# List of University of Wisconsin–Madison people

This is a list of notable people who attended, or taught at, the University of Wisconsin–Madison:

## Notable alumni
### Nobel laureates

* John Bardeen, B.S. 1928 and M.S. 1929, only two-time recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 and 1972
* Saul Bellow, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976
* Günter Blobel, Ph.D. 1967, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1999
* Paul D. Boyer, M.S. 1941, Ph.D. 1943, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1997
* William C. Campbell, M.S. 1953, Ph.D. 1957, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015
* Herbert Spencer Gasser, A.B. 1910, A.M. 1911, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1944
* Alan G. MacDiarmid, M.S. 1952, Ph.D. 1953, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000
* Stanford Moore, Ph.D. 1938, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1972
* Erwin Neher, M.S. 1967, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1991
* Theodore Schultz, M.S. 1928, Ph.D. 1930, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979
* George Smith, postdoctoral fellow, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018
* Edward Lawrie Tatum, B.A. 1931, M.S. 1932, Ph.D. 1935, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958
* John H. Van Vleck, A.B. 1920, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977

### Arts and entertainment

* Virgil Abloh, fashion designer, artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's wear collection
* Don Ameche, Academy Award-winning actor
* Joseph Anthony, playwright, actor, and director
* Iris Apfel, interior designer, and fashion icon.
* William Bast, screenwriter
* Adrian "Wildman" Cenni, professional driver and stuntman
* Gary Beecham, glass artist
* James Benning
* Andrew Bergman, film writer, director, and producer
* Rick Berman, television/movie producer
* Drew Binsky, travel influencer
* Chester Biscardi, composer
* Keith D. Black, screenwriter
* Jerry Bock, composer
* Karen Borca, musician
* Kate Borcherding, artist
* Pat Brady, cartoonist, creator of Rose Is Rose
* Tamara Braun, actress
* Marshall Brickman, screenwriter
* Gary Hugh Brown, artist
* Oscar Brown, musician
* Johnny Burke, lyricist
* Macdonald Carey, actor
* Gina Cerminara, author
* Jeff Cesario, comedian and writer
* Ann Fox Chandonnet, poet
* Alison Chernick, filmmaker
* Dale Chihuly, glass artist
* Robert Clarke, actor
* Alf Clausen, film composer
* Hunter Cole, artist
* Carrie Coon, actress
* Joan Cusack, actress
* Rich Dahm, co-executive producer and head writer of The Colbert Report
* Richard Dauenhauer, poet
* Richard Davis, jazz-bassist, recording artist, professor/educator at University of Wisconsin-Madison
* André DeShields, Emmy Award-winning actor/singer/dancer/choreographer
* Chip Dunham, cartoonist
* Susan Dynner, film director, producer
* Lois Ehlert, illustrator, Caldecott Medal recipient
* Dean Elliott, film composer
* Joe Feddersen, artist
* David Fishelson, Broadway producer, playwright, filmmaker
* Honor Ford-Smith, actress
* Jason Gerhardt, actor
* Glenn Gissler, interior designer
* Jill Godmilow, filmmaker
* Roger Goeb, composer
* Bert I. Gordon, film director
* Stuart Gordon, stage and film director
* Evan Gruzis, painter
* MK Guth, artist
* Daron Hagen, composer, conductor, pianist
* Uta Hagen, actress, recipient of the National Medal of Arts
* Tom Hall, game designer
* Yung Gravy (Matthew Hauri), rapper
* Charlie Hill, television writer
* Anna Halprin, pioneer of postmodern dance
* Timothy Hasenstein, painter and sculptor
* Sorrel Hays, pianist
* Sam Herman, glass artist
* F. Scott Hess, painter and conceptual artist
* Lee Hoiby, composer
* Gwendolyn Holbrow, sculptor
* Anders Holm, actor, writer, producer for Workaholics
* Lawrence Holofcener, sculptor
* Adam Horowitz, television writer
* Jane Kaczmarek, actress
* Kelly Kahl, television executive
* Irene Kampen, author
* Ben Karlin, Emmy Award-winning television producer
* Catherine Ransom Karoly, flutist
* Carol Kolb, author, television writer
* Craig A. Kraft, sculptor
* Karl Kroeger, composer
* Myron W. Krueger, computer artist
* Kay Kurt, painter
* Rocco Landesman, producer
* Steven Levitan, television writer, director, and producer
* Marvin Lipofsky, glass artist
* Joseph Lulloff, musician
* C. Cameron Macauley, photographer
* Michael Mann, movie director/producer
* Fredric March, actor
* Steve Marmel, comedian, writer, Fairly Odd Parents
* Karen Thuesen Massaro, ceramicist
* Pat McCurdy, singer-songwriter
* John O. Merrill, architect
* Steve Miller, musician, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee
* Kui Min
* Walter Mirisch, Academy Award-winning film producer
* Paul Monash, former screenwriter and producer
* Jemeel Moondoc, musician
* Agnes Moorehead, actress
* Errol Morris, Academy Award-winning director
* Kevin Murphy, writer, actor, and puppeteer for Mystery Science Theater 3000
* Michael Derrington Murphy, chemist and musician
* Zola Jesus, born Nika Roza Danilova, singer/songwriter
* Floyd Naramore, architect
* Bruce Nauman, glass artist
* Ken Navarro, jazz guitarist
* Jennifer Nehrbass, artist
* Aaron Ohlmann, editor, producer, and documentarian
* Tricia O'Kelley, actress
* Lance Olsen, writer and author
* Irna Phillips, actress; soap opera writer and script editor
* Meinhardt Raabe, Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz
* Nathan Rabin, film critic
* Som Ranchan, poet
* Rita Mae Reese, poet and publisher
* Rosetta Reitz, jazz historian
* Mary T. Reynolds, writer
* Mark Rosenberg, film producer
* Tom Rosenberg, Academy Award-winning film producer
* Brad Rowe, actor
* Gena Rowlands, actress
* Boz Scaggs (Wm. Royce Scaggs), musician
* Ira Schneider, video artist
* Jana Schneider, actress and journalist
* Jon Schueler, artist
* Michael Schultz, filmmaker and television director
* Delmore Schwartz, poet
* Seann William Scott, actor
* Barolong Seboni, poet
* Brittany Shane, singer and songwriter
* Tom Shannon
* Ben Sidran, jazz pianist
* Tormod Skagestad, director of Det Norske Teatret
* Joe Silver, Tony Award nominated actor of stage and screen
* Bently Spang, multidisciplinary artist
* Lev L. Spiro, television director
* Brian Stack, Emmy Award-winning writer and comic
* Josh Stamberg, actor
* Leon C. Standifer, horticulturist, novelist, and writer
* Robert Stone
* Herbert Stothart, film composer
* Richard Steven Street, photographer
* Sun Yu, film director
* David Susskind, producer of film and television
* John Szarkowski, curator and photographer
* Daniel J. Travanti, Emmy Award-winning actor
* Charlie Trotter, chef, PBS host
* Neal Ulevich, photographer
* James Valcq, composer
* Michael Velliquette, artist
* Butch Vig, musician, Garbage
* Eric Villency, interior designer
* William Walton, painter, government official
* Sylvia Solochek Walters, artist, printmaker and educator
* Marc Webb, film, television, and music video director
* Matt White, singer-songwriter
* Nancy Metz White, sculptor
* John Wilde, painter
* Allee Willis, songwriter
* Tom Wopat, actor/musician
* Frank Lloyd Wright (attended), architect
* Frank Wu, science-fiction artist
* Jorge Zamacona, television writer and producer
* Marilyn J Ziffrin, composer
* Glen Zipper, film producer
* Charlotte Zucker, actress
* David Zucker, movie director/producer
* Jerry Zucker, movie director/producer

### Aviators and astronauts

* Laurel Clark, astronaut
* Roger G. DeKok, astronaut
* Fred E. Gutt, aviator
* Marcella Hayes, first African American woman pilot in the U.S. Armed Forces
* Walter Edwin Lees, aviator
* Charles Lindbergh, aviator (did not graduate)
* Nathan J. Lindsay, astronaut
* Jim Lovell, astronaut, Apollo 13 mission
* Robert Campbell Reeve, founder of Reeve Aleutian Airways
* Richard V. Rhode, aeronautical engineer, NACA and NASA; awarded Wright Brothers Medal in 1937
* Brewster Shaw, astronaut, former director, Space Shuttle Operations, NASA

