Below is a list of notable associated people ofWashington and Lee University inLexington, Virginia, United States. The year after each name designates the graduation year, if the person is an alumnus.

• Robert H. Adams 1806 -United States Senator from Mississippi^[1]
• Samuel B. Avis, Law -United States Congressman fromWest Virginia, 1913–1915
• Ronald J. Bacigal, Law 1967 - professor of law,University of Richmond School of Law^[2]
• Robert D. Bailey Jr., Law -West Virginia Secretary of State, 1965–1969
• Meredith Attwell Baker, 1990 - formerFederal Communications Commission Commissioner; President ofCTIA – The Wireless Association
• Newton D. Baker, Law 1894 -Secretary of War under PresidentWoodrow Wilson,Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio,^[3] and named partner atBakerHostetler
• Matt Bevin 1989 - 62ndGovernor of Kentucky
• Bill Brock 1953 - former U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1971–77), chairman of the National Republican Party (1977–81); U.S. Trade Representative (1981–85); Secretary of Labor (1985–87)
• Franklin Brockson, Law - United States Congressman fromDelaware, 1913–1915
• William T. Brotherton Jr., Law - Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of West Virginia, 1989–1994
• Clarence J. Brown, Law 1915 - President ofBrown Publishing Company and US Congressman from Ohio, 1939–1965
• Nathan P. Bryan, Law 1895 - U.S. Senator from the State of Florida, Judge on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit^[4]
• William James Bryan, Law 1899 - U.S. Senator from Florida^[5]
• Archibald C. Buchanan, Law 1914 - Justice on theSupreme Court of Virginia
• Bruce L. Castor Jr., Law 1986 - district attorney,Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (2000–2008); Commissioner, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (2008–2016); Attorney General (interim) and first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania 2016; president, Pennsylvania District Attorneys' Association, Presidential Impeachment Lead Defense Counsel 2021^[6]
• Lewis Preston Collins II, Law - lieutenant governor of Virginia^[7]
• Christian Compton 1950, Law 1953 - Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, 1974–2006^{[citation needed]}
• Edward Cooper, Law 1892 - U.S. Congressman from West Virginia, 1915–1919
• Spencer Cox, W&L law, 2001 — inaugurated as governor of Utah in 2021; chairman of the Republican Governors Conference
• William Fadjo Cravens, Law - U.S. Congressman from Arkansas
• T. Kenneth Cribb Jr. 1970 - former Reagan aide and former president of theIntercollegiate Studies Institute
• John J. Crittenden 1805 -Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives; U.S. Senator, Governor of Kentucky,U.S. Attorney General under PresidentsWilliam Henry Harrison andMillard Fillmore; proposed theCrittenden Compromise to keep the Union intact
• George William Crump 1804 - member of theUnited States House of Representatives; first recordedstreaker in American history
• John J. Davis, Law 1856 -United States Representative from West Virginia^[8]
• John W. Davis 1895, Law 1892 - 1924Democratic nominee forUnited States President; Ambassador toBritain;Solicitor General; argued more cases before the Supreme Court than anyone else in the twentieth century;American Bar Association President; first President of theCouncil on Foreign Relations; named partner atDavis Polk & Wardwell^[9]
• Mark Steven Davis, Law 1988 - United States District Court Judge for theEastern District of Virginia^[10]
• Rita Davis,^[11] B.A., English, 1993 - Counsel to the Honorable Governor Ralph S. Northam, Governor of Virginia
• John W. Eggleston, Law 1910 - Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, 1958–1969
• Gay Elmore, Law - two-timeSouthern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
• Sarah Feinberg (1999) - interim president of theNew York City Transit Authority, and former administrator of theFederal Railroad Administration
• John P. Fishwick Jr., Law - United States Attorney for theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Virginia^[12]
• Henry S. Foote, 1919 - 19th governor of Mississippi^[13]
• Vance A. Funk, III, Law 1968 -Mayor ofNewark, Delaware
• Maciej Golubiewski (born 1976) - Polish political scientist andConsul General of the Republic of Poland in New York City
• John Goode, Law - 3rdSolicitor General of the United States; United States Congressman from Virginia^[14]
• John W. Goode - attended undergraduate school 1939–1942 but transferred to theUniversity of Texas at Austin - attorney and Republican political figure in his nativeSan Antonio,Texas^[15]
• Bob Goodlatte, Law 1977 - U.S. Congressman from Virginia^[16]
• R. Booth Goodwin, Law 1996 -United States Attorney for theSouthern District of West Virginia
• Herbert B. Gregory, Law 1911 - Justice on the Virginia Supreme Court, 1930–1951
• Robert J. Grey Jr., Law 1976 - American Bar Association President 2004–2005^{[citation needed]}
• Morgan Griffith, Law 1983 - Congressman from Virginia^[17]
• Duncan Lawrence Groner, Law 1894 - U.S. Attorney; Federal District Judge forUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit^[18]
• Pike Hall Jr., attended 1940s - judge inShreveport, Louisiana^[19]
• Alexander Harman, Law - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia, 1969–1979
• James Hay, Law 1877 - United States Representative from Virginia; Federal Judge on theUnited States Court of Claims^[20]
• George Washington Hays, Law -Governor of Arkansas, 1913–1917
• Homer A. Holt 1918, Law 1923 -Governor of West Virginia, 1937–1941^[21]
• Linwood Holton, 1944 -Governor of Virginia, 1970–1974
• James Murray Hooker, Law 1896 - U.S. Congressman from Virginia
• J. Bennett Johnston Jr. 1953 - U.S. Senator from Louisiana, 1972–1997; Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist
• Jerrauld Jones, Law 1980 - Judge on the Norfolk Circuit Court
• Walter Kelley, 1977, Law 1981 - formerfederal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia and current partner atHausfeld^[22]
• James L. Kemper, Law 1842 - Governor of Virginia; Confederate General wounded duringPickett's Charge at Gettysburg^[23]
