Alpha Kappa Alpha members live in communities around the globe and are engaged in countless professions. They are fighters for civil and human rights…college presidents, deans, rural and urban teachers…lawyers, judges, high-ranking government officials and legislators…captains of industry and entrepreneurs…poets, musicians, entertainers and artists…engineers, accountants, architects and physicians. They are role models.
Many have made outstanding achievements that set them apart in their communities and careers and make them worthy of recognition with the Sorority's highest honor—honorary membership.
Jane Addams , Founder of Chicago's Hull House
Cecilia Nabrit Adkins , 1st female to oversee the Protestant Church-owned Publishers Association
Cheryl Albury , Magistrate, Bahamas
Joyce London Alexander , 1st Black female Chief Judge of any Massachusetts court; 1st Black female U.S. Magistrate Judge
Ethel Alpenfels , Anthropologist
Elena Diaz-Verson Amos , 1st president of the Latin American Studies Club
Lauren Anderson , 1st African American principal dancer in the Houston Ballet
Marian Anderson , Opera star; concert artist
Maya Angelou , Poet; author; filmmaker
Joan Bernard Armstrong , Appeals judge, New Orleans
Elise McDougald Ayer , Vocational education pioneer
(Dame) Nita Barrow , Barbados U.N. representative
Mary L. Bell , 1st Black radio station owner-operator in Detroit
Keva Marie Bethel , 1st female Principal, College of the Bahamas
Charlotte Hawkins Brown , President of Palmer Memorial Institute; 1st African American appointed to National YWCA Board
Gayleatha B. Brown , U.S. Consul General, Strasbourg, France
Sara N. Brown , Physician; 1st female alumna trustee of Howard University
Dorothy Brunson , 1st African American female to purchase a radio station
Rosetta Burke , 1st female Assistant Adjutant General in New York State and of the Army National Guard
Margaret Burroughs , Principal founder of Chicago's DuSable Museum of African American History
Margaret Busby , UK's 1st Black female book publisher; invested by Queen Elizabeth II into the Order of the British Empire
Bebe Moore Campbell , Author
Johnnie Rebecca Carr , Civil rights activist
Emma C. Chappell , 1st African American female founder of a commercial bank in the U.S.
Suzette Charles , Former Miss America
June Jackson Christmas , Founder Harlem Rehabilitation Center; one of the 1st African American Vassar College graduates
Emma Clarissa Clement , U.S. Mother of the year
Carol Thompson Cole , Several high-ranking positions in the District of Columbia
Olivia Cole , Actress
Cardiss Collins , Illinois Congresswoman
Maude Cuney-Hare , Pianist; lecturer; writer
Anna A. Curry , Librarian; literacy advocate
Julie Dash , Filmmaker; 1st Black female t o have a full-length general theatrical release in the U.S.
Alice Coachman Davis , 1st African American female to win an Olympic gold medal; 1st African American to win a gold medal in track & field
Belva Davis , 1st African American female TV reporter on the West Coast
Annie (Bessie) Delaney , 2nd African American female licensed to practice dentistry in New York having earned a D.D.S.
