# List of University of Nebraska–Lincoln people

This list of University of Nebraska–Lincoln people includes notable graduates, instructors, and administrators affiliated with University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Three Nobel Prize winners have been associated with the university.

## Nobel laureates

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| George Beadle (1903–89) | B. S. 1926; M. S. 1927 | Scientist, 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner, 7th President of University of Chicago |
| Donald J. Cram (1919–2001) | M. S. 1942 | Chemist, 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner |
| Alan J. Heeger (b. 1936) | B. S. 1957; Honorary Ph. D. 1999 | Chemist, 2000 Nobel Prize for Chemistry winner |

## Pulitzer Prize winners

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Willa Cather (1873–1947) | B. A. 1895 | Writer, 1923 Pulitzer Prize winner |
| Karen Blessen (b. 1951) | B. F. A. 1973 | Graphic artist, 1989 Pulitzer Prize winner |
| Ted Kooser (b. 1939) | M. A. 1968 | Poet, 13th United States Poet Laureate, 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner |
| Marjie Lundstrom (b. 1956) | B. A. 1978 | Journalist, 1991 Pulitzer Prize winner |
| Karl Shapiro (1913–2000) | Professor | Poet, 5th United States Poet Laureate, 1945 Pulitzer Prize winner |

## Academics
### College founders, presidents, and deans

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Edith Abbott (1876–1957) | B. S. 1901 | Economist, social worker, founder of University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration |
| Gene Budig (1939–2020) | B. A. 1962; M. A. 1963; Ph. D. 1967 | Baseball executive, academic administrator (Kansas, Illinois State, West Virginia) |
| Edward C. Elliott (1874–1960) | B. S. 1895; M. A. 1897 | Academic administrator (Montana, Purdue) |
| Miguel Angel Escotet | Ph. D. 1972 | Social scientist, academic administrator (Texas at Brownsville) |
| Ronnie D. Green (b. 1961) | Ph. D. 1988 | Academic administrator (Nebraska) |
| John Jasinski (b. 1962) | Ph. D. 1996 | Academic administrator (Northwest Missouri State) |
| Alvin Saunders Johnson (1874–1971) | M. A. 1898 | Economist, founder of The New School |
| Charles L. Littel (c. 1886–1966) | B. A. 1912 | founder and president of Junior College of Bergen County and Centralia Junior College |
| James Milliken (b. 1957) | B. A. 1979 | Academic administrator (Nebraska, Texas) |
| Roscoe Pound (1870–1964) | B. A. 1888; M. A. 1889; Ph. D. 1897 | Legal scholar and educator, dean of law (Nebraska, Harvard) |
| William Ruud (b. 1952) | B. A.; Ph. D. | Academic administrator (Northern Iowa, Shippensburg, Marietta) |

### Professors and scholars

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Robert A. Alberty (1921–2014) | B. S. 1943; M. S. 1944 | Biophysical chemist |
| Hartley Burr Alexander (1873–1939) | B. A. 1896 | Philosopher, writer, iconographer; wrote symbolism and inscriptions in the Nebraska State Capitol |
| George Andreasen (1934–1989) | B. S.; M. S. | Orthodontist, inventor of the Nitinol wire |
| George Willis Botsford (1862–1917) | B. A. 1884; M. A. 1889 | Greek and Roman classicist |
| Rosa Bouton (1860–1951) | B. S. 1891; M. A. 1893 | Chemist |
| Norma Elia Cantú (b. 1947) | Ph. D. 1982 | Writer |
| Edwin H. Colbert (1905–2001) | B. A. | Vertebrate paleontologist, author |
| Nancy Coover Andreasen (b. 1938) | B. A. | Neuroscientist, neurophysicist |
| Donald Cox (b. 1937) | B. S. 1959; M. S. 1960 | Electrical engineer |
| Frank W. Cyr (1900–1995) | B. A. 1923 | Rural education researcher, "father of the yellow school bus" |
| Harold Eugene Edgerton (1903–90) | B. S. 1925 | Electrical engineer, stroboscope pioneer, photographer |
| Loren Eiseley (1907–77) | B. A. 1933; B. S. 1933 | Anthropologist, philosopher, writer |
| Rollins A. Emerson (1873–1947) | B. S. 1897 | Geneticist |
| Mohammad Kabir Hassan (b. 1963) | M. A. 1987; Ph. D. 1990 | Economist |
| Jay Keasling | B. S. 1986 | Synthetic biologist |
| Derrick Norman Lehmer (1867–1938) | B. A. 1893; M. A. 1896 | Number theorist |
| John L. Loos (1918–2011) | B. A. 1939; M. A. 1940 | Lewis and Clark historian |
| John Norman (b. 1931) | B. A. 1953 | Author, philosopher |
| Dirk Obbink (b. 1957) | B. A. 1978 | Papyrologist, classicist |
| Loreen Olson | Ph.D. | Professor of Communications at UNC Greensboro |
| Londa Schiebinger (b. 1952) | B. A. 1974 | Researcher |
| Bernice Slote (1913–1983) | M. A. 1941 | Editor of Prairie Schooner, poet |
| Don Welch (1932–2016) | Ph.D. 1966 | Poet, professor of English literature at University of Nebraska at Kearney |