• Jackson L. Kiser, Law 1952 - Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia
• Ruby Laffoon, Law 1890 - Governor of Kentucky^[24]
• Joseph Rucker Lamar, Law 1878 -Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of theUnited States Supreme Court (1911–1916), Justice of theSupreme Court of Georgia (1903–1905)^{[citation needed]}
• Edwin Gray Lee, Law 1859 -brigadier general in theConfederate States of America
• Harry Jacob Lemley, Law 1910 - federal judge on both theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
• Scott Marion Loftin, Law 1899 - U.S. Senator from Florida; president of the American Bar Association^[25]
• Mary Beth Long, Law 1998 - formerAssistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs at theUnited States Department of Defense and former attorney withWilliams & Connolly LLP^{[citation needed]}
• Daniel B. Lucas, Law - poet; justice on the Supreme Court of West Virginia, 1889-1892
• J. Michael Luttig 1976 - Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Council and Counselor to the Attorney General; formerUnited States Circuit Court of Appeals judge; twice considered by PresidentGeorge W. Bush for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court; current executive vice president and general counsel,The Boeing Company
• John Ashton MacKenzie, Law 1939 - federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia^[26]
• John Otho Marsh Jr., Law 1951 -Secretary of the Army, 1981–1989, United States Congressman^[27]
• Robert Murphy Mayo, Law 1859 - United States Representative from Virginia^[28]
• Hayes McClerkin 1953 - formerSpeaker of theArkansas House of Representatives;Texarkana,Arkansas, attorney
• Alexander McNutt - 12th Governor of Mississippi^[29]
• Thomas Chipman McRae, Law - Governor of Arkansas, United States Representative^[30]
• John Marks Moore -Secretary of State of Texas, 1887–1891^[31]
• Jackson Morton 1814 - U.S. Senator from Florida
• Robert Mosbacher 1947 -Secretary of Commerce, 1989–1992
• Mark Obenshain, Law 1987 - member of theSenate of Virginia; Republican nominee forAttorney General of Virginia in the2013 Virginia election
• Robert E. Payne, Law 1967 - Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia^[32]
• Mosby Perrow Jr. - Virginia Senator (1943–1964); key figure in Virginia's abandonment of "Massive Resistance" to desegregation
• Archer Allen Phlegar - Virginia Supreme Court justice, Virginia State Senator
• Miles Poindexter, Law 1891 - Senator from the State of Washington^[33]
• Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. 1929, Law 1931 - Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1972–1987); president of the American Bar Association; named partner atHunton Williams Gay Powell & Gibson^[34]
• William Ray Price Jr., Law 1978 - longest-serving judge and former Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Missouri^[35]
• Prescott Prince, Law 1983 - attorney defendingKhalid Sheikh Mohammed^{[citation needed]}
• Lacey E. Putney, Law - longest-serving member of theVirginia House of Delegates in the history of theVirginia General Assembly^{[citation needed]}
• Heartsill Ragon, Law - U.S. Congressman from Arkansas; federal judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
• Robert W. Ray, Law 1985 - partner atPryor Cashman LLP in New York City and former head of the USOffice of the Independent Counsel (succeededKenneth Starr)^[36]
• Alfred E. Reames, Law 1893 - U.S. Senator fromOregon^[37]
• Pat Robertson 1950 - Christiantelevangelist; founder of several organizations, includingChristian Broadcasting Network, theChristian Coalition, theAmerican Center for Law and Justice, andRegent University; host ofThe 700 Club; candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1988
• Daniel K. Sadler, Law - Justice on theNew Mexico Supreme Court
• Jared Y. Sanders Jr., attended 1912–1913 - member of the United States House of Representatives fromLouisiana's 6th congressional district
• Tom Sansonetti, Law 1976 -United States Assistant Attorney General for theUnited States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division
• William H. Smathers - Senator from the State of New Jersey^[38]
• Abram Penn Staples, Law 1908 - Attorney General of Virginia; justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia
• Lawrence Vess Stephens, Law 1877 –Governor of Missouri
• Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr. 1943, Law 1947 - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia
• Charles L. Terry Jr. - Governor of Delaware 1961–1965^[39]
• Thomas Todd 1783 -United States Supreme Court Justice nominated byThomas Jefferson
• Paul S. Trible Jr. Law 1971 - former US Senator from Virginia, president ofChristopher Newport University^[40]
• William M. Tuck, Law 1921 - Governor of Virginia^[41]
• Henry St. George Tucker III, Law 1876 - U.S. Congressman from Virginia; president of the American Bar Association^[42]
• James Clinton Turk, Law 1952 - federal judge and chief judge (1973–1993) on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia
• David Gardiner Tyler, Law 1869 - U.S. Representative, son of PresidentJohn Tyler, present at Lee's surrender at Appomattox^[43]
• Sol Wachtler, Law - formerchief judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1985–1993)^{[citation needed]}
• John W. Warner Jr. 1949 - former secretary of the Navy and retired U.S. Senator from Virginia; for a time, a husband of Elizabeth Taylor
• Junius Edgar West, Law - 22ndLieutenant Governor of Virginia
• Kennon C. Whittle, Law 1914 - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia and president of theVirginia Bar Association
• H. Emory Widener Jr., Law 1953 - Judge for theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit^[44]
• Seward H. Williams, Law 1895 - U.S. Congressman from Ohio
• Joe Wilson 1969 - Congressman from South Carolina who shouted "You lie!" at President Obama during the 2010 State of the Union address
• John Minor Wisdom 1925 - Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Harry M. Wurzbach, Law 1896 - U.S Congressman from Texas

