Alumni

Hall of Fame

The Black Community Services Center Multicultural Hall of Fame recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves through exceptional advancement and success in education or career, and/or outstanding contributions to our community and society as a whole.

2012 Michelle Alexander, JD '92

Civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar.

Michelle Alexander, JD '92 is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate and legal scholar. In recent years, she has taught as number of universities, including Stanford Law Schoool, where she was asupported her writing of The New Jim Crow, and that same year she accepted a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University. The New Jim Crow has received rave reviews, became a New York Timesbestseller, and has been featured in national radion and television media outlets, including NPR, The Bill Moyers Journal and the Tavis Smiley Show, MSNBC and C-Span Washington Journal, among others. The Book won the 2011 NAACP Image Award for best non-fiction. 

Prior to entering academia, Alexander served as the Director of the Racial Justice Project for the ACLU of Northern California, where she coordinated the Project's media advocacy, grassroots organizing, coalition-building and litigation. The Project's priority areas were educational equity and criminal justice reform, and it was during those years that she launched a major campaign against racial profiling by law enforcement, known as the "DWB Campaign" or "Driving While Black or Brown Campaign." In addition to her non-profit advocacy experience, Alexander has worked as a litigator at private law firms, including at Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak & Baller, in Oakland, California, where she specialized in plaintiff-side class action lawsuits alleging race and gender discrimination.

Alexander is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Vanderbilt University. Following law school, she clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the United States Supreme Court, and for Chief Judge Abner Mikva on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She currently devotes her time to freelance writing, consulting with advocacy organizations committed to building racial justice movements, and, most importantly, raising her three young children, Jonathan, Corinne and Nicole, with her husband, Carter Stewart, '91,— the most challenging and rewarding job of all.

2011 Cory A. Booker, '91, MA '92


The Honorable Cory A. Booker is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, the largest city in the State of New Jersey. Mayor Booker is presently serving in his second term.

Elected with a clear mandate for change, Mayor Booker began work on realizing a bold vision for the City. Newark’s mission is to set a national standard for urban transformation by marshalling its resources to achieve security, economic abundance and an environment that is nurturing and empowering for individuals and families.

Mayor Booker and his Administration, together with the City’s residents, have made meaningful strides towards achieving the City’s mission by tackling significant challenges with innovation, new coalitions, creative public private partnerships and building on the already existing great foundation in New Jersey’s most historic city.

Mayor Booker and his team have more than doubled the rate of affordable housing production; created the City’s largest expansion of parks and recreation spaces in over a century with nearly 50 acres of new or refurbished parks; and brought more than $1 billion of new economic development into the City. Mayor Booker has also attracted national attention for his education reform efforts – already succeeding in significantly expanding high quality public education options for families and leading in the creation of new strong educational and career development opportunities for Newark’s disaffected youth.

Recognizing the dignity, worth and limitless potential of all people, Mayor Booker has led in the creation of an innovative network of resources and programs for men and women coming home from incarceration, dramatically driving down recidivism rates for those involved.   Mayor Booker and his team have led with other innovations for youth and families including New Jersey’s first youth and community courts and the creation of a network of grassroots financial and family empowerment centers in 14 neighborhoods throughout the City. 

For all his efforts and those of countless Newark residents and activists, Newark is fast becoming recognized as one of America’s rising cities of hope and promise.  Mayor Booker’s leadership in these significant civic strides has been recognized by numerous magazines and other media outlets, including being named to the 2011 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Mayor Booker received his Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1991 and Master of Arts in sociology in 1992 from Stanford, a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 1994, and in 1997, completed his law degree at Yale University. From 1998-2003, he served on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University.

2010 Roger A. Clay, '66


President of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development in Oakland, California.

