List of Mercer University people

Nancy Grace was the host of Nancy Grace on HLN. She earned her undergraduate degree from Mercer in 1981 and graduated from Mercer's Walter F. George School of Law in 1984.

• Tom Abbott – broadcaster with Golf Channel and NBC Sports
• Gregg Allman – musician, received an honorary degree in 2016
• Steve Berry – author of six novels including several New York Times bestsellers
• Thomas P. Bishop – senior vice president, compliance officer and general counsel, Georgia Power, the largest electric utility in Georgia[1]
• John B. Black – president, East Georgia College
• J. Buford Boone – Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1957); recognized for editorials against segregation
• David Bottoms – Georgia Poet Laureate, 2000–2012
• William H. Bruce – Mercer's first doctoral graduate (1890); president, Tarleton State University, 1899–1900; president, University of North Texas, 1906–1923[2]
• James C. Coomer – political scientist and author
• John M. Couric – former UPI editor, PR executive with the National Association of Broadcasters; father of broadcast journalist Katie Couric
• Harry Stillwell Edwards – former editor, Macon Telegraph; author of 19 books, including the Southern classic Eneas Africanus
• Erick Erickson – political contributor for John King, USA on CNN
• Barbara (Willis) Gauthier – news anchor for WTVM in Columbus[3]
• Nancy Grace – legal commentator and guest host for Larry King Live; hosted her own show, Nancy Grace on CNN
• Keitaro Harada – opera and orchestra conductor
• Rufus Carrollton Harris – president, Tulane University, 1939–1960; president, Mercer University, 1960–1979, co-author of the GI Bill
• John Hogan – founding president, Radio and Television News Directors Association, the world's largest organization devoted to broadcast journalism
• Y. Lynn Holmes – president, Brewton-Parker College, 1983–1997
• Budge Huskey – president and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
• Malcolm Johnson – Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1949); his reports were the basis for On the Waterfront, which starred Marlon Brando
• Anne B. Kerr – president, Florida Southern College
• William Heard Kilpatrick – career educator; first president of the Bennington College board of trustees, 1931–1938
• Landrum P. Leavell – president, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1975–1995
• Dr. Henry Lewis III – president, Florida Memorial University
• Dr. Andrew Light – university professor, George Mason University, and Senior Adviser on Climate Change, U.S. Department of State; author and editor of 17 books on the intersection of the scientific and moral dimensions of environmental and technology policy

Erick Erickson is a political contributor for John King, USA on CNN. He earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer in 1997 and graduated from Mercer's Walter F. George School of Law in 2000.

• Reg Murphy – former president and vice chairman, National Geographic Society; publisher, Baltimore Sun; editor and publisher, San Francisco Examiner; editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; author of Uncommon Sense: The Achievement of Griffin Bell
• William F. Ogburn – sociologist; former president of the American Sociological Society[4]
• George P. Oslin – former Western Union executive; invented the singing telegram in 1933
• Lyman Ray Patterson – law professor and copyright scholar; former dean, Emory University School of Law
• James Rachels – moral philosopher, university professor, and author; best known for his writing on euthanasia
• Ed Roberts – designed the first commercially successful personal computer in 1975; known as "the father of the personal computer"[5]
• Ferrol Sams – widely read Southern author, known for Run with the Horsemen and Whisper of the River
• Robert A. Saurberg, Jr. – president, Condé Nast
• Neil Skene – president and publisher, Congressional Quarterly, 1990–1997
• Eugene W. Stetson – banker and railway executive; organized the sale of Coca-Cola by Asa Griggs Candler to Ernest Woodruff in 1919; namesake of Mercer's Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics[6][7]
• Steve Stoler – news reporter for WFAA in Dallas, Texas; noted for his coverage of the Branch Davidian Waco Siege in Waco, Texas
• Jack Tarver – publisher, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1958–1976; chairman, Associated Press, 1977–1983, namesake of the Jack Tarver Library on the Macon campus
• Corbett H. Thigpen – psychiatrist; co-author of The Three Faces of Eve
• Ellis Paul Torrance – educator known for pioneering research in creativity; namesake of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development
• Phil Walden – music pioneer and founder of Capricorn Records; represented Otis Redding and The Allman Brothers
• Martin Christopher White – president, Chowan University, 2003–present; former president, Gardner–Webb University, 1986–2002
• Jerry Wilson – former Senior Vice President and Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, the Coca-Cola Company

Griffin B. Bell served as the Attorney General of the United States from 1977–1979. He graduated from Mercer's Walter F. George School of Law in 1948.