• Drew Baur 1966 - businessman and owner of St. Louis Cardinals
• Berry Boswell Brooks - cotton broker and big-game hunter
• Christopher Chenery 1909 - industrialist and horse breeder ofSecretariat
• Richard L. Duchossois - industrialist, investor, and director ofChurchill Downs
• Kenn George 1970 - businessman/investor and former member of theTexas House of Representatives
• Rupert H. Johnson 1962 - vice chairman ofFranklin Resources; donor of $100 million, the second largest gift in Washington and Lee's history, mostly directed to honors scholarships, but also to other programs including continuing grants
• Julius Kruttschnitt 1873 -Southern Pacific Railroad executive
• H. F. Lenfest 1953 - philanthropist and CEO of Lenfest Group; gave the second largest donation in W&L's history, a $33 million challenge gift requiring a 1:1 match, on March 21, 2007 (As of December 31, 2009, over $20 million of the $33 million goal had been met^[45])
• Sydney Lewis 1940, Law 1943 - Virginia businessman; art collector; founder ofBest Products; recipient with his wife, Frances, of 1987 National Medal of the Arts^{[citation needed]}
• Bill Miller 1972 - chairman and former chief investment officer ofLegg Mason Capital Management; donor of $132 million, the largest gift in Washington and Lee's history, allowing the school to make its applications need-blind
• Warren Stephens 1979 - American businessman; chairman, president, and CEO ofStephens Inc.

