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This is an incomplete list of notable people associated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States of America. Bill Gates noted in a February 2004 speech that Microsoft hires more alumni of the university than from any other university in the world [1]. Notable people associated with the U of I have founded Oracle Corporation, Playboy, Netscape, PayPal, YouTube, AMD, and Siebel Systems. Notable people have invented the LED, integrated circuit, transistor, MRI, and the plasma screen.

Contents 1 Notable faculty 2 Notable alumni 2.1 Nobel Prize winners 2.2 Pulitzer Prize winners 2.3 Academia 2.4 Artists and Architects 2.5 Astronauts 2.6 Business 2.7 Literature, media, and entertainment 2.8 Military 2.9 Politics 2.10 Science and mathematics 2.11 Sports and athletics 2.12 Technology and innovation 2.13 References

• John Bardeen, 1951-1991 — Awarded Nobel prizes for Physics in 1953 for co-inventing the transistor and again in 1972 for work on superconductivity (one of the only 4 people in the world to win multiple Nobel Prizes)
• Ira Carmen, 1968-present — First political scientist elected to the Human Genome Organization and co-founder of the social science subdiscipline of genetics and politics.
• Elias James (E.J.) Corey, 1951-59 — Nobel laureate (Chemistry, 1990)
• Ron Dewar - Music educator, noted jazz saxophonist, leader of influential Memphis Nighthawks
• David Gottlieb, 1946-1982 - discovered chloramphenicol, Guggenheim Fellow, Biology-Plant Science, 1963;
• Nick Holonyak Jr. — Lemelson-MIT Prize (2004), National Medal of Technology (2002), National Medal of Science (1990); credited for the invention of the LED and the first semiconductor laser to operate in the visible spectrum
• Paul Lauterbur, 1985- — Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 2003)
• Anthony J. Leggett, 1938- — Nobel laureate (Physics, 2003)
• Salvador Luria, 1950-59 — Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1969)
• Rudolph Marcus, 1964-68 — Nobel laureate (Chemistry, 1992)
• Franco Modigliani, 1948-1952 — Nobel laureate (Economics, 1985)
• Abram L. Sachar, 1923-1948 — Founding president of Brandeis University
• Paul Saylor, 1967-2002, Emeritus Professor of Computer Science.
• Fred W. Tanner, 1923-56 - Food microbiologist, charter member of the Institute of Food Technologists, and founder of scientific journal Food Research (now the Journal of Food Science).
• Brian Wansink, 1997-2005 — Julian Simon professor and author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
• Carl Woese — Crafoord Prize recipient (Bioscience, 2003); professor of microbiology, foreign member of the Royal Society

Not all listed alumni graduated from the University, and are so noted if the information is known.

• Edward Doisy, B.S. 1914, M.S. 1916 — Physiology or Medicine, 1943
• Vincent Du Vigneaud, B.S. 1923, M.S. 1924 — Chemistry, 1955; also served as faculty member
• Robert W. Holley, B.A. 1942 — Physiology or Medicine, 1968
• Jack Kilby, B.S. 1947 — Physics, 2000; inventor of the integrated circuit
• Edwin G. Krebs, B.A. 1940 — Physiology or Medicine, 1992
• Polykarp Kusch, M.S. 1933, Ph.D. 1936 — Physics, 1955
• John Schrieffer, M.S. 1954, Ph.D. 1957 — Physics, 1972; also served as faculty member
• Phillip Sharp, Ph.D. 1969 — Chemistry, 1993
• Wendell Stanley, M.S. 1927, PhD. 1929 — Chemistry 1946
• Rosalyn Yalow, M.S. 1942, Ph.D. 1945 — Physiology or Medicine, 1977

• Barry Bearak, M.S. 1974 — International Reporting, 2002
• Michael Colgrass, B.A. 1956 — Music, 1978
• George Crumb, M.A. 1952 — Music, 1968
• David Herbert Donald, M.A. 1942, Ph.D. 1946 — Biography, 1961 and 1988
• Roger Ebert, B.S. 1964 — Criticism, 1975
• Roy J. Harris, B.A. 1925 — Public Service, 1950
• Hugh F. Hough, B.S. 1951 — Local General Spot News Reporting, 1974
• Paul Ingrassia, B.S. 1972 — Beat Reporting, 1993
• Monroe Karmin, B.S. 1950 — National Reporting, 1967
• Allan Nevins, B.A. 1912, M.A. 1913 — Biography, 1933 and 1937
• James Reston, B.S. 1932 — National Reporting, 1945 and 1957
• Robert Lewis Taylor, B.A. 1933 — Fiction, 1959
• George Thiem, B.S. 1921 — Public Service, 1950
• Carl Van Doren, B.A. 1907 — Biography, 1939
• Mark Van Doren, B.A. 1914 — Poetry, 1940
• Abe Zaidan, B.S. 1953 — Local Reporting, 1971

