31 Notable alumni of
Jackson State University
Updated:
Jackson State University is 1247th in the world, 440th in North America, and 412th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 31 notable alumni from Jackson 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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Walter Payton
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Walter Jerry Payton was an American professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "Sweetness", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time.
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Shedeur Sanders
- Years
- 2002-.. (age 24)
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Shedeur Deion Sanders is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Jerry Rice Award, Deacon Jones Trophy, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award before being selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft. Sanders is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders and the younger brother of free agent safety Shilo Sanders.
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Travis Hunter
- Enrolled in Jackson State University
- Studied in 2022-2023
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Travis Hunter Jr. is an American professional football cornerback and wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Heisman Trophy with the latter in 2024. Known for his two-way playing ability, Hunter is the only player in college football history to win both the Chuck Bednarik and Fred Biletnikoff Awards. He was selected by the Jaguars second overall in the 2025 NFL draft.
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James Meredith
- Occupations
- lawyercivil rights advocate
- Biography
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James Howard Meredith is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississippi after the intervention of the federal government (an event that was a flashpoint in the civil rights movement). Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights and apply to the University of Mississippi. His goal was to put pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce civil rights for African Americans. The admission of Meredith ignited the Ole Miss riot of 1962 where Meredith's life was threatened and 31,000 American servicemen were required to quell the violence – the largest ever invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807.
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Laphonza Butler
- Enrolled in Jackson State University
- In 2001 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in political science
- Occupations
- political adviserunion organizerpolitician
- Biography
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Laphonza Romanique Butler is an American labor union official and former politician who served as a United States senator from California from 2023 to 2024. Butler began her career as a union organizer, and served as president of California SEIU State Council from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a regent of the University of California system from 2018 to 2021, and the president of EMILY's List from 2021 to 2023.
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Bennie Thompson
- Enrolled in Jackson State University
- In 1972 graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Bennie Gordon Thompson is an American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 2nd congressional district since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Thompson served as the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023. He was both the first Democrat and the first African American to chair the committee. Since 2011, he has been the only Democrat in Mississippi's congressional delegation, and since 2018 he has been the dean of the delegation after Thad Cochran left Congress.
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Cassandra Wilson
- Occupations
- singersongwriterjazz singerrecording artistjazz musician
- Biography
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Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating blues, country, and folk music into her work. She has won numerous awards, including two Grammys, and was named "America's Best Singer" by Time magazine in 2001.
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Bill Evans
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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William Howard Evans is an American meteorologist and the former weatherman for WABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in New York City.
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Dorothy Moore
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Dorothy Moore is an American blues, gospel, and R&B singer best known for her 1976 hit song, "Misty Blue".
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Kiese Laymon
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Kiese Laymon is an American writer. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, Long Division (2013), and two memoirs, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (2013) and the award-winning Heavy: An American Memoir (2018). Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.
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Robert Brazile
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Robert Lorenzo Brazile Jr., nicknamed "Dr. Doom", is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). Brazile played from 1975 to 1984 for the Houston Oilers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Audie Norris
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Audie James Norris is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Norris played for the National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers, from 1982 to 1985. His former teammate Mychal Thompson gave him the nickname "The Atomic Dog", because of his brutal in-game dunks.
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Rod Paige
- Enrolled in Jackson State University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Roderick Raynor Paige Sr. was an American academic and politician who served as the 7th United States secretary of education from 2001 to 2005 during the George W. Bush administration. He was the first African American to serve as the secretary of education. His tenure as education secretary was noted for his involvement in the creation and passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002.
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Cornell William Brooks
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Cornell William Brooks is an American lawyer and activist. He was chosen to be the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in May 2014. He previously served as president of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark, New Jersey, and as executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington.
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Carlton W. Reeves
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
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Carlton Wayne Reeves is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and chair of the United States Sentencing Commission.
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Dave Clark
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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David Earl Clark is an American former baseball outfielder who is the first base coach for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the first base coach and outfield instructor for the Detroit Tigers. He served as manager of the Houston Astros Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks (2005–2007), and led them to the Texas League Championship in 2006. He also served as the manager of the Houston Astros' Pacific Coast League Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express and served as the manager for the Huntsville Stars, the double-A affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers. He was the interim Manager for the Houston Astros at the end of the 2009 season.
