Notable Alumni
ALUMNI
Notable Alumni
Porter-Gaud is so proud of our alumni, and we have Cyclones all over the world who have achieved remarkable things in their fields. There are some who have reached notable levels in their field and whose names are recognizable by those outside of our school community.
Gen. Charles P. Summerall
1885
A former United States General who fought in World War I and served as Army Chief of Staff between 1926 and 1930. After graduation, he worked as a school teacher for three years.
In 1888, he enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and graduated in June 1892. He was first assigned to the 1st Infantry but transferred to the 5th Artillery in March 1893. On November 21, 1926, Major-General Summerall became Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
He was promoted to General in February 1929. In November 1930, after 38 years of service, he retired from the U.S. Army. In 1931, General Summerall took position as President of The Citadel where he stayed for 22 years, retiring in 1953.
Burnet R. Maybank
1915
A former U.S. Senator and governor of South Carolina, and Mayor of Charleston. Maybank was the direct descendant of six former South Carolinian governors. He was the first governor from Charleston since the Civil War. He received a degree from the College of Charleston. He served in the United States Navy during World War I, and engaged in the cotton export business from 1920 to 1938. Although successful in business, Maybank became captivated by public service. A lifelong Democrat, he entered politics for the first time in 1927, when he was elected to a four-year term as alderman in Charleston. He rose to mayor pro tempore in 1930 and, with the support of prominent businessmen in the city, was elected mayor of Charleston in 1931, serving until 1938.
Maybank became the governor of South Carolina from 1939 to 1941. In January 1941 President Roosevelt appointed Sen. Jim Byrnes to the U.S. Supreme Court. Maybank won a special election to fill Byrnes's Senate seat in September 1941, defeating former governor Olin D. Johnston with 56.6 percent of the vote. In 1942 Maybank was elected to the full six-year term, and in 1948 he was reelected without opposition, and served until his death in 1954. Maybank was a powerful senator. Maybank served as chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency and as co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Defense Production.
As chair of the Subcommittee on Independent Offices, under the Appropriations Committee, Maybank provided critical support to continue the U.S. nuclear weapons program in the early 1950s. He introduced the "Maybank Amendment" which was tacked on to the 1953 Defense Appropriations Bill. The amendment excuses the Department of Defense from targeting a percentage of his expenditures to high unemployment areas. A much more detailed list of the bills and resolutions that Maybank was a a part of is available at this website Burnet Maybank Senatorial Papers. Shortly before his death, he was voted as one of "Fortune Magazine's 20 Most Influential Americans".
Henry J. Brabham
1946
Mr. Brabham is one of the original founder/owners of the East Coast Hockey League of which the Stingrays are now a part of. Each year, the regular season record winner is awarded the Brabham Cup, named in honor of Henry.
Mr. Brabham owns four hockey clubs throughout the east coast, including the Johnstown Chiefs.
Frank W. (Sonny) Seiler
1950
A Savannah, Georgia attorney who was best known as the owner of perhaps the world’s most famous dynasty of bulldogs. Starting in the 1950’s, he and his family cared for and maintained the unbroken line of mascots of the University of Georgia English Bulldogs, known successively as Uga I-VII. Seiler was also known for his legal practice in Georgia. He served as president of the State Bar of Georgia in 1973.
He was featured in the book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, set in Savannah, as the lawyer who defended Jim Williams. Because of his and Uga’s role in the book, Seiler ended up being cast in the film as Judge White and was also cast in two other movies filmed in Savannah, The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Gingerbread Man.
Seiler was a senior partner at Bouhan, Williams, & Levy LLP, one of the most well-known and highly-regarded films in Savannah, Georgia, which was featured prominently in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The firm’s office, the Armstrong House, as well as other locations in Savannah, were also featured in the original 1962 version of the film “Cape Fear” starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum.
Henry N. Parsley
1966
Parsley is the former Episcopal Bishop of Alabama, with his seat at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. He was also Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. In January 2006, Bishop Parsley was nominated for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and came in second in balloting to Katharine Jefferts Schori during voting at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in Columbus, Ohio.
Dr. John B. Buse
1976
Elected President of the American Diabetes Association in 2007. As an endocrinologist, Dr. Buse also serves as Executive Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Director of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. In addition, he is an active clinician with a UNC-based diabetes practice in Chapel Hill. Dr. Buse received his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College and his Medical and Doctoral degrees from Duke University. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Chicago.
