20 Notable alumni of
Norfolk State University
Updated:
Norfolk State University is 1775th in the world, 626th in North America, and 590th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 20 notable alumni from Norfolk 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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J. B. Smoove
- Occupations
- comedianfilm actorfilm producerscreenwritervoice actor
- Biography
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Jerry Angelo Brooks, commonly known by his stage name J. B. Smoove, is an American actor, comedian and writer. After beginning his career in 1995 on Def Comedy Jam, he was a writer and performer on NBC's Saturday Night Live (2003–06). He is best known for his starring roles on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2007–present) and the CBS sitcom The Millers (2013–15). He also portrayed a fictionalized version of himself on the BET improv-comedy reality television parody Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013–16).
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Tim Reid
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwritertelevision actoractorfilm producer
- Biography
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Timothy Lee Reid is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown on Simon & Simon (1983–87), Ray Campbell on Sister, Sister (1994–99) and William Barnett on That '70s Show (2004–06). Reid starred in a CBS series, Frank's Place, as a professor who inherits a Louisiana restaurant. Reid is the founder and president of Legacy Media Institute, a non-profit organization "dedicated to bringing together leading professionals in the film and television industry, outstanding actors, and young men and women who wish to pursue a career in the entertainment media".
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Kyle O'Quinn
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Kyle Brandon O'Quinn is an American professional basketball player for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association. He played for the Norfolk State Spartans, and led them to a victory over the #2 seed Missouri Tigers in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He was drafted in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft with the 49th overall pick, by the Orlando Magic.
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Future Man
- Occupations
- inventorpercussionistcomposerjazz musician
- Biography
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Roy Wilfred Wooten, also known as RoyEl, best known by his stage name Future Man (also written Futureman and known to fans as Futche), is an American musician, inventor and composer.
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Karen Briggs
- Occupations
- violinist
- Biography
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Karen Briggs, also known as the "Lady in Red", is an American violinist. Born in Manhattan to a family of musicians, Briggs took up the violin at age 12 and committed to playing professionally at age 15. Briggs joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra while still in college, but grew discontented with performing classical music and left the orchestra after four years. Since then, she has performed predominantly in the jazz and contemporary instrumental genres.
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Elbert Guillory
- Occupations
- politicianbusinesspersonlawyer
- Biography
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Elbert Lee Guillory is a former member of the Louisiana State Senate. An American Republican, he represented District 24, including his native Opelousas, and several rural precincts, from May 2, 2009, when he won a special election, until January 11, 2016, when his full term to which he was elected in 2011 ended.
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Randall Robinson
- Enrolled in Norfolk State University
- In 1967 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in sociology
- Occupations
- writerlawyerhuman rights activist
- Biography
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Randall Robinson was an American lawyer, author and activist, noted as the founder of TransAfrica. He was known particularly for his impassioned opposition to apartheid, and for his advocacy on behalf of Haitian immigrants and Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Due to his frustration with American society, Robinson emigrated to Saint Kitts in 2001.
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Gordon Banks
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 69)
- Occupations
- guitaristsongwriterrecord producer
- Biography
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Gordon Banks, a.k.a. Gordon 'Guitar' Banks, was an American guitarist, producer, writer and musical director. He was voted one of the top 100 guitarists in America by Rolling Stone magazine in 1985.
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Jawn Murray
- Occupations
- journalistwriterradio personality
- Biography
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Jawn Murray is a Washington, DC-based American TV host, commentator, executive producer, pop culture expert, media personality and social media influencer best known for hosting TV shows for Travel Channel, EPIX and NFL Network, as well as appearing on cable news channels like CNN, HLN and MSNBC. Ebony magazine named him as one of the "30 on the Rise" to watch in the industry, and the NAACP recognized him as one of "40 Power Players Under 40."
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Debbie Dunn
- Occupations
- sprinter
- Biography
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Debbie Dunn is an American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. Originally from Jamaica, she attended Fairmont Heights High School in Maryland, then Norfolk State University, and became an American citizen in 2004.
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April Holmes
- Years
- 1973-.. (age 51)
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
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April Holmes is a Paralympic athlete from the USA competing mainly in category T44 sprint events.
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Evelyn J. Fields
- Enrolled in Norfolk State University
- Studied in 1971
- Occupations
- scientist
- Biography
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Evelyn J. Fields is a former officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, who served as the director of the Commissioned Officer Corps and director of NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, from 1999 until her retirement in 2003. Fields was the first woman, and first African American to head the NOAA Corps.
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Pendarvis Williams
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Pendarvis Williams is an American basketball player for the Erdenet Miners of the Mongolian National League. He played college basketball for Norfolk State University, where in the 2012–13 season he was named an honorable mention All-American.MBA ERDENET MINERS
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Brehanna Daniels
- Years
- 1994-.. (age 30)
- Biography
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Brehanna Daniels is a tire changer for NASCAR, the first African American woman in a NASCAR Cup Series pit crew, and part of the first female duo to do pit crew work.
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Yvonne B. Miller
- Occupations
- politicianteacher
- Biography
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Yvonne Bond Miller was a Virginia educator and American politician who became the first African-American woman to serve in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. A Democrat, in 1983 Miller became the first African-American woman elected to the state house, where she served for four years before winning election to the state Senate, where she consistently won re-election until her death in office. Miller taught in the Norfolk Public schools, and later taught early and childhood education at one of her alma maters, which had become Norfolk State University during her lifetime.
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Ted Thomas, Sr
- Occupations
- cleric
- Biography
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Bishop Ted Gera Thomas Sr. was an American cleric with the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) who was consecrated to be the senior bishop of the Historic First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Virginia, one of the largest dioceses/jurisdictions of the COGIC in Virginia.
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Martha Bissah
- Years
- 1997-.. (age 27)
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
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Martha Bissah is a Ghanaian athlete. She won a gold medal in the girls' 800m race at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in a time of 2:04.90.
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Michael Rochelle
- Years
- 1950-.. (age 74)
- Biography
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Michael D. Rochelle is a retired United States Army lieutenant general, who served as deputy chief of staff, G-1 in the Department of the Army.
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Julian Earls
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
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Julian Manly Earls is an American physicist who worked for NASA for over forty years. He has been awarded two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals and was inducted into the Presidential Rank Award of the Senior Executive Service by both Bill Clinton and George Bush.
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Ralph Lee Bowerman
- Years
- 1934-2015 (aged 81)
- Occupations
- composersaxophonistsongwriter
- Biography
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Master Sergeant Ralph Lee Bowerman, was a composer, songwriter, musician and entertainer. A saxophone player since childhood, Ralph Bowerman is best known for winning the US Army Bicentennial Army hymn competition on June 14, 1975, and for the memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery, during which SFC Ralph Lee Bowerman's composition "Mighty Is Our Army," the winning selection from over 1,200 entries in the Army Chaplains' Bicentennial Army Hymn Composers Competition, was presented. Ralph has also performed in a honky tonk band with country singer Loretta Lynn during the early 60's.
