Notable Alumni

Mercer University has been preparing leaders who make a difference in their professions, their communities and the world since 1833. Here are some of Mercer’s more notable alumni.

Steve Berry, LAW 1980; popular best-selling author of 19 novels including several New York Times bestsellers.
Buford Boone, CLA 1929; Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper writer (1957), recognized for editorials against segregation.
David Bottoms, CLA 1971; HON 2005, award-winning poet and former Georgia Poet Laureate.
Baciliky Andris “Betty” Cantrell, while a student in Mercer’s Townsend School of Music, was crowned Miss Georgia 2015 and Miss America 2016.
John Couric, CLA 1941; former United Press International editor and journalism professor; daughter, Katie, is anchor for television and online news.
Josiah Crudup, 1923; helped build the original radio tower and establish WMAZ at Macon, former president of Brenau College.
Milton Cruz, CLA 1982; chairman, president and chief executive officer of MedHoldings Inc. MedHolding’s affiliated entities serve as health care real estate investment vehicles, managers, owners and operators of health care facilities in Puerto Rico, Georgia and Florida. MedHoldings specializes in the acquisition of assisted living Facilities (ALFs), memory care communities and other health care related entities.
Harry Stillwell Edwards, LAW 1876, HON DIV LIT 1923; former editor of the Macon Telegraph; author of 19 books including the Southern classic Eneas Africanus.
Barry P. Fanaro, CLA 1975; Hollywood screenwriter (Men in Black II, Kingpin, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, The Golden Girls).
Searcy Garrison, CLA 1934; served as executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention and was instrumental in convincing GBC that Mercer must have academic freedom.
Nancy Grace

Nancy Grace, CLA 1981, LAW 1984; prosecutor and former host of the popular legal analysis program on Headline News called Nancy Grace. She previously served as an anchor for Court TV network and legal commentator and guest host for CNN’s Larry King Live.
Terrell Griffin, CLA 1966, LAW 1968; practicing attorney; member of American Board of Trial Advocates; holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Masters License; author of three best-selling mystery novels, Longboat Blues (2005), Murder Key (2006) and Blood Island (2008) .
Rufus Carrollton Harris, CLA 1917; dean of Mercer Law School, 1925-1927, and Tulane Law School, 1927-1937; president of Tulane University, 1939-1960; president of Mercer University, 1960-1979; co-authored the G.I. Bill.
Dr. Harville Hendrix, CLA 1957, HON 1991: co-author of 11 books including the best-selling Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples, international speaker, clinical trainer and noted couples therapist.
Budge Huskey, CLA 1981; served as president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC until 2016.
John F. Hogan Jr., 1940; founding president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the world’s largest organization devoted to broadcast journalism.
Malcolm Malone Johnson, 1926; Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1949); his reports were the basis for On the Waterfront, which starred Marlon Brando.
Anne B. Kerr, CLA 1976; president of Florida Southern College.
William Heard Kilpatrick, CLA 1901; career educator; acting president of Mercer University, 1903-1905; co-founder and trustee of Bennington College in Vermont.
Landrum P. Leavell, CLA 1948; president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1975-1995.
Andrew Light, CLA 1989; moral philosopher; author and editor of 17 books on environmental ethics, philosophy of technology and aesthetics.
James Thomas “Tom” McAfee III, BUS 2000; chairman and president of Hallmark Systems Inc., a Georgia-based health care corporation. The McAfee family, including Tom’s parents, Carolyn Townsend McAfee and the late James T. McAfee Jr., provided founding endowments for Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology and Townsend School of Music.
Reg Murphy, CLA 1955, HON 1975; former president and vice chairman of National Geographic Society; former publisher of the Baltimore Sun; former editor and publisher of the San Francisco Examiner; and former editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; author of Uncommon Sense: The Achievement of Griffin Bell.
Christine Negroni, internationally recognized aviation safety expert, investigative journalist, travel writer, book author, blogger and on-camera contributor for ABC News.
George P. Oslin, CLA 1920; former Western Union executive; invented the singing telegram in 1933.
Lyman Ray Patterson, CLA 1949, LAW 1957; noted law professor and copyright scholar; former dean, of the University of Georgia School of Law.
Jack Perry, CLA ‘1951; formerly with U.S. Foreign Service-Moscow, NATO headquarters and Paris; former deputy chief of mission in Prague Stockholm and Bulgaria; former U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria.
James W. Rachels, CLA 1962; moral philosopher, university professor and author; best known for his writing on euthanasia.
Ferrol Sams, CLA 1942; widely read Southern author noted for Run with the Horsemen and Whisper of the River, the sequel where he writes about his days at Mercer through the eyes of his main character, Porter Osborne, at Willingham University.
Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., BUS 1990; president of Conde Nast.
Patrick Shannon, BUSA MBA 1987; vice president and treasurer of Ingersoll Rand.
Neil Skene, LAW 1977; president and publisher of Congressional Quarterly, 1990-1997.
George McIntosh Sparks, CLA 1909 (AB), 1929 (MA), HON LLD 1933; founded Georgia State University (1955).
Eugene W. Stetson, CLA 1901, HON LAW 1933; Macon native; Stetson joined Guaranty Trust Company of New York in 1916 as vice president at age 35 and eventually became its president and chairman. Stetson is considered one of the nation’s great financial magnates of the 20th century. Mercer’s Stetson School of Business and Economics was named in his honor in 1984.
Steve Stoler, CLA 1980; news reporter for WFAA in Dallas, Texas; noted for his coverage of the Branch Davidian Siege in Waco, Texas.
Jack W. Tarver, CLA 1938; publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1958-1976; chairman of the Associated Press, 1977-1983; namesake of the Jack Tarver Library on the Macon campus.
Corbett H. Thigpen, CLA 1946, MD; discovered “Eve,” who had multiple personalities; wrote Three Faces of Eve.
Ellis Paul Torrance, CLA 1940; educator known for pioneering research in creativity; namesake of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development.
William Tryon, 1835; member of Mercer’s first graduating class; traveled to Texas as a missionary and was one of three founders of Baylor University, along with Judge R.E.B. Baylor and James Huckins.
Phil Walden, CLA 1962; music pioneer and founder of Capricorn Records; discovered Otis Redding and represented The Allman Brothers.

