47 Notable alumni of
University of New Orleans
Updated:
The University of New Orleans is 1053rd in the world, 385th in North America, and 362nd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 47 notable alumni from the University of New Orleans sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Ellen DeGeneres
- Occupations
- presentertelevision actortalk show hostfilm actorLGBTQ rights activist
- Biography
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Ellen Lee DeGeneres, also known mononymously as Ellen, is an American retired comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She starred in the television sitcoms Ellen (1994–1998) and The Ellen Show (2001–2002). She also hosted the syndicated television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003–2022), for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards.
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Frank Ocean
- Occupations
- photographervisual artistsongwritercomposerkeyboardist
- Biography
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Frank Ocean is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist, among other accolades; both of his studio albums have been listed on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2020).
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John Larroquette
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm produceractortelevision actortelevision director
- Biography
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John Bernard Larroquette is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976–1978), the NBC sitcom Night Court (1984–1992; 2023–present) for which he received four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards wins for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series during the earlier incarnation, the NBC sitcom The John Larroquette Show (1993–1996), the David E. Kelley legal drama series The Practice (1997–2002), the ABC legal comedy-drama series Boston Legal (2004–2008), and the TNT series The Librarians (2014–2018).
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Sal Khan
- Occupations
- YouTuberwriterentrepreneurtelevision producermathematician
- Biography
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Salman "Sal" Amin Khan is an American educator and the founder of Khan Academy, a free online non-profit educational platform with which he has produced over 6,500 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, originally focusing on mathematics and science. He is also the founder of Khan Lab School, a private in-person school in Mountain View, California.
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Taryn Terrell
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorprofessional wrestlermodelstunt performer
- Biography
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Taryn Nicole Dryden is an American model, actress, stuntwoman, ring announcer and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), under her real name, and in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Tiffany.
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Kim McGuire
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Kim Diane McGuire was an American lawyer and author. A former actress, she was best known for her role of Mona "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski in John Waters' 1990 comedy musical Cry-Baby.
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Mark Normand
- Occupations
- television actorstand-up comedianactorcomedian
- Biography
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Mark Normand is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He began performing stand-up in his hometown New Orleans in 2006. He has performed across the United States and abroad and has appeared on Conan, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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James H. Clark
- Occupations
- businesspersoncomputer scientistengineer
- Biography
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James Henry Clark is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in computer graphics led to the development of systems for the fast rendering of three-dimensional computer images.
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Pat Barry
- Occupations
- kickboxermixed martial arts fighterThai boxer
- Biography
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Pat Barry is an American former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed as a heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is particularly known for his low kicks.
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Brian Snitker
- Occupations
- baseball managerbaseball player
- Biography
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Brian Gerald Snitker is an American professional baseball coach and former player who is the manager of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Snitker has been in the Braves organization in different roles since playing in their minor league organization as a catcher and first baseman from 1977 to 1980. He became their manager in 2016.
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Michelle Miller
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Michelle Miller is a national correspondent for CBS News and currently serves as a co-host on CBS Saturday Morning. She has also served as a substitute anchor on CBS Mornings and 48 Hours on ID.
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Dawn Richard
- Occupations
- singersongwriter
- Biography
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Dawn Angeliqué Richard is an American singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. She began her career auditioning for MTV's Making the Band 3 in 2004, during which she formed the girl group Danity Kane.
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Bo McCalebb
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Lester "Bo" McCalebb is an American-Macedonian former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Macedonian national team internationally. Standing at 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in), he played at the point guard position. Born and raised in New Orleans, he attended the University of New Orleans. A two-time All-EuroLeague selection, McCalebb was part of the All-Tournament Team at EuroBasket 2011.
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Joseph Boyden
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Joseph Boyden CM is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for writing about First Nations culture. Three Day Road, a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, was inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Joseph Boyden's second novel, Through Black Spruce, follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. The third novel in the Bird family trilogy was published in 2013 as The Orenda.
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Ervin Johnson
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Ervin Johnson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who is a community ambassador for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA for the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves as a center from 1993 to 2006.
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Chloé Valdary
- Enrolled in the University of New Orleans
- In 2015 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- activistbloggercolumnist
- Biography
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Chloé Simone Valdary is an American writer and entrepreneur whose company, Theory of Enchantment, teaches social and emotional learning in schools, as well as diversity and inclusion in companies and government agencies.
