Editor's note: In honor of the university's centennial year, The Daily News is counting down 100 days to the university's celebration Sept. 6 with 100 of Ball State's most famous traditions and figures. Check back each day to read about Cardinal history.
Stedman Graham, who has built up a long and successful career but is most recognizable for his 32-year partnership with media mogul Oprah Winfrey, graduated from Ball State in 1979 with a master’s degree in education.
Graham hails from Whitesboro, New Jersey. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University in social work before becoming a Cardinal. At 6-feet-6-inches, he was also a forward for the Hardin-Simmons basketball team.
Graham began his career in public relations at B&C Associates, Inc. in the early 1980s. He earned a reputation for representing and supporting Black causes, which led him to work with well-known figures like Maya Angelou and Winnie Mandela.
In 1985, Graham founded the Chicago-based nonprofit Athletes Against Drugs, which has awarded over $1.5 million in college scholarships since its inception. It was this role that brought him to Winfrey, whom he met at a charity event in Chicago in 1986.
The pair began dating soon after and Graham’s career continued to grow. In 1988 he started S. Graham and Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in education and marketing. He has published 11 business and self-help books, including “You Can Make It Happen: A Nine Step Plan for Success” in 1997 and “Identity: Your Passport to Success” in 2012.
Currently, Graham still serves as the CEO of S. Graham and Associates and is well-known for his public speaking engagements and teaching stints at various universities. His personal net worth is estimated at $10 million.
While Winfrey and Graham were engaged in 1992, they opted to forgo traditional marriage and share a “spiritual union” instead. Oprah has since said that their unconventional relationship status has been the key to their decades-long partnership.
“If you ever interviewed [Graham], he would tell you that had we been married, we would not be together today,” she told Access Hollywood in 2013. “Because he’s a traditional man and this is a very untraditional relationship.”
While the couple rarely makes public appearances, Graham was most recently seen supporting Oprah during her acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille award at the 2018 Golden Globes.
Graham most recently returned to Ball State’s campus in Feb. 2015 to speak at an event honoring the life of poet Maya Angelou.
Read more centennial content here.
Contact Carli Scalf with comments at crscalf@bsu.edu or on Twitter @carliscalf18.
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