• David Lawrence Anderson - founder and first president ofSoochow University,China
• George A. Baxter - president of W&L andHampden-Sydney College
• J. Bowyer Bell 1953 - historian, artist and art critic
• John Chavis 1799 - educator and Presbyterian minister, among the first U.S. college graduates of color
• George H. Denny - Professor of Latin and President at Washington and Lee University; president of the University of Alabama
• Charles A. Graves, Law 1872 - professor at W&L Law and at theUniversity of Virginia School of Law^[46]
• William B. Hesseltine 1922 - history professor atUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
• Milton W. Humphreys - alumnus; introduced the Roman pronunciation of Latin at Washington and Lee as a professor; first Professor of Latin and Greek atVanderbilt University and the University of Texas at Austin; taught at theUniversity of Virginia; president of theAmerican Philological Association, 1882-1883
• Robert Huntley 1950, Law 1957 - former dean of W&L Law, formerpresident of Washington and Lee University, former president, chairman, and CEO of Best Products^{[citation needed]}
• William Swan Plumer 1825 - professor atPittsburgh Theological Seminary (1854-1862); professor of didactic and polemic theology atColumbia Theological Seminary(1867-1875); professor of pastoral, casuistic, and historical theology at Columbia (1875-1880)
• John Thomas Lewis Preston 1828 - founder ofVirginia Military Institute^[47]
• Henry L. Roediger III 1969 - cognitive psychologist and researcher atWashington University in St. Louis
• Kenneth P. Ruscio 1976 - professor of public policy, president of Washington and Lee University
• Jeffrey L. Seglin, (1978), writer of weekly column "The Right Thing," faculty member,John F. Kennedy School of Government atHarvard University
• Robert Shepherd 1959, Law 1961 -professor emeritus of law at the University of Richmond School of Law^[48]
• Robert Waymouth 1982 - professor of chemistry atStanford University
• Charles M. Williams 1937 -Harvard Business School professor

• Samuel Zenas Ammen - literary editor ofThe Baltimore Sun; founder of theKappa Alpha Order
• Terry Brooks, Law 1969 - author of fantasy fiction, 12 million copies in print^[49]
• David Brown, Law - former host of theMarketplace radio program
• William Alexander Caruthers - author of novels, includingThe Kentuckian in New York (1834)
• Kelly Evans 2007 - journalist; co-host ofWorldwide Exchange andSquawk on the Street on theCNBC business news channel
• Jerry Hopkins 1957 - journalist, biographer, author - longtime editor of and contributor toRolling Stone magazine, biographer of Jim MorrisonNo One Here Gets Out Alive, Elvis Presley, Yoko Ono, David Bowie and others
• Alex S. Jones 1968 - Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter forThe New York Times; director of Harvard University's Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy
• Philippe Labro - French author, journalist and film director
• Rebecca Makkai 1999 - author of novels, including Pulitzer and National Book Award finalistThe Great Believers, and short stories
• Roger Mudd 1950 - Congressional Correspondent forCBS andPBS; host on theHistory Channel; member of theDelta Tau Delta fraternity
• Frederick Ramsay 1958 - medical school academic and administrator; mystery writer
• Mark Richard 1986 - author and winner of the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award
• Tom Robbins - author ofEven Cowgirls Get the Blues (did not graduate; attended for two years before moving to New York to become a poet)
• Tom Wolfe 1951 - writer (creator ofNew Journalism); author ofThe Electric Kool Aid Acid Test andThe Bonfire of the Vanities, withI Am Charlotte Simmons chronicling college life; former trustee; in 2005, became the only outside speaker in recent times to deliver the undergraduate commencement address