Roger A. Clay, '66, is the President of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development in Oakland, California, a national consulting and legal organization that develops strategies and programs for people and communities to become economically secure. As a product of the War on Poverty, the Insight Center was the early leader in establishing legal models for business and real estate development by charitable organizations, and wrote the first comprehensive legal treatise on the subject. During its 41 year existence it has provided legal support to over 500 community-based development organizations, and help create housing, jobs, health care facilities, childcare programs, and businesses across the country. Mr. Clay has been committed to achieving racial and economic justice his entire professional career. He began his legal career as a law clerk at the Insight Center and returned 30 years later as its President. Prior to rejoining the Insight Center, Mr. Clay was the General Counsel of the California Housing Finance Agency, a partner with the law firm of Goldfarb & Lipman where he served as managing attorney and advised public agencies and housing and community economic development organizations.

Mr. Clay has been a leader in the legal profession for more than 35 years. He was the Chair of the ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law and twice served as the Chair of the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty.

Mr. Clay has been an active volunteer for Stanford. He served as vice-chair of the Board of Trustees, Chair of the Stanford Alumni Association Board of Directors, Chair of the Commission on Investment Responsibility, and currently is a member of the Board of Governors of the Stanford Associates.  He serves on the national advisory boards for the Center of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences and the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity. He is a 2003 recipient of the Gold Spike, awarded for exceptional volunteer leadership service in development for Stanford.

Mr. Clay received his B.A. in sociology from Stanford University, his M.S.W. from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Association of Black Social Workers, and the California and United States Supreme Court Bars.

2009 V. Joy Simmons, '74, MD


Physician and Director of Computerized Tomography and Sonography at Kaiser in Los Angeles.

Dr. Joy Simmons received her A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford in 1974 and went on to attend medical school at the University of California at Los Angeles. After graduating with her M.D. in 1978, she chose to specialize in radiology and joined Kaiser Permanente.

Dr. Simmons has been a pioneer in several initiatives at Stanford both as a student and as an alumna. In 1970 as a freshman, she co-founded the Black Pre-Med Society. In Los Angeles, she was a founding member of the Stanford Black Alumni of Southern California, serving as president for four years (1996-1999). She developed an Applicant Event, which she hosts yearly in her home, to bring together all Stanford applicants of color in the Los Angeles area, their parents, and Stanford alumni of all ages and careers. As a result of her efforts and dedication to minority recruiting and mentoring, she received the Stanford Associates Award and was invited to join Stanford Associates.

Dr. Simmons was a founding board member and vice president of the Friends of the California African American Museum, and a founding board member of Venice Arts, an association to nurture the creativity and expression of low-income youth. She continues as a trustee emeritus of Venice Arts because of her continuing stewardship. She is a founding and still active member as well as former president of the Association of Black Women Physicians, an organization providing outreach and promoting health awareness among black women. She is currently a member of the board of the Santa Monica Museum of Art and a past member of the Museum of Contemporary Arts Curators Council (1997-1999).

In addition, she is a member of the faculty for the Center for Medical Education. Dr. Simmons served on the Stanford Board of Trustees from 2003-2008. Currently, Dr. Simmons is the Chair of the Haas Center for Public Service National Advisory Board, a member of the Board of Directors of the Stanford Alumni Association, and leads the Diverse Communities effort for the Stanford Challenge Steering Committee.

2008 Dr. Michael V. Drake, '71


Chancellor, University of California, Irvine and former Vice President for Health Affairs for UC and Professor of Ophthalmology and the senior associate dean for admissions and extramural academic programs at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine.

Michael V. Drake, M.D., became Chancellor of the University of California, Irvine in July 2005.

Prior to his arrival at UC Irvine, Dr. Drake served for five years as vice president for health affairs at the University of California's Office of the President, overseeing education policy and research activities at UC's 15 health sciences schools, located on seven campuses.  He also directed UC's Special Research Programs in tobacco, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS; was co-chair of the California/Mexico Health Initiative; and launched the PRIME (Programs in Medical Education) initiatives to train physicians to better address the needs of underserved populations statewide.

Before joining the President's office Dr. Drake spent two decades on the faculty of the USCF School of Medicine, ultimately becoming Steven P. Shearing Professor of Ophthalmology and Senior Associate Dean.  In this role he was an administrative leader, physician-scientist, clinician and teacher, conducting glaucoma research and maintaining an active surgical practice. He authored or co-authored dozens of scholarly articles and five textbooks.

