1. Ray Allen is an NBA superstar, the holder of numerous all-time shooting and scoring records, and currently the starting guard for the NBA’s 2008 Championship team, the Boston Celtics. 

2. Dee Bradley Baker is a versatile and sought-after voice actor whose credits include the voice of Daffy Duck and the Tazmanian Devil.  A fixture behind the microphone, his voice can be heard daily in everything from Spongebob Squarepants and American Dad to George Lucas’ animated Star Wars series.                         

3. Michael Bantom is a Senior Executive with the National Basketball Association.  A former first round draft pick, NBA player and member of the 1972 Olympic Basketball team, Mr. Bantom currently serves as the NBA’s Senior Vice-President of Player Development.

4. Fred K. Bruney was an All-American football player at Ohio State under the legendary Woody Hayes, and an All-Pro defensive back in the NFL.  The inventor of the safety blitz, Mr. Bruney followed his successful career as a player with a 30-year career as an acclaimed NFL defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

5. President George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States, serving from 1988 - 1992.

6. The Honorable Harry L. Carrico is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the longest serving Justice in the Court’s history.  He retired to Senior Justice status in 2003, and currently serves both as Senior Justice on the Court and as the Visiting Professor of Law and Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond. 

7. Adam Cristman is a professional soccer player who currently plays for the Kansas City Wizards. Adam was drafted out of college by MLS perennial powerhouse, the New England Revolution and went on to become one of the break-out stars of the 2007 season and was one of three finalists for Rookie of the Year.  A commanding presence on the field, Adam devotes his free time off the field to youth and children’s charities.

8. Commander Paul E. Galanti, USN (Ret.) was a prisoner of war for nearly seven years in North Vietnam's infamous Hanoi Hilton complex. He the recipient of numerous military awards, has appeared on the covers of both Life and Newsweek, and has been featured in Time magazine as well as various Discovery Channel documentaries.  He served as the Virginia Chair during the 2000 Presidential bid of his friend and fellow POW, Senator John McCain, and was actively involved in Senator McCain’s 2008 run for the Presidency.     

9. Matt Hasselbeck is the starting quarterback for the NFL Seattle Seahawks.  In addition to a Super Bowl appearance in 2005, Matt has led his team to four consecutive division titles and 5 consecutive play-off appearances.  He has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times, was named All Pro in 2005, and holds the title as the all-time, highest-rated passer ever to play for the Seahawks franchise.

10. Will Heller is a remarkable young football player whose path to the NFL was paved with perseverance, grit and determination.  A walk-on player in college, Will was passed over in the draft his senior year.  Instead of calling it quits, he hit the road as a free agent and, eventually, signed on to play for Tampa Bay.  He was bounced back and forth between Tampa Bay and Miami for two years before being traded to the Seahawks, where it appears he has finally found a permanent home and is beginning to make his mark as a play-making tight end.

11. General Ronald L. Johnson, USA (Ret.) is a retired two-star General formerly in charge of $18 billion worth of rebuilding in Iraq.  He currently serves as the Senior Vice-President of Referee Operations for the NBA, a position created in the wake of the referee betting scandal. 

12. Father Hector LaChapelle  is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Order of the Missionaries of La Salette.  He has held posts throughout the country and has traveled extensively throughout France, Italy, Israel and Egypt, teaching and promoting interfaith understanding.   He served as Chaplain to the Minnesota Vikings from 1984 to 1990. 

13. Kenny Leon is a highly acclaimed director, producer and actor whose experience covers the spectrum of television, stage and film.  His Broadway productions include the Tony-Award nominated Gem of the Ocean and the Tony Award-winning revival of A Raisin in the Sun.  Mr. Leon directed an all-star cast in the critically-acclaimed film-version of Raisin in the Sun that aired on ABC in February 2008.

14. Howard “Rusty” Petrea, USN (Ret.) is a retired military officer who put his dream of building his own golf course on hold to serve the at-risk youth of Brunswick County, North Carolina.  He is the founder of the First Tee of Brunswick County, one of the fastest growing and most successful First Tee programs in the country. 

15. Tim Reid is an accomplished actor, writer, director, producer and the co-founder of New Millennium Studios.  Best known for his role as Venus Flytrap on the long-running series WKRP in Cincinnati, Tim has written, starred in and produced several acclaimed series including Snoops, Linc’s, and Frank’s Place, for which he was honored with an NAACP Image Award in 1990.  Recently, he enjoyed recurring roles on the series Sister, Sister and That 70’s Show.  In addition to his work in front of the camera, Tim has developed an impressive body of work as a director and producer of film and television programs that address important social issues through authentic portrayals of the broader African-American experience.
 
16. Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.), a recipient of the Navy Cross, among numerous other wartime decorations, is one of the greatest war heroes in United States Marine Corps history.  His extraordinary valor in destroying the Dong Ha Bridge during the 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Invasion is memorialized in the book, The Bridge at Dong Ha, and in a large diorama at the United States Naval Academy’s Memorial Hall.  In 2002, he became the first Marine officer to receive the Academy’s “Distinguished Graduate Award.”  In July 2006, the Naval Academy Prep School at Newport, Rhode Island named its newest building “Ripley Hall,” in his honor.

17. Professor Roger A. Schmitz, Ph.D.  is the former Vice-President and Associate Provost of the University of Notre Dame, a position he held for more than a decade. He is the recipient of countless awards and honors and currently serves as Notre Dame’s Keating-Crawford Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering.

18.  Tim Seibles is the author of six collections of poetry, including Buffalo Head Solos, Hammerlock, Body Moves, Hurdy-Gurdy, and the chapbooks Kerosene and Ten Miles An Hour. A former NEA fellow, he received an Open Voice Award from the 63rd Street Y in New York City and was a finalist in the Third Annual Library of Virginia Book Award for Poetry.  He currently teaches in Old Dominion University's English Department and Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program.
 
19. Tavis Smiley is a nationally recognized television and radio personality, best-selling author, and sought-after motivational speaker.  He was selected by Time magazine as one of America's 50 most promising young leaders.  Newsweek dubbed him one of the nation’s “captains of the airwaves” and profiled him as one of the "20 people changing how Americans get their news."   With his late-night television talk show, "Tavis Smiley" on PBS, and his radio show "The Tavis Smiley Show" on PRI, Smiley is the first American ever to simultaneously host signature talk shows on both public television and public radio.  He is also the founder of The Tavis Smiley Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enlighten, encourage and empower Black youth.

20. Kevin Smith has been a youth counselor for more than 16 years working with young men and women who have not experienced personal, academic, and social success.  A sought-after speaker, Mr. Smith has written and produced five anti-gang, pro-school videos, appeared on local television programs, and speaks regularly at youth retreats and public and private schools. 

21. Admiral Leighton W. Smith, Jr., USN (Ret.) is a retired four-star U.S. Navy Admiral, the former Commander NATO Implementation Force (IFOR), Bosnia, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe and Commander US Naval Forces Europe.  In 1997, he was made an honorary knight of the British Empire in a private audience with Her Majesty the Queen.  In 2004 he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, where he served a three year term as Vice Chairman.  And, in 2007, he was honored by the United States Naval Academy with the receipt of its highest honor, the “Distinguished Graduate Award.”

22. Dr. Christopher E. Tubbs, Ph.D. is a biochemist living and working in Pearland, Texas. He holds a bachelor of science degree from North Carolina Central University where he graduated Cum Laude, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University.  He currently works with Intermune, Inc. as a medical science liaison in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.  He is also founder and senior partner of T-Squared Global, Inc., a real estate investing company that serves the housing needs of the greater Houston marketplace.

23. The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder is the grandson of slaves and the first African American in United States’ history to be elected Governor of a state (Virginia).  The recipient of more than three dozen honorary degrees, he currently serves as a Distinguished Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

24. Dominique Wilkins, a true marquee player during his years in the NBA, earned the nickname "Human Highlight Film" with a plethora of spectacular individual plays.  A member of the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1983, the high-flying 6’8” forward was named to seven All-NBA teams, nine consecutive All-Star squads and is a two-time winner of the NBA Slam-Dunk Championship. One of only 12 players to score over 25,000 points in his NBA career, Wilkins retired in 1999 ranked seventh on the all-time scoring list with 26,534 points and 10th in career scoring average at 25.3 points per game.

25. Kevin Willis is a 7-foot former basketball player in the NBA at the center and power forward positions.  A first-round draft pick in 1984, Kevin made numerous play-off appearances with the Atlanta Hawks and was an integral member of the Spurs 2003 NBA Championship team.  He is one of 15 players in NBA history with over 16,000 career points and 11,000 career rebounds. In 2007, Kevin signed on to play for the Dallas Mavericks, a move which accorded him the distinction of being the oldest active player in the NBA and the second oldest in NBA history. 

26. Ambassador Andrew J. Young, Jr.is an ordained minister and Civil Rights icon.  A fixture of the Civil Rights movement alongside his good friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ambassador Young was appointed to serve as the executive director of Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1964.  He continued to serve the organization until 1970.  He has since served as a representative to the United States Congress (3 terms), Mayor of Atlanta (2 terms), and as the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations.  Ambassador Young currently serves as co-chairman of GoodWorks International in Atlanta.