### Business

* Carol Bartz, former CEO of Yahoo!, former chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Autodesk
* Randall Boe, general counsel for AOL
* Jerome Chazen, co-founder of Liz Claiborne
* Chow Chung-Kong, CEO of MTR Corporation
* M. J. Cleary, insurance executive
* Michael J. Critelli, executive chairman of Pitney Bowes
* William H. Davidson, former president of Harley-Davidson
* Willie G. Davidson, former vice president, Harley-Davidson
* Thomas J. Falk, CEO of Kimberly Clark
* Judith R. Faulkner, CEO and founder of Epic Systems
* Edgar Fiedler (1929–2003), economist
* Donald Goerke, Campbell Soup Company executive, inventor of SpaghettiOs
* William S. Harley, founder of Harley-Davidson
* Charles Walter Hart, founder of Hart-Parr Gasoline Engine Company, coined the word "tractor"
* Harvey V. Higley, president of Ansul
* Colin Huang, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Pinduoduo
* Lawrence R. Kaplan, president and CEO of SDVI
* David J. Lesar, chairman, president and CEO of Halliburton Energy Services
* Kevin Mather, baseball executive
* Larry McVoy, CEO, Bitmover
* John P. Morgridge, chairman of the board, former president and CEO of Cisco Systems, philanthropist
* William Beverly Murphy, former president and CEO, Campbell Soup Company
* Keith Nosbusch, CEO, Rockwell Automation
* Richard Notebaert, former chairman and CEO of Qwest, Tellabs and Ameritech
* Lee R. Raymond, former chairman and CEO, ExxonMobil
* Philip D. Reed, former president of GE
* Stephen S. Roach, economist with Morgan Stanley
* John Rowe, CEO of Exelon
* Kenneth L. Schroeder, CEO, KLA-Tencor
* Deven Sharma, president of Standard and Poor's
* Jane Trahey, advertiser
* Reuben Trane, president of Trane
* Patrick Waddick, president and COO of Cirrus Aircraft
* Peter Booth Wiley, publisher
* Elmer Winter (1912–2009), founder of ManpowerGroup
* Lewis Wolff, real estate developer and owner of the Oakland Athletics and San Jose Earthquakes
* Zhu Yunlai, CEO of China International Capital Corp

### Literature

* Nazik Al-Malaika, Iraqi poet
* Kevin J. Anderson, author
* Nuala Archer, poet
* Alice Elinor Bartlett, author
* Lynne Cheney, author, writer, and former Second Lady of the United States
* Donald Clarke, author on music
* Eleanor Clymer, children's author
* Betsy Colquitt, poet
* Jane Cooper, poet
* Richard Dauenhauer, poet
* August Derleth, writer, editor, anthologist of H. P. Lovecraft, and founder of Arkham House publishing
* Esther Forbes, author and Pulitzer Prize winner
* Genevieve Foster, author
* Zona Gale, author and playwright
* Robert Greene
* Sam Greenlee, author
* Horace Gregory, poet
* Frederick Gutheim, author
* Emily Hahn, author
* Lorraine Hansberry, author and playwright
* Eva Lund Haugen, author
* Michael Heiser, author and Biblical scholar
* David Henige, author
* Kevin Henkes, children's author
* Conrad Hilberry, poet
* Hjalmar Holand, author and historian
* bell hooks, author, writer, and activist
* Carolyn Hougan, writer
* Jim Hougan, writer
* Jens Joneleit, composer
* Lesley Kagen, author
* Jay Kennedy, editor-in-chief of King Features Syndicate
* Herbert Kubly, author and playwright
* Margery Latimer, author and writer
* Ann Lauterbach, poet
* Flora E. Lowry (1879–1933), anthologist
* Gordon MacQuarrie, author, writer, and outdoorsman
* Honoré Willsie Morrow, author, magazine editor
* Lotte Motz, scholar of German mythology
* Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award-winning author and professor at Princeton University
* Ainehi Edoro, founder and editor of Brittle Paper
* Ed Ochester, poet
* Lance Olsen, author and writer
* Sigurd F. Olson, author and naturalist
* Alicia Ostriker, poet
* Kenneth Patchen, poet
* Gerald Peary, film critic
* Robert Peters, poet, playwright, critic, and professor
* Richard Quinney, author
* Som Ranchan, scholar and author
* Ellen Raskin, author
* Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
* Ella Giles Ruddy (1851–1917), author, editor
* Sofia Samatar, professor, editor and writer
* Pamela Redmond Satran, entrepreneur and author
* Mark Schorer, writer, critic, and professor
* Delmore Schwartz, poet and writer
* Barolong Seboni, poet
* Clifford D. Simak, science fiction author
* Tormod Skagestad, poet
* Raymond J. Smith, literary critic
* John Snead, writer and role player
* Midori Snyder, writer and author
* David Stephenson, poet
* Peter Straub, author, recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and the International Horror Guild Award
* Mark Tatge, journalist
* Martha L. Poland Thurston, social leader, philanthropist, writer
* Steve Tittle, Canadian composer
* Danielle Trussoni, writer from La Crosse
* Francis Utley, folklorist and linguist
* James Valcq, composer and writer
* Stanley G. Weinbaum, science fiction author
* Jody Weiner, novelist, author, film producer
* Patricia Wells, author
* Eudora Welty, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
* Viola S. Wendt, poet
* E.J. Westlake, playwright
* Frank Wu, science fiction artist
* Mark Wunderlich, poet
* Marya Zaturenska, poet

### News, journalism, and broadcasting

* Roy Adams, Canadian journalist
* Lynsey Addario, photojournalist
* Mary Agria, journalist/author
* Irene Osgood Andrews, former labor journalist
* Jim Armstrong, sports writer, The Denver Post
* Robert L. Bartley, former editor, Wall Street Journal
* Rod Beaton (1951–2011), sports journalist for USA Today
* Lowell Bergman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
* Walt Bogdanich, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
* Rita Braver, national reporter, CBS News
* William Broad, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author
* Jane Brody, columnist, New York Times
* Peter Brunette, film critic (The Hollywood Reporter) and film historian
* Chris Bury, correspondent, Nightline
* Erik Bye, Norwegian journalist
* Tim Cahill, adventure travel writer, founding editor of Outside magazine
* Susan Carpenter, journalist and author
* Ethan Casey, journalist
* John Darnton, journalist
* Nancy Dickerson, journalist
* Doris Dungey, former blogger
* Andrew Feinberg, White House Correspondent for Breakfast Media
* Michael Feldman, host of Public Radio's Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?
* Bob Franken, correspondent, CNN
* Elina Fuhrman, journalist
* Jeff Greenfield, senior political correspondent, CBS
* Ruth Gruber, author and journalist
* Usha Haley, business journalist
* Helen Holmes, journalist, historian, Women's Army Corps officer
* Paul Ingrassia, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Don L. Johnson, journalist and author
* Haynes Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Ben Karlin, creator and former executive producer, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
* Andy Katz, college basketball writer, ESPN
* Jay Kennedy, journalist and writer
* Louis P. Lochner, journalist
* David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Patricia McConnell, co-host of Public Radio's Calling All Pets
* Robert D. McFadden, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Karl E. Meyer, journalist for The New York Times and editor of World Policy Journal
* Michael Meyer, journalist, travel writer
* Edwin Newman, former NBC news correspondent
* Arthur C. Nielsen Sr., founder of AC Nielsen (TV ratings and market research)
* Michele Norris, journalist at National Public Radio
* Miriam Ottenberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Danny Peary, film critic
* Gerald Peary, film critic
* Nathan Rabin, film critic
* Manu Raju, correspondent, CNN
* Gil Reavill, journalist and screenwriter
* Chris Rose
* Phil Rosenthal, columnist, Chicago Tribune
* Susanne Rust, journalist
* Joe Schoenmann, journalist, author
* Joseph Sexton, journalist and reporter with the New York Times
* Anthony Shadid, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Algie Martin Simons, journalist
* Tom Skilling, chief meteorologist, WGN-TV
* William P. Steven, editor and newspaper executive, Tulsa Tribune, Minneapolis Tribune, Houston Chronicle
* James Suckling, wine and cigar critic
* Nilofar Suhrawardy, journalist
* Christopher Tennant, magazine editor
* Mildred Ladner Thompson, former journalist
* Stephen Thompson, NPR music journalist
* Dave Umhoefer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* David C. Unger, journalist, New York Times
* Greta Van Susteren, broadcaster and news analyst, Fox News Channel
* Tom Vanden Brook, journalist with USA Today
* Kenneth P. Vogel, journalist with Politico
* Mary Williams Walsh, journalist
* James Wieghart, journalist
* Conrad Worrill, broadcaster
* David Zurawik, author, journalist with The Baltimore Sun, assistant professor at Goucher College

