Here follows a list of notable people associated with Centre College in

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

Notable graduates

Law

John Christian Bullitt John Christian Bullitt (1824–1902) was a lawyer and civic figure in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He founded the law firm known today as Drinker Biddle & Reath. Erected in 1907, Bullitt's bronze statue adjacent to City Hall was the ...

, 1849: attorney in Philadelphia, drafted the city's charter and founded the law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath * John Marshall Harlan, 1850:

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

associate justice (1877–1911), cast the lone dissenting vote in '' Plessy v. Ferguson'' * Pierce Lively, 1943:

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A US federal judge is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate in accordance with Article 3 of ...

on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1972–2016) * Andrew Phelps McCormick, 1854:

on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1892–1916) *

Fred M. Vinson Frederick "Fred" Moore Vinson (January 22, 1890 – September 8, 1953) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th chief justice of the United States from 1946 until his death in 1953. Vinson was one of the few Americans to ...

, 1909, Law 1911: chief justice of the United States (1946–53), secretary of the treasury (1945–46), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–08 and KY–09 (1933–43)

Government

George Madison Adams George Madison Adams (December 20, 1837 – April 6, 1920) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, nephew of Green Adams, and slaveowner. Early years Adams was born in Barbourville, Knox County, Kentucky, on December 20, 1837. He received pr ...

: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–08 and KY–09 (1867–75), secretary of state of Kentucky (1887–91) * Joshua Fry Bell, 1828: member in the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–04 (1845–47; first Centre alumnus to serve in Congress), secretary of state of Kentucky (1849–50) * John C. Breckinridge, 1838: U.S. vice president (1857–61); Confederate secretary of war (1865); U.S. senator from Kentucky (1861) * John Y. Brown, Sr., 1921: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–AL (1933–35) * Jacqueline Coleman, 2004:

lieutenant governor of Kentucky The lieutenant governor of Kentucky was created under the state's second constitution, which was ratified in 1799. The inaugural officeholder was Alexander Scott Bullitt, who took office in 1800 following his election to serve under James Garrard ...

(2019–present) * John Sherman Cooper, 1922: U.S. ambassador to East Germany (1974–76), U.S. senator from Kentucky (1946–49, 1952–55, 1956–73), U.S. ambassador to India (1955–56) *

Michael W. Jackson Michael Wayne Jackson (born November 18, 1963, in Fayetteville, Tennessee) is an American attorney. He is currently an Alabama district attorney. He received his undergraduate degree at Centre College with a double major in economics/manageme ...

, 1985: Alabama District Attorney (2005 - present) * Claude Matthews, 1867: governor of Indiana (1893–97), secretary of state of Indiana (1891–93) *

Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

, 1895:

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

(1923–27) * Augustus Stanley, 1889: U.S. senator from Kentucky (1919–25), governor of Kentucky (1915–19), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–02 (1903–15) * Adlai Stevenson I, 1859: U.S. vice president (1893–97), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from IL–13 (1875–77, 1879–81) * John T. Stuart, 1826: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from IL–03 (1839–43) and IL–08 (1863–65), lawyer, law partner of Abraham Lincoln * Yi Kuu, Prince Imperial Hoeun, 1952: Prince Imperial of Korea, grandson of Emperor Gojong * Joseph Holt, 1824: U.S. postmaster general, U.S. secretary of war and Judge Advocate General of the United States Army; leading judge in the trials of the Abraham Lincoln assassination *

Thomas H. Taylor Thomas Hart Taylor (July 31, 1825 – April 12, 1901) was a Confederate States Army colonel, brigade commander, provost marshal and last Confederate post commander at Mobile, Alabama, during the American Civil War. His appointment as a brigadier ...

, Confederate general (1861–65), Louisville chief of police (1881–92) * George Graham Vest, U.S. senator from Missouri (1879–1903), Confederate senator from Missouri (1865), member of the Confederate House of Representatives from MO–05; best known for supposedly coining the phrases " man's best friend" and "

history is written by the victors Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''crit ...

Arts

George Ella Lyon George Ella Lyon (born April 25, 1949, in Harlan, Kentucky) is an American author from Kentucky, who has published in many genres, including picture books, poetry, juvenile novels, and articles. Biography George Ella Lyon was born April 25, 194 ...

, 1971: former Kentucky Poet Laureate *

Stephen Rolfe Powell Stephen "Steve" Rolfe Powell (1951–2019) was an American glass artist based at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, who created elaborately colored three-foot glass vessels incorporating murrine. Early life and education Powell was born ...

, 1974: internationally acclaimed glass blower and art professor *

Tony Crunk Tony Crunk is an American poet whose first volume of poetry, ''Living in the Resurrection'', won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. Biography Crunk was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He received his B.A. at Centre College, an M.A. in ...

, 1978: winner,

Yale Younger Poets The Yale Series of Younger Poets is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the debut collection of a promising American poet. Established in 1918, the Younger Poets Prize is the longest-running annual literary award in the Uni ...

prize

Athletics

Gene Bedford William Eugene Bedford (December 2, 1896 in Dallas, Texas – October 6, 1977 in San Antonio, Texas) was a second baseman for the Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Gu ...