Sam Mitchell

Wallace “Wally” Butts, CLA 1928; head football coach for University of Georgia, 1939-1960; athletic director, 1939-1963; member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Andrea Congreaves, CLA 1994; Mercer’s only consensus All-American in basketball.
Wesley Duke, BUS 2004; former tight end for the Denver Broncos; 2005 AFC West Champions, after starting in basketball at Mercer.
Big James Henderson, PEN 1994; power-lifter who competed in the International Powerlifting Federation and won five world bench press titles from 1994 to 1998.
Kyle Alexander Lewis, professional baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners organization; a first-round draft pick after his junior year at Mercer; 2016 Golden Spikes Award recipient.
Sam Mitchell, CLA 1985; former head coach of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association, 2004-2008; selected as the 2007-2008 NBA Coach of the Year; 13-year playing career in the NBA.
Bill Yoast, CLA 1949; high school football coach made famous in the film Remember the Titans.
Numerous Mercerians have been Major League Baseball players.

Leila Denmark, Tift 1922; nationally-renowned pediatrician who practiced medicine past her 100th birthday.
Spencer King

Dr. Spencer Bidwell King III, CLA 1958; a pioneer in cardiac catheterization and co-developer of the multi-purpose technique of coronary arteriography. He is world-renowned as a pioneer and leader in interventional cardiology. In 2009, Dr. King received the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Career Achievement Award for his many clinical and academic contributions to the field. He is a professor emeritus at Emory University School of Medicine and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions.
Dr. Donald Ervin Baxter, CLA 1965; orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle medicine and one of America’s leading experts in nerve compression syndromes. Dr. Baxter in 1984 first described the condition that would become “Baxter’s nerve entrapment.” While a member of the men’s basketball team, he was the roommate of Sam Oni, Mercer’s first Black student. In 1990, he was named to the Silver Anniversary All-America team by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He also received the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.
Edward J. Schutter Jr., B.S. Pharm. 1977, MBA; founder and CEO of Arbor Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Dr. Melinda D. Screws, MED 1993; served as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force. As a pilot, she served in the Iraqi war in 2008, and then joined NASA, working with flight surgeons to support the shuttle program. She now serves as a physician for the Veteran’s Administration in Dublin, Georgia.
John T. Sherrer, B.S. Pharm. 1977; 2014-2015 president of the Board of Trustees for the National Community Pharmacists Association; former president of Georgia Pharmacy Association; former president of Georgia State Board of Pharmacy.
Hon. J. Ron Stephens, B.S. Pharm. 1978; Georgia State House of Representatives; Chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

Harris Adams, CLA 1970, LAW 1971; former Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals.
Griffin B. Bell, LAW 1948, HON 1967; Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1962-1976; 72nd Attorney General of the United States, 1977-1979.
John Sammons Bell, CLA 1937; Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1960-1979; Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1969-1979.
Reason Chesnutt Bell, LAW 1902, HON LLD 1936; Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1943-1946; Associate Justice, 1932-1943 and 1946-1949; Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1922-1932.
Michael Boggs, LAW 1990, Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 2021 – present.
William Augustus “Gus” Bootle, CLA 1925, LAW 1925, HON 1982; Federal District Judge, 1954-2005; ordered the first admission of an African-American to the University of Georgia in 1961; federal courthouse in Macon, Ga., named in his honor.
Harrold Carswell, LAW 1980; Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1969-1970; unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court, 1970.
Linton M. Collins, CLA 1921 (AB) CLASS 1921 (MA); Judge, United States Court of Claims, 1964-1972.
Brainerd Currie, LAW 1935; law professor; noted conflict of laws scholar who developed the characterization concept of governmental interest analysis.
Thomas Hoyt Davis, CLA 1939, LAW 1940; Senior Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1945-1969.
Sara L. Doyle, LAW 1994; Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals.
Homer Drake