### Law and politics
#### A–G

* Charles L. Aarons, Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge
* Shirley Abrahamson, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Henry Cullen Adams, U.S. Representative
* Iajuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh
* Ronald E. Albers, California judge
* Anita Alpern, former IRS commissioner
* Arthur J. Altmeyer, former Commissioner of Social Security
* Thomas Ryum Amlie, U.S. Representative
* Rasmus B. Anderson, U.S. diplomat
* Wilson Ndolo Ayah, former foreign minister, Kenya
* William Bablitch, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Sergio Balanzino, Italian diplomat
* Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator
* Hiram Barber, Jr., U.S. Representative from Illinois
* Peter W. Barca, U.S. Representative
* Charles V. Bardeen, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Elmer E. Barlow, justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Robert Barnett, attorney
* Tom Barrett, former U.S. Representative, mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* Charlene Barshefsky, former U.S. Trade Representative
* Robert McKee Bashford, former mayor of Madison, Wisconsin; former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Robert C. Bassett, U.S. presidential advisor
* Susan J. M. Bauman, former mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
* Joseph D. Beck, former United States Representative
* Bruce F. Beilfuss, former chief justice of Wisconsin
* Ernst Benda, Minister of the Interior of Germany and president the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
* Helen Ginger Berrigan, federal judge
* Mario Ramón Beteta, former Secretary of Finance, Mexico
* Abdirahman Duale Beyle, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somalia
* George W. Blanchard, U.S. Representative
* George L. Blum, Eau Claire County Judge
* Nils Boe, 23rd Governor of South Dakota and judge for the United States Customs Court
* Randall Boe, attorney
* John W. Boehne, Jr., former U.S. Representative
* Alexander Campbell Botkin, Lieutenant Governor of Montana
* Ann Walsh Bradley, Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* J. Quinn Brisben, Socialist Party USA candidate for President of the United States and Vice-President; civil rights activist; teacher
* Grover L. Broadfoot, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Dave Bronson, Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska
* Angie Brooks, former president, United Nations General Assembly
* Timothy Brown, former chief justice of Wisconsin
* Webster E. Brown, U.S. Representative
* Edward E. Browne, U.S. Representative
* Andrew A. Bruce, former justice, North Dakota Supreme Court
* Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, Deputy Minister of Local Government Development of Malaysia
* George Bunn, diplomat
* George Bunn, former justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
* John R. Burke, U.S. diplomat
* Michael E. Burke, U.S. Representative
* Elizabeth Burmaster, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin
* Louis B. Butler, federal judicial nominee, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Walter Halben Butler, former United States Representative
* John W. Byrnes, U.S. Representative
* William G. Callow, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* John Campbell
* Milton Robert Carr, U.S. Representative from Michigan
* Patrick G. Carrick, member of the Senior Executive Service
* Savion Castro, a member of the Board of Education in Madison, Wisconsin
* Sheri Polster Chappell, federal judge
* Dick Cheney, former vice president of the United States (attended UW as doctoral student; received M.A. degree but did not continue)
* Dave Cieslewicz, Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
* Moses E. Clapp, U.S. Senator from Minnesota
* Kathryn F. Clarenbach, first chairperson of the National Organization for Women
* David G. Classon, U.S. Representative
* Wilbur J. Cohen, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Cabinet of President Lyndon B. Johnson and "Father of Medicare."
* William M. Conley, federal judge
* Daniel Cosío Villegas, president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council
* Barbara B. Crabb, former federal judge
* Lawrence William Cramer, former governor, United States Virgin Islands
* Jason Crow, U.S. Representative from Colorado
* Charles H. Crownhart, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* John Cudahy, U.S. diplomat
* Richard Dickson Cudahy, judge, U.S. Court of Appeals
* George R. Currie, former chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Herman Dahle, U.S. Representative
* George Jonathan Danforth, South Dakota State Senator
* Roland B. Day, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* John Paton Davies, Jr., U.S. diplomat
* Joseph E. Davies, U.S. diplomat
* Glenn Robert Davis, U.S. Representative
* Albert F. Dawson, former U.S. Representative
* Ada Deer, head of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs
* Evo Anton DeConcini, former justice, Arizona Supreme Court
* Edward Dithmar, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
* Christian Doerfler, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Mark Doms, chief economist, Economics and Statistics Administration
* Brian Donnelly
* James Edward Doyle, former judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
* James Edward "Jim" Doyle, 44th Governor of Wisconsin
* Lee S. Dreyfus, 40th Governor of Wisconsin
* Stan Dromisky, former Member of Parliament
* F. Ryan Duffy, former U.S. Senator and former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
* William S. Dwinnell, former Minnesota State Senator
* Lawrence Eagleburger, former U.S. Secretary of State
* Donald B. Easum, former U.S. diplomat
* Herman Ekern, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
* Richard Elsner, lawyer, judge and Wisconsin state legislator
* Howard Engle (1919–2009), physician and lead plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit against the tobacco industry
* John J. Esch, U.S. Representative
* Evan Alfred Evans, former U.S. Appeals Court judge
* Tony Evers, Current Governor of Wisconsin and former Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin
* Thomas E. Fairchild, former U.S. Appeals Court judge
* Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellín and former governor of Antioquia, Colombia
* Elizabeth P. Farrington, former U.S. Representative, Hawaii Territory
* Joseph Rider Farrington, former U.S. Representative, Hawaii Territory
* Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator
* Bill Foster, U.S. Representative from Illinois
* Alejandro Foxley, former foreign minister of Chile
* Chester A. Fowler, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Oscar M. Fritz, former chief justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Harold V. Froehlich, U.S. Representative
* G. Fred Galli, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
* Kathryn Garcia (born 1970), Commissioner of the New York City Sanitation Department
* Anne Nicol Gaylor, political activist
* Edward J. Gehl, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Bernard J. Gehrmann, U.S. Representative
* Hiram Gill, former mayor of Seattle, Washington
* J. Michael Gilmore, director of the Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate
* Myron L. Gordon, former federal judge
* Robert N. Gorman, former justice, Ohio Supreme Court
* Mark Green, U.S. diplomat
* Stephen S. Gregory, former president, American Bar Association
* Harry W. Griswold, U.S. Representative
* John A. Gronouski, United States Postmaster General
* Erica Groshen, commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
* Herbert J. Grover, educator and legislator
* Kenneth Philip Grubb, former federal judge
* Philip Gunawardena, former Sri Lankan revolutionary, cabinet minister, Indian freedom fighter
* Gunnar Gundersen, member of the Parliament of Norway (2005–present)
* Henry Gunderson, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
* Steve Gunderson, U.S. Representative

