Distinguished Alumni

Leaders in Athletics

Peyton Manning (Inducted 1997 - University of Tennessee) NFL Quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.
Arnold Palmer (Inducted 1964 - Wake Forest University) Professional Golfer.
Joe Paterno (Inducted 1976 - Pennsylvania State University) Football Coach.
Gaylord Perry (Inducted 1978 - Campbell University) Professional Baseball Player and Cy Young Award winner.
James E. Perry (Inducted 1978 - Campbell University) Professional Baseball Player and two-time winner of Cy Young Award.
Homer Rice (Inducted 1981 - Georgia Tech University) Football Coach and Athletic Director.
Tubby Smith (Inducted 2001 - University of Kentucky) Men’s Basketball Coach.

Leaders in Business

Herman Cain (Inducted 1990 - University of Nebraska, Omaha) Former President and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. Named One of America's Top 25 Executives by Black Enterprise Magazine in 1988.
S. Truett Cathy (Inducted 1982 - Georgia State University) President and co-founder of Chick-Fil-A.
Robert S. Jepson, Jr. (Inducted 1963 - University of Richmond) Chairman of the board and CEO of three corporations and a California winery, director of four other companies, and founder of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond.
Fred Smith (Inducted 1979 - Rhodes College) Founder, Chairman, President and CEO of the FEDEX Corporation.
Hatton C. Smith (Inducted 1994 - Washington and Lee University) President of Royal Cup Coffee.
S. Robson Walton (Inducted 1965 - University of Arkansas) Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Leaders in Education

Warren Bennis (Inducted 2003 - University of Southern California) Professor, author and adviser to four U.S. Presidents and more than 150 CEOs.
Barry Chapman Bishop (Inducted 1953 - University of Cincinnati) One of the first Americans to climb in the Himalayas. Former Executive Vice-Chair of Research of the National Geographic Society.
James MacGregor Burns (Inducted 1993 - University of Maryland, College Park) Presidential biographer, authority on leadership studies and scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1971.
Joe Clark (Inducted 1997 - Plattsburgh State) Educator and Motivational Speaker.
Howard Gardner (Inducted 1998 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Author of Theories of Multiple Intelligences and An Anatomy of Leadership.
Susan Komives (Inducted 1978 - Denison University) Professor of Higher Education in the College Student Personnel Program in the Department of Counseling and Personnel Services at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Dr. Michael Lomax (Inducted 2000 - Dillard University) President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, he served for seven years as president of Dillard University.
James Loewen (Inducted 1997 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Teacher, Scholar, Civil Rights Activist; Author of Lies My Teacher Told Me.
Kenneth Ruscio (Inducted 1975 - Washington and Lee University) President of Washington and Lee University.
John Thelin (Inducted 2000 - University of Kentucky) Professor of Higher Education and President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Cornel West (Inducted 1998 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Harvard Professor of African American History and Philosophy.

Leaders in Entertainment

Rockwell Blake (Inducted 1988 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Internationally-known Opera Singer ('bel canto'), Knighted by the Italian government in 1993.
Bennett Cerf (Inducted 1967 - Florida Southern College) Chairman of the Board of Random House Publishing, publisher, humorist, columnist, and author.
Tom Chapin (Inducted 1992 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Composer and performer of children's music and former host of PBS' "National Geographic Explorer."
Pat Conroy (Inducted 1997- Auburn University at Montgomery) Author of Prince of Tides, Lords of Discipline, and The Great Santini.
Sheryl S. Crow (Inducted 1983 - University of Missouri-Columbia) Singer/Songwriter and winner of nine Grammy Awards.
Jean-Michael Cousteau (Inducted 1996 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Emmy Award- winning executive producer of Cousteau Films, eloquent environmentalist
James Dickey (Inducted 1970 - University of South Carolina) Former Poet Laureate of South Carolina.
Susan Faludi (Inducted 1996 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.
Bob Hope (Inducted 1964 - Tulane University) Radio, stage, TV and film star, distinguished entertainer and philanthropist.
Betty Mahmoody (Inducted 1992 - Ferris State University) Author of Not Without My Daughter and scriptwriter for the movie starring Sally Field.

