# List of people from Grand Forks, North Dakota

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

## Arts and entertainment

* Liz Anderson (1927–2011), country singer; grew up in Grand Forks
* Lynn Anderson (1947–2015), country singer; born in Grand Forks
* Maxwell Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter, lyricist
* Tom Brosseau, singer and songwriter, folk guitarist
* Tony Fontane, gospel singer
* Joel Harlow, Academy Award-winning makeup effects artist
* Kam Heskin, actress
* Hillary Kempenich, painter and studio artist
* Ezra Kire, guitarist for Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack
* Nicole Linkletter, winner of the 5th Cycle of America's Next Top Model
* Stuart McDonald, former editorial cartoonist, Grand Forks Herald
* Dickie Peterson, founding member of heavy metal rock band Blue Cheer ("Summertime Blues")
* Alan Ritchson, actor, singer, model
* James Rosenquist, artist
* Richard St. Clair, classical composer
* Margaret Strobel, academic
* Corin Tucker, singer songwriter in Sleator-Kinney
* Natalie West, actress, Roseanne

## Business

* Greg Brockman, co-founder, chairman, and President of OpenAI
* Thomas D. Campbell, 1928 Time Magazine "Man of the Year," and largest U.S. farmer at the time
* Ralph Engelstad, Las Vegas casino owner, philanthropist
* Andrew Freeman, invented the block heater; manager of Minnkota Power Cooperative
* Sally J. Smith, president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings

## Law, politics, and government

* Rick Clayburgh, North Dakota Tax Commissioner
* Ronald Davies, federal judge, ordered the integration of Little Rock Central High School
* Jerry Gaetz, North Dakota state senator
* Jon Godfread, North Dakota Insurance Commissioner
* James D. Gronna, North Dakota Secretary of State
* Gary Johnson, state congressman for Wisconsin
* Howard A. Knutson, Minnesota state legislator and lawyer
* Walter Maddock, 15th governor of North Dakota
* Leonard Peltier, American Indian activist; convicted of murder in the deaths of two FBI agents
* Dale V. Sandstrom, justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court
* Arthur G. Sorlie, 14th governor of North Dakota

## Literature and journalism

* James M. Edie, philosopher
* Marilyn Hagerty, author and writer for the Grand Forks Herald
* Al McIntosh, newspaper editor, columns were featured in The War
* Jennie Shortridge, novelist
* Edward Kramer Thompson, editor of Life
* Era Bell Thompson, editor of Ebony
* George H. Walsh, newspaper editor, publisher, founding role with the University of North Dakota
* Walter Wangerin, Jr., author of religious novels and children's books

## Military

* Charles W. Lindberg, Marine, part of the first raising the flag on Iwo Jima

## Science

* Mancur Olson, economist, social scientist

## Sports

* Brooks Bollinger, American football player
* T. J. Frier, American football player
* Andrew Hampsten, champion cyclist
* Virgil Hill, boxer, Olympic silver medalist (1984)
* Ken Hunt, Major League Baseball outfielder
* Tim Johnson, Major League Baseball player and manager
* Tyler Johnson, basketball player with the NBL's Brisbane Bullets
* Jocelyne Lamoureux, women's ice hockey Olympic gold medalist
* Monique Lamoureux, women's ice hockey Olympic gold medalist
* Roger Maris, right fielder with the New York Yankees, hit record-breaking 61 home runs in 1961
* Doug McDermott, basketball player with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs
* Lute Olson, NCAA Champion college basketball coach of Arizona Wildcats
* Tim Olson, baseball player with the Colorado Rockies
* Ryan Potulny, assistant coach for the University of Minnesota men's ice hockey
* Cliff Purpur, first North Dakota native to become an NHL player
* Andy Schneider, defenseman with the Adler Mannheim
* Andrew Towne, member of the team that completed the first human-powered transit of the Drake Passage