He has received numerous awards for teaching, public service, mentoring and research, including the UCSF Gold Headed Cane Society Speaker's Cane and Kerr lectureship in 2003 honoring a career that "exemplifies... the true physician", the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the American Association of Medical Colleges in 2004, for his career-long efforts to promote social justice through medical education, and the first Pioneer of Bi-national Health Award at the biennial International HIV/AIDS conference in Mexico City in 2008.

Chancellor Drake is an alumnus of Stanford University (A.B.) and UC San Francisco (M.D.) He and his wife Brenda ('73) live in Irvine. They have two sons, Christopher ('03) and Sean ('06).

2007 Mark Dean, PhD '92


Vice President, IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose

Since leaving the farm in 1992, Mark Dean has blazed a trail in the technology field, and has been credited with making the personal computer an integral part of our daily lives. He holds three of the nine original IBM patents upon which the IBM PC is based.  Additionally, Dr. Dean has received awards from the National Institute of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, CCG, the National Society of Black Engineers, the University of Tennessee, and is a member of the National Inventor's Hall of Fame.  Dr. Dean holds or has pending over 40 patents.  Mark Dean made history when he became the first African American IBM Fellow, the highest technical honor bestowed by IBM.  He is currently Vice President of the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, and Senior Location Executive for Silicon Valley.

2006 Kennell Jackson, PhD


Assistant Professor of History, Stanford University; Resident Fellow, Branner Hall

Graduating from Robert R. Moton High School as class valedictorian in 1958, Kennell A. Jackson, Jr. went on to earn highest honors from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in 1962. A lifetime of academic pursuit culminated with his promotion to a full professorship in the History Department at Stanford. Professor Jackson was the director of Stanford?s African and African American Studies Program, resident fellow at Branner, winner of the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Service to Undergraduate Education and the Allan V. Cox Medal for excellence in fostering research among University undergraduates. He has a large extended family in Virginia, along with his Stanford family. 

2005 St. Clair Drake, PhD


Founding Director, African and African American Studies, Stanford University

St. Clair Drake (1911-1990), an anthropologist and educator, was born in Suffolk, Virginia. After graduating from Hampton, Drake worked for the Society of Friends at a number of schools and movements in the South. A Hampton mentor, Dr. Allison Davis, involved him an anthropological study later published as Deep South. Excited about the potential of social science research to effect change, Drake enrolled at the University of Chicago. Working with the eminent sociologist W. Lloyd Warner and fellow student, Horace Cayton, Drake immersed himself in black Chicago and in 1945 published the classic Black Metropolis. Drake was one of the first black faculty members at Roosevelt University, where he taught for twenty-three years, leaving in 1973 to chair the African American studies program at Stanford. Professor Drake served as the chairperson of the program from 1969-1976. He was known for establishing the curriculum of the program and coordinating faculty involvement, and developing student initiated courses. In this role, he served as an academic mentor and friend for many Stanford students. He knew a number of African And Pan-Africanist leaders, including Kwame Nkrumah and George Padmore. His Black Diaspora was published in 1972.

2004 Woodrow A. Myers, '73, MBA '82


Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Wellpoint Health Networks, and former commissioner of health for the state of Indiana and for New York City.

Woodrow Myers, M.D., joined WellPoint Health Networks as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer in October 2000. Dr. Myers manages WellPoint's Healthcare Quality Assurance Division, including medical policy, clinical affairs and health services operations. Prior to joining WellPoint, Dr. Myers served as Director of Healthcare Management at Ford Motor Company. Before assuming this position, he was the Corporate Medical Director for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commissioner of Health for the state of Indiana and Commissioner of Health for New York City. He was also an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco and a fellow in critical care medicine at the Stanford University Medical Center. During his career, he has received numerous medical and community service awards and has published extensively on medical issues important to public health. He has served on the Board of Directors at the Stanford Hospital and is a former University Trustee. Dr. Myers received a BS and an MBA from Stanford University and a doctor of medicine from Harvard Medical School.