#### H–M

* Sami Haddad, Minister of Economy and Trade, Lebanon
* David Warner Hagen, former federal judge
* Oscar Hallam, justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Dean of the William Mitchell College of Law
* Sa'dun Hammadi, former prime minister of Iraq
* Don Hanaway, former Wisconsin Attorney General
* Connor Hansen, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Doris Hanson, Wisconsin politician
* Spencer Haven, former attorney general of Wisconsin
* Charles Hawks, Jr., U.S. Representative
* S.I. Hayakawa, former U.S. Senator from California
* Everis A. Hayes, U.S. Representative from California
* James B. Hays, former chief justice, Idaho
* Donald Hayworth, former U.S. Representative
* Ned R. Healy, U.S. Representative from California
* Nathan Heffernan, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Walter Heller, Economist end presidential advisor
* Robert Kirkland Henry, U.S. Representative
* Charles N. Herreid, Governor of South Dakota
* Emmett R. Hicks, former attorney general of Wisconsin
* Harvey V. Higley, former administrator of Veterans Affairs
* Knute Hill, former United States Representative from the State of Washington
* Geraldine Hines, Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Court
* Jeffry House, Canadian attorney
* Henry Huber, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
* Benjamin N. Hulburd, Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
* Paul O. Husting, U.S. Senator
* Clifford Ireland, U.S. Representative from Illinois
* Andre Jacque, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
* Edward H. Jenison, U.S. Representative from Illinois
* Byron L. Johnson, U.S. Representative from Colorado
* J. Leroy Johnson, former U.S. Representative
* Lester Johnson, U.S. Representative
* Sveinbjorn Johnson, former justice, North Dakota Supreme Court
* Burr W. Jones, U.S. Representative
* Howard Palfrey Jones, U.S. diplomat
* Richard Jones
* William Carey Jones, former U.S. Representative from State of Washington
* Jim Jordan, U.S. Representative, Ohio, two-time NCAA wrestling champion
* Pallo Jordan, former Minister of Arts and Culture, Republic of South Africa
* Charles A. Kading, U.S. Representative
* Steve Kagen, U.S. Representative
* Philip Mayer Kaiser, U.S. diplomat
* Henry Kajura, Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda
* Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative, Ohio
* Robert Kastenmeier, U.S. Representative
* David Keene, activist and chairman of the American Conservative Union
* Oscar Keller, U.S. Representative from Minnesota
* James C. Kerwin, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Shishir Khanal, Nepali Minister of Education, Science and Technology
* John C. Kleczka, U.S. Representative
* Frank Le Blond Kloeb, U.S. Representative from Ohio
* Warren P. Knowles, 37th Governor of Wisconsin
* Herb Kohl, U.S. Senator
* Scott L. Klug, U.S. Representative
* Arthur W. Kopp, U.S. Representative
* Carolyn H. Krause, member of the Illinois House of Representatives
* Julius Albert Krug, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
* Akihiko Kumashiro, member of the House of Representatives of Japan
* John La Fave, Wisconsin politician
* Belle Case La Follette, women's suffragist and wife of Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
* Bronson La Follette, former attorney general of Wisconsin
* Philip La Follette, 27th Governor of Wisconsin
* Robert M. La Follette, Jr., U.S. Senator
* Robert M. La Follette, Sr., 20th Governor of Wisconsin, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator
* Jeffrey M. Lacker, president, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
* Richard Lamm, Governor of Colorado
* John E. Lange, former U.S. Ambassador for Health and Pandemics
* Peg Lautenschlager, former attorney general of Wisconsin
* Charles Lavine, New York assemblyman
* Barbara Lawton, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
* Frank Le Blond Kloeb, former U.S. Representative
* Elmer O. Leatherwood, former U.S. Representative
* Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
* Nick Leluk, former Member of Parliament
* Olin B. Lewis, former Minnesota politician
* Theodore G. Lewis, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* James C. Liao, president of Academia Sinica, Taiwan Academia Sinica.
* Thomas A. Loftus, U.S. diplomat
* James B. Loken, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
* William Lorge, Wisconsin politician
* Alan David Lourie, judge, U.S. Appeals Court
* Claude Zeth Luse, former federal judge
* Richard Barrett Lowe, Governor of American Samoa and Guam
* Patrick Joseph Lucey, U.S. diplomat and Governor of Wisconsin
* Henry Maier, former mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* James Manahan, former U.S. Representative
* John T. Manske, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
* David W. Márquez, former attorney general of Alaska
* John E. Martin, former chief justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Henry F. Mason, former justice, Kansas Supreme Court
* Alyssa Mastromonaco, presidential aide
* Charles McCarthy, author of The Wisconsin Idea
* Francis E. McGovern, 22nd Governor of Wisconsin
* Howard J. McMurray, U.S. Representative
* Alexander J. Menza, former New Jersey legislator and judge
* Balthasar H. Meyer, member of the Interstate Commerce Commission
* Abner Mikva, former judge, U.S. Appeals Court
* Laura Miller, former mayor of Dallas, Texas
* Bob Mionske, attorney and former Olympic and professional bicycle racer
* William J. Morgan, former attorney general of Wisconsin
* Kamel Morjane, Foreign Minister of Tunisia
* Elmer A. Morse, U.S. Representative
* Wayne L. Morse, U.S. Senator from Oregon
* Edmund C. Moy, 38th director of the U.S. mint
* Dan Mozena, U.S. Ambassador to Angola
* Reid F. Murray, U.S. Representative
* Louis Westcott Myers, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court

#### N–S

* Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian freedom fighter and political leader; awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1998
* Philleo Nash, government official, college professor
* Jennifer E. Nashold, Judge, Wisconsin Court of Appeals
* Akmal Nasir, Malaysian politician and current Member Of Parliament for Johor Bahru
* David D. Nelson, U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay
* Gaylord Nelson, former U.S. Senator, 35th Governor of Wisconsin and founder of Earth Day
* George B. Nelson, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* John M. Nelson, U.S. Representative
* Ivan A. Nestingen, former mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
* Mark Neumann, U.S. Representative
* John Norquist, former mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* David Obey, U.S. Representative
* Kenneth J. O'Connell, Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
* James L. O'Connor, former Wisconsin Attorney General
* Alvin O'Konski, U.S. Representative
* Tawiah Modibo Ocran, Supreme Court judge in Ghana
* Eric Oemig, Washington (state) legislator
* Conrad P. Olson, former justice, Oregon Supreme Court
* Walter C. Owen, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Carolyn R. Payton, former director, Peace Corps
* Russell W. Peterson, Governor of Delaware
* Richard F. Pettigrew, former United States Senator
* Joy Picus, Los Angeles, California, city council member, 1977–91; Ms. magazine "Woman of the Year"
* Huang Pi-Twan, Minister for Culture, Taiwan
* Roger Pillath, retired NFL player, Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers
* Mark Pocan, U.S. Representative
* Jeanne Poppe, Minnesota legislator, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
* Hugh H. Price, U.S. Representative
* David Prosser, Jr., Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* John Abner Race, U.S. Representative
* David Rabinovitz, former federal judge
* Rudolph T. Randa, federal judge
* Clifford E. Randall, U.S. Representative
* Henry Riggs Rathbone, former U.S. Representative
* James Ward Rector, former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
* Lowell A. Reed, federal judge
* Michael K. Reilly, U.S. Representative
* Paul Samuel Reinsch, appointed minister to China in 1913
* Shawn Reilly, mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin, 2014–present
* Oscar Rennebohm, former governor of Wisconsin
* John W. Reynolds, Sr., Attorney General of Wisconsin, 1927–1933
* John W. Reynolds, Jr., 36th Governor of Wisconsin
* Daniel Riemer, legislator
* Fred Risser, Wisconsin state senator and assemblyman
* Fred Risser (Progressive), Wisconsin assemblyman
* Charles Robb, former U.S. Senator and former governor of Virginia
* Julius Edward Roehr, member of the Wisconsin State Senate, 1897-1908
* Patience Roggensack, Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Hannah Rosenthal, executive director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
* Horace Rublee, former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
* David Sturtevant Ruder, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
* Wiley Rutledge, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
* Albert Morris Sames, former federal judge
* Arthur Loomis Sanborn, former federal judge
* David J. Saposs, former chief economist for the National Labor Relations Board
* Harry Sauthoff, U.S. Representative
* Marlin D. Schneider, Democratic Politician and teacher, longest serving member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, 1971-2011
* Jim Sensenbrenner, U.S. Representative
* Whitney North Seymour, former president, American Bar Association
* John C. Shabaz, former federal judge
* David I. Shapiro, attorney and activist
* Helen Shiller, Chicago Alderman
* Robert G. Siebecker, former chief justice of Wisconsin
* J. Minos Simon, attorney, legal author in Lafayette, Louisiana
* Stewart Simonson, Assistant Secretary of Public Health Emergency Preparedness
* Slawomir Skrzypek, former president, National Bank of Poland
* Chad "Corntassel" Smith, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation
* Daniel V. Speckhard, U.S. ambassador and diplomat
* Paul Soglin, Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
* Joan E. Spero, former ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council
* John Coit Spooner, U.S. Senator
* William Spriggs, assistant secretary, United States Department of Labor
* Janet Dempsey Steiger, chairperson of the Postal Rate Commission and Federal Trade Commission
* William A. Steiger, Congress
* Donald Steinmetz, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* E. Ray Stevens, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* William H. Stevenson, former U.S. Representative
* Anne K. Strasdauskas, Sheriff of Baltimore County, Maryland
* Robert C. Strong, U.S. diplomat
* Suchatvee Suwansawat, Thai Politicians, former President of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL)
* Jessie Sumner, former U.S. Representative
* Lori Swanson, Attorney General of Minnesota
* Aleksander Szczyglo, Minister of Defense of Poland
* Elaine Szymoniak, former Iowa State Senator