• Warren Ambrose, B.S. 1935, M.S. 1936, Ph.D. 1939 - Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the University of Buenos Aires.
• Lois B. DeFleur - President, Binghamton University
• Philip Handler, Ph.D. 1939 — President, National Academy of Sciences
• Steven B. Sample, B.S. 1962, M.S. 1963, Ph.D. 1965 — Tenth President, University of Southern California
• James J. Stukel, M.S. 1963, Ph.D. 1968 — Fifteenth President, University of Illinois
• Arnold Weber, A.B. 1950, A.M. 1951 — Fourteenth President, Northwestern University
• John Niland, Ph.D. 1970 - Fourth President, University of New South Wales, Australia

• Max Abramovitz, B.S. 1929 — Architect on many campus and prominent international buildings including the United Nations Building, Assembly Hall (Champaign) and the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City
• Temple Hoyne Buell — Architect for the first American central mall
• Henry Bacon — architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
• Carol Ross Barney, B.Arch. 1971, M.Arch. 1984 — Architect for the new U.S. Federal Building after the Oklahoma City bombing
• Mark Staff Brandl, B.F.A. 1978 — artist, art historian and critic
• Leslie Erganian. — Artist, Writer
• Jeanne Gang, B.S. - Prominent Chicago architect
• Ralph Johnson, B.Arch 1971 — principle architect of the Perkins+Will
• César Pelli, M.Arch. 1954 — Architect for the Petronas Twin Towers
• Nathan Clifford Ricker, D.Arch. 1871 — First architect to receive a degree in Architecture from an American institution
• Deb Sokolow, B.A. 1996 — Artist
• William L. Steele — architect of the Prairie School during the early twentieth century

• Scott Altman, B.S. 1981
• Lee J. Archambault, B.S. 1982, M.S. 1984
• Dale A. Gardner, B.S. 1970
• Steven R. Nagel, B.S. 1969
• Joseph R. Tanner, B.S. 1973

• Nancy Brinker, 1968 — Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure; received the 1995 University of Illinois Alumni Achievement Award [2]
• Jon Burgstone, 1995 — CEO of SupplierMarket
• Jim Cantalupo, 1966 — Chairman and CEO of McDonald's (1991-2004)
• Doris Kelley Christopher, 1967, Founder of Pampered Chef
• Jerry Colangelo, B.S. 1962 — President & CEO of Phoenix Suns and managing general partner of Arizona Diamondbacks
• Jon Corzine, A.B. 1969 — Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (1994-1999), cross listed in Politics section
• Stephen Carley, A.B. circa 1973 - CEO of El Pollo Loco^[1], former president and chief operating officer of Universal City Hollywood^[1]
• Louis K. Eilers, 1929 — Former President and CEO of Eastman Kodak
• George M.C. Fisher, 1962 — CEO of Eastman Kodak
• John Georges, 1951 — CEO of International Paper
• Jim Gillespie, - CEO of Coldwell Banker
• William W. Grainger, — Founder of W.W. Grainger
• Clifford F. Hood, 1915 — Former President of U.S. Steel
• Mannie Jackson, 1960 — Former pro basketball player, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters
• Robert L. Johnson, — Founder of Black Entertainment Television; principal owner of the Charlotte Bobcats
• George Karnes, CEO - Beatrice Food Comp. Fortune 500, Alumnist Award 1989
• Michael P. Krasny, B.S. 1975 — Chairman Emeritus and founder of CDW
• Steven Miller, B.S. 1967 — Chairman, President, & CEO of Shell Oil (1999-2002)
• Tom Murphy, B.S. 1938 — Chairman of General Motors
• Matthew Paull, A.B. 1972, M.A.S. 1975 — CFO of McDonald's
• Ron Popeil, 1957 — Inventor of the Infomercial (left after one year)
• Abe Saperstein, — Creator of the Harlem Globetrotters
• Jack Welch, M.S. 1959, Ph.D. 1961 — CEO of General Electric (1981-2001)
• C. E. Woolman, 1912 — Founder of Delta Air Lines
• Leslie B. Worthington, 1923 — President of U.S. Steel
• John D. Zeglis, B.S. 1969 — Former President of AT&T; Former Chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless

• Nelson Algren, B.S. 1931 — Author of 1950 National Book Award-winning The Man With the Golden Arm
• Barbara Bain, B.S. - Winner of three consecutive Emmy Awards for the role of Cinnamon Carter in Mission: Impossible
• Dee Brown, M.S. 1951 — Author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
• Avery Brundage, B.S. 1909; Olympian, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President (1952-1972)
• John F. Callahan, M.A., Ph.D. — literary executor for the late Ralph Ellison
• Marty Casey, B.A. - Lead vocalist of the band Lovehammers
• John Chancellor, — Political analyst and newscaster for NBC Nightly News
• Dianne Chandler — Playboy Playmate of the Month, 1966
• Iris Chang, B.A. 1989 — Author of The Rape of Nanking
• Roger Ebert, B.S. 1964 — Film critic
• Dave Eggers, attended 1980s and 90s, B.S. 2002 — Author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
• Stanley Elkin, B.A. 1952, Ph.D. 1961 — National Book Critics Circle Award winner for George Mills in 1982 and for Mrs. Ted Bliss in 1995
• Lee Falk, 1932 — Creator of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician
• Judith Ford (Judi Nash), B.S. — Miss America 1969
• Bill Geist, 1968 — CBS News correspondent
• Robert Goralski, 1949 - NBC News correspondent
• Gene Hackman — Actor
• Erika Harold — Miss America 2003
• Hugh Hefner, B.A. 1949 — Founder of Playboy magazine
• Nicole Hollander, B.A. 1960 — Syndicated cartoonist of Sylvia
• Th. Emil Homerin, B.A. 1977, M.A. 1978 — professor, scholar of religion
• Irene Hunt, B.A. 1939 — Newbery Medal winning author of Up a Road Slowly
• Arte Johnson, 1949 — Laugh-In television personality
• Frederick C Klein, B.A. 1959 — sportswriter Wall Street Journal' and author
• Ang Lee, 1980 — Academy Award-winning movie director (Best Director, 2005, Brokeback Mountain)
• Carol Marin, A.B. 1970 — Former news anchor, 60 Minutes correspondent, and Illinois Journalist of the Year (1988)
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, 1980 — Actress
• Donna Mills, — Movie and TV actress
• Bob Nanna — indie rock musician, founder of the bands Friction, Braid (band), Hey Mercedes, and The City on Film
• Robert Novak, B.A. 1952 — Political commentator
• Jerry Orbach, B.A. — Broadway actor, actor in Dirty Dancing, Detective Lennie Briscoe in Law & Order
• Suze Orman, B.A. 1973 — Financial adviser and author
• Peter Palmer — Actor/singer; played "Li'l Abner" on Broadway and film
• Larry Parks, — Academy-Award-nominated actor; blacklisted in Hollywood after testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee
• Henry Petroski — Civil engineer and writer
• Richard Powers, M.A. 1979 — Novelist and writer
• Irna Phillips, 1923 — Creator of the soap opera
• Andy Richter, briefly attended — Actor and former Conan O'Brien sidekick
• Alan Ruck, — Actor (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Star Trek: Generations, Spin City)
• Dan Savage, — Advice columnist (Savage Love) and Theater director
• Gene Shalit, 1949 — Film critic
• Lorado Taft, Sculptor, writer and educator
• Lynne Thigpen, B.A. 1970 — 1997 Tony Award-winning actress
• Jean Thompson, Novelist, prize-winning short story writer
• Kurt Walters, Teacher, Stand-Up Historian.
• Douglas Wilson, — Television personality/designer

• Lew Allen, Jr., M.S. 1952, Ph.D. 1954 — Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
• Archie R. Clemins, B.S. 1966, M.S. 1972 — Admiral, United States Navy; Former Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet
• Alfred G. Harms, B.S. 1971 — Retired Vice-Admiral, United States Navy
• Wilma L. Vaught, B.S. 1952 — Retired Brigadier General, United States Air Force