## Arts, design and entertainment

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Ronald Barnes (1927–97) | B. M. 1950 | Carillonist |
| Robert Beerbohm (b. 1952) | B. A. 1972 | Comic book historian |
| Benjamin A. Botkin (1901–75) | Ph. D. 1931 | Folklorist |
| Kirk Bovill (b. 1961) | B. S. 1984 | Actor, writer, producer |
| Dan Brown (b. 1990) | Did not graduate | Blogger and YouTube personality, founder of Pogopalooza |
| Johnny Carson (1925–2005) | B. A. 1949 | Host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; seven-time Emmy winner; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award recipient |
| Bruce Conner (1933–2008) | B. F. A. 1956 | Artist |
| Aaron Douglas (1899–1979) | B. A. 1922 | Painter, illustrator and visual arts educator; "the father of African-American art" |
| Jeff Draheim (b. 1963) | B. A. 1985 | Film editor |
| Norman Ericson (1932–2011) | B. A. 1954 | Biblical scholar |
| Charles L. Fletcher (b. 1971) | B. A. 1996 | Architect and interior designer |
| Barbara Hendricks (b. 1948) | B. A. 1969 | Opera, recital, and jazz singer; Goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
| Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman (1926–2007) | B. F. A. 1948 | Artist and children's book illustrator |
| Ray Howlett (b. 1940) | B. A. 1963 | Artist |
| Weldon Kees (1914–55) | B. A. 1935 | Poet, abstract expressionist, jazz pianist, composer, photographer, and filmmaker |
| Jaime King (b. 1979) | Did not graduate | Actress, model |
| Stephanie Kurtzuba (b. 1972) | Did not graduate | Actress |
| Thomas D. Mangelsen (b. 1946) | B. S. 1967 | Wildlife photographer, conservationist |
| Clare Cooper Marcus (b. 1934) | B. A. 1952 | Landscape architecture educator |
| Charles F. McAfee | B.Arch 1958 | Architect, housing activist |
| Sarah Wool Moore (1846–1911) | | Artist and art teacher |
| Chad Myers | B. A. 1985 | Meteorologist |
| Conor Oberst (b. 1980) | Did not graduate | Lead vocalist of Bright Eyes |
| Bryan Odell (b. 1990) | Did not graduate | Music journalist, YouTube personality |
| Joel Sartore (b. 1962) | B. A. 1985 | National Geographic photographer |
| Dan Schlissel (b. 1970) | B. S. 1993 | Record producer; founder of Stand Up! Records and -ismist Recordings |
| Shelley Smith (b. 1958) | B.A. 1981 | SportsCenter correspondent |
| James Valentine (b. 1978) | B.A. 2004 | Lead guitarist of Maroon 5 |
| Dan Whitney (b. 1963) | Did not graduate | Comedian (stage name "Larry the Cable Guy") |
| Jeff Zeleny (b. 1973) | B.A. 1996 | CNN senior White House correspondent |
| Golden J. Zenon Jr. (1929–2006) | B.Arch 1955 | Architect |

