List of Centre College people explained

Here follows a list of notable people associated with Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Notable graduates

Law

• John Christian Bullitt, 1849: attorney in Philadelphia, drafted the city's charter and founded the law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath
• John Marshall Harlan, 1850: Supreme Court associate justice (1877–1911), cast the lone dissenting vote in Plessy v. Ferguson
• Pierce Lively, 1943: federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1972–2016)
• Andrew Phelps McCormick, 1854: federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1892–1916)
• Fred M. Vinson, 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

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 (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, 1985: Alabama District Attorney (2005 - present)
• Crit Luallen, 1974: lieutenant governor of Kentucky (2014 - 2015), Kentucky State Auditor (2004 - 2012)
• Claude Matthews, 1867: governor of Indiana (1893–97), secretary of state of Indiana (1891–93)
• Austin Peay, 1895: governor of Tennessee (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, 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."

Arts

• George Ella Lyon, 1971:^[1] former Kentucky Poet Laureate
• Stephen Rolfe Powell, 1974: internationally acclaimed glass blower and art professor
• Tony Crunk, 1978: winner, Yale Younger Poets prize
• Terena Elizabeth Bell, 1999, author of Tell Me What You See
• Tiffany Reisz, 2000; RITA award-winning novelist

Athletics

• Gene Bedford

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

• Herb Covington, 1924: played football, basketball, and baseball for Centre, named to the all-time Centre football team in 1935
• E.A. Diddle, 1920: legendary basketball coach of Western Kentucky University, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• Jordan Gay, 2013: punter and kickoff specialist for the Buffalo Bills
• Cawood Ledford, 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; head football coach of Indiana University, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles
• Sully Montgomery, 1920: tackle for the Chicago Cardinals; boxer
• Tom Moran

blocking back for the New York Giants

• Homer Rice, football coach
• Red Roberts, 1922: NFL player; head football coach of Waynesburg University
• Lou Smyth, 1919: three-time NFL champion with the Canton Bulldogs
• 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; general counsel for General Electric; former president of Kentucky State University; 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
• Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle Sr, 1892: distiller for the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, face of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve

Other

• Rev. Samuel D. Burchard, 1837: clergyman whose "Rum, Romanism and rebellion" speech may have cost James G. Blaine the 1884 presidential election
• Charles Carpenter (Lt. Col.)

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"^{[2] [3]}

• Rev. Norman A. Fischer, 1995:^[4] priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington and, at the time of his death, president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus^[5]
• George W. Harkins

attorney and chief of the Choctaw tribe during Indian removal

• 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

law professor at Centre; 29th governor of Kentucky

• Sara W. Mahan

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

Presidents of the College

See main article: List of presidents of Centre College.

References

Bibliography

• Book: [{{Google books|id=eMX-Snn_mEsC|page=PA310|plainurl=yes}} Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi ]. 1999 . II, Part II . . . 1-4556-0119-5 . 310 . .
• Book: Brower . Hugh . Parsons College Directory of Graduates, Non-Graduates, Trustees, and Faculty, 1875 - 1942 . 1942 . . .
• Book: Halsey, Leroy Jones . 1871 . Memoir of the Life and Character of Rev. Lewis Warner Green, With a Selection From His Sermons . New York . . 937904081.
• Book: Lewis . Alvin Fayette . Adams . Herbert B. . [{{Google books |id=j5fxqVzlM0kC |page=RA4-PA119 |plainurl=yes}} History of Higher Education in Kentucky ]. 1899 . . . 119–121 . 25 . 4147564.
• Book: Nevin . Alfred . Nevin . David Robert Bruce . [{{Google books |id=SJI4AQAAMAAJ |page=PA63 |plainurl=yes}} Encyclopædia of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ]. 1884 . Presbyterian Encyclopædia Publishing Company . . 62–63 . 7677962.
• Book: Parsons . Willis Edwards . [{{Google books|id=qsEsEDIsYEgC|plainurl=y}} Fifty Years of Parsons College, 1875–1925 ]. 1925 . . . 7936524.
• Book: Shepardson . Francis Wayland . The Beta Book: The Story and Manual of Beta Theta Pi . 1927 . . . 17494498.
• Book: Sloane . Bentley . 175 Years: Centenary College, 1825 - 2000 . 2000 . . .
• Book: Weston, William J. . Centre College: a Bicentennial History . . . 2019 . 978-1-6943-5863-9 . 1142930784.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1991 George Ella Lyon 1971. 2020-11-28. alumni.centre.edu. en.
2. What's New in Aviation: Piper Cub Tank Buster, Popular Science, Vol. 146 No. 2 (February 1945) p. 84
3. Carpenter, Leland F., Piper L-4J Grasshopper , Aviation Enthusiast Corner, retrieved 21 October 2011
4. Web site: Centre Alumni - Father Norman A. Fischer '95 . 2 August 2024 . Centre College Distinguished Alumni . Centre College.
5. News: Tinner-Williams . Nate . Fr. Norman Fischer, president of National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, dies at 50 . 2 August 2024 . National Catholic Reporter . 20 July 2024.