Leaders in Government Service

George W. Ball (Inducted 1964 - American University) Assistant Secretary Of State under Lyndon Johnson. Recipient of the French Legion of Honor and the U.S. Medal of Freedom.
Haley Barbour (Inducted 1972 - University of Mississippi) Governor of Mississippi and Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Also served as the Chair of the Republican National Committee.
Birch E. Bayh (Inducted 1965 - Purdue University) Former United States Senator from Indiana.
Griffin Bell (Inducted 2007 - Mercer University) Former Attorney General of the United States.
Steve Beshear (Inducted 1965 - University of Kentucky) Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Also served as the state's Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor.
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Inducted 1981 - University of Delaware) Former United States Senator and current Democratic Vice President Elect of the United States.
Michael Bloomberg (Inducted 1964 - Johns Hopkins University) Mayor of New York City.
George H. W. Bush (Inducted 1997 - Harding University) Former President and Vice President of the United States.
Jimmy Carter (Inducted 1972 - Georgia State University) Former United States President and former Governor of Georgia.
Lauro Cavazos (Inducted 1981 - Texas Tech University) Former United States Secretary of Education.
Elaine Chao (Inducted 1996 - SUNY Plattsburgh) United States Secretary of Labor and Past President of United Way.
Shirley Chisholm (Inducted 1990 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Former Congresswoman and candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Raymond Chretien (Inducted 1996 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Former Prime Minister of Canada.
Winston S. Churchill III (Inducted 1990 - Florida Southern College) Statesman, author, journalist, and parliamentarian. Member of the British Parliament.
Hillary R. Clinton (Inducted 2000 - Alfred University) United States Senator for New York and former First Lady of the United States.
Joycelyn Elders (Inducted 1996 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Former United States Surgeon General.
Gerald R. Ford (Inducted 1984 - Florida Southern College) 38th President of the United States.
James R. Fulbright (Inducted 1965 - Virginia Tech) Former President of the University of Arkansas as well as Congressman, Senator, and United States delegate to the United Nations.
Tim Kaine (Inducted 1978 - University of Missouri) Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Also served as the Lieutenant Governor and Mayor of Richmond, Virginia.
Christopher Kraft (Inducted 1965 - Virginia Tech University) NASA Flight Director for the Mercury and Gemini Space Programs.
Madeleine M. Kunin (Inducted 1989 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Governor of Vermont for three terms and United States Ambassador to Switzerland.
George McGovern (Inducted 1981 - American University) Former United States Senator from South Dakota. The Democratic Nominee for President in 1972.
Walter Mondale (Inducted 1981 - University of South Carolina) United States Vice President from 1976-80.
Naomi E. Morris (Inducted 1983 - Campbell University) Chief Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals and Editor of the North Carolina Law Review.
F. Story Musgrave (Inducted 1984 - University of Kentucky) NASA Astronaut in SKYLAB Program.
Louis F. Powell (Inducted 1928 - Washington and Lee University) Former United States Supreme Court Justice.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (Inducted 1940 - University of Maryland, College Park) Elected President of the United States to four terms.
Dean Rusk (Inducted 1930 - Davidson College) United States Secretary of State under John F. Kennedy (ODK Circle President as an undergraduate at Davidson).
Madame Jihan Sadat (Inducted 1985 - University of South Carolina) International Stateswoman and champion of women's rights.
Mark Sanford (Inducted 1981 - Furman University) Governor of South Carolina. Formerly served as U.S. Representative and Chair of the Republican Governors Association.
Margaret Thatcher (Inducted 1995 - Harding University) Former Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Richard Thornburgh (Inducted 1996 - University of Pittsburgh) Former United State Attorney General and former Governor of Pennsylvania.
Stansfield Turner (Inducted 1992 - University of Maryland, College Park) Former Directory of the Central Intelligence Agency and Commander of the United States Navy 2nd Fleet.
Wernher Von Braun (Inducted 1961 - Grove City College) Nuclear Physicist and member of the NASA Special Committee for Space Technology.
Sarah Weddington (Inducted 1995 - SUNY Plattsburgh) Texas legislator who won her first Supreme Court case in the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

Leaders in Journalism and the Mass Media

Ann Compton (Inducted 2006 - University of Maryland, College Park) ABC News Correspondent.
Walter Cronkite (Inducted 1979 - Florida Southern College) Award-winning news commentator and correspondent.
Joe Johns (Inducted 1979 - Marshall University) Correspondent for CNN.
Roger Mudd (Inducted 1966 - Washington and Lee University) News commentator and correspondent for CBS and NBC.
Cokie Roberts (Inducted 1995 - University of Akron) Award-winning broadcast journalist on Nightline and Good Morning America.
Susan Rook (Inducted 1994 - East Tennessee State University) Former CNN World News and Prime News reporter, co-anchor, and panelist during the 1992 Presidential Debates.
George F. Will (Inducted 1993 - Washington and Lee University) Pulitzer prize-winning conservative newspaper columnist, journalist, and author.

Leaders in Medicine

Michael Debakey (Inducted 1967 - Baylor University) Internationally-known cardiologist.
Joseph I. Goldstein (Inducted 1961 - Washington and Lee University) Recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine (with Michael S. Brown).
Jonas E. Salk (Inducted 1954 - University of Pittsburgh) Discoverer of the Polio Vaccine.

Omicron Delta Kappa

Distinguished Alumni