• Jennifer Dowd 1996 - social scientist and public health researcher
• Joseph L. Goldstein 1962 - won Nobel Prize for Medicine for research in cholesterol metabolism and discovery that human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that extract cholesterol from the bloodstream
• William Wilson Morgan 1924–26 undergraduate classes (graduated fromUniversity of Chicago 1927) - astronomer; co-developed theMK system for the classification of stars, and classification systems for galaxies and clusters; Director ofYerkes Observatory

• Rob Ashford 1982 - choreographer and director; eight-timeTony Award nominee (winning one), five-timeOlivier Award nominee,Emmy Award winner,Drama Desk winner, andOuter Critics Circle Award winner
• Fielder Cook 1946 - three-time Emmy Award-winning director and producer; director ofThe Homecoming (TV, 1971), which begat seriesThe Waltons
• Kate Cordsen 1986 - photographer and contemporary artist; first female graduate of W&L
• Dom Flora 1958 - basketball standout
• Warren Giles - executive inBaseball Hall of Fame
• Jay Handlan 1952 - basketball standout who once scored 66 points in a single game
• Mike Henry - writer, comedian, producer,Family Guy
• T. C. Lin - Taiwanese filmmaker, photographer, and writer
• Walt Michaels 1951 - head coach of NFL'sNew York Jets, 1977–1982; fullback for Generals, led them to 1951Gator Bowl againstWyoming
• Meagan Miller 1996 - opera singer
• Mike Pressler 1982 - head lacrosse coach atBryant University; former coach atDuke University who resigned duringDuke lacrosse case
• W. Stanley Proctor - sculptor
• Gordon P. Robertson, Law - CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Network
• Cy Twombly 1953 - abstract artist
• Justin Walker - actor, Christian Stovitz in the 1995comedy filmClueless

• Steve Breedlove - Anglican cleric, bishop of theAnglican Diocese of Christ Our Hope in theAnglican Church in North America

• John White Brockenbrough - federal judge, founder, and former Dean of the Washington and Lee University School of Law
• Martin P. Burks - former Dean of W&L Law and justice on theVirginia Supreme Court
• Judy Clarke - criminal defense attorney forTed Kaczynski,Zacarias Moussaoui,Eric Rudolph,Susan Smith,Jared Lee Loughner, andDzhokhar Tsarnaev
• Creigh Deeds (born 1958), Democratic nominee forGovernor of Virginia in 2009 and Virginia State Senator
• Nora Demleitner (born 1966), former dean of W&L Law andHofstra University School of Law
• Edward Southey Joynes - Professor of Modern Languages
• Donald W. Lemons - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia
• James G. Leyburn (1902–1993), sociologist, former dean^[50]
• Lee McLaughlin (1917–1968), American football player with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) and a head football coach at Washington and Lee University.
• Jeffrey P. Minear - counselor to Chief JusticeJohn G. Roberts Jr.
• Clark R. Mollenhoff, journalism professor 1976–1991, former Washington bureau chief Des Moines Register, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1958
• Blake Morant, dean of theGeorge Washington University School of Law
• Fred Perry (1909–1995), tennis champion; won 8Grand Slams and coached the W&L tennis team
• Marvin Banks Perry Jr. (1918–1994), president ofGoucher College andAgnes Scott College.
• Rodney A. Smolla - Dean ofWidener University School of Law; former dean of W&L Law; First Amendment scholar; former president ofFurman University
• Waller Redd Staples - member of theConfederate House of Representatives; justice on the Virginia Supreme Court
• Barry Sullivan - former dean of W&L Law; professor atLoyola University Chicago School of Law
• John Randolph Tucker - Virginia Attorney General, former dean, and former president of the American Bar Association

• Cyrus McCormick, inventor of themechanical reaper; founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part ofInternational Harvester Company
• George Washington, firstpresident of the United States, general of theContinental Army

SeeList of presidents of Washington and Lee University.

• Lists of people by university or college in Virginia
• Washington and Lee University people

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