# List of Kansas State University people

The following is a list of notable people associated with Kansas State University, whose main campus is located in the American city of Manhattan, Kansas.

## University presidents

The following men have served as President of Kansas State University:
* Joseph Denison, 1863–1873
* John Anderson, 1873–1879
* George Fairchild, 1879–1897
* Thomas Elmer Will, 1897–1899
* Ernest Reuben Nichols, 1899–1909
* Henry J. Waters, 1909–1917
* William Jardine, 1918–1925
* Francis D. Farrell, 1925–1943
* Milton Eisenhower, 1943–1950$^+$
* James A. McCain, 1950–1975
* Duane C. Acker, 1975–1986
* Jon Wefald, 1986–2009
* Kirk Schulz, 2009–2016
* Richard Myers, 2016–2022$^+$
* Richard Linton, 2022–present
$^+$Kansas State alumnus

## Alumni
### Academia

* Anna Estelle Arnold (1879–1942) – school teacher, administrator, textbook publisher
* Erle Bartley – professor (1949–1983); developed widely used preventative for ruminal tympany (ruminant bloat)
* May Louise Cowles – researcher and nationwide advocate of home economics study
* Kenneth S. Davis – historian, professor, nominated for National Book Award
* Milton S. Eisenhower – former president of Kansas State, Penn State, and Johns Hopkins universities; brother of Dwight D. Eisenhower
* Louis Edwin Fry Sr. (1903–2000) (B.S. 1927, M.S. 1929) – architect, professor; former chair of the department of architecture at Howard University
* Leon Quincy Jackson (1926/1927–1995) (M.S. 1954) – architect, professor at Tennessee State University, and an early African American architect in Oklahoma and Tennessee
* Charlotte P. Morris (PhD) – interim president of Tuskegee University (2010; 2017–2018)
* Ernest Fox Nichols – physicist, president of Dartmouth College (1909–16) and MIT (1921–23)
* Michael O'Donnell – professor, researcher on adolescent wellness
* George P. "Bud" Peterson – President of the Georgia Institute of Technology (2009–present); chancellor of the University of Colorado-Boulder (2006–09)
* Imam Prasodjo – professor at the University of Indonesia
* John Brooks Slaughter – Chancellor of University System of Maryland (1982–88), president of Occidental College (1988–99), director of the National Science Foundation
* Helen B. Thompson (1875–1969) – home economist, professor emeritus at University of California, Los Angeles; Thompson Hall on the Kansas State Agricultural College campus is named in her honor
* Jackie Vietti – President of Butler Community College for 17 years; interim president of Emporia State University in 2015

### Arts and media

* Kirstie Alley – actress (Cheers, Veronica's Closet, Fat Actress); winner of two Emmy Awards
* Craig Bolerjack – announcer on NFL on CBS; Utah Jazz television announcer
* Charles L. Brainard – architect; active in preserving the papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower and establishing the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home
* Jane Butel – cookbook author; founder of the Jane Butel Cooking School
* Bill Buzenberg – journalist; executive director of Center for Public Integrity; former vice-president of news at NPR
* Del Close – actor, improviser, writer; co-founder of I.O. theatre in Chicago and one of premier influences on modern improvisational theater
* Lucinda Dickey – actress (Breakin', Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo), former Solid Gold dancer
* Roy M. Fisher – journalist; former editor-in-chief of Chicago Daily News
* Gail Gregg – artist
* Eddie Griffin – comedian
* Mitch Holthus – radio voice of Kansas City Chiefs
* Nathan Johnson – modernist architect in Detroit
* Gordon Jump – actor (WKRP in Cincinnati, "Maytag Man")
* Charles Melton – actor
* Virgil Miller – film special effects pioneer; Academy Award nominee
* Clementine Paddleford – journalist and food writer; declared by Time magazine in 1953 as the "best known food editor in the United States"
* Darcy Pattison – writer of children's literature, blogger, writing teacher and indie publisher
* Steve Pepoon – TV writer/producer; Emmy winner, The Simpsons
* Steve Physioc – broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals
* Keylee Sue Sanders – television fashion consultant; former Miss Teen USA; pageant organizer
* Lawrence M. Schoen – science fiction author
* Mark Schultz – musician
* Kevin Warren Sloan – student athlete; landscape architect, urban planner and writer
* Crystal Smith – model, actress, and Playboy centerfold
* Pete Souza – photojournalist and official White House photographer (1983–1989); chief White House photographer (2009–present)
* Eric Stonestreet – actor (Modern Family), Emmy Award winner
* Theresa Vail – Miss Kansas 2013
* Jerry Wexler – record producer; enshrined in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

