List of Southern Methodist University people

The list of Southern Methodist University people includes alumni, faculty, and former students of Southern Methodist University.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Notable alumni or attendees

Government, politics, society

U.S. Congress

Name	Graduation Year	Occupation
John W. Bryant		U.S. House of Representatives, 1983–97
Jim Chapman		U.S. House of Representatives, 1985–97
James M. Collins		U.S. House of Representatives, 1968–83
John Culberson		U.S. House of Representatives
Bob Franks		U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey
Ralph Hall		U.S. House of Representatives
Eddie Bernice Johnson		U.S. House of Representatives
Sam Johnson		U.S. House of Representatives
Robert Krueger		U.S. Senator from Texas
Dennis Moore		U. S. House of Representative from Kansas
Lamar S. Smith		U.S. House of Representatives
John Tower		U.S. Senator from Texas

U.S. ambassadors

• Teel Bivins - U.S. Ambassador to Sweden
• Antonio Garza - U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
• Roy M. Huffington - U.S. Ambassador to Austria
• Karen Hughes - Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
• George C. McGhee - U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (1952–53), U.S. Ambassador to West Germany (1963–68)
• Jeanne L. Phillips - U.S. Permanent Representative to the OECD in Paris
• Richard Rubottom - U.S. Ambassador to Argentina

Others in politics

• Rafael Anchia - member of the Texas Legislature
• Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. - Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma; son of former U.S. Senator Dewey Bartlett
• Leo Berman (Class of 1969) - member of the Texas House of Representatives from Tyler; former city council member in Arlington
• Gela Bezhuashvili - Foreign Minister of the Republic of Georgia
• Dan Branch - member of the Texas House of Representatives
• Charles Brumskine - President Pro Tem, Liberian Senate
• Bryan Edward Bush, Jr. - former district attorney of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
• Laura Bush - First Lady of the United States
• Jim R. Caldwell - former member of the Arkansas State Senate
• Bill Clements - former Governor of Texas
• Charlie Geren (Class of 1971) - member of the Texas House of Representatives from his native Fort Worth
• James M. Goslin (Police Administration School) - Sheriff of Caddo Parish, Louisiana from 1966 to 1976
• O.H. "Ike" Harris — Texas state senator (1967–1995) from Dallas County; SMU law graduate
• Jim Keet (Class of 1971) - 2010 Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas; former Arkansas state legislator
• Bill Keffer - member of the Texas House from District 107 from 2003 to 2007; Dallas lawyer
• S.M. Krishna - former Chief Minister of Karnataka state; former External Affairs Minister of India
• Bob McFarland - member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature from 1977 to 1991; Law school graduate; attorney in Arlington, Texas
• Morgan Meyer - Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 108 in Dallas County, including University Park
• Barrow Peacock - Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from Shreveport
• Reynato Puno - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Rick Scott - Governor of Florida; law school graduate
• Matt Shaheen - Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Plano, effective 2015; former Collin County commissioner; received master's degree from SMU
• Virginia Shehee - member of the Louisiana State Senate from Shreveport, 1976 to 1980; businesswoman and philanthropist; studied social work at SMU
• Burt Solomons - Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Denton County; received a Master of Public Administration degree from SMU in early 1970s
• Barbara Staff - co-chairman of the 1976 Texas Reagan presidential primary campaign
• Martha Hess Whitehead - last Treasurer of the State of Texas (D)
• Phil Wilson - Texas secretary of state, 2007–2008