For further alumni, see also: Walter F. George School of Law.

• A. Harris Adams – Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals[8]
• Griffin B. Bell – Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1962–1976; 72nd Attorney General of the United States, 1977–1979[9][10]
• John S. Bell – Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1960–1979; Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1969–1979[11]
• Reason C. Bell – Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1943–1946; Associate Justice, 1932–1943 and 1946–1949; Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1922–1932[12]
• William Augustus Bootle – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1954–2005; ordered the first admission of an African-American to the University of Georgia in 1961[9]

G. Harrold Carswell served as a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1969–1970. He was an unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court in 1970. He graduated from Mercer's Walter F. George School of Law in 1948.

• G. Harrold Carswell – Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida, 1958–1969; Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1969–1970; unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court, 1970[9]
• Barry Cohen (attorney) – criminal defense attorney, 1966–2018[13]
• Linton McGee Collins – Judge, United States Court of Claims, 1964–1972[14]
• Brainerd Currie – law professor; noted conflict of laws scholar who developed the characterisation concept of governmental interest analysis[15]
• Thomas Hoyt Davis – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1945–1969[9]
• Sara L. Doyle – Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals[16]
• Beverly Daniel Evans, Jr. – Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1904–1917; Federal District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, 1917–1922[9]
• Albert John Henderson – Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1979–1999; Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1968–1979[9]
• Archibald Battle Lovett – Judge, Federal District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, 1941–1945[17]
• Scott D. Makar – Florida Solicitor General[18]
• M. Yvette Miller – Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; the first African-American woman to serve on the court[19]
• Carlton Mobley – Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1972–1974; Associate Justice, 1954–1972; United States Representative, Georgia's 6th Congressional district, 1932–1933[20][21]
• Michael J. Moore – United States Attorney, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• Willie Louis Sands – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia; the first African-American to serve on the court[9]
• Jay Sekulow – chief counsel, American Center for Law and Justice[22]
• Evett Simmons – former president, National Bar Association[23]
• Hugh Thompson – Georgia Supreme Court Justice[24]
• Marc T. Treadwell – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• L. Lin Wood – attorney and conspiracy theorist on President Donald Trump's legal team tasked with overturning the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election

• Four Mercerians have served as United States Senators, all from Georgia.
• Walter F. George – United States Senator from Georgia, 1922–1957, served as President pro tempore, 1955–1957; namesake of Mercer's Law School[25][26]
• Thomas W. Hardwick – United States Senator from Georgia, 1915–1919; Governor of Georgia, 1921–1923; as Governor, appointed Rebecca L. Felton as the first female United States Senator[27][28]
• Thomas E. Watson – United States Representative, Georgia's 10th Congressional district, 1891–1893; United States Senator from Georgia, 1921–1922[29]
• William S. West – United States Senator from Georgia, 1914–1914[30]

• Eleven Mercerians have served as Governors: six of Georgia, two of Alabama, and one each of New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Texas.
• Ellis Arnall – Governor of Georgia, 1943–1947[31]
• Allen D. Candler – Governor of Georgia, 1898–1902; United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1883–1891; namesake of Candler County, Georgia[32][33]
• Nathan Deal – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1993–2010; served as Governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019[34]
• Thomas W. Hardwick – United States Senator from Georgia, 1915–1919; Governor of Georgia, 1921–1923; as Governor, appointed Rebecca L. Felton as the first female United States Senator[35][36]
• Richard B. Hubbard – Governor of Texas, 1876–1879; US Ambassador to Japan, 1885–1889[37]
• William D. Jelks – Governor of Alabama, 1901–1907[38]
• Henry Dickerson McDaniel – Governor of Georgia, 1883–1886[39]
• William J. Northen – Governor of Georgia, 1890–1894; president, Southern Baptist Convention, 1899–1901; served as a Mercer trustee for 44 years, 1869–1913[40]
• Chauncey Sparks – Governor of Alabama, 1943–1947[41]
• Meldrim Thomson, Jr. – Governor of New Hampshire, 1973–1979[42]
• Blanton Winship – Governor of Puerto Rico (1934–1939)