#### T–Z

* James Albertus Tawney, former U.S. Representative
* Amando Tetangco Jr., former Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
* Donald Edgar Tewes, U.S. Representative
* Nahathai Thewphaingarm, former Thai Minister of Education and spokesperson of Thai Rak Thai Party
* Lewis D. Thill, U.S. Representative
* George Thompson, Attorney General of Wisconsin
* Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; former governor of Wisconsin (1986–2001)
* Vernon W. Thomson, U.S. Representative and Governor of Wisconsin
* Fran Ulmer, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska
* J.B. Van Hollen, Attorney General of Wisconsin
* William Freeman Vilas, U.S. Secretary of the Interior and U.S. Postmaster General
* Aad J. Vinje, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Edward Voigt, U.S. Representative
* Thomas J. Walsh, U.S. Senator from Montana
* Clement Warner, Civil war colonel and Wisconsin state legislator
* Ernest Warner, Wisconsin assemblyman
* Robert W. Warren, former federal judge
* D. Russell Wartinbee, legislator and educator
* Alexander Watson, former U.S. diplomat
* Edward Weidenfeld, attorney
* Paul Weyrich, conservative activist and former president of the Free Congress Foundation
* John D. Wickhem, former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Peter D. Wigginton, former U.S. Representative
* Jon P. Wilcox, Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Alexander Wiley, U.S. Senator
* Horace W. Wilkie, former chief justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Aaron S. Williams, director, Peace Corps
* Michael D. Wilson, associate justice, Hawaii Supreme Court
* John B. Winslow, former chief justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
* Edwin E. Witte, Social Security advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
* Leonard G. Wolf, former U.S. Representative
* Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore; former Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance
* Ann Wynia, Minnesota State Representative
* Clayton K. Yeutter, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
* Rebecca Young, Wisconsin politician
* Hilbert Philip Zarky, attorney
* Norma Zarky, attorney
* Maung Zarni, Burmese educator, academic, and human rights activist noted for his opposition to the violence in Rakhine State and Rohingya genocide
* Yeshey Zimba, former prime minister of Bhutan
* Roger H. Zion, former U.S. Representative

### Military

* Frank L. Anders, Medal of Honor recipient
* Thomas A. Benes, U.S. Marine Corps major general
* Robyn J. Blader, U.S. National Guard brigadier general
* Charles Ruggles Boardman, U.S. National Guard brigadier general
* Joseph J. Brandemuehl, U.S. Air National Guard brigadier general
* Clarence John Brown, U.S. Navy vice admiral
* Howard G. Bunker, U.S. Air Force major general
* Robert Whitney Burns, U.S. Air Force lieutenant general
* Chester Victor Clifton, Jr., U.S. Army major general
* James B. Currie, U.S. Air Force major general
* Clinton W. Davies, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Gary L. Ebben, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Samuel Fallows, Union Army brigadier general
* Gregory A. Feest, U.S. Air Force major general
* Richard W. Fellows, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Irving Fish, U.S. Army major general
* James F. Flock, U.S. Marine Corps major general
* William Frederick Hase, U.S. Army major general
* J. Michael Hayes, U.S. Marine Corps brigadier general
* Richard W. Hunt, U.S. Navy vice admiral
* Harry W. Jenkins, U.S. Marine Corps major general
* Stephen E. Johnson, U.S. Navy rear admiral
* Donald S. Jones, U.S. Navy vice admiral
* Timothy M. Kennedy, U.S. National Guard brigadier general
* Richard A. Knobloch, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Oscar Hugh La Grange, Union Army brigadier general
* Daniel P. Leaf, U.S. Air Force lieutenant general; former commander of United States Pacific Command
* Otto Lessing, U.S. Marine Corps major general
* John D. Logeman, U.S. Air Force major general
* Michael J. McCarthy, U.S. Air Force major general
* John E. McCoy, U.S. Air National Guard brigadier general
* Robert Bruce McCoy, U.S. National Guard major general
* Todd J. McCubbin, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Charles C. McDonald, U.S. Air Force general
* Montgomery Meigs, U.S. Army general
* David V. Miller, U.S. Air Force major general
* Peter George Olenchuk, U.S. Army major general
* Jeffrey W. Oster, U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general
* John P. Otjen, U.S. Army lieutenant general
* Walter P. Paluch, Jr., U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* J. Gregory Pavlovich, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Francis E. Quinlan, U.S. Marine Corps brigadier general
* Russell Burton Reynolds, U.S. Army major general
* Robley S. Rigdon, U.S. Army National Guard brigadier general
* Carson Abel Roberts, U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general
* Walter Schindler, U.S. Navy vice admiral
* Robert O. Seifert, U.S. National Guard brigadier general
* Winant Sidle, U.S. Army major general
* Fred R. Sloan, U.S. Air National Guard major general
* Phillips Waller Smith, U.S. Air Force major general
* Henry J. Stehling, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Woodrow Swancutt, U.S. Air Force major general
* Scott L. Thoele, U.S. Army National Guard brigadier general
* Tracy A. Thompson, U.S. Army major general
* Holger Toftoy, U.S. Army major general
* Richard Tubb, U.S. Air Force brigadier general; physician to the president
* George V. Underwood, Jr., U.S. Army general; former commander of Fort Bliss and commander-in-chief of United States Southern Command
* William J. Van Ryzin, U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general
* James M. Vande Hey, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Fred W. Vetter, Jr., U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Don S. Wenger, U.S. Air Force major general
* Robert E. Wheeler, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
* Ralph Wise Zwicker, U.S. Army major general

### Religion

* Frank Joseph Dewane, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida
* W. Patrick Donlin, Supreme Advocate of the Knights of Columbus
* Michael S. Heiser, Christian author
* Florence E. Kollock (1848-1925), Universalist minister and lecturer
* Marion Murdoch, Christian minister
* Ronald Myers, Baptist minister
* Paul J. Swain, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls

### Science, technology, and engineering
#### A–M

* Amy Aiken, winemaker
* Howard Aiken, computer science pioneer and recipient Edison Medal
* Loyal Blaine Aldrich, astronomer
* Ruth F. Allen, plant pathologist
* Gene Amdahl, computer scientist, Amdahl's law
* Elda Emma Anderson, physicist
* John Atanasoff, inventor of the electronic digital computer
* Chris Bangle, automobile designer, former Chief of Design for the BMW Group
* Florence Bascom (1862–1945), geologist
* Ekkehard Bautz (born 1933), molecular biologist
* Calvin Beale, demographer
* Gwen Bell, former president of The Computer Museum, Boston
* Willard Harrison Bennett, inventor and scientist
* Paul Alfred Biefeld, electrical engineer, astronomer and teacher
* Robert Byron Bird, chemical engineer, recipient of the National Medal of Science
* William Bleckwenn, neurologist and psychiatrist, instrumental in the development of the truth serum
* Joseph Colt Bloodgood, physician
* Larry Curtiss, chemist
* Gerard C. Bond, geologist
* Paul Brehm, neurobiologist
* Ernest J. Briskey, scientist, founder of the American Meat Science Association
* George H. Brown, inventor, television pioneer, and Edison Medal recipient
* William Bunge, geographer
* Gail Carpenter, neuroscientist and mathematician
* Olivia Castellini, physicist
* K. K. Chen, researcher, Eli Lilly and Company
* John Drury Clark, rocket engineer
* Emily CoBabe-Ammann, planetary scientist
* Douglas L. Coleman, biochemist
* John Thomas Curtis, botanist and ecologist; the Bray Curtis dissimilarity is partially named for him
* Donald Dafoe, surgeon
* Charles A. Doswell III, meteorologist
* Michael Dhuey, electrical and computer engineer, co-inventor of the Macintosh II and the iPod
* L. K. Doraiswamy, chemical engineer, proponent of organic synthesis engineering and Padma Bhushan award winner
* Olin J. Eggen, astronomer
* Bruce Elmegreen, astronomer
* Howard Engle, physician
* Milton H. Erickson, psychiatrist, founder of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis
* Alice Catherine Evans, microbiologist
* Frederick C. Finkle, geologist
* Kassandra Ford, ichthyologist, biomechanist, and birder
* Eleanor Ison Franklin, physiologist and endocrinologist
* Michael J. Franklin, computer scientist
* Louis Friedman, engineer
* Michael Garey, computer scientist
* Sol Garfunkel, mathematician
* Harold Garner, biophysicist
* Meredith Gardner, linguist and codebreaker
* David H. Geiger, engineer and designer of domed stadiums
* Alwyn Howard Gentry, botanist
* Eloise Gerry, scientist with United States Forest Service
* Gerson Goldhaber, discoverer of the charmed meson, and dark energy
* Sulamith Goldhaber, physicist and spectroscopist
* Danny Goodman, computer scientist and programmer
* Morris Goodman, scientist
* Eric D. Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute
* Hary Gunarto, computer engineer
* Paul Haeberli, computer programmer
* Tom Hall, game designer, co-founder of id Software
* Pat Hanrahan, computer scientist specializing in graphics, Turing Award laureate
* Henry Paul Hansen, palynologist
* Bruce William Hapke, planetary scientist
* Walter Henry Hartung, pharmaceutical chemist
* Nathan Havill, entomologist and evolutionary biologist
* Leland John Haworth, physicist and director of the National Science Foundation
* Susan Lynn Hefle, food allergen scientist
* Caleb Hickman, biologist, zoologist
* Ralph F. Hirschmann (1922–2009), biochemist who led synthesis of the first enzyme
* Vasant Honavar, computer scientist, computational biologist, cognitive scientist, artificial intelligence, machine learning researcher, former program director, National Science Foundation
* Earnest Hooton, physical anthropologist
* Charles Morse Huffer, astronomer
* Karl Jansky, physicist and radio engineer, founder of radio astronomy
* Russell F. Johannes, agronomist
* Larry R. Johnson, president of the National Weather Association
* Richard A. Jorgensen, molecular geneticist
* Willi Kalender, inventor of spiral scan computed tomography and professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
* Dennis Keeney, soil scientist, first director of the Leopold Institute
* Motoo Kimura, mathematician
* Clyde Kluckhohn, anthropologist
* Elmer Kraemer, chemist
* Kyung J. Kwon-Chung, microbiologist and chief, molecular microbiology section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
* Ben Lawton, physician
* Esther Lederberg, microbiologist and immunologist, pioneer of bacterial genetics
* Albert Lehninger, biochemist, pioneer of bioenergetics, and professor at Johns Hopkins University
* Estella B. Leopold, botanist and daughter of Aldo Leopold
* Harriet Lerner, psychologist
* Karl Paul Link, biochemist, discoverer of anticoagulant warfarin
* Walter K. Link, geologist
* Bradley C. Livezey, ornithologist
* Guy Sumner Lowman, Jr., linguist
* Daryl B. Lund, food scientist and engineer, editor-chief-of Journal of Food Science
* Ken Lunde, information processor
* Nancy Oestreich Lurie, anthropologist
* Jay Lush, geneticist
* John F. MacGregor, statistician
* Seth Marder, chemist
* Lynn Margulis, author of the serial endosymbiotic theory of cell development, advocate of the Gaia hypothesis; former professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst
* William Marr, engineer and poet
* Max Mason, mathematician
* Abraham Maslow, psychologist, founder of Humanistic psychology, Maslow's hierarchy of needs
* Scott McCartney, engineer, author, actor
* Karl Menninger, psychiatrist
* Patrick Michaels, climatologist
* Parry Moon, electrical engineer, author
* David Moore, molecular biologist
* M. Laurance Morse, microbiologist and immunologist
* Newton Ennis Morton, founder of field of genetic epidemiology
* Mark Myers, geologist and former USGS director

