Talking Points

Household name alumni

Scott Altman
NASA Astronaut
College of Engineering, 1981
Marc Andreessen
Founder of Mosaic and Netscape
College of Engineering, 1994
Daniel Balz
Political correspondent for the Washington Post
College of Media, 1968
Arnold Beckman
Developed the ph meter and other scientific instruments; donated with his wife Mabel $40 million to build the Beckman Institute
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1922; College of Engineering, 1923
Eric Bina
One of the original authors of Mosaic
College of Engineering, 1986; 1988
Donald Bitzer
Received a Scientific and Technological Emmy Award for inventing the flat-panel plasma screen
College of Engineering, 1955; 1956; 1960
James Brady
Created a bill that called for a seven day waiting period on the purchase of handguns
College of Communication, 1962
Dee Brown
Writer of “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1951
Hal Bruno
ABC News, retired
College of Media, 1950
Jon Burgstone
CEO and co-founder of Supplier Market, a business-to-business software company
College of Engineering, 1995
Dick Butkus
NFL’s football hall of fame
College of Applied Life Studies, 1965
James Cantalupo
Chairman and CEO of McDonalds Corp. International
Certificate in Business Administration, 1966
Wallace Hume Carothers
Invented nylon
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1921-24
Doris Kelley Christopher
Founder of Pampered Chef
College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, 1967
James Clayton
Editor of the Washington Post, retired
College of Media, 1958
Jerry Colangelo
Owner, Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks
College of Applied Life Studies, 1962
Michael Colgrass, Jr.
Composer: 1978 Pulitzer Prize in music
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1954
Arron Contorer
Worked on the development of TelNet, introduced the idea of "shareware"
College of Engineering, 1990; College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1990
Jon Corzine
U.S. Senator
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1969
Andrew Davis
Film director/producer (“The Fugitive”, "Holes", “Under Siege”)
College of Media, 1968
Mary Dempsey
Commissioner, Chicago Public Library
Graduate School of Library & Information Science, 1976
Ken Dilger
Professional football player
Certificate in Business Administration, 1995
Jean Driscoll
Wheelchair Athlete; Eight-time Boston Marathon Winner, Wheelchair Division,
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1991
Roger Ebert
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Film Critic
College of Media, 1964
Lee Falk
Cartoonist (The Phantom; Mandrake the Magician)
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1932
Michael Filerman
TV producer; Creator of “Dallas,” “Knots Landing” and “Falcon Crest”
College of Media, 1960
Eileen Fisher
Owns and operates her own fashion design & retail clothing company out of New York City that bears her name
College of Agriculture, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, 1972
George M.C. Fisher
CEO of Eastman Kodak
College of Engineering, 1962
Rich Frank
Former President of Walt Disney Studios
College of Business, 1965
Dale Gardner
Astronaut
College of Engineering, 1970
The Honorable Rita Garman
Illinois Supreme Court Justice
Certificate in Business Administration, 1965
Bill Geist
Correspondent, CBS Sunday Morning
College of Communication, 1968
John Georges
CEO of International Paper
College of Engineering, 1951
Temple Grandin
Consultant to livestock industry
College of Agriculture, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, 1989
Richard Greenberg
Film maker
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1970; 1972
Howard Griffith
Running Back, Denver Broncos
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1991
Kevin Hardy
Professional football player
Certificate in Business Administration, 1996
Erica Harold
Former Miss America
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 2001
Hugh Heffner
Editor in chief, Playboy Enterprises
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1949
Tomlinson Holman
Creator of the THX Sound System and former technical director of Lucasfilm, received the 2001 Academy Award Certificate for Technical Achievement
College of Media, 1968
Nick Holonyak, Jr.
Recipient of the National Medal of Technology for contributing to the development and commercialization of Lightemitting diode technology
College of Engineering, 1950; 1951; 1954
Dr. Freeman Hrabowski
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1971; College of Education, 1975
Billy Marrow Jackson (deceased)
Painter
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1954
Manny Jackson
Owner of The Harlem Globe Trotters
College of Applied Life Studies, 1960
Jesse Jackson, Jr.
U.S. Congressman
College of Law, 1993
Arte Johnson
"Laugh-in" television personality
College of Communication, 1949
Eddie Johnson
Professional Basketball Player
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1983
Robert Johnson
Founder and CEO of Black Entertainment
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1968
Robert Johnson
First black majority owner of a major league sports team
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1968
Monroe Karmin
Bloomberg Business News, deceased
College of Media, 1950
Jeffrey Katz
Writer, Congressional Quarterly
College of Media, 1978
Charles Keeling