Business

• Gabriel Barbier-Mueller - founder and CEO, Harwood International
• Hadi Walid Bayatneh - founder and CEO, Dallas Autos Direct and Autobahn national holdings
• Henry L. Brandon - Chairman Of The Board, Unocal Corporation
• C. David Cush - CEO, Virgin America
• Aaron Davidson - Chairman of the North American Soccer League and President of Traffic Sports USA
• Aart J. de Geus - co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Synopsys
• Robert H. Dedman, Sr. - founder and CEO, ClubCorp
• David B. Dillon - President and Chairman of the Kroger Co.
• Bob Dudley - BP executive in charge of Deepwater Horizon oil spill
• J. Lindsay Embrey - Chairman and CEO of First Continental Enterprises Inc. and Embrey Enterprises Inc.
• Gerald J. Ford - Dallas-based billionaire
• Jerry Fullinwider - founder of V-F Petroleum
• Art Greenhaw - founder and producer, Art Greenhaw Records, Grammy Award-winning record label
• Donald Holmquest - CEO, California RHIO
• Clark Hunt - Chairman of the Board of the Kansas City Chiefs and a founding investor-owner in MLS
• Hunter L. Hunt - businessman, heir to the Hunt Oil Company
• Lamar Hunt - founder of the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs
• Helen LaKelly Hunt - founder of The Sister Fund
• Ray Lee Hunt - Chairman and CEO, Hunt Oil Company
• Jim Irsay - Owner of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League
• Jerry Junkins - Chairman and CEO, Texas Instruments
• Paul B. Loyd, Jr. - former Chairman and CEO of the R&B Falcon Corporation, the world’s largest offshore drilling company (1997-2001); sits on the SMU Board of Trustees
• Harold MacDowell - CEO, TDIndustries
• John H. Matthews
• Robert Mosbacher, Jr. - Houston businessman; President of Mosbacher Energy Company, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Erle A. Nye - Chairman and CEO, TXU
• William J. O'Neil - founder of the business newspaper Investor's Business Daily
• Martin W. "Bud" Pernoll - founder and CEO, Bay Mutual Financial
• Eckhard Pfeiffer (MBA) - Chairman and CEO, Compaq
• Robert Rowling - U.S. Billionaire #45 on Forbes 400
• Edward B. Rust, Jr. (MBA) - Chairman and CEO, State Farm Insurance
• George Edward Seay III - businessman; co-founder and CEO of Annandale Capital; philanthropist; conservative political activist
• Mark Shepherd - Chairman and CEO, Texas Instruments
• Jeffrey Skilling - Chairman and CEO of Enron
• John H. Tyson - Chairman of Tyson Foods
• John Tyson - Chairman, Tyson Foods; grandson of John W. Tyson, founder of Tyson Foods
• John J Christmann IV - Chairman and CEO, Apache Corporation

Law

• James A. Baker - Justice, Texas Supreme Court
• Raleigh Brown - member of the Texas House of Representatives; Texas State District Court judge in Abilene
• Hideo Chikusa (M.C.L. '62) - Justice Supreme Court of Japan
• Haechang Chung (M.C.L. '68) - former minister of justice and former chief of staff to the president of Korea
• Jeff Cox (Legal Law Masters in Taxation) - judge since 2005 of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court of Bossier and Webster parishes
• Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr. - mayor of Minden, Louisiana 1940-1942; lawyer in Texas and Oklahoma, 1952-1989
• Craig T. Enoch - Justice, Texas Supreme Court
• David C. Godbey - federal judge
• Robert B. Maloney - federal judge
• Deborah Hankinson - former Justice of Texas Supreme Court
• Nathan Hecht - Justice, Texas Supreme Court
• Yukio Horigome - Justice, Supreme Court of Japan
• Todd Ames Hunter (Law '78) - member of the Texas House of Representatives from Corpus Christi (Democrat, 1989-1997; Republican, since 2009)
• Ray Hutchison (B.A. '57, J.D. '59) - former state representative and partner in Vinson and Elkins in Dallas; husband of U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
• Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. - Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri
• Barbara M.G. Lynn - Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• Bagir Manan - Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Indonesia
• Lawrence E. Meyers - Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals since 1993; resides in Fort Worth
• Harriet Miers - George W. Bush administration nominee to the United States Supreme Court
• Shigeharu Negishi (M.C.L. '60) - Justice, Supreme Court of Japan
• Reynato Puno (M.C.L. '67) - Justice Supreme Court of the Philippines
• Joseph Guy Rollins, Jr. ('41) - Houston lawyer
• Kenneth Sheets (J.D. 2004) - Dallas attorney and Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 107 in Dallas County since 2011
• William Steger - Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• Manouchehr Talieh - Justice Supreme Court of Iran

Scientists

• Willis Adcock - chemist; helped develop the silicon transistor; attended SMU in retirement from the University of Texas
• Donald D. Clayton - astrophysicist
• James Cronin - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• Robert Dennard - computing pioneer
• Jack N. James - engineer and manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Project Manager for the Mariner program
• Kent Norman - cognitive psychologist and expert on computer rage
• Clyde Snow - forensic anthropologist
• Mary E. Weber - NASA astronaut
• Donald J. Wheeler - expert on statistical process control and data analysis

Academia

• Betsy Boze (née Betsy Vogel) - President, The College of The Bahamas
• Larry Faulkner - President, University of Texas at Austin
• William C. Roberts - cardiologist; pathologist; first head of pathology for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
• Andrea I. Robinson - Master Sommelier and Dean of Wine Studies at the French Culinary Institute
• Earl Rose - Dallas County medical examiner at the time of the assassination of John F. Kennedy; pathologist at University of Iowa
• Vernon L. Scarborough (PhD 1980) – Mesoamerican archaeologist; professor and head of department in anthropology at University of Cincinnati
• Thomas F. Siems - Senior Economist and Policy Advisor in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Film, performing arts, television, radio, popular culture