• John Anderson — Former U.S. Representative and 1980 presidential candidate
• Berhane Abrehe, M.S. 1972 - Third Minister of Finance of Eritrea
• James Brady, 1962 — White House Press Secretary under Ronald Reagan, hand gun control advocate
• Rafael Correa, Ph.D. 2001 — President and Former Secretary (Minister) of Finances of Ecuador.
• Jon Corzine, A.B. 1969 — Governor of New Jersey (2006-present) and U.S. Senator from New Jersey (2001-2006), cross listed in Business section
• Dorothy Day, 1918 — founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
• Alan J. Dixon, B.S. - United States Senator from 1981 until 1993.
• Atef Ebeid, Ph.D. 1962 — Former prime minister of Egypt (1999-2004)
• Tom Fink, J.D. 1952 - Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives (1973), Mayor of Anchorage (1987-1994)
• Chuck Graham, B.S. 1987 - Missouri House of Representatives (1996-2002), Missouri State Senate 2004
• Jesse Jackson — Civil rights leader, presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition -Expelled before graduation.
• Jesse Jackson Jr., J.D. 1993 — U.S. Representative from Illinois (1995-present)
• Victor Kamber, B.S. 1965 - formed The Kamber Group, working for Democratic Party candidates and labor unions
• [[Annette Lu], — Vice-president of the Republic of China (2000-present)
• Lynn Martin, B.A. 1960 — U.S. Representative from Illinois (1981-1991) and Secretary of Labor in the cabinet of George H.W. Bush (1991-1993)
• John W. McDonald, A.B. 1943, J.D. 1946 — United States Ambassador (Retired); career diplomat; co-founder and Chairman of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
• Oran McPherson — Former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and Minister of Public Works for the United Farmers of Alberta government.
• Maxwell Mkwezalamba - Commissioner for Economic Affairs for the African Union Commission
• Fidel V. Ramos, 1951 — Former President of the Philippines (1992-1998)
• Samuel K. Skinner, 1960 — Secretary of Transportation (1989-1991); White House Chief of Staff during the George H. W. Bush Administration (1992)
• Phillips Talbot, B.S. 1936, A.B. 1936 — United States Ambassador to Greece (1965-1969), President of The Asia Society (1970-1981)

• Murray S. Blum — Entomologist, authority on chemical ecology and pheromones
• John Carbon, B.S. 1952 - Biochemist, United States National Academy of Sciences member
• Stephen S. Chang , Ph.D. 1952 - Food scientist, IFT Stephen S. Chang Award for Lipid or Flavor Science
• Karl Clark, Ph.D - discovered the hot water oil separation process
• Cutler J. Cleveland, Ph.D - Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Energy and the Encyclopedia of Earth.
• Ronald Cohn, B.S. 1965, M.S. 1967, Ph.D. 1971 — Researcher and cameraman who helped document Koko, the mountain gorilla
• Alfred Y. Cho, B.S. 1960, M.S. 1961, Ph.D. 1968 — Father of molecular beam epitaxy; received the National Medal of Science in 1993
• Gene H. Golub, B.S. 1953, M.A. 1954, Ph.D. 1959 - B. Bolzano Gold Medal for Merits in the Field of Mathematical Sciences
• Richard Hamming, Ph.D. 1942 — mathematician, who developed Hamming code and Hamming distance, winner of 1968 ACM Turing Award. IEEE's Richard W. Hamming Medal is named after him.
• Donald G. Higman, Ph.D. 1952 - mathematician, discovered the Higman–Sims group
• Donald Johanson, B.S. 1966 — Anthropologist, discoverer of oldest known hominid, "Lucy"
• Michael Lacey, Ph.D. 1987 - Awarded the Salem Prize for solving conjectures about the Bilinear Hilbert Transform
• Francine Patterson, B.S. 1970 — Researcher who taught a modified version of American Sign Language to a mountain gorilla named Koko
• Allan Sandage, B.S., 1948 — Influential astronomer and cosmologist; winner of 1991 Crafoord Prize
• Charles W. Woodworth, B.S. 1885, M.S. 1886 — Founder of the Division of Entomology, University of California, Berkeley; the PBESA gives the C. W. Woodworth Award
• Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, Ph.D. 1975 — computer scientist, winner of 2000 ACM Turing Award

• Ron Guenther, B.S. 1967, M.S. 1968 - Director of Athletics, hired coaches Ron Zook and Bruce Weber for football and basketball
• Chester Pittser, B.S. 1924 - Miami University football and basketball coach (1924-1931), Montclair State College football, basketball and baseball coach (1934-1943)

Basketball

• Nick Anderson, former National Basketball Association player, Orlando Magic's career scoring leader
• James Augustine, National Basketball Association player, forward for the Orlando Magic
• Dee Brown, National Basketball Association player, guard for the Utah Jazz
• Brian Cook, National Basketball Association player, forward for the Los Angeles Lakers
• Kendall Gill, former National Basketball Association player
• Luther Head, National Basketball Association player, guard for the Houston Rockets
• Roger Powell, National Basketball Association player, currently a free agent
• Deron Williams, National Basketball Association player, guard for the Utah Jazz

