- Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd (born November 20 1917) is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia and a member of the Democratic Party. Byrd has held the office since January 3 1959, making him the longest-serving member of the Senate in history. He is also currently the longest-serving and oldest member of the United States Congress. Byrd is currently President "pro tempore" of the United States Senate of the 110th United States Congress, …
- Rich Rodriguez
Rich Rodriguez (b. May 24, 1963 in Grant Town, West Virginia) is the current head football coach at West Virginia University. Rodriguez is the 31st head football coach of the WVU Mountaineers and is also a 1986 alumnus of the University. He is one of only a handful of Coaches that are coaching as alumni.
- Joe Manchin
Joseph Anthony (Joe) Manchin III (born August 24, 1947 in Farmington, West Virginia) was elected Governor of West Virginia in the 2004 election and took office on January 17, 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the scion of a large Democratic political family in West Virginia.
- Jay Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937), generally known as Jay Rockefeller, has served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1985. He was Governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985. As a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, he is the only current politician of the prominent six-generation Rockefeller family and the only Democrat in what has been traditionally a staunchly, albeit generally progressive, …
- Nick Rahall
Nicholas Joe "Nick Joe" Rahall II (born May 20, 1949), American politician of Lebanese descent, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing West Virginia's 3rd Congressional District since 1977(map). He is the Dean of the West Virginia Delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. The district includes much of the southern portion of the state, including Huntington, Bluefield and Beckley.
- Mother Jones
Mary Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones, was a prominent American labor and community organizer, and Wobbly.
- Jessica Lynch
Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983 in Palestine, West Virginia) is a former Quartermaster Corps Private First Class (PFC) in the United States Army. Lynch became famous after her widely publicized recovery by U.S. special operations forces.
- Bob Huggins
Bob Huggins (born September 21, 1953 in Morgantown, West Virginia) is the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team. Huggins previously held the head coaching positions at the University of Cincinnati (1989-2005) and Kansas State University (2006-2007). His 590-211 record (.737) during his 25 seasons as a head coach ranks him eighth in winning percentage and seventh in victories among active Division I coaches.
- Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito (born Shelley Wellons Moore on November 26 1953) is an American politician. She has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Second Congressional District of West Virginia (map). The district stretches from the Ohio River in the west to the Eastern Panhandle, which borders with Virginia and Maryland. She is the only Republican in the West Virginia Congressional delegation.
- Davis Elkins
Davis Elkins (January 24, 1876 - January 5, 1959) was a United States Senator from West Virginia. Born in Washington, D.C., he attended the Lawrenceville School, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and Harvard University. During the Spanish-American War he enlisted as a private in the First West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, becoming assistant adjutant general in 1898. Elkins was an industrialist with interests in railroads, banking, utilities, …
- Nick Saban
Nick Lou Saban (born October 31, 1951 in Fairmont, West Virginia) is an American college football coach and the current head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Saban took the Alabama position after coaching the Miami Dolphins for two years and previously coaching Alabama's SEC Western division rival, LSU. Saban's eight-year contract for a total of $32 million made him the highest paid college football coach in the United States.
- Alan Mollohan
Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943, in Fairmont, West Virginia) is a Democratic member of United States House of Representatives, representing West Virginia's 1st District (map). The district encompasses the northern part of the state; it based in Wheeling and includes Parkersburg, Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and was ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee until being asked to step down in 2006.
- Randy Moss
Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977 in Rand, West Virginia) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998, and played the first stage of his career in Minnesota before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. On Sunday, April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick.
- Bob Wise
Robert Ellsworth "Bob" Wise, Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician. A Democrat, Wise served as the Governor of West Virginia from January 2001 to January 2005.
- Lynndie England
Lynndie Rana England is a United States Army reservist who served in the 372nd Military Police Company. She was one of several soldiers convicted by the Army courts-martial in connection with the torture and prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during the occupation of Iraq. England held the rank of specialist while serving in Iraq. Along with other soldiers, she was found guilty of inflicting sexual, physical and psychological abuse on Iraqi prisoners of war.
- Larry Brown
Larry Leslie Brown (Born: March 1, 1940 in Shinnston, West Virginia) is the brother of Dick Brown and a former Major League Baseball infielder who played from 1963 to 1974 for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. A righthander, he was 5'11" and he weighed 165 pounds. He was originally signed by the Indians in 1958, and on July 6, 1963 against the New York Yankees, he made his big league debut at the age of 23.
- Jimbo Fisher
Jimbo Fisher (born October 9, 1965, in Clarksburg, West Virginia) is an American college football coach and former player who was the NCAA Division III National Player of the Year as a senior. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at LSU from 2000 until 2007. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Florida State University.
- Jerry West
Jerry Alan West (born May 28, 1938, in Chelyan, West Virginia) is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. West has also had a successful career as a coach and as an executive. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and his dribbling silhouette has long been used in the National Basketball Association's official logo. West was a standout in high school and at college, …
- Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 - November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author and leader of the African American community. Washington was born into slavery to a white father and a black slave mother on a rural farm in south-central Virginia; the slaves were freed in 1865 by the thirteenth amendment. He attended Hampton University and Wayland Seminary.
- Don Blankenship
Don Blankenship is President/CEO & Chairman of Massey Energy, a coal mining corporation. He is known for his participation in politics, particularly in West Virginia and Kentucky, where Massey has substantial holdings. In 2004, he spent millions of his own dollars campaigning against the re-election of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals justice Warren McGraw.