Sarah (Sadie) Delaney , 1st African American to teach domestic science at the high school level
Suzanne de Passe , Emmy Award-winning producer
Kathryn Dickerson , 1st female to receive Chicago Urban League "Man of the Year" citation
Virginia Foster Durr , Civil rights activist
Edith Finlayson , Nurse; community service civic leader
Ella Fitzgerald , Jazz singer
Valada S. Flewellyn , Poet; author
Vonetta Jeffreys Flowers , 1st African American female to win a Winter Olympics gold medal
Meta Vaux Warrick-Fuller , Artist; sculptor
Bettiann Gardner , 1st African American female part-owner of an NBA team; co-founder, Soft Sheen Products
Antoinette Garnes , Concert singer; musician
Zina Garrison , Olympic gold medalist, tennis
Marilyn Hughes Gatson , Assistant Surgeon General; pediatrician
Marla Gibbs , Actress
Patricia P. Gibson , Businesswoman; 1st female to receive William F. Nabors Marketer of the Year Award
Jan Spivey Gilchrist , Artist; illustrator
Sarah Moore Greene , Educator; activist
Elinor Guggenheimer , City Commissioner; humanitarian; founder of Women's Forum
Ethel H. Hall , VP Alabama State Board of Education
Hazel L. Harrison , Pianist; concert artist
Carmen de Lavallade Holder , Dancer; actress; choreographer
Chamique Holdsclaw , WNBA player
Catherine L. Hughes , CEO/Owner, Radio One
Jane Edna Hunter , Nurse; social advocate; founder-director of Cleveland's Phyllis Wheatley Association & House
Addie D. Waites Hunton , A founder of the National Association of Colored Women
Caterina Jarboro , Opera singer
Mae Jemison , 1st first Black female astronaut
Virginia Johnson , Prima ballerina
Alicia Keys , Grammy Award-winning singer-musician
Ann Sunsteen Kheel , Civic leader; philanthropist
Coretta Scott King , Concert artist; activist
Gladys Knight , Grammy Award-winning singer; actress
Bertina Lampkin , Circuit court judge
Julia Lathrop , 1st Children's Bureau director
Margaret M. Lawrence , Child psychiatrist; psychoanalyst
Wilhelmina Lawrence , A.M.E. Church Women's Missionary Society president
Elma Lewis , Teacher; administrator
Muriel Lyle-Smith , TV producer; granddaughter of founding member Ethel Hedgeman Lyle
Andrea Lyle-Wilson , Writer; manager; granddaughter of founding member Ethel Hedgeman Lyle
Julia Cooper Mack , Senior judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Jewell Jackson McCabe , Businesswoman; founder, National Coalition of 100 Black Women
Enolia P. McMillan , Educator; activist
Delores Parker Morgan , Soloist; pianist
Michelle Miller Morial , Journalist
Jessie Bryant Mosley , Founder-director Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center
Constance Baker Motley , Federal Judge
Nichelle Nichols , Actress; NASA representative
JoMarie Payton Noble , Actress
Jessye Norman , Opera soprano
Edith Mai Padmore , 1st female cabinet member, Republic of Liberia
Vijaya L. Pandit , 1st female & 1st Asian elected President of U.N. General Assembly
Lillian Rogers Parks , White House seamstress; author
Rosa Parks , Mother of the civil rights movement
Mary E. Peabody , Civil & human rights worker
Lois Marion Roselyn Perinchief , 1st female of color in Bermuda to qualify as a horologist
Ernesta Procope , President of 1st Black-owned business on Wall Street
M. Athalie Range , Human Affairs Secretary, Florida
Emma Sarah Ransom , Educator; social worker; activist
Cleo Parker Robinson , Executive Artistic Director, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theater
Eleanor Roosevelt , Humanitarian; former First Lady of the U.S.
Ntozake Shange , Playwright; author
Ruth Simmons , 1st African American to helm one of the Seven Sister colleges
Sheila Makate Sisulu , South African Ambassador to the U.S.
Jada Pinkett Smith , Actress
Edith G. Ssempala , Uganda Ambassador to the U.S.
Alma G. Stallworth , Michigan State representative
Lou Nelle Sutton , Texas State representative
Sylvia Ross Talbot , Vice moderator of World Council of Churches
Marietta Tree , 1st U.S. female ambassador to the U.N.; founder, Harlem's Syndenham Hospital
C. Delores Tucker , Secretary of State, Pennsylvania; 1st Black and 2nd female named to Cabinet-level post in the state
Debbye Turner , Veterinarian; former Miss America
(Madame) Leah Tutu , Director, Domestic Workers' & Employees Project
Jessie L. Vann , Pittsburgh Courier publisher
Iyanla Vanzant , Attorney; author
Laura Wheeling Waring , Artist; painter; writer
Delores D. Wharton , Corporate director; arts advocate
Lynn Whitfield , Emmy Award-winning actress
Jane C. Wright , Surgeon; cancer researcher
