- Seung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho (January 18 1984 – April 16 2007) was a mass murderer who killed 32 people and wounded 25 others in a shooting spree known as the Virginia Tech massacre. The massacre took place on April 16 2007 at the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Cho, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, committed suicide that day after law enforcement officers breached the doors of the academic building where he had wounded and killed most of his potential victims.
- Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980 in Newport News, Virginia) is an American football quarterback for the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons franchise. He is the older brother of former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Marcus Vick, and is the cousin of former New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks.
- Charles W. Steger
Dr. Charles W. Steger President Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Dear President Steger:
- Donaldson Brown
He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1902. He completed a postgraduate course at Cornell University in 1903 by passing the senior electrical engineering course examination. On completion of his college education, he sold electrical machinery for a General Electric interest. He was a salesman of commercial explosives for E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company for four years, starting in 1909.
- Bruce Smith
Bruce Smith (born June 18, 1963 in Norfolk, Virginia) is a former NFL football player who currently holds the NFL record for most career quarterback sacks with 200. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was named in honor of his fathers' idol, Bruce Brewington.
- Paul Torgersen
Paul Ernest Torgersen, Ph.D (born October 13, 1931 in Staten Island, New York) was the 14th President of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The academic building Torgersen Hall and Torgersen Bridge at Virginia Tech were named in his honor.
- Antonio Freeman
Antonio Freeman (born May 27, 1972 in Baltimore, Maryland) is a former American NFL wide receiver, most notably for the Green Bay Packers. One of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the Green Bay Packers, he attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, dominating his high school conference. Freeman attended college at Virginia Tech.
- Homer Hickam
Homer Hadley Hickam, Jr. (born February 19, 1943) is an American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer. His autobiographical novel "Rocket Boys: A Memoir", is the most popular community read in the United States, was a #1 "New York Times" best-seller, is studied in many American and international school systems, and was the basis for the popular film "October Sky".
- Tony McNulty
Anthony James McNulty PC (born 3 November 1958, London) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He has been the Labour Member of Parliament for the London constituency of Harrow East since 1997 and a government minister from 2002. He is presently a minister at the Home Office.
- Julian Ashby Burruss
Julian Ashby Burruss (August 16, 1876 - January 4, 1947) was the first President of James Madison University, although at the time of his service the university was the State Normal and Industrial School for Women. His service began in 1908 and ended in 1919 when he left JMU to become the eighth President of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His tenure at Virginia Tech lasted from September 1, 1919 to July 1, 1945.
- John Redd Hutcheson
John Redd Hutcheson was the ninth President of Virginia Tech. He served from January 12, 1945 to August 12, 1947.
- Joe Saunders
Joseph Francis "Joe" Saunders (born June 16, 1981 in Falls Church, Virginia) is a Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Saunders played college baseball at Virginia Tech, where he compiled a 27-7 career record. His 27 wins tied him for third place in most career wins in school history. Saunders was drafted in the first round (12th overall) by the Anaheim Angels in 2002.
- Walter Stephenson Newman
Walter Stephenson Newman was the tenth President of Virginia Tech, serving from 1947 until 1962.
- Robert B. Pamplin
Robert Boisseau Pamplin (b. November 25, 1911) is a retired president of Georgia-Pacific. He was born on a small family farm in Dinwiddie County, Virginiato Pauline Beville and John Robert Pamplin, attended Midway High School in Dinwiddie County, and in the Fall of 1929 began attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI). While at VPI, he was enrolled in the Corps of Cadets.
- Hoda Kotb
Hoda Kotb (pronounced KOT-bee) is a television news anchor and correspondent in the United States
- Johnny Oates
Johnny Lane Oates (January 21 1946 - December 24 2004) was an American catcher and manager in Major League Baseball. Born in Sylva, North Carolina, Oates graduated from Prince George High School in Prince George, Virginia, before going on to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Oates played baseball as a catcher with the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees from 1970 to 1981, …
- Clifton C. Garvin
Clifton C. Garvin, Jr. (b. 1922-) is a native of Portsmouth, Virginia and graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1943 with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. After graduation he served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II in the Pacific theater for three years. He returned to VPI after his military service and received a Master's Degree from VPI in 1947.
- Jim Buckmaster
Jim Buckmaster (born Ann Arbor) is a programmer who has been the chief executive officer of Craigslist since 2000. He was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech and studied medicine and classics at the University of Michigan in the 1990s. In January 2000, he was recruited by Craigslist as lead programmer, where he contributed the site's multi-city architecture, search engine, discussion forums, flagging system, self-posting process, homepage design, personals categories, …
- Dell Curry
Wardell Stephen Curry (born June 25, 1964 in Harrisonburg, Virginia) is a retired American professional basketball player at the shooting guard position who received his education from Fort Defiance High School in Virginia and Virginia Tech. He then played in the National Basketball Association from 1986 until 2002. On June 18, 2007 he was named assistant coach of the Charlotte Bobcats NBA team.
- Christopher C. Kraft Jr.
Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr. (born February 28, 1924) is a retired NASA engineer and manager. After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1944, Kraft was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor organization to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked for over a decade in aeronautical research before being asked in 1958 to join the Space Task Group, …
- Richard Baker
Richard Baker (full name L. Richard Baker III) is an American author and a game designer who has worked on many "Dungeons & Dragons" campaign settings.
- Bimbo Coles
Vernell Eufaye ("Bimbo") Coles (born April 22 1968 in Covington, Virginia) is a retired American basketball player. Was a standout at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia. He played his college basketball for the Virginia Tech Hokies and is the all-time lead scorer for the now-defunct Metro Conference. He was a member of the United States 1988 Olympic basketball team.
