Hernando de Soto (c.1496/1497 –May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. Born in the Extremadura region of Spain, he participated, in his late teens, in the conquest of Central America at the side of Governor Pedrarias Dávila. He joined Francisco Pizarro in the early 1530's conquest of South America, and he became enormously wealthy from his share of the Incan booty. In 1539, De Soto launched the largest of the early Spanish colonial expeditions.

John Reed Swanton was an American anthropologist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Born in Gardiner, Maine, Swanton's work in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory is well recognized. He is particularly noted for his work with indigenous peoples of the Southeast and Pacific Northwest. He attended Harvard University from which he earned a Masters in 1897 and a doctorate in 1900.

Lee Smith (born on November 1, 1944) is an American fiction author who typically incorporates much of her home roots in the Southeastern United States in her works of literature. She has received many writing awards, such as the O. Henry award and the Academy Award For Literature. Her recent book The Last Girls was listed on the New York Times bestseller's list.

Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released two independent albums. He rose to prominence in the year 2006 as the winner of the fifth season of "American Idol". Upon winning the music competition, he was signed to Arista Records, …

Joseph James (born October 3, 1939 in Marietta, Georgia) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States. Armstrong is the patriarch of the Armstrong wrestling family; he has four sons (Scott, Brad, Steve and Brian), all of whom became wrestlers.

Mark Derrick works for the Tennessee Department of Transportation as a Civil Engineer and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1982. He is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Tennessee and has been married to his wife Maria since 1979. He runs an annual 18XX convention, the Chattanooga Rail Game Challenge, in January or February of each year. The event draws approximately 50 players, including many from outside the United States.

Henry Woodward, often referred to as Dr. Henry Woodward, was the first British colonist of colonial South Carolina. He was instrumental in establishing relationships with many Native American Indians in the American southeast. He was a pioneer in initiating trade, primarily in deerskins and slaves, with many Indian towns and tribes.

Marquetta Goodwine (also known as Queen Quet or Marquetta L. Goodwine), a native of St. Helena Island, South Carolina, is an author and a leader of the Gullah/Geechee people of the Southeastern United States. Goodwine is a co-founder of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, which works to preserve the land and culture of the Gullah/Geechee, …

Albert Ernest Radford (25 January 1918 - 12 April 2006) was an American botanist active in the Southeastern United States. He was best known for his work as senior author of "Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas", the definitive flora for North Carolina and South Carolina. He was born in Augusta, Georgia to Albert and Eloise Moseley Radford, one of nine children. He was educated at Junior College of Augusta, Furman University (B.S., …

John M. Darby (September 3 or September 27, 1804 - September 18, 1877) was an American botanist, chemist, and academic. He created the first systematic catalogue of flora in the southeastern United States. Darby was born in North Adams, Massachusetts in 1804. At the age of ten, his father died, and he was apprenticed to a fuller. At the age of 23, he entered Williams College, and graduating with an Artium Magister degree from that institution in 1831.

Alice Lounsberry (1872 - 1949) was an American botanist and author active in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She worked closely with the Australian botanical artist Ellis Rowan, publishing three books with her as illustrator. Lounsberry came to visit Ellis Rowan when she was hospitalized with influenza in Washington, D.C., circa 1896-1897 (Samuel 1961). Lounsberry then proposed that the artist illustrate her upcoming book on wildflowers.

Andy Kirby (born November 30, 1961, in White House, Tennessee - died July 18, 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee), is a former stockcar driver, most notably in NASCAR. Kirby did not initially begin with NASCAR, where his career would end. Instead, Kirby quickly earned his reputation as a motorcycle racer in the Southeastern United States. Kirby would eventually become best friends with NASCAR Busch Series driver Chad Chaffin, and Chaffin helped open some doors for Kirby.

Andy Offutt Irwin (born 1957) is an American storyteller, arts educator and singer-songwriter. Irwin began his career in 1984 in an improvisational comedy troupe but after five years he shifted to performing as a singer-songwriter, touring the Southeast for about six years. In the mid-1990s, he branched into performances for children and since then has appeared in hundreds of schools (from preschools to colleges) and countless public libraries.

Del Rendon (1965 - 2005) was a musician from Starkville, Mississippi whose music entertained and inspired millions for 20 years. He has toured throughout the southeastern United States and even Nashville, Tennessee. Many musicians have cited him as an influence and a friend. He always considered his fans as friends and treated them like family.

Edward 'Eddie' McAshan, III was born the son of a mortician in Gainesville, Florida. He was a successful college quarterback for Georgia Tech and became one of the most famous athletes in college football history for being the first African American to start at quarterback for a major Southeastern university.

James Edwin Carr (born December 20, 1965) is a technologist, lecturer, and writer. An advocate for digital literacy, Carr serves on the Board of Directors for the Digital Literacy Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes Technical education and access to Internet technologies for under-served populations. During the Tech boom of the 1990s Carr was co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of TechTrain, …

Luis Rugeles brings 14 years of business development and engineering experience in the wireless industry. Prior to his promotion to General Manager of PCTEL's RF Solutions, Mr. Rugeles was PCTEL's Vice President of International Sales and Product Marketing Director.