#### N–Z

* Walter Nance, geneticist
* Homer E. Newell, Jr., mathematician
* Paula M. Niedenthal, psychologist
* Arthur Nielsen, market analyst
* Gerald North, atmospheric scientist, author of The North Report
* Sarah Nusser, statistician
* Larry E. Overman, chemist
* Zorba Paster, physician
* Brian Paul, computer programmer of the Mesa 3D open source graphics library
* Emanuel R. Piore, former director of research, IBM
* Lynn Ponton, psychiatrist
* Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman, computer science pioneer and Padma Bhushan awardee
* Richard V. Rhode, aeronautical engineer
* Sylvia Rimm, psychology
* JoAnne Robbins, creator of dysphagia medical device
* Anita Roberts, molecular biologist
* Havidan Rodriguez, award-winning sociologist, author
* Carl Rogers, psychologist, co-founder humanistic psychology
* Leon E. Rosenberg, physician-scientist, geneticist, and educator
* Marshall Rosenberg, psychologist
* Harry Luman Russell, bacteriologist
* Joseph F. Rychlak, psychologist
* Joseph F. Sackett, clinical radiologist and professor of neuroradiology
* David Salo, linguist and translator
* John C. Sanford, plant geneticist
* William Bowen Sarles, microbiologist
* John L. Savage, chief engineer of Hoover Dam
* William Schaus, entomologist
* Edward Schildhauer, a chief engineer on the Panama Canal project
* Robert Serber, physicist, participated in the Manhattan Project
* Digvijai Singh, chemical engineer, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
* Ashley Shade Director of Research at the Institute of Ecology and the Environment within Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
* Dick Smith, software engineer and computer consultant
* James E. Smith, computer engineer
* Willem P.C. Stemmer, engineer
* Calvin L. Stevens, chemist
* Chauncey Guy Suits, former research director for GE
* M.S. Swaminathan, "father of the Green Revolution in India"
* Leslie Denis Swindale, soil scientist
* Helmer Swenholt, commanding officer of the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment
* Katia Sycara, roboticist
* Stephen Taber III, apiologist
* Auguste Taton, botanist
* Earle M. Terry, formed WHA (AM), the first radio station to clearly transmit human speech, with Edward Bennett
* Victor A. Tiedjens, scientist
* James Tour, synthetic organic chemist
* Tso Wung-Wai, professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, political activist
* Marilyn Tremaine, computer scientist
* Glenn Thomas Trewartha, geographer
* Mary Tsingou, numerical analyst
* Billie Lee Turner II, geographer
* Kameshwar C. Wali, research physicist and science writer
* John Watrous, quantum theorist of computing
* Warren Weaver, pioneer of machine translation
* I. Bernard Weinstein, physician
* Louis Jolyon West, psychiatrist
* Albert Whitford, astronomer
* Dave Winer, software designer
* Samuel D. Wonders, engineer, president of Carter's Ink Company
* Gordon Woods, veterinary scientist
* Charles E. Woodworth, entomologist
* A. Wayne Wymore, systems engineer and mathematician
* Ned Xoubi, nuclear engineer
* Joy Zedler, ecologist and botanist
* Ying E. Zhang, biochemist and senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute
* John Zillman, meteorologist
* Otto Julius Zobel, inventor of the m-derived filter and the Zobel network

### Other notable alumni

* Milo Aukerman, biochemist, front man of the Descendents
* Mary Brunner, former Manson Family member and ex-girlfriend of cult leader Charles Manson
* Clarence Chamberlin, aviation pioneer
* Kathryn F. Clarenbach, first chairwoman of the National Organization for Women
* Tim Cordes, blind physician
* Charity Rusk Craig (1849-1913), national president, Woman's Relief Corps
* Lionel Dahmer, research chemist and author who was the father of serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer.
* Laurie Dann, mass shooter who attacked elementary school children in Winnetka, Illinois
* Anna Essinger (1879–1960), educator who aided hundreds of European children before, during and after the Holocaust
* Robert Fassnacht, graduate student, killed in the Sterling Hall bombing
* Ada Fisher, physician
* Phil Galfond, 3-time WSOP bracelet-winning champion
* Alexander Gee Jr, pastor and community leader, CEO of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture
* Frederick Gutheim, urban planner
* Eva Lund Haugen, author and editor
* Jerome Heckenkamp, computer hacker
* Phil Hellmuth, 14-time WSOP bracelet-winning champion
* Prynce Hopkins, activist and psychologist
* Robert Kotler, physician
* Drew Binsky, Traveller and youtuber, has visited over 170 countries
* Mary Lasker, health activist, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal
* James T. Minor, academic administrator and sociologist.
* John Muir (1838–1914), naturalist, founder of the Sierra Club, instrumental in preserving Yosemite National Park
* Carol Myers-Scotton, linguist
* Sigurd F. Olson, conservationist
* Pauline Park, transgender activist
* Janet Meakin Poor, landscape designer
* Lori Ringhand, judicial analyst
* Carl Schramm, president, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
* Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball
* Rafael Rangel Sostmann, rector of Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and member of the World Bank
* Bill Stumpf, furniture designer
* Charlie Trotter, chef
* Althea Warren, president of the American Library Association, 1943–44

### Fictional alumni and faculty

* Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) in the 1999 movie The Insider (film)
* Chris (Will Arnett), MRI tech on TV series Parks and Recreation, says he went to UW for both his undergrad and graduate work.
* Harold "Harry" Crane, head of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce's television department in Mad Men
* Jack and Maddie Fenton, scientist parents of Danny Phantom
* Laurie Forman, character on the situation comedy That '70s Show (did not graduate)
* Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) in the 2008 movie Definitely, Maybe
* Vladimir "Vlad" Masters, a/k/a Vlad Plasmius, supervillain and foe of Danny Phantom
* Donna Moss, White House staffer in the television series The West Wing (dropped out halfway through to support her boyfriend as he went through medical school)
* Gideon Oliver, forensic anthropologist who originated in a series of novels by Aaron Elkins and was the protagonist of a short-lived television series starring Louis Gossett Jr.
* Alison Parker (Melrose Place) (Courtney Thorne-Smith) on Melrose Place, the TV series which ran from 1992 to 1999.
* President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) taught at the University of Wisconsin in the 1995 movie The American President
* A. Clarence "Silverlock" Shandon, titular character of the fantasy novel Silverlock, has a business administration degree from U.W. and was bow on the crew team for three years
* James Walker (Michael Vartan) from Big Shots (TV series), an 11-episode TV series.
* Many, perhaps most, of the characters in the 2006 film The Last Kiss, set in Madison and in part on the UW campus, are connected to the university: Kim is a student, Professor Bowler is on the faculty, and several other characters are apparently alumni.