## Business

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Warren Buffett (b. 1930) | B. S. 1950 | Investor, philanthropist; chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway |
| Jack Cole (1920–2007) | B. S./B. A. | Entrepreneur, inventor of the reverse telephone directory |
| Harry Culver (1880–1946) | Did not graduate | Real estate agent; founder of Culver City, California |
| William E. Galbraith (1926–2012) | B. S. 1949 | National Commander of the American Legion |
| Vinod Gupta (b. 1946) | M. S. 1969; M. B. A. 1971 | Investor, philanthropist; founder of infoGROUP and Vinod Gupta School of Management |
| Mohammad Kabir Hassan (b. 1963) | M. S. 1987; Ph. D. 1990 | Economist |
| C. Edward McVaney (1940–2020) | B. S. | Founder and CEO of JD Edwards |

## Law and politics
### Heads of state

| Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942) | B. S. 1909 | 1st Prime Minister of Latvia, 4th President of Latvia | |

### United States cabinet secretaries and leaders

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| James Abdnor (1923–2012) | B. S. 1945 | 15th Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Senator from South Dakota, Representative from South Dakota, 30th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota |
| Claude M. Bolton Jr. (1945–2015) | B. S. 1969; Honorary Ph. D. 2007 | Air Force major general, 3rd Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology |
| Herbert Brownell Jr. (1904–96) | B. A. 1924 | Lawyer, 62nd Attorney General |
| G. Bradford Cook (1937–2014) | Law 1961 | 18th chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Hal Daub (b. 1941) | J. D. 1966 | Chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board, Representative from Nebraska, 48th mayor of Omaha, Nebraska |
| Stanley K. Hathaway (1924–2005) | Law 1950 | 40th Secretary of the Interior, 27th governor of Wyoming |
| Richard Lee McCall Jr. (b. 1942) | Did not graduate | 14th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs |
| John R. McCarl (1879–1940) | B. S. 1903 | 1st Comptroller General |
| Jan Meyers (1928–2019) | B.A. 1951 | 10th chair of the House Committee on Small Business, Representative from Kansas |
| Patsy Mink (1927–2002) | Did not graduate | 3rd Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Representative from Hawaii |
| Norbert Tiemann (1924–2012) | B. S. 1949 | 13th administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, 32nd governor of Nebraska |
| Clayton Yeutter (1930–2017) | B. S. 1952; J. D. 1963; Ph. D. 1966 | 23rd Secretary of Agriculture, 9th Trade Representative |

### Governors

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Victor Emanuel Anderson (1902–62) | | 28th governor of Nebraska, mayor of Lincoln |
| Ralph G. Brooks (1898–1960) | Law 1926 | 29th governor of Nebraska, 19th chair of the National Governors Association |
| Robert Leroy Cochran (1886–1963) | B. S. 1910 | 24th governor of Nebraska |
| Jonathan M. Davis (1871–1943) | Did not graduate | 22nd governor of Kansas |
| Dwight Griswold (1893–1954) | B. A. 1914 | 25th governor of Nebraska, Senator from Nebraska |
| Elmer Holt (1884–1945) | 1902 | 10th governor of Montana |
| Bob Kerrey (b. 1943) | B. S. 1966 | 35th governor of Nebraska, Senator from Nebraska; Medal of Honor, Bronze Star Medal, and Purple Heart recipient |
| Samuel Roy McKelvie (1881–1956) | Did not graduate | 19th governor of Nebraska, 13th lieutenant governor of Nebraska |
| Adam McMullen (1872–1959) | 1896 | 21st governor of Nebraska, 12th chair of the National Governors Association |
| Frank B. Morrison (1905–2004) | Law 1931 | 31st governor of Nebraska |
| Ben Nelson (b. 1941) | B. A. 1963; M. A. 1965; J. D. 1970 | 37th governor of Nebraska, Senator from Nebraska |
| Val Peterson (1903–83) | M.A. 1931 | 26th governor of Nebraska, 4th ambassador to Denmark, 16th ambassador to Finland |
| George L. Sheldon (1870–1960) | 1892 | 14th governor of Nebraska |
| Charles Thone (1924–2018) | Law 1950 | 34th governor of Nebraska, Representative from Nebraska |
| Arthur J. Weaver (1873–1945) | Law 1896 | 22nd governor of Nebraska |
| Toryalai Wesa (b. 1949) | M. S. 1977 | 8th governor of Kandahar (Afghanistan) |

