Famous People Who Attended Alabama A&M University
Any day is a good day to celebrate the culture of HBCUs, but the turn-up is on a whole different level when considering Founder’s Day at your favorite historically Black college and university. May 1st just so happens to be that day for the Huntsville haven known as Alabama A&M University, which you might be surprised to discover is home to a handful of famous alumni.
Since 1875, Alabama A&M has been a proud institution that provides opportunities to our culture specifically that simply allow us to dream big. We hope the AAMU trend of being a hub for academic and professional success continues on for another 150 years!
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In the century-and-a-half of excellence that’s come out of Alabama A&M, we’ve seen many talented individuals go on to make it big past graduation day. Take for example NFL legend John Stallworth, Class of 1974, who returned five decades later to not only deliver the Spring 2024 commencement address but also award the school with a whopping $1.2 million donation. Through his namesake John Stallworth Foundation, he and wife Flo Stallworth provide academically gifted students with tuition assistance who meet the required funding criteria. As an added bonus, they also get yearly recognition at the AAMU Honor’s Convocation as a John Stallworth Foundation Endowment Scholar.
You surely can’t forget the hometown hero Ruben Studdard, who just a few years before launching his singing career as the season 2 winner of American Idol was stomping through the Alabama A&M hallways from 1996 to 1999. He spoke fondly of his time there to Andscape back in 2016, stating, “I received a really quality education. I learned so much from the professors and my music instructors that I use to this day. I’m really thankful for my experience, and all of the love and care that they took to make sure we would be the best we could be. My best memories are the simplest ones. Being in the dorm rooms playing cards. Going out. We used to have a dance called a Dusk to Dawn dance every year, and going to that was always fun. I remember Southern University came to A&M in ’98 for our homecoming, and how much fun we had at the game. We still talk about that to this day.”
