Kay G. Roberts (1950- ). Symphony director, violinist, educator. Class of 1972. First women to earn the Doctorate of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting from Yale University. Guest conductor for the Boston, Cleveland, and Dallas symphonies and...
Leatrice B. McKissack (1930- ). Entrepreneur, businessperson. Class of 1951. Past CEO of McKissack and McKissack Architectural and Engineering, Inc., builder of Fisk's Carnegie Library (1909) and Tuskegee's famous World War II airbase. Member of...
David L. Lewis (1936- ). Historian, author. Class of 1956. Works include King: A Critical Biography (1971), Prisoner of Honor: the Dreyfus Affair (1973), When Harlem was in Vogue (1987), W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 (1993) and...
Julius Lester (1939- ). Author. Class of 1960. Gained success as a children's author in 1969 with the publication of To Be a Slave, a Newbery Honor Book, and Black Folktales. Subsequent works continued to show his interest in African-American...
Charles H. Wesley (1891-1987). Teacher, historian, administrator. Class of 1911. Won distinction as an administrator and historian at Howard University, as president of Wilberforce University and as a founder and president of Central State...
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963). Scholar, sociologist, poet, novelist, essayist. Class of 1888. Founder and editor of Crisis and Phylon. Authored the American classic, The Souls of Black Folk (1903).
John W. Work III (1901-1967). Educator, composer. Class of 1923. Served the University for forty years as director of the Jubilee Singers, professor of music and conductor of the Men's Glee Club. His father and uncle wrote the Fisk University Alma...
John H. Franklin (1915- ). Historian, educator, author. Class of 1935. Works include From Slavery to Freedom (1947), Racial Equality in America (1976) and Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin (2005). Awarded the...
William L. Dawson (1886-1970). Congressman. Class of 1909. Won a seat in the U. S. 78th Congress, representing the First Congressional District of Illinois.
St. Elmo Brady (1884-1961). Educator, chemist. Class of 1908. First African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1916. Developed the chemistry departments at Fisk, Tuskegee, Howard and Tougaloo.
