* Booker T. Washington: A profoundly influential educator and leader of the African American community. He was a student and later a faculty member at Hampton.
* Toni Morrison: Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. While she didn't graduate from Hampton, she did attend for a short time.
* Thurgood Marshall: First African American Supreme Court Justice.
* Alberta Williams King: Mother of Martin Luther King, Jr.
* Lois Mailou Jones: Influential African American painter and educator.
Many other accomplished individuals have graduated from Hampton University, including artists, politicians, scientists, and business leaders. A more complete list would require consulting the university's alumni records.