## Notable faculty and staff
### A–G

* Martha W. Alibali, psychologist
* Timothy F. H. Allen, botanist
* Stub Allison, head coach of the Washington Huskies, South Dakota Coyotes, and California Golden Bears football teams, Washington Huskies men's basketball team, and Washington Huskies baseball team
* Ann Althouse, professor of law and well-known blogger
* Rasmus B. Anderson, professor, author, diplomat
* Rozalyn Anderson, assistant professor, scientist
* Fred J. Ansfield, physician, chemotherapy pioneer, co-Founder of American Society of Clinical Oncology, Emeritus Professor of Human Oncology
* Michael Apple, leading educational theorist
* Richard Askey, mathematician, the Askey–Wilson polynomials and Askey–Gasper inequality are partially named for him
* Sanjay Asthana, Alzheimer's disease researcher
* Louis Winslow Austin, physicist, recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor
* Stephen Babcock, inventor of the Babcock test for measuring the butterfat content of milk
* Bob Babich, NFL assistant coach
* Eric Bach, computer scientist
* Ira Baldwin, bacteriologist
* Charles Russell Bardeen, first dean of the University of Wisconsin Medical School
* Amy Barger, astronomer
* Michael Barnett, scholar of international relations
* Quan Barry, poet
* Helmut Beinert, professor of biochemistry
* Edward Bennett, professor of electrical engineering, formed WHA (AM), the first radio station to clearly transmit human speech, with Earle M. Terry
* Tony Bennett, NBA player and head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team
* Leonard Berkowitz, psychologist
* Robert Byron Bird, chemical engineer, recipient of the National Medal of Science
* George David Birkhoff, mathematician, discoverer of the ergodic theorem
* Raymond Ward Bissell, art historian
* Lisle Blackbourn, NFL head coach
* Gary Blackney, head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons football team
* Earl Blaik, head coach of the Dartmouth Big Green and Army Black Knights football teams, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* William Bleckwenn, neurologist and psychiatrist, instrumental in the development of the truth drug
* Craig Bohl, head coach of the North Dakota State Bison football team
* David Bordwell, prominent neoformalist film theorist and author
* Laird Boswell, professor of History
* George E. P. Box, statistician
* Paul S. Boyer, historian of American thought and culture
* Léon Brillouin, physicist
* Royal Alexander Brink, plant geneticist
* Thomas D. Brock, microbiologist
* Martin Bronfenbrenner, economist
* Aaron Brower, professor of social work and Vice-Provost for Teaching & Learning
* Richard A. Brualdi, professor of combinatorial mathematics
* Robert V. Bruce, winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History
* Edgar Buckingham, physicist
* Tim Buckley, head coach of the Ball State Cardinals men's basketball team
* Jacob Burney, NFL assistant coach
* Robert H. Burris, recipient of the National Medal of Science
* Gibson Byrd, noted painter
* Angus Cameron, U.S. Senator
* Antoinette Candia-Bailey, academic administrator
* Sean B. Carroll, professor of evolutionary biology
* Delia E. Wilder Carson (1833–1917), art educator
* Frederic G. Cassidy, editor-in-chief of the Dictionary of American Regional English
* Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, founder of the Journal of Geology
* Bill Chandler, head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones and Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball teams
* Y. Austin Chang, professor of material engineering
* Chang Jen-Hu, chairman of the board of directors of Chinese Culture University
* Arthur B. Chapman, professor of animal breeding and genetics
* Geep Chryst, NFL, assistant coach
* Paul Chryst, head football coach, University of Wisconsin-Madison
* Clarence S. Clay, Jr., geophysics faculty
* W. Wallace Cleland, biochemist
* John Coatta, NFL scout
* Eddie Cochems, head coach of the North Dakota State Bison, Clemson Tigers, Saint Louis Billikens, and Maine Black Bears football teams
* Bill Cofield, former men's basketball head coach, first African American coach of a major sport in the Big Ten Conference
* John R. Commons, one of the architects of Social Security in the United States
* Clifton F. Conrad, professor of educational leadership & policy analysis
* Ron Cooper, head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles, Louisville Cardinals, and Alabama A&M Bulldogs football teams
* Elizabeth A. Craig, biochemistry professor
* William Cronon, Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies, winner of the Bancroft Prize, recipient of MacArthur fellowship
* James F. Crow, professor of genetics, population geneticist
* Vincent Cryns, professor of medicine, chief of endocrinology
* John Culbertson, professor of economics
* Richard N. Current, historian
* Merle Curti, historian of U.S. intellectual history
* Philip D. Curtin, historian
* John Thomas Curtis, botanist and ecologist, the Bray Curtis dissimilarity is partially named for him
* Marshall E. Cusic Jr., U.S. Navy admiral, Chief of the U.S. Navy Medical Reserve Corps
* Scott Cutlip, dean of the University of Georgia College of Journalism and Mass Communication
* Lawrence F. Dahl, professor emeritus of chemistry
* James Dahlberg, professor emeritus of biomolecular chemistry
* Farrington Daniels, early researcher in solar energy
* Richard Davis, jazz bassist
* Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry, widely known for his mind-body research
* Carl de Boor, professor emeritus of mathematics and computer science; winner of National Medal of Science, best known for pioneering work on splines
* Hector DeLuca, researcher of vitamin D
* Robert Disque, president of the Drexel Institute of Technology
* Dave Doeren, head coach of the Northern Illinois Huskies football team
* Donald Downs, professor of political science
* Mitchell Duneier, sociologist
* Mike Eaves, NHL player and assistant coach
* Jordan Ellenberg, professor of mathematics, novelist, writer
* Edward C. Elliott, educational researcher and Purdue University president
* Amy Burns Ellis, professor of mathematics education
* Richard Theodore Ely (1854–1943), professor, social activist, economist
* Joseph Erlanger, 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* Nathan Feinsinger, chairman of the Wage Stabilization Board and associate general counsel to the National War Labor Board
* Carl Russell Fish, professor of history
* Harold K. Forsen, professor of Nuclear Engineering
* Perry A. Frey, professor of biochemistry
* Milton Friedman, associate professor of Economics Nobel Prize for Economics
* John Gallagher III, editor of the Astronomical Journal
* Adam Gamoran, professor of sociology and director, Wisconsin Center for Education Research
* Morton Ann Gernsbacher, professor of psychology and president of the Association for Psychological Science
* Har Gobind Khorana, 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for describing the genetic code and how it operates in protein synthesis
* Harvey Goldberg, historian
* James R. Goodman, professor of computer science and computer architect, known for his work on cache coherence protocols
* Doug Graber, NFL assistant coach
* M. Elizabeth Graue, professor of Curriculum and Instruction
* Michelle Grabner, professor of art
* Luther W. Graef, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers
* Carson Gulley, head chef from 1927 to 1954

