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Noted alumni

Delano Lewis

K.S. "Bud" Adams

owner, Tennessee Titans (formerly Houston Oilers)

Sheila Bair

chairwoman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Etta Moten Barnett

actress and singer (first African-American woman to entertain at the White House)

William E. Borah

Influential U.S. senator from Idaho (1906-1940); 1889 graduate sponsored bills establishing labor department, Children's Bureau

George Brown

First African-American elected lieutenant governor in the U.S, (1974) and first African-American elected to statewide office in Colorado

Peter Brown

president, CEO and chairman of AMC Entertainment Inc., North America's second-largest theater chain

Sen. Sam Brownback

Current member of the United States Congress and candidate for 2008 Republican presidential nomination

Cynthia Carroll

CEO of Anglo-American, one of the world's largest mining conglomerates; named 7th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

Wilt Chamberlain

NBA superstar

John E. Christensen

Chancellor, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Linda Zarda Cook

executive director of Shell Gas & Power and former CEO of Shell Canada; named one of the most successful businesswomen in Europe

Dale R. Corson

president, Cornell University (1969-1977), physicist who discovered basic element Astatine (AT)

Jack Del Rio Jr.

head football coach, Jacksonville Jaguars

David Dillon

Chairman and CEO, Kroger Co.

Bob Dole

former U.S. Senate majority leader, presidential and vice-presidential nominee
More info: The Dole Institute of Politics

Bob Dotson

Award-winning NBC News correspondent and author

David Ewing Duncan

award winning science writer, author and commentator

Robert Eaton

former CEO of Chrysler Corp.

Joe Engle

NASA astronaut (see also Ronald E. Evans, Steve Hawley)

Paul Ehrlich

environmental scientist, population expert and author ("The Population Bomb.") Also a MacArthur Fellow recipient

Ronald E. Evans

NASA astronaut (see also Joe Engle, Steve Hawley)

Lorenzo Dow Fuller Jr.

First African-American host on NBC-TV; first African-American to sing with KU symphony.

Moses Gunn

actor ("Heartbreak Ridge," "Roots")

Ann Hamilton

sculptor, installation artist and MacArthur Fellow recipient

Steve Hawley

NASA astronaut (see also Joe Engle, Ronald E. Evans )

Steve Haynes

president, National Newspaper Association

Kevin Helliker

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (see also Gerald Seib, William Allen White)

David Hillis

evolutionary biologist and MacArthur Fellow recipient

Jane Dee Hull

governor of Arizona (KU and Harvard are the only universities with 2 women alumni elected governors, see also Kathleen Sebelius)

William Inge

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright ("Picnic"), Oscar Award-winner for “For Splendor in the Grass”

Wes Jackson

environmental historian; president of The Land Institute, Salina, Kan., a research center on sustainable agriculture; a MacArthur Fellow recipient

Nancy Landon Kassebaum

First female U.S. senator (1979-1997) elected in own right without having been preceded in office by her husband.

Kenton Keith

U.S. ambassador to Quatar, 1992-1995.

Paul Keim

World's leading expert in anthrax DNA fingerprinting

Rick Kellerman

president, American Academy of Family Physicians

Rebecca Kolls

Gardening expert (HGTV's "Rebecca's Garden," ABC's "Good Morning America")

Lee Kyung-sook

president of Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea

Doug Lamborn

U.S. Congressman, 5th District, Colorado.

Neil Lebute

film director/writer (Wicker Man, Nurse Betty, In the Company of Men)

Delano Lewis

former National Public Radio CEO and ambassador to South Africa

Billy Mills

Olympic gold medalist in track (only American to win the 10,000-meters medal)

David McClain

President, University of Hawaii

Brian McClendon

Google Earth director of engineering (that’s why KU is the center of Google Earth)

Elmer McCollum

scientist (discovered vitamins A and D)

Lou Montulli

co-founder of Netscape

Rep. Dennis Moore

Current member of the United States Congress

Rep. Jerry Moran

Current member of the United States Congress

Alan Mulally

president and CEO of the Ford Motor Company

Janet Murguia

president, National Council of La Raza, U.S.' largest constituency-based Hispanic organization

Lawton Nuss, Carol Beier and Eric Rosen

Current Kansas Supreme Court justices

Sara Paretsky

best-selling mystery writer (V.I. Warshawski series)

Mandy Patinkin

actor ("Yentl," "The Princess Bride"; TV's "Chicago Hope")

Artur Pizarro

concert pianist

Dr. William Plested III

president of the American Medical Association

Malcolm S. Robinson

president, National Bar Association

Charles "Buddy" Rogers

Silent screen star whose 1927 movie "Wings" was first to win “best picture” Oscar; married Mary Pickford

Paul Rudd

actor ("Clueless," "Cider House Rules," TV's "Friends")

Roseann Runte

first woman president of Carleton University (Canada). Past president of Old Dominion University.

Adolph Rupp

third winningest men's basketball coach after KU graduate Dean Smith, winning 876 games and four national championships in 41 years at University of Kentucky (His coach at KU was James Naismith)

Jim Ryun

three-time U.S. track Olympian and world-record miler, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Mathana Santiwat

President, Bangkok University in Thailand

Gale Sayers

Famous football player and youngest player in NFL history to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Kathleen Sebelius

governor of Kansas (KU and Harvard are the only universities with 2 women alumni elected governors; see also Jane Dee Hull)

Gerald Seib

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (see also Kevin Helliker, William Allen White)

Douglas Shane

director of flight operations for SpaceShipOne, first private manned space program

Bruce Smith

CEO of major oil refiner Tesoro ($16.6 billion in revenues in 2005)

Dean Smith

NCAA's all-time winningest coach (at University of North Carolina) with 879 games until 2006 when surpassed by Bobby Knight; was member of 1952 KU national championship men's basketball team

Vernon Smith

Nobel Prize laureate in economics

Deanell Reece Tacha

chief judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit

Clyde Tombaugh

astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto

Rosalie Wahl

first woman justice on the Minnesota state Supreme Court

Kent Whealy

founder of the Seed Savers Exchange and a MacArthur Fellow recipient

William Allen White

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author(see also Kevin Helliker, Gerald Seib)

William F. Woo

first Asian-American to be the editor of a major daily American newspaper, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sir Robert Worcester

British political commentator and market research pioneer; also chancellor of the University of Kent (UK)