2003 Ira D. Hall, '67, MBA '76

President and CEO of Utendahl Capital Management, L.P., noted businessman

Ira D. Hall received his B.S. in electrical engineering and a MBA from Stanford and has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Utendahl Capital Management, L.P. (UCM), a fixed investment management firm, since November 2002. His responsibilities include overall executive management of UCM and its investment performance, as well as leading the firm's overall corporate strategy and business development efforts. Mr. Hall was formerly Treasurer and General Manager of Alliance Management of Texaco Inc. and head of Texaco Inc.'s Finance Department until his retirement from Texaco in 2001. Prior to joining Texaco in June 1998, Mr. Hall held a series of positions of increasing responsibility with IBM Corporation and was previously senior vice president of the New York investment banking firm of L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, Inc.

Mr. Hall currently serves on the Board of Directors of Reynolds & Reynolds Company, TECO Energy Inc. and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Executive Leadership Council. He has previously served on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University, the Distribution Committee of the San Francisco Foundation and the Dean's Advisory Council of Stanford Graduate School of Business. Mr. Hall was also a presidential appointee with United States Senate confirmation as a governor of the United States Postal Service, where he chaired its audit committee. Additionally, he served as Chairperson of the National Advisory Board to the Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board, which included the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

2002 Susan E. Rice, '86


Managing Director and Principal at Intellibridge International

Susan Rice received her B.A. in History from Stanford, an M.Phil. from Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar and a D.Phil. (Ph.D) in International Relations from Oxford. Dr. Rice is currently a Senior Fellow and Stephen and Barbara Friedman Endowed Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. From June 2001-August 2002, Dr. Rice was Managing Director and Principal of Intellibridge International in Washington, D.C, an internet-based information/analytical firm. Prior to this, Rice was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997-2001. From 1995-1997, Dr. Rice also served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) and, from 1993-1995, as Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping at the NSC. Dr. Rice was the co-recipient of the White House's 2000 Samuel Nelson Drew Memorial Award for distinguished contributions to the formation of peaceful, cooperative relationships between states. She was awarded the Chatham House-British International Studies Association Prize for the most distinguished doctoral dissertation in the United Kingdom in the field of International Relations.

2001 Faye McNair-Knox, '72, MA '75, PhD '85

Executive Director of non-profit organization; former Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Black Community Services Center

Faye McNair-Knox is currently the Executive Director of Start Up, a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to promote economic development in and around East Palo Alto by providing training, technical assistance, and capital to help establish and support locally-owned and operated small businesses. As a native of East Palo Alto, Dr. McNair-Knox has had a long term association with Stanford. She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford in '72, her Masters in '73, and her Ph.D. in '85. While finishing her Ph.D., she became Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Black Community Services Center. She filled this post from '81-'87 and was known as a tireless worker, an advocate for students, and an ambassador for community service. Dr. McNair-Knox, a Fulbright Scholar, later became Assistant Director of African and African American Studies where she taught classes on African American English and Language and Social Issues in America. She left Stanford in 1991 for a teaching position at William Patterson College in New Jersey but is remembered as the consummate intellectual, teacher, mentor, and friend.

2000 Harold Boyd


Assistant and Associate Dean of Students; Director of Medical Fund for the Office of Development

Harold Boyd came to Stanford University in 1969, a pivotal time in Stanford history when the Black Student Union was demanding that Stanford take a stand on civil rights. Students viewed Boyd as their teacher, ally, confidant and friend. He was an assistant and associate dean of students from 1969 to 1980 and director of the Medical Fund for the Office of Development from 1980 to 1995.

2000 Bell Hooks, '73


Cultural Critic; Feminist Theorist; Activist; Writer

Bell Hooks is a cultural critic, feminist theorist, activist and writer. She is the author of more than 16 books and has been hailed by critics as one of our nation's leading public intellectuals. Previously a professor in the English departments at Yale University and Oberlin College, hooks is now a distinguished professor of English at City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Hooks' undergraduate degree is in English.