• Twenty-one Mercerians have served as United States Representatives; the most recent (as of 2021) was Scott Rigell of Virginia. Seventeen were from Georgia, three from Florida, and one from Virginia.
• Doug Barnard – United States Representative, Georgia's 10th Congressional district, 1977–1993[43]
• Allen D. Candler – Governor of Georgia, 1898–1902; United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1883–1891; namesake of Candler County, Georgia[44][45]
• Edward E. Cox – United States Representative, Georgia's 2nd Congressional district, 1925–1952[46]
• Nathan Deal – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1993–2010; served as Governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019[47]
• Martin J. Crawford – United States Representative, Georgia's 2nd Congressional district, 1855–1861; Representative to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861–1862; Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia, 1880–1883[48]
• Robert W. Everett – United States Representative, Georgia's 7th Congressional district, 1891–1893[49]
• Phillip M. Landrum – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1953–1977[50]
• Thomas G. Lawson – United States Representative, Georgia's 8th Congressional district, 1891–1897[51]
• Rufus E. Lester – United States Representative, Georgia's 1st Congressional district, 1889–1906[52]
• Charles L. Moses – United States Representative, Georgia's 4th Congressional district, 1891–1897[53]
• James W. Overstreet – United States Representative, Georgia's 1st Congressional district, 1906–1907 and 1917–1923[54]
• Homer C. Parker – United States Representative, Georgia's 1st Congressional district, 1931–1935[55]
• Scott Rigell – United States Representative, Virginia's 2nd Congressional district, 2011–2017[56]
• Seaborn Roddenbery – United States Representative, Georgia's 2nd Congressional district, 1910–1913[57]
• Dwight L. Rogers – United States Representative, Florida's 6th Congressional district, 1945–1954[58]
• William J. Sears – United States Representative, Florida's 4th Congressional district, 1915–1929; United States Representative, an at-large Florida district, 1933–1937[59]
• Malcolm C. Tarver – United States Representative, Georgia's 7th Congressional district, 1927–1947[60]
• Carl Vinson – United States Representative for over 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[61]
• Thomas E. Watson – United States Representative, Georgia's 10th Congressional district, 1891–1893; United States Senator from Georgia, 1921–1922[62]
• J. Mark Wilcox – United States Representative, Florida's 4th Congressional district, 1933–1939[63]
• John S. Wood – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1931–1935 and 1945–1953; Chairman, House Un-American Activities Committee, 1949–1953[64]

• Brad Bryant – Superintendent of the Georgia public schools, one of Georgia's eight statewide executive officials, 2010–2011[65]
• Cathy Cox – Georgia Secretary of State, 1999–2007; first woman elected to this position[66]
• Walter C. Dowling – United States Ambassador to South Korea, 1956–1959; United States Ambassador to Germany, 1959–1963[67]
• Winfred Dukes – Georgia State Representative[68]
• John Oxendine – Georgia Insurance Commissioner, 1995–2011[66]
• John Peyton – Mayor, Jacksonville, Florida, the most populous city in Florida and the thirteenth most populous in the United States, 2003–2011[66]
• Charles "Jack" Pritchard – United States Ambassador and Special Envoy for Negotiations to North Korea, 2001–2003[69]
• Sandra L. Thurman – 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[70][71]
• William Usery Jr. – United States Secretary of Labor, 1976–1977[72][73]
• Julian Webb – Member of the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1974 and the Georgia Court of Appeals from 1974 to 1979.[74]
• Samuel J. Welsch – Member of the Georgia House of Representatives, the Georgia State Senate, and mayor of Marietta, Georgia.[75]

Benjamin S. Griffin served as a United States Army four-star general and was the Commanding General of United States Army Materiel Command from 2004–2008. He earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Mercer in 1981.

