, Virginia Military Institute alumni include two previous Governors of Virginia, the current Secretary of the Army, a Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, two Lieutenant Governors of Virginia, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Pulitzer Prize winners, 13 Rhodes Scholars, Medal of Honor recipients, an Academy Award winner, an Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner, a martyr recognized by the Episcopal Church, Senators and Representatives, Governors, Lieutenant Governors, a Supreme Court Justice, numerous college and university presidents, many business leaders (presidents and CEOs) and over 285 general and flag officers, including service chiefs for three of the four armed services.

Two recent Chiefs of Engineers of the Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant Generals Carl A. Strock and Robert B. Flowers, as well as Acting Chief of Engineers Major General "Bo" Temple, were VMI Civil Engineering graduates.

VMI alumni include:

Military Name Year Notes Edward M. Almond 1915 Commander of U.S. Army X Corps during Korean War Fletcher C. Booker Jr. 1941 Pennsylvania National Guard major general. Commander of U.S. Army's 28th Infantry Division Paul W. Brier 1981 U.S. Marine Corps major general. Commanding General, 4th Marine Division; Commander, U.S. Marine Forces Africa and Europe; Deputy Commander, NATO Resolute Support Mission. William A. Brown 1980 U.S. Navy vice admiral, Deputy Commander, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) Withers Burress 1914 Professor of Military Science and Tactics at VMI; Commanding General, U.S. Army 100th Infantry Division Richard E. Byrd 1908 U.S. Navy rear admiral, polar explorer, Medal of Honor recipient (1926) Dan Caine 1990 U.S. Air Force general, venture capitalist; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Harold Coyle 1974 U.S. Army major; novelist Samuel C. Cumming 1917 Decorated USMC Major General during World War IIEdward Edmonds 1858Confederate Colonel of the 38th Virginia Infantry, killed-in-action during Pickett's Charge Robert B. Flowers 1969 Lieutenant general and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lee S. Gerow 1913 Brigadier General, U.S. Army; Assistant Commanding General of the 85th Infantry Division. A younger brother of General Leonard T. Gerow. Leonard T. Gerow 1911 General, U.S. Army; Commanding General, V Corps (1943–45) and U.S. Fifteenth Army (1945–48). Highly regarded by Eisenhower & Bradley. Led at Omaha Beach and Battle of the Bulge. William H. Gill 1907 Major General, U.S. Army; Commanding General of the 32nd Infantry Division. President of Colorado College 1949-1955. James B. Hickey 1982 Colonel and commander Operation Red Dawn, which captured Saddam Hussein Thomas Goode Jones 1863 Withdrew before graduation to join Confederate Army; wounded in battle four times; Governor of Alabama. John P. Jumper 1966 Retired general and Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force Charles E. Kilbourne 1894 Recipient of Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross; lieutenant general, U.S. Army James H. Lane 1854 Confederate brigadier general, fought in Pickett's Charge, civil engineering professor, and founder of Virginia Tech W. Patrick Lang 1962 Retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer, intelligence executive, commentator on Middle East, and author Cary D. Langhorne 1894 Medal of Honor recipient Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. 1914 Florida National Guard general and insurance executive. Veteran of World Wars I and II, received Distinguished Service Medal and Bronze Star. George C. Marshall 1901 General of the Army, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army in World War II, Secretary of State (1947–49), Secretary of Defense (1950), and Nobel Peace Prize winner Richard Marshall 1915 General during World War II Frank McCarthy 1933 Brigadier general, U.S. Army Reserve. Producer of the 1970 Academy Award-winning movie Patton. Ryan D. McCarthy1997Captain, U.S. Army, Secretary of the Army John McCausland 1857 Confederate brigadier-general, served under General Jubal Early Darren W. McDew 1982 General, U.S. Air Force, Commander, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). 1st African-American Regimental Commander of Corps of Cadets. Shannon Meehan 2005 U.S. Army Captain, Bronze Star Medal recipient, author and veterans activist Thomas T. Munford 1854 Confederate brigadier-general Randolph McCall Pate 1921 U.S. Marine Corps general and twenty-first Commandant of the Marine Corps George S. Patton Sr. 1852 Confederate colonel, 22nd Virginia Infantry; died in Battle of Opequon. Namesake son graduated from and grandson attended VMI. George S. Patton 1907 U.S. Army general. Namesake grandfather and father were both VMI graduates. Attended from 1903 to 1904 as a member of the Class of 1907 before leaving to attend the United States Military Academy. Richard H. Pearce 1953 U.S. Army Major, Bronze Star Medal recipient, Highest-ranking U.S. military officer to defect during the Cold War era Pearce was granted asylum in Cuba. J. H. Binford Peay III 1962 U.S. Army general, commander 101st Airborne, commander United States Central Command, and 14th superintendent of VMI Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller 1922 Resigned from VMI after freshman year to enlist as a private in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1918; became lieutenant general and most decorated Marine in U.S. history Thomas F. Riley 1935 Brigadier general in the Marine Corps, served as Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Following his retirement, he served as Orange County Supervisor 1974–1994. Robert E. Rodes 1848 Railroad civil engineer and Confederate major general killed at the Battle of Opequon in the Shenandoah Valley Edward R. Schowalter Jr. 1951 Medal of Honor recipient; colonel, U.S. Army George R. E. Shell 1931 Ninth Superintendent of VMI; Brigadier general, U.S. Marine Corps Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr. 1917 U.S. Marine Corps general and 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps Scott Shipp 1856 Superintendent of VMI (1890–1907). Led VMI cadets at New Market under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge. Adolphus Staton 1899 Medal of Honor recipient Carl A. Strock 1970 U.S. Army lieutenant general and commander, Army Corps of Engineers Clarence E. Sutton 1890 Medal of Honor recipient, resigned in 1888, did not graduate Sun Li-jen 1927 Republic of China/Taiwan lieutenant general, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War Surapong Suwan-ath 1979 Royal Thai Army General, Chief of Defence Forces, 2016-2017 Walter H. Taylor 1857 Confederate lieutenant colonel, General Robert E. Lee's aide-de-camp, lawyer, banker, author, railroad executive, Virginia state senator William P. Upshur 1902 Medal of Honor recipient; Marine Corps major general; Commander, Dept. of the Pacific, 1940–42 James A. Walker 1852 Expelled in 1852 for "disobedience" in Stonewall Jackson's classroom, after challenging Jackson to a duel over a perceived insult. VMI granted him an honorary degree in 1872 in recognition of his Civil War service, where he rose to the rank of brigadier general and commanded the "Stonewall Brigade". Reuben Lindsay Walker 1845 Confederate brigadier general and artilleryman.