#### English/creative writing

* Derick Burleson – poet
* Frank Marshall Davis – poet; journalist; editor of several African-American newspapers
* Darren DeFrain – fiction writer
* Taylor Mali – slam poet
* Claude McKay – poet influential during Harlem Renaissance
* Debra Monroe – fiction writer
* Bryan Penberthy – poet
* Kevin Rabas – poet
* Ed Skoog – poet

### Business

* Leanne Caret – president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security
* Gregory C. Case – CEO of Aon
* James Harbord – major general during World War I; president and chairman of the board for RCA
* Damon T. Hininger – chief executive officer of the Corrections Corporation of America
* Carl Ice – president (2010–14) and President and CEO (2014–20) of BNSF Railway
* Jim Isch – officer at NCAA; interim executive director of NCAA (2009–2010)
* William A. Porter – founder of E-Trade
* Warren Staley – president and CEO, Cargill, Inc.

### Politics, government and military

* Emory S. Adams – United States Army general
* Lewis Bloom (grad. 1972) – member of the Kansas House of Representatives
* Joseph Boakai – Vice President of Liberia (2006–2018)
* Sam Brinton – nuclear engineer, LGBT activist, policy analyst for Bipartisan Policy Center, and deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy
* Sam Brownback – U.S. Senator, Kansas (1996–2011), 46th governor of Kansas (2011–2018)
* Donald M. Campbell Jr. – Commanding general of U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox
* John W. Carlin – 40th governor of Kansas; Archivist of the United States (1995–2005)
* Glen E. Edgerton – major general, U.S. Army
* Marlin Fitzwater – Press Secretary under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
* Kenji Fujimori – Peruvian businessman and Congressman
* Jim Geringer – 30th governor of Wyoming
* Mike Hayden – 41st governor of Kansas
* Lori Healey – Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development
* Lynn Jenkins – Kansas State Treasurer (2002–08), U.S. House of Representatives (2009–2019)
* Ronald E. Keys – General, U.S. Air Force
* Richard A. Knobloch – brigadier general, U.S. Air Force
* Henry D. Linscott – lieutenant general, U.S. Marine Corps
* Roger Marshall – junior United States senator from Kansas
* Michael A. McAuliffe – brigadier general, U.S. Air Force
* Frank B. Morrison – 31st governor of Nebraska (1961–67)
* Richard Myers – Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (2001–2005)
* Richard Bordeaux Parker – diplomat
* John Jacob Rhodes – Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives (1973–1981)
* Pat Roberts – U.S. Senator, Kansas (1996–2020)
* Bernard W. Rogers – NATO Supreme Allied Commander
* Glenn Rogers – Member of the Texas House of Representatives (2021–present)
* Susanna M. Salter – Mayor of Argonia, Kansas (1887); first female mayor in the United States
* Fred Andrew Seaton – U.S. Senator, Nebraska (1951–1952); U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1956–1961)
* K. Gary Sebelius – magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
* Harold Sebring – Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, American judge at the Nuremberg Trials, Dean of the Stetson University College of Law, and head coach of the Florida Gators football team
* Richard J. Seitz – lieutenant general, U.S. Army
* Theresa Sparks – president of the San Francisco Police Commission
* John Strick – Member of the Kansas State Senate (1985–1992)
* Virginia Trotter – U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education (1974–1977)
* Harriet Waddy – major in the Women's Army Corps
* Allen West – U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 22nd district (2011–2013)