### United States Senators

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Hazel Abel (1888–1966) | B. A. 1908 | Senator from Nebraska |
| Elmer Burkett (1867–1935) | Law 1893 | Senator from Nebraska, Representative from Nebraska |
| Deb Fischer (b. 1951) | B. S. 1987 | Senator from Nebraska |
| Richard C. Hunter (1884–1941) | B. A. 1909 | Senator from Nebraska, 22nd Nebraska Attorney General |
| David Karnes (1948–2020) | B. S. 1971 | Senator from Nebraska |
| Kenneth S. Wherry (1892–1951) | B. A. 1914 | 7th Senate minority leader, Senator from Nebraska |

### United States Representatives

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Doug Bereuter (b. 1939) | B. A. 1961 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Lawrence Brock (1906–68) | B. S. 1929 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Howard Buffett (1903–1964) | B. S. 1925 | Representative from Nebraska, father of Warren Buffett |
| Chris Carney (b. 1959) | Ph. D. 1993 | Representative from Pennsylvania, Navy commander |
| Jackson B. Chase (1890–1974) | LL. B. 1912 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Marian W. Clarke (1880–1953) | Did not graduate | Representative from New York |
| Harry B. Coffee (1890–1972) | 1913 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Oren S. Copeland (1887–1958) | B. A. 1907 | Representative from Nebraska |
| George E. Danielson (1915–98) | B. A. 1937; J. D. 1939 | Representative from California |
| Robert Dinsmore Harrison (1897–1977) | Ph. D. 1934 | Representative from Nebraska |
| George H. Heinke (1882–1940) | Law 1908 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Fred Gustus Johnson (1876–1951) | Law 1903 | Representative from Nebraska, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska |
| Walter Judd (1898–1994) | M. D. 1923 | Representative from Minnesota |
| Thomas F. Konop (1879–1964) | Law 1904 | Representative from Wisconsin |
| John Henry Kyl (1919–2002) | B. A. 1947 | Representative from Iowa |
| Henry Carl Luckey (1868–1956) | Law 1912 | Representative from Nebraska |
| John A. Maguire (1870–1939) | Law 1899 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Charles F. McLaughlin (1887–1976) | B. A. 1908 | Representative from Nebraska, federal judge of the District Court for the District of Columbia |
| David Henry Mercer (1857–1919) | B. S. 1880 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Howard Shultz Miller (1879–1970) | Law 1900 | Representative from Kentucky |
| John N. Norton (1878–1960) | B. S. 1903 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Ernest M. Pollard (1869–1939) | B. S. 1893 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Robert G. Simmons (1891–1969) | Law 1915 | Representative from Nebraska, 23rd Chief Justice of Nebraska |
| Adrian Smith (b. 1970) | B. S. 1993 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Virginia D. Smith (1911–2006) | B. S. 1936 | Representative from Nebraska |
| John Hyde Sweet (1880–1964) | B. A. 1899 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Lee Terry (b. 1962) | B. A. 1984 | Representative from Nebraska |
| Phillip Hart Weaver (1919–89) | B. A. 1940 | Representative from Nebraska |

### Federal judges

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| C. Arlen Beam (b. 1930) | B. S. 1951; J. D. 1965 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, district judge of the District Court for the District of Nebraska |
| John Robert Brown (1909–1993) | B. A. 1930 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit |
| L. Steven Grasz (b. 1961) | B. S. 1984; J. D. 1989 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit |
| Harvey M. Johnsen (1895–1975) | LL. B. 1919; B. A. 1921 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit |
| John Coleman Pickett (1896–1983) | LL. B. 1922 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit |
| William J. Riley (b. 1947) | B. A. 1969; J. D. 1972 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit |
| Donald Roe Ross (1922–2013) | J. D. 1948 | Federal judge of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit |

### Nebraska representatives

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| John Adams Jr. (1906–99) | B. S. 1927; Law 1929 | Member of Nebraska Legislature, Army captain and judge advocate |
| Roy Baker (b. 1945) | B. S. 1967; M. Ed. 1970; Ed. D. 1977 | Member of Nebraska Legislature |
| Tom Baker (b. 1948) | B. S. 1971 | Member of Nebraska Legislature |
| Chris Beutler (b. 1944) | Law 1973 | Member of Nebraska Legislature, 51st Mayor of Lincoln |
| Ardyce Bohlke (1943–2013) | 1965 | Member of Nebraska Legislature, speech pathologist |
| Tom Brandt (b. 1959) | B. S. 1982 | Member of Nebraska Legislature |
| Lydia Brasch (b. 1953) | B. A. 1989 | Member of Nebraska Legislature |
| Kermit Brashear (b. 1944) | B. A. 1966; J. D. 1969 | Speaker of Nebraska Legislature |
| Jon Bruning (b. 1969) | B. A. 1990; J. D. 1994 | Member of Nebraska Legislature, 32nd Nebraska Attorney General |

