- Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is the American multiple-Emmy Award winning host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show", the highest rated talk show in television history. She is also an influential book critic, an Academy Award-nominated actress, and a magazine publisher. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and the world's only black billionaire for three straight years.
- Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23 1940 - November 12 1994) was an American athlete, and in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, despite running on a sprained ankle. The powerful sprinter emerged from the 1960 Rome Olympics as "The Tennessee Tornado," the fastest woman on earth.
- Ed Jones
Ed Lee "Too Tall" Jones (born February 23, 1951 in Jackson, Tennessee) was an American football player. He was given the nickname "Too Tall" due to his height, an impressive 6'9", tall even by modern football player standards. During the 1970's, he was extremely above average height for a football player; neither of his parents were above six feet in height. He graduated from the Merry High School in Jackson and attended Tennessee State University.
- Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams Adams (born in Bloomingdale, Georgia) is an American athlete, who mainly competed in the 100 metres. She competed for the United States in the 4 x 100 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where she won the gold medal with her team mates Martha Hudson, Barbara Jones and Olympic 100 and 200 metre champion Wilma Rudolph.
- Gregory W. Henry
Gregory W. Henry is an astronomer and research scientist for Tennessee State University. In 1999, Henry led one of two teams that discovered the first transiting extrasolar planet, HD 209458 b. The other team was lead by David Charbonneau. Henry was also involved in the discovery of HD 149026 b. This discovery was important in understanding how planets form and supports solar nebula accretion mode
- A.C. Wharton
A C Wharton, Jr. is a Tennessee politician. Elected to a first term as Mayor of Shelby County in 2002, he was reelected easily in 2006. He is a Democrat from Memphis. He attended the historically black Tennessee State University in Nashville and graduated from the University of Mississippi Law School. He is married and has four sons. He recently appeared on the GHS-TV show Crosstalk. He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, …
- Wyomia Tyus
Wyomia Tyus (born August 29, 1945 in Griffin, Georgia) is an American athlete, and the first woman to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m. Tyus, from Tennessee State University, participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics at age 19. In the heats of the event, she equalled Wilma Rudolph's World Record, propelling her to a favourite for the final, where her main rival would be fellow American Edith McGuire. Tyus won the final, beating McGuire by two tenths.
- Thelma Harper
Thelma Harper is a Tennesseean politician and a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 19th district, which is composed of part of Davidson County. She has served as a state senator since the 96th Tennessee General Assembly. She is the chair of the Senate Government Operations Committee and a member of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, the Senate Correction Oversight Committee, and the Select Joint Committee on Children and Youth.
- Ralph Boston
Ralph Harold Boston (b. May 9 1939, is an American athlete. He was an all around athletic star, but he is best remembered for his successes in the long jump during the 1960s. He divides his time between Atlanta, Georgia and Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Joe Gilliam
Joe Gilliam was an American football player. =Biography= Joseph Gilliam, Jr. (born December 29, 1950 in Charleston, West Virginia) was the third of four children for Ruth and Joe Gilliam Sr. He grew up on the campus of Tennessee A&I State University (as the college was known prior to 1968). His father was a defensive coordinator at TSU. The younger Gilliam displayed his own athletic abilities at a young age, …
- Mike Mason
Mike Mason is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was signed as an undrafted free agent after completing his career at Tennessee State.
- Cy Alexander
Cy Alexander is the head men's basketball coach at Tennessee State University. He previously held the same position at South Carolina State University.
- Steve Moore
Stephen Elliott Moore (born October 1, 1960 in Memphis, Tennessee) was a tackle who played five professional seasons with the NFL New England Patriots. Moore attended Tennessee State University.
- Harold Ford Sr.
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (born May 20, 1945) was a United States Representative from Tennessee from 1975 to 1997. He is a Democrat. Ford was born in Memphis to Vera Davis and Newton Jackson Ford, a funeral home director. His was a prominent black family who were leaders in the funeral industry in Memphis' black community, dating back to the days of E.H. Crump. He attended Tennessee State University in Nashville, graduating in 1967.