W.H. “Homer” Drake Jr., CLA 1954, LAW 1956; Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge, Northern District of Georgia; appointed to the court in 1964.
Beverly D. Evans Jr., CLA 1881; Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1904-1917; Federal District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, 1917-1922.
Albert John Henderson, LAW 1947; Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1979-1999; Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1968-1979.
Yvette Miller, CLA 1977, LAW 1980; Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; first African-American woman to serve on the court and the first African-American woman to serve as chief judge.
Carlton Mobley, CLA 1928, LAW 1928; Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1972-1974; Associate Justice, 1954-1972; United States Representative, Georgia’s 6th Congressional district, 1932-1933.
Louis Sands, CLA 1971, LAW 1974; Chief Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia; first African-American to serve on the court.
Jay Sekulow, CLA 1977, LAW 1980; chief counsel, American Center for Law and Justice and the European Centre for Law and Justice.
Evett Simmons, LAW 1982; former president, National Bar Association.
Hugh Thompson, LAW 1969; retired Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Marc Treadwell, LAW 1981; U.S. District Judge.
Lin Wood Jr., CLA 1974, LAW 1977; nationally-recognized attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia. He represented the late Richard Jewell, the security guard falsely accused in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta in 1996. Wood has represented a number of high-profile clients including John and Patsy Ramsey, parents of JonBenét Ramsey; Herman Cain; former Congressman Gary Condit; and Dr. Phil.

Ross William Crossley, CLA 1960; Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, V Corps Artillery, 1983-1985; Chief of Staff, V Corps, 1985-1988.
Benjamin Griffin

Benjamin S. Griffin, BUSA 1981; General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, 2004-2008.
Richard E. Hawes, LAW 1915; Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy – commanded several vessels during World War II; recipient of the Navy Cross; namesake of the USS Hawes.
Michael L. Howard, CLA 1986; Colonel, U.S. Army – Commander, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, the only airborne brigade in the Pacific Theater.
Claude M. Kicklighter, CLA 1955; Lieutenant General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, Pacific, 1989-1991; after military retirement, served in senior civilian positions in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs; Assistant Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, 2001-2005; Inspector General, Department of Defense, 2007-2008.
Charles Stewart Rodeheaver, TIFT 1985; Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army.
William T. Thielemann, CLA 1967; Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Commander, 48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), Georgia Army National Guard, 1995-1997.
George J. Walker, CLA 1956; Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army Forces Command, 1987-1989; member, Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
Perry L. Wiggins, CLA 1983; Lieutenant General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army), and Senior Commander, Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis.
Blanton Winship, CLA, 1889, LAW; Major General, U.S. Army – First Judge Advocate General of the Army (TJAG), 1931-1933; Governor of Puerto Rico, 1934-1939.

Ellis Arnall, CLA 1924; Governor of Georgia, 1943-1946.
Doug Barnard, CLA 1943, LAW 1948; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 10th Congressional district, 1977-1993.
Allen D. Candler, 1859; Governor of Georgia, 1898-1902;U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 9th Congressional district, 1883-1891; namesake of Candler County, Georgia.
Cathy Cox

