2018
Wanda Austin
First African-American President of USC (Interim)
![Wanda Austin](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Austin_Wanda_timeline.jpg)
2014
Verna Dauterive
Opening of Peter and Verna Dauterive Hall; First Interdisciplinary Building at USC
![Verna Dauterive](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Dauterive-Hall-Opening-824x549-700x466-1.jpg)
2000
Crispus Attucks Wright
First African-American Multimillion Dollar Major Gift Donor to USC
1994
Maulana Karenga
Best Known as the Creator of the Pan-African and African-American Holiday of Kwanzaa; Ph.D Dornsife
![Maulana Karenga](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/karenga-photo1.jpg)
1983
Amy Trask
First Female CEO of the NFL, Oakland Raiders; USC Law School Graduate
1981
Samuel L. Williams
First African-American USC Trustee; 1961 Graduate of USC Law School
![](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/samuel-L.-Williams.jpg)
Stayce Harris
First African-American Female to Pilot a 747; First African-American Female Lt. General in the Air Force
![](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Lt.-General-Stayce-D.-Harris.jpg)
1976
Rev. Thomas Kilgore
Establishment of USC Black Alumni Association; Scholarship Assistance Provided to Low-income Students, All Minorities (with Alumni Verna Dauterive, Peter Dauterive, Thomas Griffith, Sr., Portia Griffith)
![Reverend Dr. Thomas Kilgore, Jr.](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/kilgore.jpg)
Aulanna Peters
First African-American Female SEC Commissioner
![](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Aulana-Peters.jpg)
1968
Michael Garrett
First USC Heisman Trophy Winner
![Michael Garrett](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Mike-Garrett.jpg)
Cynthia Watson Arnold
First USC African-American Helen of Troy
Linda Murray Fuller
First USC African-American Song Girl
![Linda Murray Fuller](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Linda-Murray-Fuller.jpg)
1956
Adam Herbert
First African-American President, Indiana University; Graduate of School of Public Policy
![Adam Herbert Jr.](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Adam-Herbert-Jr-1.jpg)
Yvonne Braithewaite Burke
First African-American Congresswoman, California; Graduate of USC Law School
1949
Chester Carter
First African-American USC Student Senator
![Chester Carter](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Chester-Carter.jpg)
1931
Edwin L. Jefferson
First African-American Justice for the California Second Appellate Court of Appeals; USC Law School Graduate
![](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Edwin-Jefferson.jpg)
1927
Faye Jackson
First African-American Female Nationally Renowned Journalist
![Faye Jackson](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Faye-Jackson.jpg)
Helen Wheeler Riddle
First African-American Female USC Law School Graduate
![Helen Wheeler Riddle](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Helen-Wheeler-Riddle.jpg)
1925
Brice Union Taylor
First USC All-American in Trojan Football History
![Brice Union Taylor](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brice-Union-Taylor.jpg)
1919
Paul Revere Williams
First African-American Architect
1918
Vada Watson Somerville
First Female Graduate, USC School of Dentistry (Married to John Somerville)
![Vada Watson Somerville](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Vada-Watson-Somerville.jpg)
1914
Booker T. Washington
USC Address and Visit with President of USC (Fundraising Tour for Tuskegee Institute)
1913
Howard Porter Drew
“The Fastest Man in the World”; World Record Holder in Track and Field 100 Meter (Attended USC 1913-16)
![Howard Porter Drew](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Howard-Drew.jpg)
1909
John A. Somerville
First African-American Graduate, USC School of Dentistry
![John A. Somerville](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/John-Somerville.jpg)
Diana McNeil Pierson
BA in 1909; MS in 1910; At One Time Thought to Be the First Black Woman to Attend USC
![Diana McNeil Pierson](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Diana-McNeil.jpg)
1907
Joseph P. Widney
Former USC President Publishes “Race Life of the Aryan Peoples,” a Best-selling Book on “Scientific Racism”
1904
Clarence Bertrand Thompson
First African-American Law School Graduate
![Clarence Bertrand Thompson](https://alumni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Clarence-B.-Thompson.jpg)
1894
Laura Gertrude Brown
Graduates with a Degree in Music; Her Degree is Conferred by USC President Joseph P. Widney