### Science and technology

* Mark Alfred Carleton – botanist
* David Fairchild – botanist and explorer
* Paul C. Fisher – inventor
* Philip Fox – astronomer
* Alwyn Howard Gentry – botanist
* Luis Montaner – HIV/AIDS researcher
* Nellie M. Payne – entomologist and agricultural chemist
* Elieser Posner — grain scientist
* Geraldine L. Richmond – physical chemist; National Medal of Science laureate
* Lloyd Carlton Stearman – aircraft designer
* Charles Hazelius Sternberg – paleontologist
* Walter Tennyson Swingle – botanist
* Peter Tsai – inventor of N95 mask
* Samuel Wendell Williston – paleontologist

### Athletics
#### Baseball

* Elden Auker – All-American (1932); All-Big Six Conference in football, basketball, and baseball; played for Detroit Tigers
* Josh Billings – 11-year Major League Baseball veteran
* Ted Power – 12-year Major League Baseball veteran
* Bobby Randall – played for Minnesota Twins (1976–80), former head baseball coach at Iowa State University (1985–1995), former head baseball coach at University of Kansas (1996–2002)
* Andy Replogle – pitcher for Milwaukee Brewers
* Kite Thomas – outfielder for Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators; namesake of Kite's Bar in Manhattan, Kansas
* Carlos Torres – pitcher for Chicago White Sox
* Craig Wilson – All-American (1992); member of the 1992 Olympic baseball team in Barcelona; played for Chicago White Sox
* Earl Woods – father of Tiger Woods; broke color barrier in baseball in the Big Seven Conference at Kansas State

#### Basketball

* Ernie Barrett – first-round pick in 1951 NBA draft (Boston Celtics), former athletic director at Kansas State, number retired by KSU
* Michael Beasley – active NBA player, All-American and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year (2008), second overall selection in the 2008 NBA draft
* Rolando Blackman – College Basketball Hall of Famer, All-American (1981), first-round pick in 1981 NBA draft (Dallas Mavericks), four-time NBA All-Star
* Bob Boozer – College Basketball Hall of Famer, two-time All-American (1958, 1959), first overall draft pick in 1959 NBA draft (Cincinnati Royals), NBA All-Star
* Bob Chipman – former basketball coach at Washburn University; team won 1986–1987 NAIA national championship
* Norris Coleman (born 1961) – NBA forward for the Los Angeles Clippers, 1994 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
* Mike Evans – two-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year (1977, 1978), first-round pick in 1978 NBA draft (Denver Nuggets), NBA executive and coach
* Marcus Foster (born 1995) - basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Bill Guthridge – former basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, National Coach of the Year (1998)
* D.J. Johnson
* Gene Keady – former basketball coach at Purdue, four-time National Coach of the Year (1984, 1994, 1996, 2000)
* Lon Kruger – basketball coach at Oklahoma, former coach of Atlanta Hawks, two-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year (1973, 1974)
* Rodney McGruder – active NBA player (Los Angeles Clippers)
* Mike McGuirl (born 1998) – player for Hapoel Haifa in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Willie Murrell – led KSU to Final Four in 1964, former ABA basketball player, number retired by KSU
* Nicole Ohlde – three-time All-American (2002, 2003, 2004), first-round pick in 2004 WNBA draft, number retired by KSU
* Jacob Pullen – all-time scoring leader for KSU (2,132 career points), winner of Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
* Mitch Richmond – Naismith Hall of Fame, All-American (1988), first-round pick in 1988 NBA draft, six-time NBA All-Star, NBA All-Star Game MVP
* Howie Shannon – All-American (1948), first overall draft pick in 1949 BAA Draft (Providence Steamrollers)
* Xavier Sneed (born 1997) - basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Juan "Pachín" Vicens – named "Best Basketball Player in the World" in 1959
* Kendra Wecker – All-American and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year (2005), first-round pick in 2005 WNBA draft (San Antonio Silver Stars), number retired by KSU
* Tex Winter – former KSU basketball coach, innovator of the Triangle Offense