Jeffrey S. Kalinsky
1980
Kalinsky earned a degree in communications from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He worked in his family’s Atlanta Bob Ellis shoe store where legend has it he sold his first shoes when he was five years old. Kalinsky was next employed at Bergdorf Goodman and Barney’s before opening a Bob Ellis shoe store with his father. In 1994, he opened Jeffrey Atlanta, a boutique with designer labels and highly personalized service. He was known to fly shoppers to his boutique — “gift with purchase,” he called it — and bring select clients to designer showrooms for custom fittings. He became Nordstrom EVP in 2008, a position in which he has leveraged his formidable designer connections and eye for talent to transform the chain’s reputation from mainstream to fashion-forward. He recently left his role as Chief Creative Officer and Chief Merchant at Theory.
Jeffrey is also founder of Jeffrey Fashion Cares (formerly Shoe Cares), whose annual benefit raises funds for AIDS and breast cancer research.
Captain Anne G. Hammond
1982
CAPT (Ret.) Hammond graduated from Porter-Gaud School in 1982, and entered the U.S. Naval Academy that summer. A member of only the 7thclass of women that had attended the U.S. Naval Academy, she graduated in 1986 with a BS degree in Mathematics and a Commission as Ensign in the U.S. Navy.
Her Navy assignments took her to San Diego, CA; Norfolk, VA; Albuquerque, NM; Monterey, CA; White Sands Missile Range, NM; Carlisle PA; Washington DC; and Annapolis, MD and ranged from leading dynamic organizations with diverse teams to a high-visibility Department of Defense Comprehensive Review Working Group. Over a 25 year career, she became an accomplished senior level manager with extensive human resource management experience.
CAPT (Ret.) Hammond received a MS in Management degree (Financial Management) in 2000 from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA and a MS in Strategic Studies degree in 2003 from the Army War College in Carlisle, PA. Additionally, she completed the Air Force Command and Staff course from the Air War College.
CAPT (Ret.) Hammond's personal awards include: the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), the Navy Commendation Medal (three awards), Army Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal (four awards).
After 25 years of commissioned service, CAPT (Ret.) Hammond retired from the Navy in November 2011 and currently lives in Albuquerque, NM, serving as the Human Resources Officer for the Southwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She is married to William Hammond of Belen, New Mexico, and they have three children: Blair, Meryl, and Will.
Stephen T. Colbert
1982
TV personality, host of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and former host of Comedy Central’s Emmy Award Winning Show, “The Colbert Report.” Following graduation from PG, Stephen went on to study drama at Northwestern and later became part of the renowned Second City improv group in Chicago. He spent 11 years with Second City before moving to New York City to work on Comedy Central’s “Exit 57.” Colbert later worked on “the Dana Carvey Show” and “The Daily Show.”
In 2015, he filled the shoes of David Letterman, and currently is the successful host of "Late Night with Stephen Colbert" on CBS, now the number one late-night show in America.
Mr. Colbert has won numerous Emmy Awards, a Grammy, a Peabody Award, is a New York Times Best Selling author, and was on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 Funniest People.
Stephen resides in New Jersey with his wife Evie, and their three children.
Sallie L. Krawcheck
1983
Financial feminist Sallie Krawcheck is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, an innovative digital investment platform for women. She is the Chair of Ellevate Network, the global professional women’s network, and of the Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Index Fund, which invests in the top-rated companies in the world for advancing women. She also is the best-selling author of “Own It: The Power of Women at Work".
Before becoming an entrepreneur, she was CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, of Smith Barney, of US Trust, of the Citi Private Bank, and of Sanford Bernstein.
During her career, Krawcheck has a history of turning around and growing troubled businesses, eliminating Wall Street conflicts of interest, and advocating a true client-centered business model. Fortune Magazine called her “The Last Honest Analyst” during her tenure at Sanford Bernstein, and noted that hers was the most influential voice for research quality and integrity.
Krawcheck has also been named among the top ten of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People” in business list, as well as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneurs to Watch. She has also been referred to as one of the most successful and influential executives in financial services.
Krawcheck lends her voice regularly as a featured columnist to traditional publications, as well as to social media, where she reaches a network of more than 2,100,000 followers on LinkedIn and 54,000 on Twitter.
A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Krawcheck attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the Morehead Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude in 1987. In 1992, she received a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University.
Time Magazine Links:
- There's an Investing Gap That Costs Women Up to $1 Million. Here's How to Fix It.
- This is How Much Money You Should Have in Savings at Every Age.
- Five Questions You Should Ask Your Financial Advisor.