National Medal of Science for the first scientist to confirm the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the burning of fossil fuels
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1948
Katherine Kendall
United Nations Social Affairs Director
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1933
Jack Kilby
Invented the integrated circuit
College of Engineering, 1947
Timothy Krauskopf
Co-founder of Spyglass Inc.
College of Engineering, 1987
Charla Krupp
Editor, Glamour Magazine
College of Communication, 1975
Jennifer Langan
Veterinarian, Brookfield Zoo
College of Veterinarian Medicine, 1996
Ang Lee
Film Director, (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”)
College of Fine and Applied Arts, 1980
Max Levchin
Co-founder and CTO for PayPal, a popular Internet payment service, names one of Technology Reviews top 100 Top Young Innovators
College of Engineering, 1997
Jack Mabley
Newspaper columnist
College of Communication, 1938
J.P. Machado
Professional football player
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1999
Carol Marin
Former news anchor on 60 minutes II,
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1970
Fred Marx
Co-director and editor of "Hoop Dreams"
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences 1978
Nobuko Matsubara
Japan's Ambassador to Italy
Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, 1969
Michael McCool
One of the original authors of Mosaic
College of Engineering, 1995
Edward McMillan
Retired President and CEO of Purina Mills, Inc.
College of Agriculture, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, 1969
Erie Mills
Opera Singer
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1977
Jon Mittelhauser
One of the original authors of Mosaic
College of Engineering, 1992; 1994
John David Mooney
Internationally recognized artist for large scale public sculptures
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1965
Robert Novak
Columnist, Chicago Sun Times; Commentator, CNN
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1952
Suze Orman
Financial advisor
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1977
Francine "Penny" Patterson
Taught Koko the gorilla to communicate through Sign Language
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1970
Gaige Paulsen
Founder and sofware developer, InterCon Systems Corp.
College of Engineering, 1989
Gregg Philbin
Started the popular rock group REO Speedwagon (practiced at the Illinois Street Residence Halls)
College of Media, 1969
Richard Powers
Won the 2002 John Dos Passos Prize for Literature and a Pushcart Prize. The MacArthur Foundation awarded him the "genius award"
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1978; 1980
The Honorable Fidel Ramos
President of the Philippines, 1992-1999
College of Engineering, 1951
Simeon Rice
Professional football player
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1996
Nada Rowand
Actor
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1958
Alan Ruck
Actor
College of Fine & Applied Arts, 1979
Carol Hillsman Sagers
Founder of CHS Marketing Consultants
College of Media, 1979
Steven Sample
President of USC
College of Engineering, 1962; 1963; 1965
Paul Schrage
Marketing star for McDonalds who introduced the Happy Meal
College of Media, 1959
Gene Shalit
Film critic
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1949
Bernard Shaw
CNN America, Inc., retired
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1971
Roger Simon
Syndicated columnist for the Baltimore Sun
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1970
Ralph Snodsmith
TV gardening Guide
College of Agriculture, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, 1963; 1964
Andrew Sorensen
President of the University of South Carolina who has focused his career on health policy, esp. AIDS
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1959
Godfrey Sperling, Jr.
Syndicated colunmist for the Christian Science Monitor
College of Media, 1937
Steve Stricker
Professional golfer
College of Applied Life Studies, 1990
Dennis Swanson
Executive VP and CEO of Viacom Television Stations Group, elected chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
College of Media, 1961; 1966
Joseph Tanner
Astronaut
College of Engineering, 1973
Barbara Ann Teer
Founder and CEO of the National Black Theater
College of Applied Life Studies, 1957
Lynne Thigpen
Actress
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1970
Govoner Vaughn
Harlem Globetrotter Legend
College of Applied Life Studies, 1960
Wilma Vaught, Brigadier General
United States Army
Certificate in Business Administration, 1952
Craig Virgin
Olympic runner
College of Media, 1977
John Welch, Jr.
Former CEO, General Electric
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1959
Grover Whitehurst
Director of the Institute of Education Sciences with the US Department of Education
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 1968; 1970
Christopher Wilson
One of the original authors of Mosaic
College of Engineering, 1992
Gayle Worland
Chicago Tribune
College of Media, 1985
Rosalyn Yalow
Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology in 1977
College of Engineering, 1942; 1945
Timothy Zahn
Writer
College of Engineering, 1975
Sari Zernich
Chef, Charlie Trotter's
College of Agriculture, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, 1991

Talking Points

Household name alumni

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