#### Football

* Elijah Alexander – NFL linebacker; founder of the Tackle Cancer Foundation
* David Allen – All-American (1998); NFL kick returner
* Michael Bishop – Davey O'Brien Award winner; second in voting for 1998 Heisman Trophy; All-American (1998)
* Larry Brown – 1972 NFL MVP; four-time NFL Pro Bowler
* Russ Campbell – former NFL tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers
* Chris Canty – two-time All-American (1995, 1996); first-round pick in 1997 NFL draft
* Henry Childs – NFL Pro Bowler
* Paul Coffman – three-time NFL Pro Bowler; member of Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
* Tyrone Crews – CFL linebacker, Grey Cup champion, BC Lions Wall of Fame
* Ron Dickerson – head football coach for Temple University
* Darrell Dickey – head football coach for University of North Texas
* Lynn Dickey – NFL quarterback; named all-time All-Big Eight QB in 1996; member of Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
* Josh Freeman – NFL quarterback; first-round draft pick in 2009 NFL draft
* Ralph Graham – starter in 1934 East-West Shrine Game; head football coach for Kansas State
* Martín Gramática – Lou Groza Award winner; All-American (1997); NFL Pro Bowler
* Dean Griffing – Canadian Football Hall of Famer; first general manager of Denver Broncos
* Steve Grogan – NFL quarterback; member of New England Patriots Hall of Fame
* Kirby Hocutt – athletic director at Texas Tech University, Chairman of College Football Playoff Committee (2016– )
* Jason Johnson – former Indianapolis Colts player
* Tony Jordan – NFL running back of Phoenix Cardinals
* Jeff Kelly – All-American (1998); former NFL linebacker
* Collin Klein – Big XII Offensive Player of the Year 2012; Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award 2012; third in voting for 2012 Heisman Trophy
* Tyler Lockett – NFL wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks selected for the 2016 Pro Bowl
* Jeron Mastrud – NFL tight end (Miami Dolphins)
* Ralph McFillen – player 1960–1963; NCAA conference commissioner
* Jaime Mendez – All-American (1993); holds KSU record for most interceptions in a season (15)
* Jordy Nelson – All-American (2007); NFL wide receiver (Green Bay Packers)
* Quentin Neujahr – NFL center
* Terence Newman – Jim Thorpe Award winner; unanimous All-American (2002); first-round pick in 2003 NFL draft
* Gary Patterson – head football coach at TCU
* Ellis Rainsberger – head football coach for Kansas State University and Pittsburgh Maulers
* Doug Russell – led NFL in rushing in 1935
* Clarence Scott – All-American (1970); NFL Pro Bowler
* Harold L. "Tom" Sebring – head football coach for the University of Florida (1925–1927)
* Mark Simoneau – All-American (1999); Big 12 Player of the Year; former NFL linebacker
* Sean Snyder – All-American (1992); son of coach Bill Snyder
* Gary Spani – All-American (1977); Member of College Football Hall of Fame and Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame
* Darren Sproles – All-American (2003); NFL running back; selected as one of "Fifty Greatest San Diego Chargers"
* Bob Stull – athletic director at UTEP
* Veryl Switzer – NFL running back; highest NFL draft pick in KSU history (#4 in 1954)
* Daniel Thomas – NFL running back
* Brent Venables (class of 1992) – current head football coach at Oklahoma
* James J. Yeager – head football coach for Iowa State University and the University of Colorado

#### Golf

* Jim Colbert – finished second at NCAA Championships; registered 8 victories on PGA Tour and 20 victories on Champions Tour; golf television analyst
* Robert Streb – PGA golfer
* Aaron Watkins – PGA golfer

