This is a list of notable current and former faculty members, administrators, alumni, and attendees of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Notable alumni
Academia
University presidents
James S. Buchanan, 4th President of the University of Oklahoma, 1923-1925 Ira Landrith, President of Belmont College (now University), 1904-1912 Laban Lacy Rice, 14th President of Cumberland University, 1941–1946
Professors
John William Burgess, Founder and dean of Columbia University's School of Political Science, 1880-1912 J. P. Carnahan, Professor of mathematics at Cane Hill College George Abram Miller, Mathematics professor at Stanford University and the University of Illinois and early group theorist
Activists
Dan Jack Combs, Advocate for the legalization of marijuana Cody Fowler, Civil rights activist, lawyer Myles Horton, Civil rights activist, educator Josephine Pearson, Anti-suffragist activist Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Community activist
Art, education, literature, and humanities
John William Burgess, Professor of Law and Dean of the Graduate School of Political Science at Columbia University; author of influential works on political science Wendell Mayes, Playwright, screenwriter William O'Steele, Award-winning author Cale Young Rice, Playwright, poet Laban Lacy Rice, Writer
Athletics
Dave Aaron, Head football coach at Austin Peay State College (now University), 1946–1954; Head basketball coach at Austin Peay State College (now University), 1946-1962 George E. Allen, Head football coach of the 1916 Cumberland University team that lost 0–222 to Georgia Tech Marvin O. Bridges, Head football coach at the University of Florida at Lake City, a predecessor institution to the University of Florida A.J. Harmon, Professional football player for the Columbus Lions Rebecca Holloway, Professional soccer player Daniel Jackson, Professional soccer player Maylee Atthin-Johnson, Captain of the Trinidad and Tobago women's national soccer team, 2008 Jack Farmer, Second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1916, and the Cleveland Indians, 1918 Luis Martinez, Catcher for the San Diego Padres, 2011, and Texas Rangers, 2012 Ryan Sullivan, Professional cyclist Walt Wells, Head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University, 2020–present Craig Wight, Professional soccer player and manager Aaron Wilkerson, Pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers, 2017-2019
Business and economics
John Edgerton, President, National Association of Manufacturers, 1921-1931 William H. Hardy, Founder of three Mississippi cities: Gulfport, Hattiesburg, and Laurel Francis Ikome, Founder and president, Cameroonian American Chamber of Commerce (CAMAM) Oscar Goodbar Johnston, President, Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi
Entertainment
Chloe Kohanski, Singer-songwriter Wendell Mayes, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jordan Taylor, Co-creator of Blimey Cow
Government and politics
U.S. Cabinet members
Cordell Hull, Secretary of State under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933–1944
U.S. diplomats
Edward Albright, U. S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Finland, 1933–1937; U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Costa Rica, 1937 Sam P. Gilstrap, Consul in Hong Kong and Macau, 1961; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Malawi, 1964-1965 James D. Porter, United States Minister to Chile, 1893-1894 James D. Tillman, U.S. Minister to Ecuador, 1895-1897
U.S. governors
James V. Allred, 33rd governor of Texas, 1935-1939 William B. Bate, 23rd governor of Tennessee, 1883-1887 James T. Blair Jr., 44th governor of Missouri, 1957-1961 Gordon Weaver Browning, 38th governor of Tennessee, 1937-1939 and 1949-1953 Sidney Johnston Catts, 22nd governor of Florida, 1917-1921 Frank G. Clement, 41st Governor of Tennessee, 1954–1959 and 1963–1967
LeRoy Collins, 33rd governor of Florida, 1955-1961 Jeff Davis, 20th governor of Arkansas, 1901-1907 Edward H. East, Acting governor of Tennessee, 1865 Murphy J. Foster, 31st governor of Louisiana, 1892-1900 John Isaac Guion, 13th governor of Mississippi, 1851 William J. Holloway, 8th governor of Oklahoma, 1929-1931 James B. McCreary, 27th and 37th governor of Kentucky, 1875-1879 and 1911-1915 James D. Porter, 20th governor of Tennessee, 1875-1879 Park Trammell, 21st governor of Florida, 1913-1917
U.S. lieutenant governors
Hugh C. Anderson, Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, 1915 James T. Blair Jr., 35th lieutenant governor of Missouri, 1949-1957 Sam Lumpkin, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, 1948-1952 Milton H. Mabry, 8th lieutenant governor of Florida, 1885-1889
U.S. senators
Joseph W. Bailey Sr., U.S. Senator from Texas, 1891-1913 William B. Bate, U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1887-1905 Jeff Davis, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, 1907-1913 Murphy J. Foster, U.S. Senator from Louisiana, 1901-1913 Thomas P. Gore, U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, 1907–1921 and 1931–1937 Carl Hatch, U.S. Senator from New Mexico, 1933-1949 Cordell Hull, U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1931-1933 Howell Edmunds Jackson, U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1881-1886 William F. Kirby, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, 1916-1921 Joshua B. Lee, U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, 1937-1943 James B. McCreary, U.S. Senator from Kentucky, 1903-1909 Bert H. Miller, U.S. Senator from Idaho, 1949 Tom Stewart, U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1938-1949 Park Trammell, U.S. Senator from Florida, 1917-1936
U.S. representatives Thomas G. Abernethy, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1943–1973 Joseph H. Acklen, U.S. Representative from Louisiana, 1878-1881 Clifford Allen, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1975-1978 John Mills Allen, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1885-1901 Orland K. Armstrong, U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1951-1953 Richard Merrill Atkinson, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1937-1939 Risden Tyler Bennett, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1883-1887
