K.S. “Boots” Adams, ’21
Former president and CEO of Phillips 66 Petroleum Co.
Adams Alumni Center, of which he was a major donor, is named for him
Forrest C. “Phog” Allen
“Father of Basketball Coaching,” KU coach (1919-56, national championships 1921, 1922, 1952)
Creator of NCAA basketball tournament, coached by James Naismith at KU
John Allen, Jr., g’92,
Senior Vatican analyst, CNN; senior correspondent, National Catholic Reporter
Master Sgt. Gerry Amoury, d’86
U.S. Army
Sheila Bair, c’75, l’78
Chairwoman, FDIC (2006-11); recipient, Honorary Degree, 2012
Scott Bakula, ’79
Actor (TV’s “Quantum Leap,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “NCIS: New Orleans”)
Etta Moten Barnett, f’31
Actress and singer, first African-American woman to entertain at the White House
David G. Booth, c’68, c’69
Co-founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors; owner of James Naismith’s original 13 rules of basketball
General Charles “Chuck” Boyd, USAF, c’75, g’76
Deputy Commander US European Command, Vietnam Prisoner of War from 1966 to 1973; recipient of Air Force Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Bradley Brooks, j’98
Brazil Bureau Chief, the Associated Press
George L. Brown, j’50
First African-American elected lieutenant governor in the U.S. (1974)
First African-American elected to statewide office in Colorado
Anand Burman, g’77, g’81, g’81
Chairman, Dabur India
Cynthia Carroll, g’82
Former CEO of Anglo-American
Mary Carter, j’86
Pulitzer Prize winning-journalist
Wilt Chamberlain, ’59
NBA superstar (1959-73), Philadelphia/San Franciso Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers
Michael Chavez, g’02
Artist
Leonard W. Clark, Jr., l’73
Attorney
Marla Younge Clark, e’88
Director of quality assurance, Nike IHM
Rich Clarkson, j’55
Photographer
Evan S. Connell, c’47
Novelist and poet
Linda Zarda Cook, e’80
Former executive director of Shell Gas & Power and CEO of Shell Canada
Jon Cornish, c’07
Professional football player, Canadian Football League
Dale R. Corson, g’35
President, Cornell University (1969-77), physicist who discovered basic element astatine (AT)
Sarah Deer, c’96, l’99
Professor in the Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and the School of Public Affairs & Administration in the KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; 2017 KU Women’s Hall of Fame inductee; and MacArthur Fellowship recipient
Bob Dole, ’45
Kansas senator (1966-96), U.S. Senate majority leader, presidential and vice presidential nominee
Honorary Degree, 2012
Bob Dotson, j’68
Award-winning NBC News correspondent and author
Robert Eaton, e’63
Former CEO of Chrysler Corp.
Joe Engle, e’55
Former NASA astronaut, Enterprise and Columbia shuttle commander
Terry Evans, f’68
Award-winning photographer, Honorary Degree, 2016
Paul R. Ehrlich, g’55, g’57
Environmental scientists, population expert, author and MacArthur Fellow
Ronald Evans, e’55
Former NASA astronat, pilot fo Apollo 17 moon mission
Bill Farmer, j’75
Voice actor, voice of Disney’s Goofy; Loony Toons’ Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn
Patricia Weems Gaston, j’81
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Sam Gilliland
Former Chairman and CEO of Sabre Holdings, owner of Travelocity
Nikki Glaser, c’06
Comedian
James E. Gunn, j’47, g’51
Educator and professor of English at KU, science fiction writer, scholar and anthologist
Hugo Award, 1983; Grand Master, 2007; inducted into Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, 2015
Moses Gunn, g’89
Stage and film actor, winner Obie Award (Heartbreak Ridge, Roots)
Benjamin D. Hall, c’54
Genetic scientist who co-developed a vaccine for hepatitis B
Ann Hamilton, f’79
Sculptor, installation artist and MacArthur Fellow
Steve Hawley, c’73
Former NASA astronaut, shuttle mission specialist
Erasmus Haworth
KU professor of geology (1892-1920); founder of Kansas Geological Survey (1894)
Daphne Hearn, b’87
Former FBI special agent
Kevin Helliker, c’82
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
David Hillis, g’83, g’86, g’86
Evolutionary biologist and MacArthur Fellow (1999)
Ada Sue Hinshaw, n’61
First director of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health, Honorary Degree, 2015
Dave Hunke, j’74
Chairman, president and publisher, USA Today (2009-12)
William Inge, c’35
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Oscar Award-winning screenwriter
Wes Jackson, g’60
Founder, the Land Institute, MacArthur Fellow, Honorary Degree, 2013
Bill James, c’73, d’75
Baseball sabermetrician and historian (Bill James Baseball Abstracts)
Don Johnson, ’71
Actor, singer, producer
Lt. Gen. William K. “Willie K” Jones, USMC, c’37
Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, Veteran of World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Recipient of Navy Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Tom Kane, c’85
Voice actor
Nancy Landon Kassebaum, c’54
First female U.S. senator (1979-97) elected in own right without having been preceded in office by her husband
Kenton W. Keith, c’61
U.S. ambassador of Quatar, 1992-95
Clarence Kelley, c’36