#### Track and field

* Thane Baker – winner of four Olympic medals, including gold, at 1952 Summer Olympics and 1956 Summer Olympics
* Tom Brosius – All-American in shot put and discus
* DeLoss Dodds – Big Seven champion; Kansas State track coach (1963–1976); U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame
* Steve Fritz – Big Eight champion; finished fourth in decathlon at 1996 Summer Olympics; assistant coach at Kansas State
* Kenny Harrison – won gold medal in triple jump at 1996 Summer Olympics
* Erik Kynard - won gold medal in high jump at 2012 Summer Olympics
* Thomas Randolph – two-sport All-American (1992)
* Ivan Riley – won bronze medal in 400 meter hurdles at 1924 Summer Olympics
* Austra Skujytė – won silver medal in heptathlon (for Lithuania) at 2004 Summer Olympics; assistant coach at Kansas State

### Others

* Erin Brockovich – activist
* Sean Lowe – reality star (The Bachelorette, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars)
* Jim Rayburn – founder of Young Life
* Kevin Saunders – wheelchair Olympian

## Faculty and staff

* Stephen Ambrose – professor of history (1970–71)
* M. Katherine Banks – professor of engineering (1989–1997)
* Helen Brockman – fashion designer (1968–74)
* Helen Stuart Campbell – professor of domestic science (1896–97)
* Elizabeth Williams Champney – secretary of college, drawing instructor (1870–73)
* John Ciardi – professor of English (poetry)
* John Wynn Davidson – first professor of military science (1868–71)
* Kenneth S. Davis – professor of historyB.F. Mudge
* Michael Finnegan – professor of anthropology
* Angelo Garzio – emeritus professor of ceramics
* Charles Christian Georgeson – professor of agriculture (1890–98)
* Nehemiah Green – professor of military tactics
* Roy M. Green – professor; later president of Colorado State University
* T. Marshall Hahn – Dean of College of Arts and Sciences (1959–62); later president of Virginia Tech
* A. S. Hitchcock – professor of botany (1892–1901)
* Pascal Hitzler – professor of computer science (2019–present)
* Jonathan Holden – professor of English (poetry) (1978–present)
* John S. Hougham – chairman of philosophy and agriculture (1868–72)
* Lloyd Hulbert – professor of biology (1955–86)
* William Ashbrook Kellerman – professor of botany (1883–91)
* Naomi B. Lynn – professor of political science; later first Hispanic female president of an American public university
* George A. Milliken – professor of statistics
* W. R. Moses – poet; professor of English
* Benjamin Franklin Mudge – Chair of Geology Department (1866–74)
* Philip Nel – professor of English (2000–present)
* Mitsugi Ohno – glassblower of first successful Klein bottle (1961–96)
* Andrew Summers Rowan – professor of military tactics (1902–03)
* Fred Albert Shannon – professor of history; awarded Pulitzer Prize for History in 1929 while teaching at Kansas State
* James Shanteau – professor of psychology
* Maurice Cole Tanquary – professor of entomology (1913–1919)
* Albert M. Ten Eyck – professor of agriculture (1902–06), agronomy (1906–10) and farm management (1910–12)
* Helen B. Thompson (1875–1969) – home economist, professor emeritus at University of California, Los Angeles; Thompson Hall on the Kansas State Agricultural College campus is named in her honor
* Michael Wesch – assistant professor of cultural anthropology, recipient of 2008 U.S. Professor of the Year award from CASE
* Kimberly A. With – professor of biology

## Fictional characters

* Joseph, anti-hero of Bruce Jay Friedman's novel A Mother's Kisses, attends "Kansas Land Grant Agricultural College."
* Mary Ashley, main character in Sidney Sheldon's novel Windmills of the Gods, starts the book as a professor at Kansas State University.
* Brantley Foster, protagonist in the movie The Secret of My Success, portrayed by Michael J. Fox, is a recent graduate of Kansas State University who moves to New York City where he has landed a job as a financier.
* Oliver Lang, terrorist in the movie Arlington Road, portrayed by Tim Robbins, is a former Kansas State student.
* Lamar Quin, senior associate in the John Grisham novel The Firm, is noted to have graduated from Kansas State.