• Ross W. Crossley, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, V Corps Artillery, 1983–85; Chief of Staff, V Corps, 1985–88[66]
• Benjamin S. Griffin, General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, 2004–08[66]
• Richard E. Hawes, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy – commanded several vessels during World War II; recipient of the Navy Cross; namesake of the USS Hawes[66]
• Alexander T. Hawthorn, Brigadier-General, C.S. Army – Commander, Hawthorn's Brigade, Churchill's Division, Trans-Mississippi Department, 1863–65[76]
• Michael L. Howard, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Deputy Commanding General, 10th Mountain Division, 2013–present; Commander, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, the only airborne brigade in the Pacific Theater, 2008–10[66]
• Claude M. Kicklighter, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, United States Army, Pacific, 1989–91; after military retirement, served in senior civilian positions in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs; Assistant Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, 2001–05; Inspector General, Department of Defense, 2007–08[66]
• C. Stewart Rodeheaver, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Deputy Commanding General, First United States Army, 2006–09[66]
• William T. Thielemann, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Commander, 48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), Georgia Army National Guard, 1995–97[66]
• George J. Walker, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army Forces Command, 1987–89; member, Military Intelligence Hall of Fame[66]

Blanton Winship served as the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army from 1931–1933 and as the Governor of Puerto Rico from 1934–1939. He earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer in 1889.

• Perry L. Wiggins, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, Fifth United States Army, 2013–present; Commander, 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley, 2008–09
• Blanton Winship, Major General, U.S. Army – The Judge Advocate General (TJAG), 1931–33; Governor of Puerto Rico, 1934–39

• Kevin Greenaugh – nuclear engineer, the first African-American to receive a PhD from the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park[77]
• Godwin Maduka – MD and founder of Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Center

• Ed Bacon (Episcopal priest) – rector emeritus of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California
• John Birch – missionary and spy in China during World War II; namesake of the John Birch Society[78]
• Betty Cantrell – Miss America 2016[79]
• Charles Kelsey Dozier – missionary and founder of Seinan Gakuin University in Japan[80]
• J. Truett Gannon – influential Baptist minister; chairman, Truett-McConnell College Board of Trustees, 1985–1987; chairman, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, 1987–1990; president, Georgia Baptist Convention, 1990–1992[81]
• Jenna Jackson (CLA 2011), Miss University of Georgia 2013
• Skylar Mack - student imprisoned in the Cayman Islands for Covid-19 quarantine breach
• Louie D. Newton – influential Baptist minister; president, Southern Baptist Convention, 1947–1948; president, Georgia Baptist Convention, 1950–1951; pastor of Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta for more than 40 years; namesake of Mercer's Newton Hall, a large chapel on the Macon campus[82]
• Lamar R. Plunkett – past chair, University System of Georgia Board of Regents; past chair, 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[83][84]
• Steadman V. Sanford – former chancellor, University System of Georgia; namesake of Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia[85]

• Rob Belloir – former Major League Baseball infielder for the Atlanta Braves
• William Brennan – former Major League Baseball pitcher
• Cindy Brogdon – former basketball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics[86]
• Billy Burns – Major League Baseball outfielder in the New York Yankees organization
• Wally Butts – head football coach, University of Georgia (1939–1960), athletic director (1939–1963); member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame[87]
• Jimmy Carnes – head track & field coach, Furman University (1962–1964), University of Florida (1965–1976), U.S. Olympic team (1980); founding president of USA Track & Field (1980–1984)[88]
• Andrea Congreaves – women's basketball player in the WNBA and in Europe[66]
• Wesley Duke – former tight end for the Denver Broncos, 2005 AFC West Champions[89]
• Cory Gearrin - Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees
• Big James Henderson – powerlifter who competed in the International Powerlifting Federation and won five world bench press titles (1994–1998)[66]
• Kyle Lewis – Major League Baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners
• Mike Mimbs – former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Sam Mitchell – head coach, Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (2004–2008); selected as the 2007 NBA Coach of the Year[90]
• Joe Pettini – former Major League Baseball infielder and coach
• Bill Yoast – high school football coach made famous in the film Remember the Titans[91]