- Don Strock
Don Strock (born November 27, 1950 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania) is a college football head coach and former player who until recently was the head coach of the Florida International University football team.
- John B. McKay
John B. McKay (December 8, 1922 - April 27, 1975) was one of the first pilots assigned to the X-15 flight research program at NASA's Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California. As a civilian research pilot and aeronautical engineer, he made 30 flights in X-15s from October 28, 1960, until September 8, 1966. His peak altitude was 295,600 feet, and his highest speed was 3,863 mph (Mach 5.64). McKay was with the NACA and its successor, NASA, …
- Lewis A. Pick
Lewis Andrew Pick was born in Brookneal, Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1914. He received his Regular Army commission in the United States Army Corps of Engineers on July 1, 1920. During World War I he served with the 23rd Engineers in the French Third Republic. He served in the Philippines from 1921 until 1923 and helped organize an engineer regiment composed of Filipino soldiers.
- Charles Camarda
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Camarda (b. 8 May 1952 in Queens, New York) is an astronaut who flew his first mission into space onboard the NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-114.
- Chris Bachelder
Chris Bachelder (born 1971) is an American writer, e-book pioneer and frequent contributor to the publications "McSweeney's Quarterly Concern" and "The Believer". Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he grew up in Christiansburg, Virginia. He attended Virginia Tech (BA, 1992) and the University of Florida at Gainesville (MFA, 2002). Bachelder has taught fiction writing and literature courses at Colorado College (Assistant Professor), …
- Newton Lee
Newton Lee is the founder and editor-in-chief of ACM Computers in Entertainment - a nonprofit educational publication to promote research and development in all aspects of entertainment technology. Published by the Association for Computing Machinery, the online magazine has garnered the support of more than 100 leading professionals and scholars representing major universities, Hollywood studios, and Fortune 500 companies. Many of whom have won the Academy Awards, Emmys, …
- Richard Thomas Shea
Richard Thomas Shea, Jr. (January 3, 1927-C. July 8, 1953), a native of Portsmouth, Virginia graduated from Churchland High School. He first studied in uniform at Virginia Polytechnic Institute at the height of World War II, class of 1948. Enlisting in the U.S. Army, he served as a sergeant. He then entered West Point. After graduating in 1952, he served in the U.S. Army, fighting in the Korean War. He was listed as missing in action on July 8, 1953, …
- Robert Coleman Richardson
Robert Coleman Richardson (born June 26, 1937 in Washington D.C.) is an American physicist. He attended Virginia Tech and received a B.S. in 1958 and a M.S. in 1960. He received his PhD from Duke University in 1965. He is currently the Floyd Newman Professor of Physics and Vice Provost for Research at Cornell University, although he no longer operates a laboratory. His past experimental work focused on the study of physical phenomena at very low temperatures.
- Lloyd Williams
Lloyd Williams (Jun. 5, 1887 - June 12, 1918) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps who served and died in World War I. A famous saying is attributed to Captain Williams, who was serving as a company commander in the 5th Marines. When advised to withdraw by a French officer at the defensive line just north of the village of Lucy-le-Bocage on June 1, 1918, he is said to have replied: "Retreat? Hell, …
- Mark Embree
Mark Embree is professor of numerical analysis at the Computational and Applied Mathematics department in Rice University. His main research interests are Krylov subspace methods, non-normal operators and spectral perturbation theory, Toeplitz matrices, random matrices, and damped wave operators. Mark Embree was awarded Man of the Year and Outstanding Student in the College of Arts and Sciences at Virginia Tech in 1996. He is also a Rhodes Scholar (1996).
- John S. Apperson
John S. Apperson, Jr. (1882-1963), known as Appie, was a General Electric engineer who is best known for his important role in the continuing protection of the Adirondack Preserve. He is a charter member of the Adirondack Mountain Club. A graduate of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, Appie went on to work at General Electric's Schenectady, New York plant for 47 years.
- Linwood H. Rose
Linwood Howard Rose is the fifth and current president of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. Rose held 11 other positions at JMU before being named acting president in the fall of 1997, chief executive in September 1998, and being formally inaugurated on September 17, 1999. He has also served as the Deputy Secretary of Education in Virginia and was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee in 2002.
- Jimmie W. Monteith
James Walters Monteith (July 1, 1917 - June 6, 1944) was a United States Army officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in World War II on D-Day landing in Normandy, France.
- Lance L. Smith
United States Air Force General Lance L. Smith serves as the commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia, and Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation. He assumed command on November 10, 2005. Smith entered the United States Air Force in 1970 after graduating from Virginia Tech and completing Officer Training School. He served two tours at The Pentagon and was Commandant of the NATO School at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, …
- Franklin Stubbs
Franklin Lee Stubbs (born October 21, 1960, in Richlands, North Carolina) was a Major League Baseball player from 1984-1995. Over his 10 year career he played with four different teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1984-1989), Houston Astros (1990), Milwaukee Brewers (1991-1992), and Detroit Tigers (1995). Stubbs was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers team that won the 1988 World Series.
- Frank Dunham Jr.
Frank W. Dunham, Jr. (c. 1942 - November 3, 2006 in Alexandria, Virginia) was the lead lawyer for Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged by the United States government in the Sept. 11 attacks.
- William G. Boykin
Lieutenant General William G. Boykin is the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He has played a role in almost every recent major American military operation, serving in Grenada, Somalia, and Iraq.
- Roger K. Crouch
Roger Keith Crouch, is an American scientist who flew as a payload specialist on two NASA Space Shuttle missions in 1997.