### Nebraska judges

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| David K. Arterburn (b. 1957) | B. A. 1978; M. A. 1982; J. D. 1985 | Judge of the Nebraska Court of Appeals |
| Riko E. Bishop (b. 1956) | J. D. 1992 | Judge of the Nebraska Court of Appeals |
| William G. Cambridge (1931–2004) | B. S. 1953; J. D. 1955 | District judge of the District Court for the District of Nebraska |
| Laurie Smith Camp (1953–2020) | J. D. 1977 | District judge of the District Court for the District of Nebraska |
| Kristine Cecava | Law 1976 | District judge of the District Court for the District of Nebraska |
| E. B. Chappell (1889–1968) | B. A. 1916; LL. B. 1916 | Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court |
| Richard G. Kopf (b. 1946) | J. D. 1972 | District judge of the District Court for the District of Nebraska |
| Robert Van Pelt (1897–1988) | LL. B. 1922 | District judge of the District Court for the District of Nebraska |

### Other political figures

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Grace Abbott (1878–1939) | B. A. 1907 | Social worker, immigrants' rights and child welfare advocate |
| Nasser al-Awlaki (1946–2021) | Ph. D. 1975 | Yemeni scholar and politician |
| Emory Buckner (1877–1941) | B. A. 1904 | 34th Attorney for the Southern District of New York |
| Mary Ann Hanusa (b. 1963) | M. A. | Director of the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence |
| Helen Klanderud (1937–2013) | J. D. 1991 | Mayor of Aspen |
| Mark Quandahl (b. 1961) | Law 1987 | Attorney, director of Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance, chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party |
| J. Lee Rankin (1907–96) | LL. B. 1930 | 31st Solicitor General, general counsel to the Warren Commission |
| Ted Sorensen (1928–2010) | J. D. 1951 | 8th White House Counsel, special counsel and speechwriter for John F. Kennedy |
| Park Yong-man (1881–1928) | B. S. 1909 | Korean independence activist |

## Military

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Donald O. Aldridge (b. 1932) | B. S. | Air Force lieutenant general |
| Gary D. Brown (b. 1951) | J. D. 1987 | Air Force colonel, Guantanamo Bay whistleblower |
| Lloyd M. Bucher (1927–2004) | B. S. 1953 | Captain of the USS Pueblo |
| Duane H. Cassidy (1933–2016) | B. S. 1968 | Air Force general, commander of Military Airlift Command and Transportation Command |
| Bruce P. Crandall (b. 1933) | B. A. 1969 | Army colonel, helicopter pilot, Medal of Honor recipient |
| John Cusick (b. 1942) | M. A. 1971 | 42nd Quartermaster General of the Army |
| Galen B. Jackman (b. 1951) | B. A. 1973 | Army major general |
| Theodore Kanamine (1929–2023) | Bachelor's degree; Law degree 1954 | Brigadier general, first general officer of Japanese-American descent |
| Herman F. Kramer (1892–1964) | B. S. 1914 | Army major general |
| Ben Kuroki (1917–2015) | B. A. 1950 | Only Japanese American in the Army Air Forces to serve in combat in the Pacific theater of World War II |
| Michael D. Navrkal | B. S. 1984 | Army National Guard brigadier general, Legion of Merit recipient |
| John J. Pershing (1860–1948) | LL. B. 1893 | 1st General of the Armies, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, recipient of the Order of the Bath, Legion of Honour, Order of the Companions of Honour, and 1932 Pulitzer Prize |
| Sidney Shachnow (1934–2018) | B. S. | Army major general, two-time Silver Star recipient, Holocaust survivor |
| Robert T. Smith (1918–95) | Did not graduate | World War II ace |

