FAMOUS OMEGA MEN

THE ARTS

William "Count" Basie - Internationally known pianist, composer, arranger, and band leader.

Langston Hughes - The Black Poet Laureate, excelled as a poet, playwright, novelist, lyricist, and humorist.

Sterling Brown - Teacher, poet, writer, Professor Emeritus of Literature at Howard University, has a special foundation for folk culture and jazz music.

Carl Rowan - Syndicated columnist.

Joe Torry- Comedian

William H. "Bill" Cosby - Comedian, author, actor, producer.

Roland Hayes - Internationally known tenor of the 1920s. Hayes sang in five different languages.

SCIENCE

Ernest E. Just - Internationally known biologist and professor at Howard University.

Charles R. Drew - Perfected the use of blood plasma. Professor of Surgery at Howard University.

Ronald McNair - Astronaut, graduate of MIT, Ph.D in Physics.

Percy L. Julian - Discovered the use of foam to extinguish fires and discovered a method of producing cortisone synthetically.

Fred Gregory - Astronaut, graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.

Charles Bolden - Astronaut, graduate of the United States Naval Academy..

ATHLETICS

Michael Jordan - Outstanding basketball player with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA.

De Hart Hubbart - A University of Michigan sprinter; was the first Black person to represent the United States in the Olympic Games (1924).

Ed "Too Tall" Jones - Outstanding player with the Dallas Cowboys football team.

Joe Black - An all-time great Brooklyn Dodger baseball pitcher. In 1952, he had the lowest earned-run average in the Major Leagues.

Charlie Ward - Heisman Trophy winner and NY Knicks guard.

Hank Aaron - Home-run King who broke Babe Ruth's record.

William Floyd - Big man on the San Francisco 49ers football team.

Mark Duper - Another fantastic Miami Dolphins player.

Keith Jackson - Outstanding football player with the Miami Dolphins. 
John Salley - Outstanding basketball player with the Detroit Pistons.

Leroy Walker - A U.S. Olympic coach (sprinters) for many years

Cedric Maxwell - Outstanding professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics and other teams.
Jerry Ball - Player with the Oakland Raiders.

Shaquille O'Neal - Star center with the Phoenix Suns.

Charlie Ward - Heisman Trophy winner and former NY Knicks guard

James Hasty - Outstanding player with the Kansas City Chiefs. 

BUSINESS AND COMMERCE

Jesse Hill - President of Atlanta Life Insurance Company.

William J. Kennedy III - President of North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company.

Gilliard S. Glover - President of Afro-American Life Insurance Company.

Earl Grave - Publisher of Black Enterprise magazine.

Therman McKenzie - Co-owner of M&M Products.

Otis M. Smith - General Counsel, General Motors Corporation.

Nathaniel Bronner - Co-owner of Bronner Brothers Beauty Supplies.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Rev. Jesse Jackson - Former Director of Operation PUSH; Founder, Rainbow Coalition.

Grant Reynolds - Played a major role in President Truman's 1948 decision to desegregate the United States Armed Forces.

James Nabrit - Former Dean of Howard University Law School and former president of Howard University. A leader in the training of the early Civil Rights lawyers.

Wiley Branton - Attorney of the "Little Rock Nine" and former Dean of Howard University School of Law.

Roy Wilkins - Long-time Executive Director of the NAACP.

Benjamin Hooks - Succeeded Roy Wilkins as Executive Director of the NAACP, the most effective of all civil rights organizations.

Vernon Jordan - Former Executive Director of the National Urban League.

EDUCATION

Dr. Ernest E. Just - Professor of Biology at Howard University, and 1st honorary member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson - The earliest and most outspoken proponent for the study of Black History.

Benjamin E. Mays - President Emeritus of Morehouse College, writer and lecturer.

Herman Dreer - Teacher, minister, writer, and author of The History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., 1911-1961.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

William Hastie - First Governor of the Virgin Islands.

George L. P. Weaver - Former U.S. Secretary of Labor.

Robert C. Weaver - Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Clifford Alexander - Secretary, Department of the Army.

Jesse Jackson - Candidate for United States Presidency in 1984 and 1988.

Lawrence Douglas Wilder - Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.