Maecenas Eason Benton, U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1897–1905; also father of famous painter, Thomas Hart Benton Eugene Black, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1915-1929 Foster V. Brown, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1895-1897 Joseph Edgar Brown, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1921-1923 Gordon Weaver Browning, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1923-1935 Omar Truman Burleson, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1947-1978 Mounce Gore Butler, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1905-1907 Robert R. Butler, U.S. Representative from Oregon, 1928-1933 Adam M. Byrd, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1903-1911 Robert Porter Caldwell, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1871-1873 William Parker Caldwell, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1875-1879 Samuel Caruthers, U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1853-1859 Frank Chelf, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1945-1967 Judson C. Clements, U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1881-1891 Wynne F. Clouse, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1921-1923 Jere Cooper, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1929-1957 Nicholas N. Cox, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1891-1901 William E. Cox, U.S. Representative from Indiana, 1907–1919. William Ruffin Cox, U.S. Representative from North Carolina, 1881-1887 William Benjamin Craig, U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1907-1911 Reese C. De Graffenreid, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1897-1902 Dudley M. DuBose, U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1871-1873 John Duncan Sr., U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1965-1988 Harold Earthman, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1945-1947 Benjamin A. Enloe, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1887-1895 Joe L. Evins, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1947-1977 Lewis P. Featherstone, U.S. Representative from Arkansas, 1890-1891 Antonio M. Fernández, U.S. Representative from New Mexico, 1943-1956 Morgan Cassius Fitzpatrick, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1903-1905 Aaron Ford, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1935–1943 Lucien C. Gause, U.S. Representative from Arkansas, 1875-1879 Brady P. Gentry, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1953–1957 Edward Isaac Golladay, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1871-1873 Isaac Herschel Goodnight, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1889-1895 George Washington Gordon, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1907-1911 Wharton J. Green, U.S. Representative from North Carolina, 1883-1887 William Voris Gregory, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1927-1936 John Edward Halsell, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1883-1887 Oren Harris, U.S. Representative from Arkansas, 1953–1966; U.S. district judge Robert H. Hatton, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1859-1861 Goldsmith W. Hewitt, U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1875–1879, 1881-1885 Wilson S. Hill, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1903-1909 John Ford House, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1875-1883 George Huddleston, U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1915–1937 Cordell Hull, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1907–1921, 1923-1931 Luther Alexander Johnson, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1923-1946 Abraham Kazen Jr., U.S. Representative from Texas, 1967-1985 Wade H. Kitchens, J.D., U.S. Representative from Arkansas, 1937-1941 John C. Kyle, U. S. Representative from Mississippi, 1891-1897 William Bailey Lamar, U.S. Representative from Florida, 1903-1909 Joshua B. Lee, U. S. Representative from Oklahoma, 1935-1937 Joseph Carlton Loser, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1957-1963 James B. McCreary, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1885-1897 Samuel Davis McReynolds, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1923-1939 John Ridley Mitchell, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1931-1939 Morgan M. Moulder, U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1948–1962 Henry Lowndes Muldrow, U. S. Representative from Mississippi, 1877-1885 Tom J. Murray, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1943-1966 David Alexander Nunn, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1867–1869, 1873-1875 William Allan Oldfield, U.S. Representative from Arkansas, 1909-1928 Wright Patman, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1929–1976 Herron C. Pearson, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1935-1943 Andrew Price, U.S. Representative from Louisiana, 1889-1897 B. Carroll Reece, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1921–1931, 1933–1947, 1951-1961 Haywood Yancey Riddle, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1875-1879 James Edward Ruffin, U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1933-1935 William Charles Salmon, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1923-1925 Lon A. Scott, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1921-1923 Thetus W. Sims, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1897-1921 Thomas U. Sisson, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1909-1923 William Ferguson Slemons, U.S. Representative from Arkansas, 1875-1881 John H. Smithwick, U.S. Representative from Florida, 1919-1927 Henry C. Snodgrass, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1891-1895 John Hall Stephens, U.S. Representative from Texas, 1897-1917 James Patrick Sutton, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1949-1955 Fletcher B. Swank, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, 1921-1929 Charles Swindall, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, 1920-1921 Anthony F. Tauriello, U.S. Representative from New York, 1949-1951 John May Taylor, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1883-1887 J. Will Taylor, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1919-1939 Zachary Taylor, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1885-1887 William Wirt Vaughan, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1871-1873 William W. Venable, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1916-1921 Richard Warner, U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1881-1885 John T. Watkins, U.S. Representative from Louisiana, 1905–1921 Charles K. Wheeler, U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1897-1903 Daniel B. Wright, U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 1853-1857
U.S. territorial delegates
John Wilkins Whitfield, Territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress representing the Kansas Territory, 1854-1856
U.S. judicial officials
U.S. Supreme Court justices