• Amy Acker - actress, Person of Interest, Angel
• Astronautalis (Charles Andrew Bothwell) - hip-hop artist
• Bob Banner - TV producer
• Joseph Banowetz - Grammy-nominated classical pianist; music professor
• Kathy Bates - Oscar-winning actress
• Brian Baumgartner - actor on The Office
• Matt Earl Beesley - TV and film director
• Powers Boothe - Emmy Award-winning actor
• Edie Brickell - singer-songwriter, guitarist with The New Bohemians
• Allen Case - Broadway and television actor (The Deputy)
• Laura Claycomb - operatic soprano
• Eddie Coker - children's musician
• Graham Colton - pop singer, performer, songwriter
• Cristi Conaway - actress
• Sahara Davenport - female impersonator, singer, and reality show participant (RuPaul`s Drag Race)
• Paige Davis - TLC Network personality
• Mimi Davila -from the Chonga Girls
• Stefanie de Roux - model, represented Panama in Miss Universe 2003 and Miss Earth 2006
• Fernando del Valle (Brian S. Skinner) - Operatic Tenor
• Hacksaw Jim Duggan - pro wrestler
• Mary Elizabeth Ellis - "waitress" on "Its always Sunny in Philadelphia".
• Amanda Dunbar - visual artist
• Bill Fagerbakke - actor on Coach and voice on SpongeBob SquarePants
• Katie Featherston -lead actress in the independent horror film Paranormal Activity
• Morgan Garrett - voice actress for Funimation
• Clarence Gilyard - actor, Walker, Texas Ranger
• Lauren Graham - lead actress, Gilmore Girls, Parenthood, and Guys and Dolls on broadway
• Art Greenhaw - Grammy Award-winning artist, producer and mixing engineer
• Tsui Hark - film director
• Thomas Hayward - Chairman of the Voice and Opera departments of the Meadows School of the Arts; named Distinguished Professor of Voice 1990; namesake of the Thomas Hayward Memorial Award scholarship
• John Holiday - operatic countertenor
• David Hudgins - TV writer and producer, Everwood and Friday Night Lights
• Tom Hussey - photographer specializing in commercial advertising and lifestyle photography
• Jack Ingram - country music singer
• William Joyce - creator of Rolie Polie Olie and George Shrinks
• Kourtney Kardashian - co-owner of D-A-S-H; featured on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami, and Kourtney and Kim Take New York
• Bavand Karim - TV and film producer
• Jordan Ladd - actress and model
• Sheryl Leach - creator of Barney & Friends children's television program
• Gus Levene - arranger, composer, orchestrator, and guitarist
• Dan Carrillo Levy - film and TV producer; Mexico's El Reporterito, The Burning Plain; music video and commercials director; producer of Sin Ella
• Page McConnell - keyboardist for Phish
• Jay McGraw - son of Dr. Phil McGraw, "Dr. Phil"
• Debra Monk - Tony Award-winning actress
• Belita Moreno - actress; Benny on the George Lopez TV series
• N'dambi - Grammy-nominated recording artist
• Sybil Robson Orr - film producer and former news anchor
• Candice Patton = actress, The Flash
• Artemis Pebdani - actress, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Patricia Richardson - actress, Home Improvement, Strong Medicine, The West Wing
• Wolfgang Rübsam - German-American organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue
• Saundra Santiago - actress, Miami Vice
• Wrenn Schmidt - actress
• Sarah Shahi - actress, Person of Interest and The L Word
• Joey Slotnick - actor, Boston Public, A League of Their Own
• Dan Smoot - journalist, author, radio, and television commentator; figure in the anti-communist movement
• Aaron Spelling - TV and film producer
• Rawson Stovall - video game producer
• Regina Taylor - playwright, director, Golden Globe-winning actress
• Cher Tenbush - actress, model, winner of reality show Beauty and the Geek
• Carole Terry - organist, harpsichordist, and pedagogue
• Craig Timberlake - stage actor and opera singer
• Stephen Tobolowsky - actor
• Shangela Laquifa Wadley - female impersonator, and reality show participant (seasons 2 & 3 of RuPaul`s Drag Race)
• Alissa Williams - financial reporter, Investor's Business Daily

Writing and journalism

• Deborah Coonts - romantic, mystery, and humor novelist; lawyer
• Robert M. Edsel - art history
• Craig Flournoy - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
• Beth Henley - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
• Andy Sidaris - sports TV pioneer
• Clifton Taulbert - author and public speaker

