Four of the first presidents of SBC seminaries were graduates of Southern:
- Byron De Ment, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, class of 1900
- Sydnor Stealey, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, class of 1932
- Harold Graves, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, class of 1941
- J. Millard Berquist, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, class of 1942
–From The Tie, Spring 1994.