## Literature

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Barbara Albright (1955–2006) | B. S. | Cookbook author |
| Bruce B. Brugmann (b. 1935) | B. A. 1957 | Founder and editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian |
| Eudora Bumstead (1860–92) | B. A. 1879 | Poet, hymnwriter |
| Roxane Gay (b. 1974) | M. A. 2004 | Writer, editor |
| Catherine Kidwell (1921–2002) | M. F. A. 1977 | Novelist |
| Mary Pipher (b. 1947) | Ph. D. 1977 | Clinical psychologist and author |
| Gayathri Prabhu (b. 1974) | Ph. D. 2011 | Novelist |
| Mari Sandoz (1896–1966) | Did not graduate | Novelist, biographer, Newbery Medal recipient |
| Jim Thompson (1906–1977) | Did not graduate | Author, screenwriter |

## Science and technology

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Bion J. Arnold (1861–1942) | M. S. 1897 | Engineer, designer of the Interborough Rapid Transit system; "father of the third rail" |
| Henry Beachell (1906–2006) | B. S. 1930 | Rice breeder, recipient of the 1987 Japan Prize and 1996 World Food Prize |
| Rolla Kent Beattie (1875–1960) | B. S. 1896; M. A. 1898 | Botanist, plant pathologist |
| Margaret B. Fuller Boos (1892–1978) | Did not graduate | Pegmatite geologist, mapped Front Range urban corridor |
| Kay Brummond (b. 1962) | B. S. 1985 | Synthetic chemist |
| Raychelle Burks (b. 1975) | Ph. D. | Analytical chemist |
| Montgomery Case (1882–1953) | Did not graduate | Civil engineer, designer of the George Washington Bridge |
| John Leland Champe (1895–1978) | B. A. 1921 | Archaeologist |
| Frederic Clements (1874–1945) | B. S. 1894; M. A. 1896; Ph. D. 1898 | Plant ecologist |
| Gladys Dick (1881–1963) | B. S. 1900 | Co-inventor of scarlet fever vaccine |
| Jay Wright Forrester (1918–2016) | B. S. 1939 | Computer engineer, systems scientist, inventor of magnetic-core memory |
| Gene V. Glass (b. 1940) | B. A./B. S. 1962 | Statistician, inventor of meta-analysis |
| Richard Hamming (1915–98) | M. A. 1939 | Mathematician, founder of Association for Computing Machinery, Turing Award recipient |
| Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886–1939) | B. A. 1906 | Psychologist |
| William A. Mueller (1901–92) | B. S. 1922 | Sound engineer, head of Warner Bros. sound department, two-time Academy Awards nominee |
| Donald Othmer (1904–95) | B. S. 1924 | Inventor, philanthropist |
| Anne Plant | M. S. 1978 | Biochemist |
| Charles H. Purcell (1883–1951) | B. S. 1906 | Civil engineer, designer and engineer of the Bay Bridge |
| Christina Riesselman (b. 1977) | B. S. 2001 | Paleoceanographer |
| Per Axel Rydberg (1860–1931) | B. S. 1891; M. A. 1895 | Botanist, 1st curator of the New York Botanical Garden |
| Joel Stebbins (1878–1966) | B. S. 1899 | Astronomer |
| Gerry Thomas (1922–2005) | B. A. 1948 | Inventor of the TV dinner |
| Herbert John Webber (1865–1946) | B. S. 1889; M. A. 1990 | Plant physiologist |
| Gerald Weinberg (1933–2018) | B. S. 1955 | Computer scientist, author |
| Evan Williams (b. 1972) | Did not graduate | Co-founder of Twitter |

## Athletics
### Baseball

| Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Darin Erstad (b. 1974) | B. S. 2020 | MLB outfielder; college baseball manager | |
| Bill Kinnamon (1919–2011) | B. S. 1941 | MLB umpire | |

### Basketball

| Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Tyronn Lue (b. 1977) | Did not graduate | NBA point guard and head coach | |
| Terran Petteway (b. 1992) | | basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League | |