Religious

• Sante Uberto Barbieri - a bishop of the Methodist Church in Latin America (earned Bachelor's, Master's and Divinity degrees)
• Kirbyjon Caldwell - U.M. Pastor and Community Leader in Houston, Texas, gave the benediction at George W. Bush's first inauguration
• John Wesley Hardt - a bishop of the United Methodist Church
• Robert E. Hayes Jr - a bishop of the United Methodist Church (M.Th. degree, 1972)
• Rev. Dr. Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr., Pastor Emeritus, St. Luke Community UMC, Dallas, TX
• Hiram "Doc" Jones - Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Air Force
• Scott J. Jones - a Bishop of the United Methodist Church and former McCreless Associate Professor of Evangelism and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Evangelism, Perkins School of Theology (earned M.Th. and Ph.D. degrees)
• William Clyde Martin - elected bishop to the Methodist Church, 1938
• Cecil Williams - pastor of Glide Memorial Church (United Methodist) in San Francisco, California

Athletics

For more information on SMU Athletics, see the

Main article: SMU Mustangs

Football

• Jerry Ball - professional football player; three-time pro-bowler
• Lloyd Baxter - professional football player
• Raymond Berry - Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver
• Chris Bordano - professional football player
• Maury Bray - professional football player
• John Burleson - professional football player
• Michael Carter - professional football player and Olympic silver medalist
• Russell Carter - professional football player
• Putt Choate - professional football player
• Eric Dickerson - Pro Football Hall of Fame running back
• Joe Ethridge - professional football player
• Bill Forester - professional football player; elected to Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
• Eddie Garcia - professional football player
• Forrest Gregg - former NFL coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame guard
• Glynn Gregory - professional football player
• Dale Hellestrae - professional football player; Played for 3 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl teams
• Margus Hunt (class of 2013) – Cincinnati Bengals defensive end; former world junior champion in the discus and shot put, representing his homeland of Estonia
• Charlie Jackson - football player
• Craig James - football player; former commentator
• Don King - professional football player
• Jerry LeVias - broke color barrier in the Southwest Conference; inducted into Texas Sports and College Football Hall of Fame
• Bryan McCann - professional football player for Dallas Cowboys
• Don Meredith - former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Monday Night Football commentator
• Don Miller - professional football player
• Thomas Morstead - professional football player; kicker for the New Orleans Saints
• Jerry Norton - professional football player; five-time Pro Bowler
• Uzooma Okeke - professional football player
• Taylor Reed - professional football player
• Jerry Rhome - former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and College Football Hall of Fame inductee
• John Roderick - professional football player
• Justin Rogers - All-conference defensive end; professional football player
• Kyle Rote - professional football player; four-time Pro Bowler
• Emmanuel Sanders - professional football player; Denver Broncos
• Ray Schoenke - professional football player and Entrepreneur
• Doak Walker - Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Fame running back
• Val Joe Walker - professional football player
• Gene Wilson - professional football player

Basketball

• Oscar Furlong - inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007
• Rick Herrscher - professional basketball player
• Denny Holman - player in the ABA
• Jon Koncak - professional basketball player
• Jim Krebs - professional basketball player
• Quinton Ross - professional basketball player
• Jeryl Sasser - professional basketball player

Baseball

• Rick Herrscher - New York Mets
• Jack Knott - pitcher, Chicago White Sox

Golf

• Colt Knost - professional golfer; 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links champion
• Payne Stewart - professional golfer (deceased); won 11 times on the PGA Tour, including 3 major tournaments: the U.S. Open (twice) and the PGA Championship; member of World Golf Hall of Fame; five-time member of the U.S. Ryder Cup Team

Soccer

• Kenny Cooper - professional soccer player, American international five-time
• Byron Foss - professional soccer player, Colorado Rapids MLS Football
• Luchi Gonzalez - professional soccer player, Hermann Trophy winner
• Daniel Hernández - Professional soccer player
• Ramón Núñez - professional soccer player, Honduran international
• Chase Wileman - professional soccer player

Other athletics

• Jack Adkisson - professional wrestler better known as "Fritz Von Erich"
• Kajsa Bergqvist - Olympic high jump bronze medalist for Sweden
• Libor Charfreitag - Olympic hammer thrower for Slovakia
• Corrie Clark - Pan Am silver medalist swimmer
• Jim Duggan - professional wrestler
• Sten Ekberg - Olympic decathlon athlete for Sweden
• Florence Ezeh - hammer thrower for France and Togo
• Lars Frölander - Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Jerry Heidenreich - Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Nastia Liukin - world gymnastics champion; Olympic gold medalist
• Steve Lundquist - Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Martina Moravcová - Olympic silver medalist swimmer
• Ricardo Prado - Olympic silver medalist swimmer for Brazil
• Mike Richardson - Professional football player
• Robert Richardson - Race car driver
• Richard Saeger - Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Teri Steer - Olympic shot putter
• Jason Tunks - Olympic discus thrower for Canada