Cathy Cox, LAW 1986, HON 2007; Dean of Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law; former President of Young Harris College; Georgia Secretary of State, 1999-2007, first woman elected to this position.
Edward E. Cox, LAW 1902; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 2nd Congressional district, 1925-1952.
Nathan Deal, CLA 1964, LAW 1966; U.S. Representative, 1992-2010; Georgia’s 82nd Governor, 2011.
Walter C. Dowling, CLA 1925; U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, 1956-1959; U.S. Ambassador to West Germany, 1959-1963.
Robert W. Everett, U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 7th Congressional district, 1891-1893.
Walter F. George, CLA 1900, LAW 1901; U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1922-1957, served as president pro tempore, 1955-1957; namesake of Mercer’s Law School.
Thomas W. Hardwick, 1892; United States Senator from Georgia, 1915-1919; Governor of Georgia, 1921-1923; as Governor, appointed Rebecca L. Felton as the first female U.S. Senator.
Richard B. Hubbard, 1851; Governor of Texas, 1876-1879; U.S. Ambassador to Japan, 1885-1889.
William D. Jelks, 1876; Governor of Alabama, 1901-1907.
Thomas Goodwin Lawson, 1855, HON 1908; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 8th Congressional district, 1891-1897.
Rufus Ezekiel Lester, CLA 1857, AM 1860; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 1st Congressional district, 1889-1906.
Henry Dickerson McDaniel, CLA 1856; Governor of Georgia, 1883-1886.
Charles L. Moses, U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 4th Congressional district, 1891-1897.
William J. Northen, 1853; Governor of Georgia, 1890-1894; president, Southern Baptist Convention, 1899-1901; served as a Mercer trustee for 44 years, 1869-1913.
James W. Overstreet, 1888; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 1st Congressional district, 1906-1907 and 1917-1923.
John W. Oxendine, CLA 1984, LAW 1987; served four terms as Georgia Insurance Commissioner.
Homer C. Parker, LAW 1908; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 1st Congressional district, 1931-1935.
John Peyton, CLA 1986; Former Mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., 2003-2011; current president of Gate Petroleum.
Charles “Jack” Pritchard, CLA 1972; U.S. Ambassador and Special Envoy for Negotiations to North Korea, 2001-2003.
Dwight Laing Rogers, LAW 1910; U.S. Representative, Florida’s 6th Congressional district, 1945-1954.
William J. Sears, U.S. Representative, Florida’s 4th Congressional district, 1915-1929; U.S. Representative, an at-large Florida district, 1933-1937.
Chauncey Sparks, CLA 1907, LAW 1910; Governor of Alabama, 1943-1947.
Malcolm Conner Tarver, LAW 1904; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 7th Congressional district, 1927-1947.
Sandra L. Thurman, CAS 1992; director, Office of National AIDS Policy, 1997-2001; the first Presidential Envoy for AIDS Cooperation, 2000-2001; referred to as the nation’s “AIDS czar” in the administration of President Bill Clinton.
Carl Vinson, LAW 1902; U.S. Representative for more than 50 years, 1914-1965; long-time Chairman, House Armed Services Committee; has been called the “patriarch of the armed services” and the “father of the two-ocean navy;” namesake of the USS Carl Vinson.
William S. West, AB 1875, LAW 1875; U.S. Senator from Georgia, 1914-1914.
Mark Wilcox, LAW 1910; U.S. Representative, Florida’s 4th Congressional district, 1933-1939.
John S. Wood, LAW 1910; U.S. Representative, Georgia’s 9th Congressional district, 1931-1935 and 1945-1953; Chairman, House Un-American Activities Committee, 1949-1953.
12 Mercerians have served as governors, for the states of Alabama, Georgia, New Hampshire and Texas and of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

John Birch, CLA 1939; missionary and spy in China during World War II; namesake of the John Birch Society.
Charles Kelsey Dozier, CLA 1903; missionary and founder of Seinan Gakuin University in Japan.
Pearl Holmes Duvall

Pearl Holmes Duvall, CLA 1948; teacher, artist, musician, chaplain, trailblazing minister and missionary to Nigeria; first female moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia; second Baptist woman ordained in Georgia.
Truett Gannon, CLA 1951; influential Baptist minister; chairman of Truett-McConnell College Board of Trustees, 1985-1987; chairman of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, 1987-1990; president of Georgia Baptist Convention, 1990-1992.
A. L. Miller, Sr., LAW 1905, attorney and municipal court judge in Calhoun County, Georgia; served twice in the Georgia House of Representatives; served in the Georgia State Senate for the 9^th District; served several terms as Mayor of Edison, Georgia, served as trustee for Norman Junior College and Edison Public School; moderated the Bethel Baptist Association for 25 years; authored “History of the Bethel Association” in 1934.
Louie D. Newton, CLA 1913; influential Baptist minister; president of Southern Baptist Convention, 1947-1948; president of Georgia Baptist Convention, 1950-1951; pastor of Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta for more than 40 years; namesake of Mercer’s Newton Chapel.
Lamar R. Plunkett, CLA 1931; past chair of University System of Georgia Board of Regents; past chair, of Mercer Board of Trustees; former Georgia state senator; namesake of the Lamar R. Plunkett Lecture Series at the University of West Georgia; namesake of the Lamar R. Plunkett Award presented by the Southern Regional Education Board.
Dr. Ed Roberts, MED M.D. 1986; according to the New York Times, made an early and enduring contribution to modern computing. He created the MITS Altair 8800, the world’s first commercially successful, mass-produced personal computer. Some historians say Dr. Roberts deserves to be recognized as the inventor of the personal computer. Dr. Roberts left the computer business and was a member of the first graduating class of the Mercer School of Medicine and practiced rural medicine in Cochran, Ga.
Steadman Vincent Sanford, AB 1890, HM (LLD) 1932; former chancellor, University System of Georgia; namesake of Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia.

Suggestions for the Notable Alumni list may be submitted to alumni@mercer.edu. Additions to and deletions from the list are made at the discretion of the University.