Here follows a list of notable people associated with Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.
Notable graduates
Law John Christian Bullitt, 1849: attorney in Philadelphia, drafted the city's charter and founded the law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath John Marshall Harlan, 1850: Supreme Court associate justice (1877–1911), cast the lone dissenting vote in Plessy v. Ferguson Pierce Lively, 1943: federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1972–2016) Andrew Phelps McCormick, 1854: federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1892–1916) Fred M. Vinson, 1909, Law 1911: chief justice of the United States (1946–53), secretary of the treasury (1945–46), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–08 and KY–09 (1933–43)
Government George Madison Adams: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–08 and KY–09 (1867–75), secretary of state of Kentucky (1887–91) Joshua Fry Bell, 1828: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–04 (1845–47; first Centre alumnus to serve in Congress), secretary of state of Kentucky (1849–50) John C. Breckinridge, 1838: U.S. vice president (1857–61); Confederate secretary of war (1865); U.S. senator from Kentucky (1861) John Y. Brown, Sr., 1921: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–AL (1933–35) Jacqueline Coleman, 2004: lieutenant governor of Kentucky (2019–present) John Sherman Cooper, 1922: U.S. ambassador to East Germany (1974–76), U.S. senator from Kentucky (1946–49, 1952–55, 1956–73), U.S. ambassador to India (1955–56) Emma Curtis: Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council member (2025–present); first openly transgender city official in Kentucky Ed Gallrein, farmer, former Navy SEAL officer, Republican Party nominee in the U.S. House of Representatives election for Kentucky's fourth congressional district in 2026. Joseph Holt, 1824: U.S. postmaster general, U.S. secretary of war and Judge Advocate General of the United States Army; leading judge in the trials of the Abraham Lincoln assassination Michael W. Jackson, 1985: Alabama district attorney (2005–present) Crit Luallen, 1974: lieutenant governor of Kentucky (2014–2015), Kentucky state auditor (2004–2012) Claude Matthews, 1867: governor of Indiana (1893–97), secretary of state of Indiana (1891–93) Austin Peay, 1895: governor of Tennessee (1923–27) Augustus Stanley, 1889: U.S. senator from Kentucky (1919–25), governor of Kentucky (1915–19), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from KY–02 (1903–15) Adlai Stevenson I, 1859: U.S. vice president (1893–97), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from IL–13 (1875–77, 1879–81) John T. Stuart, 1826: member of the U.S. House of Representatives from IL–03 (1839–43) and IL–08 (1863–65), lawyer, law partner of Abraham Lincoln Thomas H. Taylor: Confederate general (1861–65), Louisville chief of police (1881–92) George Graham Vest: U.S. senator from Missouri (1879–1903), Confederate senator from Missouri (1865), member of the Confederate House of Representatives from MO–05; best known for supposedly coining the phrases "man's best friend" and "history is written by the victors" Yi Kuu, Prince Imperial Hoeun, 1952: prince imperial of Korea, grandson of Emperor Gojong
Arts Tony Crunk, 1978: winner, Yale Younger Poets prize George Ella Lyon, 1971: former Kentucky Poet Laureate Stephen Rolfe Powell, 1974: internationally acclaimed glass blower and art professor Tiffany Reisz, 2000: RITA award-winning novelist
Athletics Gene Bedford: second baseman for the Cleveland Indians and defensive end for the Rochester Jeffersons Herb Covington, 1924: played football, basketball, and baseball for Centre, named to the all-time Centre football team in 1935 E.A. Diddle, 1920: legendary basketball coach of Western Kentucky University, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Jordan Gay, 2013: punter and kickoff specialist for the Buffalo Bills Cawood Ledford, 1949: voice of the University of Kentucky Wildcats for 30 years Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin, 1922: three-time All-American quarterback; member of the College Football Hall of Fame; head football coach of Indiana University, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles Sully Montgomery, 1920: tackle for the Chicago Cardinals; boxer Tom Moran: blocking back for the New York Giants Homer Rice: football coach Red Roberts, 1922: NFL player; head football coach of Waynesburg University Lou Smyth, 1919: three-time NFL champion with the Canton Bulldogs John Tanner, 1921: NFL wingback with the Toledo Maroons, Cleveland Indians, and Cleveland Bulldogs Ken Willis, 1986 (transferred after one year): kicker for the Dallas Cowboys
Academia Raymond Burse, 1973: Rhodes Scholar; general counsel for General Electric; former president of Kentucky State University; first African-American to compete in the Oxford v. Cambridge rugby match
Business Isaac Tigrett, 1970: founder of the Hard Rock Cafe and the House of Blues
Other Rev. Samuel D. Burchard, 1837: clergyman whose "Rum, Romanism and rebellion" speech may have cost James G. Blaine the 1884 presidential election Charles Carpenter (Lt. Col.): highly decorated Second World War artillery observation pilot nicknamed "Bazooka Charlie"; destroyed several German armored vehicles in his bazooka-equipped L-4 Grasshopper light observation aircraft, christened "Rosie the Rocketer"What's New in Aviation: Piper Cub Tank Buster, Popular Science, Vol. 146 No. 2 (February 1945) p. 84Carpenter, Leland F., Piper L-4J Grasshopper , Aviation Enthusiast Corner, retrieved 21 October 2011 George W. Harkins: attorney and chief of the Choctaw tribe during Indian removal Lewis Craig Humphrey, 1896: editor of the Centre College newspaper The Cento; chief editor of the Louisville Evening Post and Louisville Herald
Faculty and staff J. Proctor Knott: law professor at Centre; 29th governor of Kentucky Sara Mahan: 64th secretary of state of Kentucky, served as college librarian 1920–21 Ephraim McDowell: member of the board of trustees, namesake of the Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center
Presidents of the college
Notes
References
Bibliography