Military

• Fred E. Ellis - Air National Guard Major General
• Jack Miller - World War II Marine Officer; namesake of the USS Jack Miller

SMU faculty

• Ravi Batra - best-selling economist; awarded medal of the Italian Senate by Italian Prime Minister for predicting the downfall of Soviet communism
• Lewis Binford - Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
• John D. Buynak - developed compounds to help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• Frederick R. Chang - former Director of Research at the National Security Agency
• Jesse Lee Cuninggim - Methodist clergyman; served as Head of the Department of Religious Education at SMU; received honorary degree from SMU
• Bill Dillon - Associate Dean, Cox School of Business
• Delores M. Etter - Fellow, National Academy of Engineering; former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition
• Craig Flournoy - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
• Rick Halperin - Chair, Amnesty International USA
• Eugene Herrin - co-developed a seismic system that detects underground nuclear detonations worldwide
• William Andrew Irwin - scholar of the Old Testament
• Choon Sae Lee - developed a new form of antenna
• Laurence Perrine - author of Sound and Sense
• Larry Shampine - his work was recognized by New Media Magazine as "one of the nine best digital projects on the planet"
• Brian Stump - co-developed a seismic system that detects underground nuclear detonations worldwide
• David J. Weber - Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fred Wendorf - Fellow, National Academy of Sciences

Chairpersons of the Board of Trustees

The board of governors served as an executive committee of the 75-member board of trustees. Because of the group's size, most of the real governing was done by the 21-member Board of Governors. In the aftermath of the 1987 Football 'Death penalty' against SMU, the board of governors was eliminated and replaced with a smaller and more efficient board of trustees. The changes were also designed to increase the independence and authority of the university president. The new structure called for a Board of Trustees of 40 members and meeting four times a year instead of twice.

Chairpersons of the Board of Trustees

Name	Years
Carl Sewell	2006–present
Gerald J. Ford	2002–2006
Ruth S. Altshuler	2000–2002
William R. Howell	1996–2000
Robert Dedman Sr.	1992–1996
Ray Lee Hunt	1987–1992
Edwin L. Cox, Sr.	1967–1987

Chairpersons of the Board of Governors

Name	Years
William L. Hutchison	1986–1987
Bill Clements	1983–1986
Bill Clements	1967–1973
Eugene McElvaney	1952–1956

Honorary degree recipients

• George H. W. Bush (Doctor of Humane Letters, 1992) - 41st President of the United States
• Bill Cosby (Doctor of Arts, 1995) - actor, comic, entertainer
• Gerald R. Ford (Doctor of Laws, 1975) - 38th President of the United States
• Juan Carlos I (Doctor of Arts, 2001) - King of Spain
• Jack Kilby (Doctor of Science) - Nobel Prize winner; inventor of the integrated circuit
• Bob Hope (Doctor of Humane Letters, 1967) - actor
• H. Ross Perot (Doctor of Humane Letters, 1991) - billionaire and former presidential candidate
• William McFerrin Stowe (Doctor of Laws, 1965) - Bishop of the Methodist Church

Other SMU affiliates (non-alumni)

• U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was a diplomat-in-residence at SMU's John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in March 1996. Later that year, Cheney was named to the SMU Board of Trustees, resigning in August 2000 when he became the Republican candidate for U.S. Vice President.
• General Colin Powell in 1997 received the first Medal of Freedom Award given by SMU's John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
• Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher in 1999 received the second Medal of Freedom Award, presented to her by Colin Powell, the recipient of the first medal.
• Senator and candidate for the Republican nomination for US President John McCain received the Tower Center's Medal of Freedom Award in 2005.
• Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair received the Medal of Freedom Award in 2008.

SMU presidents

Name	Years
Robert Stewart Hyer	1911–1920
Hiram Abiff Boaz	1920–1922
Charles Claude Selecman	1923–1938
Umphrey Lee	1939–1954
Willis M. Tate	1954–1972
Paul Hardin	1972–1974
James Zumberge	1975–1980
L. Donald Shields	1980–1986
A. Kenneth Pye	1987–1994
R. Gerald Turner	1995–present

References

Jeff Gordon and Andrew Gautreaux=Texas Energy Companies