- Jennings Randolph
Jennings Randolph (March 8 1902-May 8 1998) was an American politician from West Virginia. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was the last surviving member of the United States Congress to have served during the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.
- Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, and songwriter from Glen Dale, West Virginia.
- Spike Maynard
Elliot E. "Spike" Maynard is an American lawyer and jurist from West Virginia. From 1981 to 1997, Maynard served as a Circuit Court judge before being elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in 1996. Although he is a Democrat, he is regarded as a conservative.
- Gaston Caperton
Former Governor Gaston Caperton of West Virginia is the eighth president in the more than a century-long history of the College Board. Under his innovative leadership, the Board has strengthened its core programs, successfully bringing AP courses to a greater number of inner-city and rural students, as well as promoting a College Board System of products and services. Gaston Caperton 's full biography .
- Terry Bowden
Terry Bowden is a college football analyst/commentator, motivational speaker and former college football coach. Bowden is the son of Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden. His siblings include Tommy Bowden, the head football coach at Clemson and Jeff Bowden, former offensive coordinator at Florida State. Bowden currently serves as the color commentator for the Westwood One radio network's national NCAA game of the week, …
- Randal McCloy
Randal L. McCloy Jr. (born April 14, 1979) of Simpson, West Virginia is a coal miner who was the sole survivor of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster.
- John Chambers
John T. Chambers is Chairman of the Board and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc.. Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Operations. Since January 1995, when he assumed the role of CEO, Chambers has grown the company from $1.2 billion in annual revenues to its current run-rate of approximately $30 billion. In November 2006, he was named Chairman of the Board, in addition to his CEO role.
- Mike D'Antoni
Mike D'Antoni (born May 9, 1951 in Mullens, West Virginia) is an American basketball coach and former basketball player. He holds American and Italian dual citizenship. D'Antoni is currently head coach of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. He has worked for the Phoenix franchise since 2003, and won the NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 2004-05 season after leading the Suns to a 62-20 record and a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
- Tommy Bowden
Tommy Bowden (born July 10, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama) is the head football coach at Clemson University. He is the son of Bobby Bowden, head coach at Florida State University. Bowden has never had a losing season at Clemson. He is a two-time ACC Coach of the Year. In the 2003 season, he became the first coach in NCAA history, to defeat two coaches with 200 or more wins in a one-month span, in Bobby Bowden, and Lou Holtz.
- Kathy Mattea
Kathy Mattea, full name Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959, in South Charleston, West Virginia), is a female country music and bluegrass performer who often brings celtic sounds to her music, particularly with her release of "Love Travels", one of her most critically popular albums.
- Chuck Yeager
Retired Air Force Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager gained fame as the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. This historic flight in the rocket powered Bell X-1 aircraft took place on October 14th 1947, at Muroc (now Edwards Air Force Base), California. Muroc field was named after the town of Muroc formed by the Corum (Muroc spelled backwords) brothers in the early 20th century. General Yeager was born Feb. 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia.
- Bob Bowman
Robert James Bowman (October 3, 1910 - September 4, 1972) was a former professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of four seasons (1939-1942) with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and Chicago Cubs. For his career, he compiled a 26-17 record in 109 appearances, most as a relief pitcher, with an 3.82 earned run average and 146 strikeouts. Bowman was born in Keystone, West Virginia and later died in Bluefield, West Virginia at the age of 61.
- Ken Hechler
Kenneth William Hechler (born September 20 1914) --whose baptismal name was officially changed by court order to Ken Hechler -- was a long-serving West Virginia politician. He is a very liberal member of the Democratic Party, and a strong supporter of organized labor. He was a U.S. Representative from West Virginia from 1959 to 1977 and was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001.
- Lou Holtz
Louis Leo Holtz (born on January 6, 1937 in Follansbee, West Virginia) is a former NCAA football head coach, and is currently an author and a motivational speaker who has spoken to the likes of Fortune 500 companies on topics such as the importance of teamwork and goal setting. Holtz grew up in nearby East Liverpool, Ohio, and graduated from East Liverpool High School. He attended and graduated from Kent State University, …
- Quincy Wilson
Quincy Wilson (born April 26, 1981 in Weirton, West Virginia) is an American football running back, currently on the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2006-07 season. He was one of the top college running backs to ever play for the West Virginia University Mountaineers. He is the son of Otis Wilson, starting linebacker for the 1985 Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears.
- John W. Davis
John William Davis (April 13, 1873 - March 24, 1955) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States during the 1924 presidential election, losing to Republican incumbent Calvin Coolidge.
- Rod Thorn
Rodney King "Rod" Thorn (born May 23, 1941, in Princeton, West Virginia) is the president and general manager of the NBA's New Jersey Nets. A highly-regarded high school athlete in both basketball and baseball, Thorn attended West Virginia University, where he was an All-American guard in basketball, as well as playing three seasons on the WVU baseball team. In the 1963 NBA Draft, Thorn was the second player selected overall, drafted by the Baltimore Bullets.
- 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".
- Hazel Dickens
Hazel Dickens (born June 1, 1935, Mercer County, West Virginia) is an American bluegrass singer. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music is characterized by not only her "high lonesome" singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. Poverty drove the Dickens to move to the Baltimore, Maryland area when Dickens was nineteen.
- Bob Ney
Robert William "Bob" Ney (born July 5 1954) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignation followed his October 13, 2006 guilty plea to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.