FBI director (1973-78)
Bill Kurtis, j’62
Journalist, TV producer and anchor
Alf Landon
26th Kansas Governor (1933-37); 1936 Republican presidential nominee
Neil LaBute, g’89
Film director, screenwriter, playwright
Anne Levinson, c’80
Former co-owner of WNBA team (Seattle Storm)
Delano Lewis, c’60
NPR CEO (1992-98); ambassador to South Africa (1999-2001)
Clyde Lovellette, ’53
Member, 1952 NCAA championship basketball team
First player in history to be a member of NCAA, Olympic and NBA championship team
Deane W. Malott, c’21
Eighth chancellor of KU, president of Cornell University
Curtis Marsh, j’92
Director of KU Info and the DeBruce Center, home of the “Rules of Basket Ball”
David McClain, c’68
President emeritus, University of Hawaii (2004-09)
Brian McClendon, e’86
Co-founder, Google Earth, and senior executive at Uber; now a KU research professor, Honorary Degree, 2016
Elmer V. McCollum
Biochemist and nutritionist, discovered vitamins A, B and D
Johnny McGuire, j’11
Musician
John B. McLendon Jr., d’36
First African-American basketball coach at predominantly white university (Cleveland State)
First African-American head coach in professional sports (Cleveland Pipers)
William McNulty, c’01
Iraq War veteran, co-founder of Team Rubicon, Honorary Degree, 2017
Kurt Messersmith, j’89
Executive producer
Billy Mills, g’62
Only American athlete to win the Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters (1964)
Lou Montulli, ’94
Co-founder of Netscape; co-authored Lynx text web browser while at KU
Creator of HTTP cookies, the blink tag, server push and client pull, and HTTP proxying
Capt. Thomas Morrow, c’06
Distinguished Marine, won highest honor awarded to Marines, the Leftwich Trophy (2016)
Alan Mulally, e’68, g’69
Former President and CEO of Ford Motor Co.; Honorary Degree, 2012
Janet Murguia, c’82, j’82, l’85
President, National Council of La Raza, largest U.S. Hispanic organization
Franklin W. Murphy, c’36
Ninth chancellor of KU, Chancellor of UCLA
James Naismith
Educator, physician, sports coach and innovator
Invented game of basketball (1891), wrote original rules, founded KU Basketball program
Colleen McCain Nelson, j’97
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
Chester Nez, ’53
One of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers
Loral O’Hara, e’06
Member of 2017 class of NASA Astronauts
Al Oerter, ’58
Olympian (discus throw), world record holder
Sara Paretsky, c’67
Mystery Novelist, Honorary Degree, 2015
Mandy Patinkin, ’74
Actor, singer
Brooks Perry, d’10
Educator
Artur Pizarro
Concert pianist
T.J. Pugh, c’99
Former KU basketball player; Radiation oncologist
Jennifer Ford Reedy, c’95
President of the Bush Foundation
Rob Riggle, c’93
Comedian, actor
Charles “Buddy” Rogers, ’26
Actor, winner of first Academy Award for “Wings”
Daniel Rooney, c’96, g’97
Creator, Folds of Honor Foundation; part-time PGA professional
Paul Rudd, ’92
Actor
Thomas Rudkin, c’73
Co-inventor of PowerPoint
Adolph Rupp, c’23
Basketball coach, University of Kentucky; coached by Forrest C. “Phog” Allen
Jim Ryun, j’70
Olympian (track), world record holder
Former member of U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas
Juan Manuel Santos, b’73
President of Colombia, 2016 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Gale Sayers, d’75, g’77
Football running back (Chicago Bears, 1965-71), member of NFL Hall of Fame
Gerald Seib, j’78
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, executive Washington editor, Wall Street Journal
Douglas Shane, e’83
Pilot, director of flight operators for SpaceShipOne
John Sheaks, b’37, g’43
Entrepreneur
Harry F. Sinclair
Founder, Sinclair Oil
Bruce A. Smith, g’67
CEO of major oil refiner Tesoro (1995-2010)
Dean Smith, d’53
Basketball coach, University of North Carolina (1961-97)
Member of 1952 KU national championship men’s basketball team
Coached by Forrest C. “Phog” Allen
Vernon L. Smith, g’52
Nobel Prize laureate in economics (2002); Honorary Degree, 2014
Capt. Ryan Sparks, c’97
Distinguished marine
Won the highest honor awarded to marines, the Leftwich Trophy (2011)
Marla Spivak, g’89
Scientist, MacArthur Fellow
William Stafford, c’37, g’46
Poet
Oscar S. Stauffer, ’21
Journalist, founder Stauffer Communications
Deanell Reece Tacha, c’68
Retired chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit; dean of law, Pepperdine University
Annie Tedesco, c’01
Actress
Clyde Tombaugh, c’36, g’39
Astronomer, discovered Pluto (1930)
Kari Wahlgren, c’99
Grammy-winning actress
Rod Ward, g’92
Retired lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, and founder of PRAY: Provincial Relief Aid for Yolanda
Tim Weaver, g’97
Member of United States Track and Field coaching staff
T.J. Whatley, c’97
Civil engineer, Olson Associates
Kent Whealy, j’68
Co-founder of the Seed Savers Exchange and MacArthur Fellow recipient
JoJo White, ’69
Basketball player
Kevin Willmott
Educator at KU, film director and screen writer
Lynette Woodard, c’81
All-time leading scorer in KU basketball, first female Harlem Globetrotter, now women’s basketball coach, Winthrop University
Gary Woodland, c’07
Professional golfer