1999 Charles J. Ogletree, '74, MA '75

Board of Trustees Member; Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard University School of Law

A native of Merced, CA, Charles J. Ogletree earned his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in Political Science in 1974. He graduated with distinction and Phi Beta Kappa. The following year, he completed his master's degree in Political Science. While at Stanford, he was a student leader, having served as Chairperson of the Stanford Black Student Union and Co-President of the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU). From Stanford he entered the Harvard University School of Law and graduated with his J.D. in 1978. He joined the law school faculty at Harvard in 1989 having served as a public defender in Washington, D.C. 

His service to the community and to Stanford is longstanding and far-reaching. He has moderated a number of public television programs and served as legal counsel to Professor Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. He is currently serving as a Member of the Stanford Board of Trustees having served as National Chair of The Stanford Fund. He serves on the Board of Directors of TransAfrica and the Concerned Black Men of Cambridge and was named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in the nation by The National Law Journal.

1999 Dr. Mae C. Jemison, '77

First African-American female in Space, founder and president of The Jemison Group, Inc.

Born in Decatur, Alabama, but raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mae C. Jemison earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University in 1977. She also fulfilled the requirements for the bachelor's degree in African and Afro-American Studies. She earned her M.D. from Cornell University in 1981. Dr. Jemison was the first African-American female in space. She served as a mission specialist on space shuttle Endeavour in September 1992 where she and the crew conducted experiments in life sciences and materials processing. Earlier, Jemison spent several years as a Peace Corps physician in West Africa and opened a private practice in Los Angeles. After her space flight, Jemison took leave from NASA to lecture and teach at Dartmouth College, focusing on space-age technology and developing nations. Jemison heads her own firm, the Jemison Group, based in Houston, Texas. In 1999, Jemison accepted appointment as the President's Council of Cornell Women Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.

1998 William E. Kennard '78


First African-American chairman of the FCC.

Bill Kennard, the first African-American chairman of the FCC. William E. Kennard was sworn in as Chairman of the FCC on November 7, 1997. His term expires on June 30, 2001. A native of Los Angeles, Kennard graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1978 and received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1981. Before becoming chairman, Kennard was the FCC's General Counsel, the Commission's principal legal advisor and representative in court. Before joining the FCC, Kennard was a partner and member of the board of directors of the Washington, DC law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson, and Hand.

1997 Albert E. Manley, PhD '46

Educator; Past President of Spelman College

Dr. Albert E. Manley was born January 3, 1908 in Spanish Honduras. He moved to the United States and began his education in Meadville, Virginia in 1919. He graduated cum laude in Physics and Mathematics from Johnson C. Smith University in 1930. In 1946 Dr. Albert E. Manly received his PhD in Education at Stanford. He is believed to be the first African American to have received a Doctoral degree in this department. Dr. Manley's dissertation focused on the latest ideas in the measurement of student growth and development. He was called to assume the presidency of Spelman College in 1953. Dr. Albert E. Manley was the first male and the first African American president of Spelman college. He was instrumental in improving the academic standards of the college and increased its teaching faculty as well as its administrative staff. Dr. Manley served as President of Spelman College from 1953-1976.ment of eminence as a center of Far Eastern language and area studies in the United States.

1996 James L. Gibbs, Jr., Professor Emeritus


First tenured African-American professor at Stanford

Dr. James L. Gibbs, Jr. was the first tenured African-American professor at Stanford. He served as a member of the faculty committee that designed the Undergraduate Program in African and Afro-American Studies and in 1968-69, served as its Acting Director until the Founding Director, Professor St. Clair Drake, was appointed. Dr. Gibbs, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, came to Stanford in 1966. He served as Stanford's first Dean of Undergraduate Studies (1970-1976), as Co-Director of Stanford/Berkeley Center for African Studies (1985-87), and Chair of the Department of Anthropology (1987-90).

1995 Ernest Houston Johnson, BS 1895


First Black graduate of the University

Ernest Houston Johnson was a member of the first entering class of Stanford University in 1891. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1895, making him the first Black graduate of the University. From 1895-1896, he was enrolled in the School of Law.