# List of people from Topeka, Kansas

This is a list of people from Topeka, Kansas.

## Academia

* Warren Faidley (1957- ), meteorologist, storm chaser
* Riley Gardner (1921-2007), psychologist
* Wes Jackson (1936- ), environmentalist, The Land Institute
* Sokoni Karanja (1940- ), child development expert
* G. Warren Nutter (1923-1979), economist
* Ruth Patrick (1907-2013), botanist, limnologist
* Walton T. Roth (1939- ), psychiatrist and psychophysiological researcher
* David Curtis Skaggs, Jr. (1937- ), historian
* John Brooks Slaughter (1934-2023), electrical engineer, National Science Foundation director

## Arts and entertainment
### Film, television, and theatre

* Brandon Adams (1979- ), actor
* Annette Bening (1958- ), actress
* Gregg Binkley (1963- ), actor
* Roscoe Born (1950-2020), actor
* Jack Colvin (1934-2005), actor
* Samuel M. Comer (1893-1974), set decorator
* George Dickerson (1933-2015), actor, poet, writer
* Jayne Houdyshell (1953- ), actress
* Jeff Kready, Broadway actor
* Alix Lapri, actress
* Ted North (1916-1975), actor
* Sheila Ryan (1921-1975), actress
* Travis Schuldt (1974- ), actor
* Lois Smith (1930- ), actress
* Fay Tincher (1884-1983), actress

### Journalism

* Elizabeth Farnsworth (1943- ), broadcaster, filmmaker
* Donald C. Thompson (1885-1947), war photographer, director, producer

### Literature

* Thomas Fox Averill (1949- ), novelist
* Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), poet
* Irene Bennett Brown, American author of children's, young adult and adult fiction
* Jeannette Eyerly (1908-2008), novelist, columnist
* Janet Fox (1940-2009), fantasy and horror writer, poet
* Jane Heap (1883-1964), editor, publisher
* Ben Lerner (1979- ), poet
* Karen Salyer McElmurray (1956- ), essayist, novelist
* Eric McHenry (1972- ), poet
* Frances Clarke Sayers (1897-1989), author, lecturer, librarian
* Ed Skoog (1971- ), poet
* Linda Spalding (1943- ), novelist, editor
* Rex Stout (1886-1975), novelist
* Max Yoho (1934-2017), author
* Kevin Young (1970/1971- ), poet, author, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

### Music

* Phil Ehart (1950-), drummer, founding member of the band Kansas
* Streamline Ewing (1917-2002), jazz trombonist
* Aulsondro "Emcee N.I.C.E." Hamilton, musician, member of KansasCali, known for Crash soundtrack
* Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969), jazz saxophonist
* Dave Hope (1949- ), bass guitarist, former member of Kansas
* Josh Kulick, former heavy metal drummer for Through The Eyes Of The Dead
* Katrina Leskanich (1960- ), singer (Katrina and the Waves)
* Kerry Livgren (1949- ), founding member of the bands Kansas and AD
* Andy McKee (1979- ), musician
* Kirke Mechem (1925- ), composer
* Origin, metal band
* Kliph Scurlock (1973- ), drummer
* Jamshied Sharifi (1960- ), composer, musician
* Kenny Starr (1952- ), country singer
* Rich Williams (1950- ), guitarist, member of Kansas

### Other visual arts

* James Pringle Cook (1947- ), Western landscape painter
* Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), Harlem Renaissance artist
* Georgia Louise Harris Brown (1918-1999), architect
* Peter Max Lawrence (1977- ), contemporary media artist

## Business

* Henry Bubb (1907-1989), president and chairman of Capitol Federal Savings Bank
* Brad Garlinghouse (1971- ), business executive, investor
* Cyrus K. Holliday (1826-1900), first president of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad; founder of Topeka township
* John F. Kilmartin (1921-2004), retail executive

## Crime

* Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (1907-1979), kidnapper, murderer, robber
* Amy Watkins (1973-1999), murder victim

## Medicine

* Karl Bowman (1888-1973), psychiatrist
* Harriet Lerner (1944- ), clinical psychologist and author
* Karl Menninger (1893-1990), psychiatrist
* Roy W. Menninger (1926-2024), psychiatrist
* William C. Menninger (1899-1966), psychiatrist
* W. Walter Menninger (1931- ), psychiatrist
* Karl Targownik (1915-1996), psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor

## Military

* Wilder D. Baker (1890-1975), U.S. Navy Vice Admiral during World War II
* Ronald Evans (1933-1990), astronaut
* Harry D. Felt (1902-1992), U.S. Navy Admiral
* Donald Hudson (1895-1967), World War I flying ace
* Philip Johnston (1892-1978), U.S. Marine Corps code-talker
* Frank E. Petersen (1932-2015), U.S. Marine Corps Lt. General