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Paul Mainieri
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Paul Mainieri is an American baseball coach and second baseman. He is currently the head coach at the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball. He played college baseball at LSU, Miami-Dade CC and New Orleans before pursuing a professional baseball career. He then served as the head coach of the St. Thomas Bobcats (1983–1988), the Air Force Falcons (1989–1994), the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1995–2006) and the LSU Tigers (2007–2021). Mainieri coached LSU to the 2009 College World Series Championship.
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Anita Ratnam
- Occupations
- choreographerdancer
- Biography
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Anita Ratnam is an Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and tai chi and Kalarippayattu, thus creating a dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharatam".
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Jericho Brown
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Jericho Brown is an American poet and writer. Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown has worked as an educator at institutions such as the University of Houston, the University of San Diego, and Emory University. His poems have been published in The Nation, New England Review, The New Republic, Oxford American, and The New Yorker, among others. He released his first book of prose and poetry, Please, in 2008. His second book, The New Testament, was released in 2014. His 2019 collection of poems, The Tradition, garnered widespread critical acclaim.
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Johnny Giavotella
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Johnny Arthur Giavotella is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, and Baltimore Orioles.
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Peter Halley
- Occupations
- photographergraphic artistpainterartistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Peter Halley is an American artist and a central figure in the Neo-Conceptualist movement of the 1980s. Known for his Day-Glo geometric paintings, Halley is also a writer, the former publisher of index Magazine, and a teacher; he served as director of graduate studies in painting and printmaking at the Yale University School of Art from 2002 to 2011. Halley lives and works in New York City.
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Jan Aronson
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Jan Aronson is a New Orleans-born artist working and living in New York City.
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Luke Winslow-King
- Occupations
- composermusiciansingerguitaristlyricist
- Biography
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Luke Winslow-King Balzuweit is an American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, and lyricist based out of Calatayud, Aragon, Spain. Winslow-King plays vintage blues and jazz music and is known for his slide guitar work. He is a music traditionalist, playing a mixture of "people's music" and improvisational jazz based in collective improvisation. He has been influenced by the music of New Orleans, where he was based for 15 years. These influences include jazz, Delta blues, ragtime, pre-war American folk, Béla Bartók and Antonín Dvořák's String Quartet No. 12 (American String Quartet), and Woody Guthrie.
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Jamison Ross
- Occupations
- drummer
- Biography
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Jamison Ross is an American jazz drummer and vocalist. He is the winner of the 2012 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drums Competition. Ross released his debut album Jamison on Concord Jazz on June 23, 2015. His sophomore album, All For One, was released on January 26, 2018.
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Brian Palermo
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorscreenwriterstage actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Brian Palermo is an American character actor, science communicator, improv instructor and comedian. He has appeared in a number of television shows, commercials and movies. Palermo is also a writer whose credits include Warner Brothers' Histeria! and Disney's The Weekenders and Dave The Barbarian, both created by Doug Langdale. He is also a co-author with Randy Olson and Dorie Barton of the 2003 book, Connection: Hollywood Storytelling Meets Critical Thinking.
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Randy Bush
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Robert Randall Bush is a former Major League Baseball player and current front office member of the Chicago Cubs. He played 12 seasons for the Minnesota Twins from 1982 to 1993, mainly as an outfielder and designated hitter, compiling 96 home runs, 409 RBIs, and a career batting average of.251 in 1,219 games with Minnesota.
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Joey Butler
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Joseph Frank Butler is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, and St. Louis Cardinals, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes.
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Valerie Martin
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Valerie Martin is an American novelist and short story writer.
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Bunny Matthews
- Occupations
- cartoonist
- Biography
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Will Bunn "Bunny" Matthews III was an American cartoonist and writer from the Greater New Orleans Area. He is best known for his depictions of New Orleans characters and local dialect, especially Vic and Nat'ly Broussard.
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Max Hardberger
- Occupations
- lawyernovelist
- Biography
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Florian Max Hardberger is an American adventurer, ship captain, aviator, ship recovery specialist, admiralty lawyer, and author of maritime fiction and nonfiction adventures.
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Wally Whitehurst
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Walter Richard Whitehurst is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher who played from 1989 to 1996 with the New York Mets, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Standing 6'3" and weighing 195 pounds, Whitehurst attended the University of New Orleans where he compiled a 37–15 record.
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Jim Letten
- Occupations
- lawyermilitary officer
- Biography
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James B. Letten is an American attorney. A career prosecutor, Letten served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana for more than eleven years. By the time Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney in December 2012, he was the longest-serving U.S. Attorney in the country.