- Edith McGuire
Edith Marie McGuire (born June 3, 1944), later known as Edith McGuire Duvall, is a former American sprinter. Born in Atlanta, McGuire ran for Tennessee State University. TSU had a very successful women's sprinting team in the 1960s, including triple Olympic champions Wilma Rudolph, Wyomia Tyus, and McGuire. Although McGuire's running career was short, she won six AAU titles, in three different events.
- Howard Gentry Jr.
Howard Gentry, Jr. is the incumbent vice mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and the President of the Metropolitan Council. He was elected in 1999 as the sixth vice mayor in Metro history and the first African-American vice mayor to hold the post. He was re-elected in 2003 and ran unopposed. As an appointee to the Mayor's Taskforce to End Chronic Homelessness, …
- Sallie Baliunas
Sallie Baliunas is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences Division and formerly Deputy Director of the Mount Wilson Institute. Baliunas' main focus is on astrophysical research. She studies visible and ultraviolet spectroscopy of stars; structure, variations, …
- Leon Thomas
Amos Leon Thomas Jr (born 1937, died May 8 1999) was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois. He changed his name to Leone in 1974. Thomas is best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' "Karma" album. Thomas's most distinctive device was that he often broke out into yodeling in the middle of a vocal.
- John McLendon
John B. McLendon, Jr. (April 15 1915 - October 8 1999) was an American basketball coach. Born in Hiawatha, Kansas, McLendon studied at the University of Kansas in the 1930's where he learned basketball from the sport's inventor, Dr. James Naismith. He did not play college basketball, however, as the KU varsity team did not accept African Americans at the time, and would not suit up its first black player until 1951.
- Carlos Rogers
Carlos Deon Rogers (born February 6, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1st round (11th overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft. A 6'11" forward-center from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Tennessee State University, Rogers played in eight NBA seasons from 1994 to 2002. He played for the Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers, …
- Claude Humphrey
Claude B. Humphrey (born June 29, 1944) was a defensive lineman in the National Football League for 13 seasons spanning 1968-1974 & 1976-1981 with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. Claude has three daughters.
- Anthony Mason
Anthony George Douglas Mason (born December 14, 1966 in Miami, Florida) is a retired American National Basketball Association player with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. He played small forward and power forward and averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his career, over 13 seasons.
- Adrian McPherson
Adrian Jamal (A.D.) McPherson (born May 8, 1983 in Bradenton, Florida, USA) is an American football quarterback formerly of the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. He was selected with the 16th pick of the fifth round (152nd overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft out of Florida State University although he had not attended the school in over two years. A former Florida Mr. Basketball and Mr.
- Tina Tyus-Shaw
Tina Tyus-Shaw (born in Griffin, Georgia) is a television news anchor and journalist at WSAV-TV in Savannah, Georgia. Tina wanted to be a television broadcaster at an early age, and graduated from Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech, Communication and Theater. She worked a series of radio and television jobs in Macon, Georgia; North Carolina; and Columbus, Georgia, before settling in Savannah in 1992.
- Lloyd Neal
Lloyd Neal (born December 10 1950 in Talbotton, Georgia) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'7" forward/center from Tennessee State University, Neal spent his entire professional career (1972-1979) with the National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers. Though undersized for his position, he endeared himself to fans with his hard work and tenacity, and he averaged a double-double (13.4 points, 11.8 rebounds) during the 1972-73 NBA season.
- John McClendon
John McClendon was a college basketball coach who, despite the respect he earned for his ability, is relatively little-known because he coached at predominantly black colleges and universities during the era of segregation. He began his career playing college ball at the University of Kansas, and coached at North Carolina Central University (then North Carolina College) and Tennessee State University. He was an assistant coach on the Gold Medal 1968 Olympic Team, …
- Jimmy Blanton
Jimmy Blanton (October 5 1918-July 30 1942) was an influential American jazz double bassist. Blanton originated melodically conceived pizzicato bass solos. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Blanton originally learned to play the violin, but took up the bass while at Tennessee State University, performing with the Tennessee State Collegians from 1936 to 1937, and during the vacations with Fate Marable.