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Emmelie Prophète
- Occupations
- poetwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Emmelie Prophète, also known as Emmelie Prophète Milcé, is a Haitian writer and diplomat. From November 2022 till April 2024, she served as the justice minister of Haiti.
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George Flaggs Jr
- Years
- 1953-.. (age 73)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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George Flaggs Jr. is an American politician who served as Mayor of Vicksburg, Mississippi from 2013 to 2025. An independent, Flaggs won his first term as mayor in 2013 and was reelected in 2017 and again in 2021, before losing another re-election bid in 2025. Prior to becoming mayor, Flaggs was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the 55th district from 1988 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was a youth court counselor in Warren County and a member of the Vicksburg Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
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Vasti Jackson
- Occupations
- singer-songwriterrecord producer
- Biography
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Vasti Jackson is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the musical director and guitarist for Z. Z. Hill, Johnnie Taylor, Denise LaSalle, Little Milton, Bobby Bland and Katie Webster and has worked with gospel artists including the Williams Brothers, the Jackson Southernaires, and Daryl Coley.
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Curt Ford
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Curtis Glenn Ford is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, from 1985 through 1990.
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Robert G. Clark, Jr
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Robert George Clark Jr. was an American politician who served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1968 to 2004, representing the 47th district. He was the first African-American member of the Mississippi Legislature since 1894.
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George T. French Jr
- Occupations
- university president
- Biography
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George T. French Jr. is an American academic administrator and university president. He is the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University in downtown Atlanta, serving since September 2019. He previously served as the 14th president of Miles College from March 2006 until August 2019.
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Erik R. Fleming
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Erik Robert Fleming is an American politician who was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives representing the 72nd District (which includes parts of Hinds and Madison counties) from 1999 to 2008. He has been the Democratic nominee twice for one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats. He faced incumbent Republican Thad Cochran in the November 4, 2008 general election, and was defeated. Erik was the Director of Policy with the Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He now resides in the metro Atlanta area and continues to advocate for African American issues as the host of the podcast, A Moment with Erik Fleming.
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Judy Sullivan
- Years
- 1943-.. (age 83)
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
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Judy Sullivan is an American retired biomedical engineer who worked for NASA during the Apollo 11, Apollo 10, Apollo 9, Apollo 8, and Gemini 12 missions. She was the lead biomedical engineer for the Apollo 9 and Apollo 11 missions. Sullivan was the only woman in her department, and one of only a relative few women working for NASA in a technical role at that time. She was the first woman engineer hired by NASA for spacecraft testing.
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Emmett C. Burns, Jr
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Emmett C. Burns Jr. was an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. He served five terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Maryland's District 10 in Baltimore County. Burns was a member of the Economic Matters Committee.
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Mattie Hunter
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mattie Hunter is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 3rd district since 2003. She is the Senate secretary for the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and the Senate majority caucus whip. Hunter is also the 20th Ward Democratic Committeewoman.
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Rosalind Peychaud
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rosalind Magee Peychaud is an American politician and community leader. She served as a Democratic state representative for Louisiana’s 91st District from 2002 to 2004. In 2009, she was appointed deputy chief of staff for U.S. Representative Joseph Cao, a Republican representing Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, where she worked in the New Orleans district office.
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Felicia C. Adams
- Years
- 1960-.. (age 66)
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Felicia C. Adams is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi from 2011 to 2017.
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Patricia Jessamy
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Patricia Coats Jessamy was the State's Attorney of Baltimore, Maryland. She was appointed to head the office in 1995 and won reelection three times.
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Hillman Terome Frazier
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hillman Terome Frazier is a Democratic member of the Mississippi Senate, representing the 27th District since 1993. From 1980 to 1993, he served in the Mississippi House of Representatives. During his time in the legislature, he authored legislation to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a state holiday and to formally adopt the 13th amendment.
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Reuben D. Jones
- Born in
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United States - Biography
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Reuben D. Jones is a retired United States Army major general. In his final assignment, he served as the deputy commanding general of operations for the Installation Management Command from June 3, 2011, to December 3, 2012.