## Politics
### National

* Linda Carol Brown (1943-2018), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
* Oliver Brown (1918-1961), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
* Arthur Capper (1865-1951), U.S. Senator from Kansas, 20th Governor of Kansas
* Helen Chenoweth-Hage (1938-2006), U.S. Representative from Idaho
* Albert M. Cole (1901-1994), U.S. Representative from Kansas
* Sam A. Crow (1926-2022), U.S. federal judge
* Charles Curtis (1860-1936), 31st Vice President of the United States
* Harry W. Fraser (1884-1950), labor leader
* David Archibald Harvey (1845-1916), U.S. House Delegate from Oklahoma Territory
* Donald R. Heath (1894-1981), U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam
* Zelma Henderson (1920-2008), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
* Nancy Kassebaum (1932- ), U.S. Senator from Kansas
* Alf Landon (1887-1987), 26th Governor of Kansas, 1936 Republican candidate for U.S. President
* John Thomas Marten (1951- ), U.S. federal judge
* John Martin (1833-1913), U.S. Senator from Kansas
* Isabell Masters (1913-2011), perennial third-party candidate for U.S. president
* Noah C. McFarland (1822-1897), Commissioner of the United States General Land Office
* John G. Otis (1838-1916), U.S. Representative from Kansas
* Brad Parscale (1976- ), campaign manager for Donald Trump
* Megan Phelps-Roper (b. 1986), political activist and former member and dissident of the Westboro Baptist Church
* Nathan Phelps (1958- ), LGBT rights activist
* Shirley Phelps-Roper (1957- ), lawyer, anti-LGBT political activist
* John Ritchie (1817-1887), abolitionist
* Pat Roberts (1936- ), U.S. Senator from Kansas
* William R. Roy (1926-2014), U.S. Representative from Kansas
* Thomas Ryan (1837-1914), U.S. Representative from Kansas and Ambassador to Mexico
* John States Seybold (1897-1982), Governor of Panama Canal Zone
* Jim Slattery (1948- ), U.S. Representative from Kansas
* John L. Waller (1850-1907), U.S. Consul to Madagascar

### State

* John Alcala (1959- ), Kansas state legislator
* Carol A. Beier (1958- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
* Robert Coldsnow (1924-2014), Kansas state legislator
* Robert E. Davis (1939-2010), Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
* Ron Estes (1956- ), 39th Treasurer of Kansas and 4th Congressional District Representative, elected 2017.
* Joan Finney (1925-2001), 42nd Governor of Kansas
* Shanti Gandhi (1940- ), physician and legislator
* A. C. Hamlin (1881-1912), Oklahoma state legislator
* Alexander Miller Harvey (1867-1928), 15th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
* Anthony Hensley (1953- ), Kansas state legislator
* Marla Luckert (1955- ), Kansas Supreme Court justice
* Lutie Lytle (1875-1950), lawyer, 1st African-American woman admitted to Kansas bar
* Kay McFarland (1935-2015), Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
* Eric Rosen (1953- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
* Caleb Stegall (1971- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
* Jeff Stone (1961- ), Wisconsin state legislator
* Clifford W. Trow (1929- ), Oregon state legislator
* William C. Webb (1824-1898), Wisconsin and Kansas legislator
* Jackie Winters (1937-2019), Oregon state legislator

### Local

* Jacob Alan Dickinson (1911-1971), Topeka Board of Education president, desegregation supporter

## Religion

* Lillian M. Mitchner (1862/64-1954), social reformer; President, Kansas State Woman's Christian Temperance Union
* Fred Phelps (1929-2014), leader of the Westboro Baptist Church
* Charles Sheldon (1857-1946), minister, author

## Sports
### American football

* Chris Beatty (1973– ), coach
* Tom Dinkel (1956– ), linebacker
* Forrestal Hickman (1993– ), offensive tackle
* Teven Jenkins (1998– ), offensive tackle
* Mike Lemon (1951– ), linebacker
* Trey Lewis (1985– ), defensive tackle
* Lamar Mady (1990– ), center
* Larry McGinnis (1899–1948), guard
* Jack Nason (1899–1977), tackle, wingback
* John H. Outland (1871–1947), college football coach and namesake of Outland Trophy
* John Parrella (1969– ), defensive tackle
* Ryan Torain (1986– ), running back
* Chuck Washington (1964– ), defensive back
* Troy Wilson (1970– ), defensive end

### Baseball

* Aaron Crow (1986– ), pitcher
* Rick DeHart (1970– ), pitcher
* Bingo DeMoss (1889–1965), 2nd baseman, manager
* Art Griggs (1884–1938), 1st baseman
* Ross Grimsley (1950– ), pitcher
* Clarence Heise (1907–1999), pitcher
* Bernadine Maxwell (–1988), utility player
* Larry Miller (1937–2018), pitcher
* Dink Mothell (1897–1980), pitcher, utility player
* Don O'Riley (1945–1997), pitcher
* Scott Taylor (1966– ), pitcher
* Mike Torrez (1946– ), pitcher

### Basketball

* Chris Babb (1990– ), shooting guard in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Leo Lyons (1987– ), power forward
* Fred Slaughter (1941–2016), center, sports agent
* Dean Smith (1931–2015), University of North Carolina and Basketball Hall of Fame coach
* Mark Turgeon (1965– ), head basketball coach at University of Maryland; formerly coach at Texas A&M University
* Kyle Weems (1989– ), small forward

### Golf

* Marilynn Smith (1929–2019), pro golfer and LPGA co-founder, member of World Golf Hall of Fame
* Gary Woodland (1984– ), golfer

### Racing

* Fred Comer (1893–1928), race car driver
* Louis Durant (1910–1972), race car driver
* Bruce Hill (1949–2017), race car driver

### Other

* Simon Becher (1999– ), soccer player
* Bob Benoit (1954– ), pro bowler
* Casey Converse (1957– ), U.S. Olympic swimmer, coach
* Art Crews (1959– ), pro wrestler
* Bob Davis (1945– ), sportscaster
* Bill Disney (1932–2009), U.S. Olympic speed skater
* Jack Disney (1930– ), U.S. Olympic cyclist
* Melvin Douglas, Olympic wrestler, 1996 and 2000 and World Championship gold medalist
* Max Falkenstien (1924–2019), radio broadcaster
* Margaret Thompson Murdock (1942– ), member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, and first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Summer Olympics
* Charles Nelson (1933– ), U.S. Olympic volleyball player
* Anna Seaton (1964– ), U.S. Olympic rower