Baseball

• Jason Anderson, Major League Baseball player for the Chicago Cubs
• Fred Beebe, late Major League Baseball player
• Lou Boudreau, late Major League Baseball player; member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Mark Dalesandro, former Major League Baseball catcher and third baseman
• Darrin Fletcher, former Major League Baseball catcher
• Tom Haller, former Major League Baseball catcher
• Ken Holtzman, former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Israel Baseball League manager
• Scott Spiezio, Major League Baseball infielder and former World Series Champion (2002) (2006/St. Louis Cardinals)

Football

• Dick Butkus, National Football League linebacker; member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Luke Butkus, National Football League coach, Offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears, nephew of Dick Butkus
• Danny Clark, National Football League player, linebacker for the New Orleans Saints
• Jameel Cook, National Football League player, fullback for the Houston Texans
• David Diehl, National Football League player, offensive guard for the New York Giants
• Moe Gardner, former National Football League player, defensive line for the Atlanta Falcons
• Red Grange, charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• George Halas, former National Football League coach for the Chicago Bears; charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Kelvin Hayden, National Football League player, cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts
• Greg Lewis, National Football League player, wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles
• Brandon Lloyd, National Football League player, wide receiver for the Washington Redskins
• Aaron Moorehead, National Football League player, wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts
• Tony Pashos, National Football League player, offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens
• Neil Rackers, National Football League player, kicker for the Arizona Cardinals
• Simeon Rice, National Football League player, defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Steve Weatherford, National Football League player, punter for the New Orleans Saints
• Eugene Wilson, National Football League player, defensive back for the New England Patriots

Golf

• Steve Stricker, Professional golfer
• Daniel Worst, Won Masters in 1981

Olympics

• Daniel Kinsey, gold medal in men's 110 m hurdles, 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris
• Herb McKenley, silver medal in 400m, 1948 Summer Olympics in London; silver medal in 100m and 400m, gold medal in 4x400m relay, 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki

• Shoaib Abbasi, B.S. 1980, M.S. 1980 — President and CEO of Informatica
• Marc Andreessen, B.S. 1993 — Co-creator of Mosaic, and later co-founder of Netscape
• Bruce Artwick, M.S. 1976 — Creator of Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Ken Batcher, Ph.D. 1969 - ACM/IEEE Eckert-Mauchly Award winner for work on parallel computers
• Arnold O. Beckman, B.S. 1922, MS 1923 — Inventor of pH meter, founder of Beckman Instruments; major donor to U of I, the Beckman Institute and Beckman Quadrangle are named after him
• Eric Bina, B.S. 1986, M.S. 1988 — Co-creator of the Mosaic and among the first employees of Netscape
• Donald L. Bitzer — 2003 Emmy Award in Technical Achievement for the invention of the plasma display
• Ed Boon, B.S. 1986 — Creator of the Mortal Kombat video game
• John E. Bourgoin, B.S. 1968 - Chairman, president, and CEO of MIPS Technologies
• Jon Burgstone, B.S. 1995 — CEO of SupplierMarket and Faculty Chair of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology
• Steve Chen — Co-founder of YouTube
• Steve Dorner, B.S. 1983 — Creator of Eudora
• Alan M. Davis, M.S. 1973, Ph.D. 1975 — IEEE Fellow for contributions to software engineering, author, entrepreneur
• James DeLaurier, B.S. - designed the first microwave-powered aircraft, the first engine-powered ornithopter, and the first human-carrying ornithopter
• Lawrence Ellison — founder of Oracle Corporation (left after sophomore year)
• Sam Glassenberg, B.S. 2002 — 2006 Emmy Award winner for his work on DirectX
• Michael Hart, B.A. 1973 — Founder of Project Gutenberg
• Jawed Karim, B.S. 2004 — Co-founder of YouTube
• Fazlur Khan, Ph.D. 1955 — Designer and builder of the Sears Tower, tallest building in the world when it was built in 1973
• Ed Krol - author of Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog
• Max Levchin, B.S. 1997 — Co-founder of PayPal
• Robert McCool, B.S. 1995 - author of the original NCSA HTTPd web server, later known as the Apache HTTP Server.
• Bob Miner, B.A. (mathematics) 1963 — Co-founder of Oracle Corporation
• Ray Ozzie, B.S. 1979 — Creator of Lotus Notes cofounder of Lotus, co-President of Microsoft
• Thomas Ptak, B.S. 1975 - Creator of Jet Fighter
• Jerry Sanders, B.S. 1958 — Co-founder and former CEO of Advanced Micro Devices
• Thomas Siebel, B.A. 1975, M.B.A. 1983, M.S. 1985 — Founder of Siebel Systems
• H. Gene Slottow — 2003 Emmy Award in Technical Achievement for the invention of the plasma display
• Bill Stumpf — Designer of the Aeron and Ergon ergonomic chairs