a Democrat, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
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Karen Yarbrough
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Karen A. Yarbrough was an American politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 2018 until her death in 2024. Yarbrough served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013, and as Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 2012 to 2018. She briefly served as the interim chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois after long-time chair Michael Madigan resigned from the position in February 2021. Elected to the office of Cook County Clerk on November 6, 2018, she was the first woman and African American to hold the position. She held the position until her death in April 2024.
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Hideko Inouye
- Occupations
- university teacher
- Biography
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Hideko Inoue was a Japanese educator and peace activist. She taught home economics at Japan Women's University and served as the first woman president of the school from 1931–1946. Active in the peace movement she led the Japanese affiliate of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and was one of the leading feminists supporting internationalism in the interwar era. In the 1930s she changed her focus to Pan-Asian cooperation and at the end of the decade was appointed to the Ministry of Greater East Asia to work on educational reforms. In the 1940s, she was decorated by the Emperor of Japan but lost her presidency at Japan Women's University in 1946 when she was purged by the U. S. Occupation Administration. She remained involved in education until the mid-1950s.
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Marcus C. Evans, Jr
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Marcus C. Evans Jr. is an American politician currently serving as Illinois state representative for the 33rd district. The 33rd district, located in the Chicago metropolitan area, includes parts of South Shore, South Chicago, South Deering, East Side, and Hegewisch in Chicago as well as parts of suburban Calumet City and Lansing. Evans was elected vice president of the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2023 and will assume the presidency of the organization in 2025.
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Zonia Baber
- Occupations
- geographergeologist
- Biography
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Mary Arizona "Zonia" Baber was an American geographer and geologist best known for developing methods for teaching geography. Her teachings emphasized experiential learning through field work and experimentation.
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Jeremiah E. Joyce
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Jeremiah E. Joyce is an American lawyer and politician.
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Donne Trotter
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Donne Trotter is a former Democratic Party member of the Illinois Senate, representing 16th district from 1993 to 2003 and the 17th district from 2003 to 2018. Previously, he was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1988 through 1993. On January 19, 2018, Trotter announced his retirement from the Illinois Senate.
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Margaret Haley
- Occupations
- activisteducatorteachertrade unionistpedagogue
- Biography
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Margaret A. Haley was a teacher, unionist, and Georgist land value tax activist, who was dubbed the "lady labor slugger". Haley was the first business representative of the Chicago Teachers Federation and a pioneer leader in organizing schoolteachers. During her long career with the CTF, Haley fought to correct tax inequalities, increase the salaries of teachers, and expose unfair land leasing by the Chicago Board of Education.
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Aaron S. Williams
- Born in
- United States
- Biography
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Aaron S. Williams is an international development expert and a former diplomat. He served as the 18th Director of the Peace Corps from 2009 to 2012 under President Barack Obama.
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Jacqueline B. Vaughn
- Occupations
- trade unionist
- Biography
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Jacqueline Barbara Vaughn was an American Chicago Public Schools special education teacher and labor leader. Vaughn is noted as the first African-American and first woman to serve as president of the Chicago Teachers Union, the nation's third largest teachers union local from August 1984 until her death in January 1994.
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Gerri Major
- Occupations
- journalistwriter
- Biography
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Gerri Major was an American journalist, editor, newscaster, publicist, public health official, author and community leader. During World War I, she was a major in the American Red Cross. Thereafter, she became a society columnist and editor for African American newspapers in her home city of New York as well as in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Baltimore. In 1936, a newspaper reporter said her talent for writing vivid prose, editing, and maintaining a wide circle of influential friends brought her fame and gave her "a unique position similar to that of an arbiter over the local social set." Ebony magazine attested that by the end of the 1930s she had become "one of the best known black women in America." and at the time of her death in 1984, she held joint positions as associate editor of Jet and senior staff editor of Ebony.
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Al Riley
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Al Riley is a former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 38th District between January, 2007 and January 2019. The district includes all or portions of Country Club Hills, Flossmoor, Frankfort, Frankfort Square, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Markham, Matteson, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Richton Park, Tinley Park, and University Park.
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Tony Weeden
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Anthony L. Weeden Jr. is an American professional basketball player. He is a 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) guard. He played competitively at Emmerich Manual High School before transferring to Pike High School where they brought home the 2001 National Championship.
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Ashley Walker
- Born in
- United States
- Occupations
- activistastrochemistscientistplanetary scientistscience communicator
- Biography
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Ashley Lindalía Walker is an astrochemist, science communicator, and activist. In response to police brutality against Black Americans and sparked by the success of Black Birders Week, Walker co-organized #BlackinChem, #BlackInAstro, and #BlackInPhysics to highlight and amplify the voices of Black researchers and scholars in these fields.
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Parneshia Jones
- Enrolled in Chicago State University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Parneshia Jones is an American publisher, poet, and editor. She is the author of a 2015 poetry collection, Vessel, which won the Midwest Book Award. In 2020, Jones was appointed director of Northwestern University Press.