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Fady Qaddoura
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Fady Qaddoura is a Palestinian American politician from Indianapolis. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to represent Senate District 30 in the Indiana Senate in the 2020 general election, becoming the first Arab Muslim lawmaker in the state's history. In the election, he defeated his Republican opponent, winning 52.5% of the vote.
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Renée Gill Pratt
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 71)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Renée Gill Pratt is an American politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was also Director of the Center for Student Retention and Success in Southern University at New Orleans. On July 25, 2011, she was found guilty of racketeering. For this crime, she served a four-year sentence.
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Quincy Diggs
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Quincy Johan Diggs is an American-Austrian professional basketball player for Oberwart Gunners of the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga.
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Kathleen Alcalá
- Occupations
- university teacherwriternovelistjournalist
- Biography
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Kathleen Alcalá is the author of a short-story collection, three novels set in the American Southwest and nineteenth-century Mexico, and a collection of essays. She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Washington state and elsewhere, including Seattle University, the University of New Mexico and Richard Hugo House.
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Jay C. Zainey
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
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Jay Christopher Zainey is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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Patrick Scheuermann
- Born in
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United States - Biography
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Patrick Scheuermann is the former Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He was named to become the center's twelfth director on September 25, 2012. He succeeds Robin Henderson, who had served as acting director for the preceding two months. Scheuermann served as the director of the John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi from March 2010 until his appointment to Marshall. Earlier in his NASA career, he served as legislative fellow to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
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Ruben Armiñana
- Biography
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Ruben Armiñana is a political scientist who served as the sixth president of Sonoma State University from 1992 to 2016. He is the first Cuban-American to head a campus in the California State University system.
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Calvin A. Johnson Jr
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Calvin A. Johnson Jr. is an American saxophonist, bandleader, composer, producer, and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known as a tenor and soprano saxophone player but also performs and records on alto and baritone saxophones, clarinet, and flute. He has worked with many of the biggest names in New Orleans music, including Aaron Neville, Harry Connick Jr., the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mystikal, Irvin Mayfield, Mannie Fresh, and others. Johnson is the nephew of New Orleans clarinetist Ralph Johnson, a longtime member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He began playing saxophone at the age of seven, and since 2008 has been playing with his own band, Calvin Johnson & Native Son.
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William D. Baumgartner
- Enrolled in the University of New Orleans
- Graduated with Master of Business Administration
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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William Dale Baumgartner was a United States Coast Guard rear admiral who served as the Commander, Seventh Coast Guard District. He was also the Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the United States Coast Guard. In this capacity, he was the Coast Guard's senior legal advisor and is responsible for all aspects of the service's legal program.
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Enamul Huq
- Years
- 1938-.. (age 87)
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Enamul Huq served as the Inspector General of Police of Bangladesh Police, and a member of the Law Commission from 2004 to 2007.
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James D. Kirylo
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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James David Kirylo is professor of education at the University of South Carolina who teaches courses that examine concepts associated with critical pedagogy, curriculum theorizing, teacher leadership, diversity and literacy. Among other books, he is author of Teaching with Purpose: An Inquiry into the Who, Why, and How We Teach, A Turning Point in Teacher Education: A Time for Resistance, Reflection and Change, and Paulo Freire: The Man from Recife, which is one of the most comprehensive texts in English on the life and thought of Paulo Freire, significantly contributing to Freirean scholarship.
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Bin Ramke
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Lloyd Binford Ramke is an American poet and editor.
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Shelley Puhak
- Years
- 1975-.. (age 50)
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherpoet
- Biography
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Shelley Puhak is an American poet and writer. She was Eichner Professor of Creative Writing at Notre Dame of Maryland University. She won the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize for her poetry collection Guinevere in Baltimore. She was a National Poetry Series winner for her poetry collection Harbinger She is also the author of The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World, a double biography.
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Anaïs St. John
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Anaïs St. John is an American musician, musical educator, and dramatic performer from New Orleans. St. John has a bachelor's degree in Music from the Xavier University, and a master's degree from the University of New Orleans. She was originally a mezzo-soprano at the New Orleans Opera, but as a solo artist she has combined jazz, blues and R&B. Her music draws inspiration from artists like Irma Thomas, Germaine Bazzle, Eartha Kitt, and Lola Falana.
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Brenda Hatfield
- Occupations
- official
- Biography
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Dr. Brenda Ann Garibaldi Hatfield is the former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the City of New Orleans, having served under the administration of former Mayor C. Ray Nagin.