Government and politics Name Year Notes Mike Waltz 1996 32nd United States ambassador to the United Nations, 29th United States National Security Advisor, former U.S. Representative for Florida's 6th congressional district Mitchell Werbell III Unknown Mercenary Harry F. Byrd Jr. 1935 U.S. Senator from Virginia (1965–83) Tom C. Clark 1921 Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1949–67), United States Attorney General (1945–49) Charles Allen Culberson 1874 U.S. Senator; Governor of Texas James U. Downs 1963 Senior resident superior court judge in western North Carolina, 1983–2013; lawyer in Hickory and Franklin, North Carolina Richard Thomas Walker Duke 1844 Confederate Colonel; Member of U.S. House of Representatives and Virginia House of Delegates Grenville Gaines 1874 mayor of Warrenton, Virginia; lawyer and banker Elmon T. Gray 1946 Virginia State Senator George W. Hardy Jr. 1920 Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana (1932–34); state circuit court of appeal judge (1943–67) William Mahone 1847 Confederate major general, Member of Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. Senator (1881–87), and railroad executive Marshall McDonald 1860 U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries (1888–95) Ralph Northam 1981 U.S. Army Medical Corps major, Virginia State Senator, 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and 73rd Governor of Virginia Lewis F. Payne Jr. 1967 Member of Congress from Virginia Robert Reid 1875 Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court Henry G. Shirley 1896 Commissioner, Virginia Department of Highways Joseph Short 1925 White House Press Secretary under Harry S. Truman C. Bascom Slemp 1891 Representative for the Ninth Congressional District of Virginia; philanthropist Ernest O. Thompson 1910 General, Texas National Guard; Texas Railroad Commissioner, mayor of Amarillo, petroleum expertSteven J. McAuliffe1970Senior Judge of the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire, husband of the late Christa McAuliffe who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Arts and entertainment Name Year NotesMel BrooksDid not graduateDuring World War II, the U.S. Army used VMI to give technical education and training to soldiers who did not matriculate as cadets nor live within the VMI cadet system. Before becoming a filmmaker, he trained at VMI for 12 weeks. Dabney Coleman Did not graduate Movie and television actor, attended VMI for only two years John D. Ewing 1913 Publisher of Shreveport Times, 1931–52 Moses Jacob Ezekiel 1866 Sculptor John Cherry Monks Jr. 1932 Playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, producer and World War II U.S. Marine Fred Willard 1955 Comedic actor; U.S. Army officer

Sports Name Year Notes Ron Carter 1978 former NBA shooting guard Joe Fortunato 1954 former NFL linebacker Ryan Glynn 1995 Professional baseball player in Japan Sam Horner 1959 former NFL defensive back Pete Johnson 1958 former NFL running back Dan Lyle 1992 Captain of the USA Eagles national rugby team Joe Muha 1942 former NFL fullback Bosh Pritchard 1941 former NFL running back Ray Reutt 1942 former NFL end George Robison 1951 former NFL offensive guard Bobby Ross 1959 Football coach of West Point, The Citadel, University of Maryland, Georgia Tech, San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions George Stallings 1886 Major League Baseball player and manager Mark Stock 1988 former NFL wide receiver Bobby Thomason 1949 NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Reggie Williams 2008 Led NCAA Division 1 scoring in 2006 and 2007, playing for the Miami Heat in the NBA Mike Wooten 1986 former NFL center Josh Winder 2018 MLB pitcher

Others Name Year Notes James E. Brown III 1976 Fellow and past president of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and Fellow of Royal Aeronautical Society Josiah Bunting III 1963 Superintendent of VMI, 1995–2002; Rhodes Scholar; author Jonathan Myrick Daniels 1961 American civil rights activist and one of fifteen modern-day Anglican Church martyrs Benjamin Franklin Ficklin 1849 A founder of the Pony Express Robert Q. Marston 1944 President of University of Florida, Director of National Institutes of Health, Rhodes Scholar Giles H. Miller 1924 Banker, President of VMI Alumni Association, Director of The George C. Marshall Foundation George S. Patton (attorney) 1877 California attorney and real estate developer. Namesake father also graduated from VMI and namesake son also attended VMI. Jonathan Edwards Woodbridge 1865 Shipbuilder and naval architectRichard Harwood Pearce1953Defected to Cuba in 1967.

References