- Leon Murray
Everett Leon Murray (born January 10, 1977 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. Murray attended Tennessee State University. In 2001 Murray was the backup quarterback on the Berlin Thunder team that won World Bowl IX.
- Bennie Anderson
Bennie Tyron Lamar Anderson (born February 17, 1977) is an American football offensive guard who currently is a free agent. He most recently played for the Miami Dolphins, and collegiately at Tennessee State.
- Frank McRae
Frank McRae (born June 3, 1942) is an American actor and former professional football player. McRae was born in Memphis, Tennessee. McRae graduated from Tennessee State University with a double major in drama and history. He was a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears in the 1967 NFL season. Among his roles are the history teacher, Mr. Teasdale, in "Red Dawn", Hazel in "Cannery Row", James Bond's friend Sharkey in 1989's "Licence to Kill", …
- Charles Langford
Charles Douglas Langford was an American lawyer and politician who served as an Alabama state senator and was a lawyer for Rosa Parks. Langford received a bachelor's degree from Tennessee State University and a law degree from Catholic University. In 1964, Langford represented Arlam Carr Jr. in a lawsuit that desegregated Montgomery's public schools. He served two serms in the Alabama House of Representatives and five terms in the Alabama State Senate.
- Eldridge Dickey
Eldridge Reno Dickey (b. 24 December 1945 d. 22 May 2000) was an American football player. After playing for Tennessee State University from 1965-1968, he was drafted in 1968 by the Oakland Raiders in the 1st round as the 25th overall pick. Dickey became the first African-American quarterback selected in the first round by an AFL or NFL team. Despite a strong performance during training camp, Dickey was moved to wide receiver for the start of the season.
- Brian Oldfield
Brian Oldfield (born June 1, 1945) was an American athlete and personality of the 1970s and early 1980s. A standout shot putter, he is credited with making the rotational technique popular. With his "Oldfield spin" he had set and reset the indoor and outdoor world records in the sport. However, due to his status as a professional athlete, his records were never officially recognized.
- Carlos Wright
Carlos Victus Wright (born April 4, 1981 in Orange Park, Florida) is an Arena Football League wide receiver for the Chicago Rush. He attended Tennessee State University. Wright is the cousin of San Diego Chargers defensive back Drayton Florence and former NFL wide receiver Dez White.
- Ulysses Jones Jr.
Ulysses Jones, Jr. (born June 7, 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 98th district, which encompasses a part of Shelby County, Tennessee. In the state House of Representatives, Ulysses Jones is the Chair of the House State and Local Government Committee and the Co-Chair of the Joint Lottery Oversight Committee.
- Simon Shanks
Simon Shanks was a National Football League player for the Arizona Cardinals in 1995. An alumnus of Tennessee State University, he played linebacker in his sole professional season, leading the Cardinals defense with 27 tackles. Shanks was killed in a robbery at his home in Phoenix on January 5, 2006. Three men approached Simon and his friend in his garage working out. His wife was locked in the bathroom of the house while the men beat Simon and his friend.
- Cleveland Eaton
Cleveland Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra. His entertaining style and deep knowledge of jazz tradition have earned him great respect in the jazz community. Cleveland Josephus "Cleve" Eaton II was raised with an intense comprehensive musical background.
- Will Wynn
William Wynn (born January 15, 1949 in Apex, North Carolina) was an American football defensive end in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. He played college football for Tennessee State University.
- Cleveland Elam
Cleveland Elam (born April 5, 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a former American Football defensive tackle who played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions in an injury-shortened five year career that lasted from 1975 to 1979 in the National Football League. Elam played college football at Tennessee State University and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1975 NFL Draft by the 49ers. He was a two time Pro Bowler in 1976 and 1977.
- Bob Reed
Robert Reed (born February 23, 1943 in Longview, Texas) was an American football offensive lineman in the NFL for the Washington Redskins. He played college football for Tennessee State University.