ALUMNI HISTORY

Alumni of Allen University have achieved remarkable success across a vast array of professions, underscoring the limitless potential unlocked by a degree from our institution. Our graduates have blazed trails of excellence in various sectors, rising to esteemed positions as judges, lawmakers, captains of industry, and innovative entrepreneurs. Their achievements serve as compelling evidence of the transformative power of an Allen University education, setting an aspirational standard for current and future students alike.

Exemplifying leadership and exceptional achievements, Allen’s list of distinguished alumni includes:

• Dr. Margaret A. Dixon, the first African American president of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP);

• Senator Kay Patterson, one of South Carolina’s first African American lawmakers in modern times, was a member of the South Carolina Senate, 7th District (1985-2008);

• Dr. Agnes Hilderbrand Wilson Burgess, the first African American to be elected president of the South Carolina Education Association and the first African American to be selected as South Carolina’s Teacher of the Year;

• Lu Cile Ivey-Norton, who performed with Ossie Davis at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall as part of the bicentennial celebration of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.;

• Senator Clementa C. Pinckney (deceased), a former member of the South Carolina Senate, 45th District (1997-2000) and former senior pastor of Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church; 

• Joseph DeLaine (deceased), civil rights leader who worked with the South Carolina NAACP on the legal case Briggs vs. Elliot in 1952, one of the four cases argued under Brown vs. Board of Education; and 

• Sam Davis (deceased), former player of the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1967-1979).

Several graduates have also been at the helm of leadership in higher education, becoming presidents of colleges and universities. This list includes Dr. William C. Brown (Fayetteville State University), Dr. Lewis Dowdy (North Carolina A&T State University), Dr. Iona B. Mishoe (Delaware State College), Dr. Wardell Nichols (Allen University), Dr. Sylvia P. Swinton (Allen University), and Dr. Frank R. Veal (Allen University). 

Allen University’s leading role in preparing clergy for the African Methodist Episcopal Church is reflected in those alumni who have become Bishops of the Church. This list includes:

• Harrison James Bryant (deceased);

• Vernon Randolph Byrd (deceased);

• William David Chappelle (deceased);

• Monroe Hortensius Davis (deceased);

• Zedekiah Lazett Grady

• Lawrence H. Hemingway (deceased);

• Richard Allen Hildebrand (deceased);

• Frederick Calhoun James

• Henry Wendell Murph (deceased);

• George Dewey Robinson (deceased);

• Frederick Hilborn Talbot; and 

• David R. Daniels, Jr. 

Allen University alumni continue to make significant contributions to society and uphold the legacy of academic excellence at the institution.