Shepard Fairey
1988
Shepard Fairey was raised in Charleston, South Carolina. Fairey became obsessed with art in 1984 at the age of 14. At that time he started to place his drawings on skateboards and T-shirts. In 1992, Fairey graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign. His work became more widely known in the 2008 United States Presidential Election, specifically his Barack Obama "HOPE" poster. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Matt Lee and Ted Lee
1987 and 1989
Brothers and co-authors of the Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor. Following graduation from Porter-Gaud School, they both headed to the northeast for school at Harvard and Amherst. Matt and Ted have been featured in “Travel and Leisure" magazine traveling around the country (particularly in the South) sampling true southern cuisine. Matt and Ted split time between New York City and Charleston. If you are a displaced southerner craving boiled peanuts or Duke’s Mayonnaise, check out their mail order business at boiledpeanuts.com.
Katherine (Katie) A. Crouch
1991
Author of the New York Times Bestseller Girls in Trucks. Published in April 2008, this is Katie’s first book and is loosely set in Charleston, SC. Katie studied writing while attending Brown University and later on received her MFA from Columbia University. She followed up Girls in Trucks with her Men and Dogs, Abroad, and a series of novels called The Magnolia League. Katie resides in Vermont with her family and teaches creative writing at Dartmouth College.
Ovie P. Mughelli
1998
Ovie is the first player from Porter-Gaud School drafted in the NFL. Following a standout career at PG where he won many honors including State Player of the Year, he played football at Wake Forest University. Thinking of following in his father’s foot steps after Wake Forest, Ovie contemplated enrolling in medical school until the Wake Forest coaches told him he was getting lots of interest from the NFL and was rated the #1 fullback by USA Today. Ovie was the 134th pick in the 2003 NFL draft by Baltimore Ravens, where he began his career. Ovie was traded to the Atlanta Falcons and played there until his retirement. Ovie is known for his size and speed and became one of the top fullbacks in the NFL, becoming the highest paid fullback in NFL history and making the Pro Bowl. He currently lives in Atlanta.
Khristian (Khris) Middleton
2009
Khris was a star on the basketball court at Porter-Gaud and went on to play at Texas A&M where he made the All Big 12 team and was conference Freshman of the Year. After declaring for the NBA Draft as a junior, he was picked up by the Detroit Pistons. After a successful second season in Detroit, Khris was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. In his second year, he led the team in 3-point percentage and was named on several ESPN watch lists. He signed a new five-year contract in 2019 with the Bucks after becoming a first-time All-Star and leading the Bucks to the conference finals. Khris had his Porter-Gaud jersey (#22) retired in July of 2019.
Admiral Kurt W. Tidd
1974
Adm. Kurt Tidd graduated in 1974 from Porter-Gaud School and was commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1978, with a degree in foreign area studies. Selected in 1984 as an Olmsted Foundation Scholar, Tidd is a French linguist with a master's degree in political science from the University of Bordeaux, France. He also is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and was a Federal Executive fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States.
At sea, he commanded U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet. Afloat, he also commanded Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 8 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), during a combat deployment supporting coalition forces in Operation Enduring Freedom. From 2004 to 2005, he commanded Persian Gulf maritime operations as commander, Middle East Force and commander, Task Force 55. Previous sea duty assignments include: commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 50; commanding officer, USS Arthur W. Radford (DD 968); and executive officer aboard USS Leftwich (DD 984). Tidd was operations officer aboard USS Deyo (DD 989); flag lieutenant to Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8; boilers officer aboard USS America (CV 66); and communications officer and main propulsion assistant on USS Semmes (DDG 18).
Ashore, he served as the 35th assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the joint staff director and vice director for Operations (J3). He spent three years on the National Security Council Staff as director for Strategic Capabilities Policy, and as a director for Combating Terrorism. He was the founding deputy for Operations on the Chief of Naval Operations’ War on Terrorism Operations Planning Group "Deep Blue," established following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He was the assistant chief of staff for Operations (N3) at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet, Manama, Bahrain. At the Pentagon, he was in the Navy Staff Strategy and Policy Division (N51) and was the political-military analyst in the Secretary of the Navy's Office of Program Appraisal. Tidd was the strategic planner on the Chief of Naval Operations' Executive Panel (N-00K), and at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, he was aide to the U.S. representative, NATO Military Committee.
Tidd was awarded the Legion of Honor by the government of France. He also holds various decorations and awards, including two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal and four awards of the Legion of Merit.