# List of people from Columbia, Missouri

This is a list of the people born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the American city of Columbia, Missouri, and its surrounding metropolitan area.

## Attending college in Columbia

Many people have lived in Columbia temporarily, while attending one of the city's institutions of higher education; such people are not included in this list. For lists of people who attended college in Columbia see:
* List of Columbia College alumni
* List of Stephens College alumni
* List of University of Missouri alumni

## A–D

* James William Abert – soldier and explorer
* Thomas M. Allen – clergyman
* Benjamin Anderson – economist
* Gary Anderson – football player
* Judy Baker – politician
* Simon Barrett – filmmaker
* Matt Bartle – politician
* Rob Benedict – actor
* Duane Benton – judge
* Rebecca Blank – educator; U.S. Secretary of Commerce
* Philemon Bliss – judge
* John William Boone – musician
* Stratton D. Brooks – college president
* Fleda Brown – poet
* Jessica Capshaw – actress
* Russ Carnahan – politician
* J'den Cox – Olympic freestyle wrestler
* Kevin Croom – UFC Mixed Martial Artist
* Jack D. Crouch – hotelier
* Derek "Deke" Dickerson – musician

## E–L

* Carl Edwards – retired NASCAR driver
* Jane Froman – singer; actress
* Nicole Galloway – politician
* Chuck Graham – politician
* Ken Griffin – organist
* Eugene Jerome Hainer – Nebraska politician
* Jeff Harris – politician
* William Least Heat-Moon – writer
* Martin Heinrich – U.S. Senator from New Mexico
* Peter Hessler – journalist
* Darwin Hindman – mayor of Columbia (1995–2010)
* Brett James – singer
* William Jewell – educator, second mayor of Columbia
* Leon W. Johnson – Air Force General
* Tyler Johnson – baseball pitcher
* Daniel Webster Jones – Mormon pioneer
* John Carleton Jones – president of the University of Missouri
* Lloyd E. Jones – United States Army major general
* Kraig Kann – golf commentator
* Henry Kirklin – horticulturalist, first black instructor at the University of Missouri
* Walt Koken (born 1946) - claw-hammer banjo player, fiddler, and singer
* Sergei Kopeikin – astrophysicist
* E. Stanley Kroenke – sports mogul
* Ken Lay – chief executive, Enron
* Grace Lee – radio and television personality
* Guy Sumner Lowman, Jr. – linguist

## M–S

* Jeff Maggert – golfer
* Howard Wight Marshall – professor, folk historian, fiddler
* William Rainey Marshall – fifth Governor of Minnesota
* Don Nardo – author
* John Neihardt – poet
* William L. Nelson – politician
* Korla Pandit – musician
* Carlos Pena Jr. – singer
* Jontay Porter – basketball player
* Michael Porter Jr. – basketball player for Denver Nuggets
* James S. Rollins – 19th-century politician
* Jesse M. Roper – 19th-century naval officer
* Charles Griffith Ross – press secretary for U.S. President Harry S. Truman
* Felix Sabates – philanthropist
* Therese Sander – farmer; politician
* Max Schwabe – politician
* Jon Scott – television journalist
* John F. Shafroth – Colorado politician
* Clay Shirky – writer
* Apollo M. O. Smith – aviation executive
* William Smith – actor
* William J. Stone – 28th Governor of Missouri

## T–Z

* Blake Tekotte – baseball player
* Malcolm Thomas – basketball player
* Nischelle Turner – television personality
* Zbylut Twardowski – nephrologist
* Charlie Van Dyke – radio personality
* Andrew VanWyngarden – musician
* James "Bud" Walton – co-founder, Wal-Mart
* Sam Walton – co-founder, Wal-Mart
* Edwin Moss Watson – editor; publisher
* Whitney Wegman-Wood – actress
* Norbert Wiener – mathematician
* Lisa Wilcox – actress
* Roger B. Wilson – 52nd Governor of Missouri