### H–M

* Theodore S. Hamerow, historian
* Mike Hankwitz, head coach of the Arizona Wildcats and Colorado Buffaloes football teams
* Harry Harlow, psychologist, known for studies on affection using rhesus monkeys with artificial mothers
* Fred Harvey Harrington, historian
* Edwin B. Hart, conductor of the single-grain experiment, the Institute of Food Technologists' Babcock-Hart Award is partially named after him
* Einar Haugen, linguist
* Robert J. Havighurst, physicist, aging expert
* James Edwin Hawley, mineralogist, Hawleyite is named for him
* Carolyn Heinrich, former professor, currently Sid Richardson professor at University of Texas at Austin
* Daniel Hershkowitz (born 1953), Israeli politician, mathematician, rabbi, and president of Bar-Ilan University
* Elroy Hirsch, NFL player, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame
* Alexander Rudolf Hohlfeld, professor of German
* Jeff Horton, NFL assistant coach, head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack and UNLV Rebels football teams
* Clark L. Hull, psychologist
* William Hunter, statistician
* Krisztina Morvai associate professor of law, member of the European Parliament
* Willard Hurst, seminal figure in the development of modern American legal history
* Anna Huttenlocher, cell biologist and rheumatologist
* Rob Ianello, head coach of the Akron Zips football team
* Hugh Iltis, known for his scientific discoveries in the domestication of corn
* Yannis Ioannidis, computer scientist
* Roland Duer Irving, member of the United States Geological Survey
* Greg Jackson, NFL player
* Arnold Jeter, head coach of the Delaware State Hornets football team
* Gunnar Johansen, artist-in-residence
* Bob Johnson, NHL head coach
* Mark Johnson, NHL player and 1980 Winter Olympics Miracle on Ice team
* Burr W. Jones, U.S. Representative
* Horace Kallen, philosopher
* Nietzchka Keene, filmmaker
* Jesse Lee Kercheval, poet, memoirist, translator and fiction writer
* Har Gobind Khorana, 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for describing the genetic code and how it operates in protein synthesis
* Franklin Hiram King, soil scientist and early promoter of sustainable agriculture
* Philip King, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Rufus King, U.S. diplomat, Union Army general
* Grayson L. Kirk, president of Columbia University
* Stephen Cole Kleene, a foundational contributor to theoretical computer science
* Rudolf Kolisch, violinist
* Thomas R. Kratochwill, psychologist
* Gloria Ladson-Billings, leading educational theorist and past president of the American Educational Research Association
* Elmer A. Lampe, head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs and Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball teams
* Jane Larson, feminist legal scholar
* Vernon Lattin (born 1938), president of Brooklyn College
* Judith Walzer Leavitt, professor of history of medicine, history of science, and women's studies
* Lewis Leavitt, pediatrician
* Mike Leckrone, director of the University of Wisconsin marching band from 1969 to 2019
* Joshua Lederberg, 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
       For his research in genetic structure and function in microorganisms
* Albert L. Lehninger, biochemist
* Charles Kenneth Leith, geologist, Penrose Medal recipient
* Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac, which helped spawn the environmental movement and interest in ecology; also founded the Wilderness Society
* Gerda Lerner, professor emerita; historian of women's and gender history; considered a founder of women's history
* Philip H. Lewis Jr., landscape architect and planner
* Olin B. Lewis, Minnesota politician
* Tom Lieb, head coach of the Loyola Marymount Lions and Florida Gators football teams, Olympic medalist
* George Little, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Harvey Littleton, founder of the modern American studio glass movement
* Miron Livny, computer science professor and founder of the Condor High-Throughput Computing System
* William Lorenz, Army Distinguished Service Medal recipient
* Henry S. Magoon, U.S. Representative
* Abby Lillian Marlatt, director of home economics
* Carolyn "Biddy" Martin, professor of German and current president of Amherst College
* Abraham Maslow, psychologist, known for Maslow's hierarchy of needs
* Ron McBride, head coach of the Utah Utes and Weber State Wildcats football teams
* Dan McCarney, head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones and North Texas Mean Green football teams
* Anne McClintock, Simone de Beauvoir Professor and author of Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest
* Elmer McCollum, biochemist, co-discovered vitamins A, B, and D
* Tasha McDowell, head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos women's basketball team
* Mike McGee, NFL player, head coach of the East Carolina Pirates and Duke Blue Devils football teams, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Nellie Y. McKay, scholar of African-American literature and co-editor of the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature
* Howard J. McMurray, U.S. Representative
* Patrick McNaughton, art historian, Associate Professor of Art History
* Milton McPike, NFL player
* Walter Meanwell, former head coach of the men's basketball team, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
* Alexander Meiklejohn, philosopher and free-speech advocate
* Erika Meitner, poet, author, and English professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison
* William Shainline Middleton, co-founder and secretary-treasurer of the American Board of Internal Medicine
* Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
* Frederic E. Mohs, surgeon and developer of the Mohs surgery technique for removing types of skin cancer
* Howard Moore, head coach of the UIC Flames men's basketball team
* Perry Moss, NFL player, athletic director of Florida State University, head coach of the Florida State Seminoles and Marshall Thundering Herd football teams
* George L. Mosse, professor; historian of European nationalism and gender
* Regina Murphy, professor of chemical engineering, AIMBE fellow
* Reid F. Murray, U.S. Representative

### N–S

* Steven Nadler, professor of philosophy and Jewish studies
* Gerhard Brandt Naeseth, genealogical author; member of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
* Adolphus Peter Nelson, U.S. Representative
* Kathryn Norlock, feminist philosopher
* Ronald Numbers, historian of science
* Allan R. Odden, professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis
* Hakkı Ögelman, physicist and astrophysicist
* Richard Page, chair, department of medicine
* John Palermo, NFL assistant coach
* Charles D. Parker, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
* Harry Partch, avant-garde composer
* Zorba Paster, co-host of Public Radio's Zorba Paster On Your Health
* Klaus Patau, geneticist, best known for the discovery of trisomy 13 (a.k.a. Patau syndrome)
* Stanley Payne, historian
* Russell W. Peterson, Governor of Delaware
* Saul Phillips, head coach of the North Dakota State Bison men's basketball team
* Felix Pollak, curator of Special Collections; poet
* Andrew C. Porter, former director of Wisconsin Center for Education Research, professor of education policy at Vanderbilt
* Ellis Rainsberger, head coach of the Kansas State Wildcats football team
* Hans Reese, Olympic athlete
* Paul Samuel Reinsch, U.S. diplomat
* Milton Resnick, artist-in-residence
* Pat Richter, NFL player, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Patrick T. Riley, political theorist
* Paul Roach, NFL assistant coach, athletic director and head football coach at the University of Wyoming
* Carl Rogers, psychologist and founder of Client-Centered Therapy
* Thomas A. Romberg, professor emeritus of curriculum and instruction (mathematics education)
* Walter Rudin, mathematician best known for his books on mathematical analysis
* Joe Rudolph, NFL player
* Bo Ryan, current head men's basketball coach
* Alfred A. Sanelli, U.S. Army general
* Harrison Schmitt, adjunct professor of engineering physics, 12th man on the Moon as Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist
* Hans Schneider, mathematician, best known for his contributions to the Linear Algebra and Matrix society
* Isaac Jacob Schoenberg, mathematician, best known for the discovery in 1946 of splines
* Jennifer Schomaker, chemist, professor, researcher
* John Settle, NFL player
* Donna Shalala, chancellor 1987–1993; secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993–2001
* Charles S. Slichter, mathematician and physicist
* Ithamar Sloan, U.S. Representative
* Red Smith, MLB and NFL player and coach
* Oliver Smithies, faculty 1960 to 1988, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2007
* Clarence Spears, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Bob Spoo, head coach of the Eastern Illinois Panthers football team
* Kurt Squire, director of the Games, Learning & Society Conference
* Dale Steele, head coach of the Campbell Fighting Camels football team
* Harry Steenbock, biochemist, vitamin D researcher
* John Stiegelmeier, head coach of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team
* Mike Stock, NFL assistant coach
* Scott Straus, assistant professor of Political Science and International Studies, specialising in the study of genocide
* Harry Stuhldreher, NFL player, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Stephen Suomi, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Comparative Ethology Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health
* Aage B. Sørensen, sociologist

### T–Z

* Brandon Taylor, writer
* Cecil Taylor, jazz pianist
* Henry Charles Taylor, agricultural economist
* Howard Temin, 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of reverse transcriptase
* Edward Ten Eyck, first American to win the Diamond Challenge Sculls
* Eeva Therman, geneticist, characterized trisomy 13 and trisomy 18
* James Thomson, credited with first successful culturing of human embryonic stem cells
* Arthur Thrall, artist
* Giulio Tononi, professor of psychiatry
* Darold Treffert, psychiatrist
* Frederick Jackson Turner, historian and creator of the "frontier thesis" explaining the American character
* Timothy Tyson, professor of African-American history and author
* John J. Uicker, mechanical engineer
* Stanislaw Ulam, mathematician who joined the Manhattan Project during World War II
* Harry Vail, rowing coach, the Dad Vail Regatta is named after him
* Ryan G. Van Cleave, author
* Clark Van Galder, head coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs football team
* Charles R. Van Hise, geologist and university president who formulated the "Wisconsin Idea"
* Edward Burr Van Vleck, mathematician and professor
* Alexander Vasiliev (1867–1953), Byzantinist and Arabist
* Jan Vansina, historian of Africa and father of oral historical methodology
* Grace Wahba, statistician, developed generalized cross validation and formalized Wahba's problem
* Pete Waite, head coach of the women's volleyball team, author
* David Ward, president of the American Council on Education
* Oliver Patterson Watts, chemical engineer
* Viola S. Wendt, poet
* Albert Whitford, astronomer
* Eugene Wigner, 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics
* John Wilce, head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
* Noah Williams, economist
* William Appleman Williams, historian of American diplomacy
* Erik Olin Wright, sociologist
* Randall Wright, macroeconomist and pioneer of search theory in monetary economics
* Sewall Wright, professor of genetics, one of the fathers of population genetics
* Todd Yeagley, MLS player
* Kenneth Zeichner, winner of several awards for Teacher Education
* Efim Zelmanov, recipient of the Fields Medal in 1994
* Howard Zimmerman, organic chemist, discovered barrelene
* Otto Julius Zobel, inventor of the m-derived filter and the Zobel network