: second baseman for the Cleveland Indians and defensive end for the Rochester Jeffersons *

Herb Covington Herbert Hunt "Flash" Covington (October 16, 1902 – January 1, 1990), also called "the Mayfield Flash", was an American football, basketball, and baseball player for the Centre Praying Colonels of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Early ...

, 1924: played football, basketball, and baseball for Centre, named to the all-time Centre football team in 1935 *

E.A. Diddle Edgar Allen Diddle (March 12, 1895 – January 2, 1970) was an American college men's basketball coach. He is known for coaching at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in his ...

, 1920: legendary basketball coach of Western Kentucky University, member of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

Jordan Gay Jordan Lane Gay (born March 29, 1990) is a former American football kickoff specialist. He has also been a punter and a kicker. Gay signed with the Carolina Panthers after going undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the ...

, 2013: punter and kickoff specialist for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Cawood Ledford Cawood Ledford (April 24, 1926 – September 5, 2001) was a radio play-by-play announcer for the University of Kentucky basketball and football teams. Ledford's style and professionalism endeared himself to many sports fans in the Commonwealth of K ...

, 1949: voice of the University of Kentucky Wildcats for 30 years * Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin, 1922: three-time All-American quarterback; member of the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

; head football coach of Indiana University,

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, and Philadelphia Eagles *

Sully Montgomery James Ralph "Sully" Montgomery (January 12, 1901 – September 5, 1970) was an American professional football player and boxer. Montgomery played college football for the Centre Praying Colonels of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He ...

, 1920: tackle for the Chicago Cardinals; boxer *

Tom Moran Tom Moran is a British screenwriter. Career Moran attended the University of East Anglia. While studying for a degree in Scriptwriting and Performance, he set up Laugh Out Loud comedy club. He subsequently performed a 21-night show at the Edi ...

blocking back The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ameri ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

* Homer Rice, football coach * Red Roberts, 1922: NFL player; head football coach of Waynesburg University *

Lou Smyth Louie Lehman Smyth (March 19, 1898 – September 11, 1964) was a professional football player for the Canton Bulldogs from 1920 until 1923. Smyth won two NFL championships with the Bulldogs in 1922 and 1923 and another with the Yellow Jackets ...

, 1919: three-time

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

champion with the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Leag ...

* John Tanner, 1921: NFL wingback with the Toledo Maroons, Cleveland Indians, and Cleveland Bulldogs * Ken Willis, 1986 (transferred after one year): kicker for the Dallas Cowboys

Academia

* Raymond Burse, 1973:

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

; General Counsel for General Electric; former president of

Kentucky State University Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons ...

; the first African-American to compete in the Oxford v. Cambridge rugby match

Business

* Isaac Tigrett, 1970: founder of the Hard Rock Cafe and the House of Blues

Other

* Rev. Samuel D. Burchard, 1837: clergyman whose "Rum, Romanism and rebellion" speech may have cost

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

the 1884 presidential election *

Charles Carpenter (Lt. Col.) Lt. Col. Charles "Bazooka Charlie" Carpenter (August 29, 1912 – March 22, 1966) was a United States Army officer and army observation pilot who served in World War II. He is best remembered for destroying several enemy armored vehicles in his ...

: highly decorated Second World War artillery observation pilot nicknamed "Bazooka Charlie"; destroyed several German armored vehicles in his bazooka-equipped L-4 Grasshopper light observation aircraft, christened "Rosie the Rocketer" *

George W. Harkins George Washington Harkins (1810–October 23, 1861) was an attorney and prominent tribal chief, chief of the Choctaw tribe during Indian removal.Oklahoma Historical Society, Archives Division, Choctaw – Principal Chief, No. 19457 Elected as pri ...

: attorney and chief of the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

tribe during

Indian removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...

. * Lewis Craig Humphrey, 1896: editor of the Centre College newspaper ''The Cento''; chief editor of the '' Louisville Evening Post'' and the '' Louisville Herald''
E Patrick Doyle
was attending Centre College in 1848 when he helped lead the largest slave uprising in Kentucky, ending with Doyle's capture and imprisonment.

Faculty and staff

J. Proctor Knott James Proctor Knott (August 29, 1830 – June 18, 1911) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and served as the 29th Governor of Kentucky from 1883 to 1887. Born in Kentucky, he moved to Missouri in 1850 and began his political career the ...

: law professor at Centre; 29th governor of Kentucky *

Sara W. Mahan Sara W. Mahan (February 26, 1870 – November 1, 1966) was an American progressive era social reformer, and early Democratic Party female politician from Kentucky in the United States. Mahan was one of the founders of the Democratic Women's Cl ...

: 64th Secretary of State of Kentucky, served as college librarian from 1920–21 * Ephraim McDowell: member of the Board of Trustees and namesake of the

Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center (EMRMC) is a locally controlled not-for-profit 222-bed hospital located in Danville, Kentucky. History EMRMC took its name from Ephraim McDowell, a ground-breaking local physician who performed the first ...

Presidents of the College

References

{{Reflist

Centre College people Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Centre College