### Football

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Ben Beck (1889–1968) | B. S. | College football coach, college basketball coach |
| Clete Blakeman (b. 1964) | Law 1991 | NFL head official, lawyer |
| Earl W. Brannon (1889–1952) | 1913 | College football coach |
| Guy Chamberlin (1894–1967) | B. S. 1916 | NFL head coach, Pro Football Hall of Fame; College Football Hall of Fame |
| Will Compton (b. 1989) | B. A. 2011 | NFL linebacker; Media influencer |
| Scott Frost (b. 1975) | B. S. 1997 | NFL safety; college football quarterback and head coach |
| Turner Gill (b. 1962) | Did not graduate | College football quarterback and head coach |
| Tom Osborne (b. 1937) | M. A. 1963; Ph. D. 1965 | College football head coach, College Football Hall of Fame; Representative from Nebraska |
| Frank Solich (b. 1944) | B. A. 1966; M. A. 1972 | College football fullback and head coach |
| Zac Taylor (b. 1962) | B. S. 2006 | NFL head coach |
| Pat Tyrance (b. 1968) | B. S. 1990 | College football linebacker, orthopedic surgeon |

### Other sports

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Therese Alshammar (b. 1977) | B. A. 1999 | Swimmer, three-time Olympic medalist |
| Gary Anderson (b. 1939) | Did not graduate | Sport shooter, two-time Olympic gold medalist, member of Nebraska Legislature |
| Daniel Brand (1935–2015) | 1958 | Greco-Roman wrestler, 1964 Olympics bronze medalist |
| Jordan Burroughs (b. 1988) | B. A. 2011 | Freestyle wrestler, 2012 Olympics gold medalist; two-time national champion |
| Dani Busboom Kelly (b. 1985) | B. A. 2007 | Cornhuskers volleyball player (2003–2006), later assistant coach (2012–2016) and current head coach (2025–present) |
| Rulon Gardner (b. 1971) | B. A. 1993 | Greco-Roman wrestler, two-time Olympic medalist |
| Jessie Graff (b. 1984) | B. A. 2007 | Stunt performer, American Ninja Warrior competitor |
| Penelope Heyns (b. 1974) | B. A. 1996 | Swimmer, three-time Olympic medalist |
| Jason High (b. 1981) | B. A. 2004 | Mixed martial artist |
| Jordan Larson (b. 1986) | B. A. 2008 | Indoor volleyball player, three-time Olympic medalist |
| Matt Lindland (b. 1970) | Did not graduate | Mixed martial artist, 2000 Olympics silver medalist |
| Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (b. 1982) | B. S. 2004 | Hurdler, 2008 Olympics bronze medalist |
| Merlene Ottey (b. 1960) | B. A. 1984 | Sprinter, nine-time Olympic medalist |
| Sarah Pavan (b. 1986) | B. S. 2008 | Volleyball player; 2006 AVCA Player of the Year |
| Louise Pound (1872–1958) | B. B. 1892; M. A. 1895 | Folklorist, linguist, tennis player |
| Russ Rose (b. 1953) | M. S. 1978 | Volleyball coach, AVCA Hall of Fame |
| Ryan Schultz (b. 1977) | B. S. | Mixed martial artist |
| Curtis Tomasevicz (b. 1980) | B. S. 2003; M. S. 2006; Ph. D. 2017 | Bobsledder, two-time Olympic medalist |
| Brad Vering (b. 1977) | B. S. 2001 | Greco-Roman wrestler |
| Frederick Wedge (1880–1953) | Did not graduate | Boxer, clergyman |
| Justine Wong-Orantes (b. 1995) | B. S. 2016 | Indoor volleyball player, 2020 Olympics gold medalist |

## Faculty

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Charles Edwin Bessey (1845–1915) | Chancellor, dean | Botanist, inventor of the Bessey system |
| Dana X. Bible (1891–1980) | Football coach, athletic director | Two-time national champion, College Football Hall of Fame |
| Hank M. Bounds (b. 1967) | President | Academic administrator |
| Bill Callahan (b. 1956) | Football coach | NFL head coach, 2002 AFC champion |
| John Cook (b. 1956) | Volleyball coach | Four-time national champion, AVCA Hall of Fame |
| Bob Devaney (1915–97) | Football coach, athletic director | Two-time national champion, College Football Hall of Fame |
| August Hjalmar Edgren (1840–1903) | Professor, honorary doctorate 1902 | Linguist |
| Edmund Burke Fairfield (1821–1904) | Chancellor | Minister, 12th lieutenant governor of Michigan |
| Herb Howe (1942–2012) | Department chair | Psychologist |
| Rachel Lloyd (1839–1900) | Chemistry Department head | First American woman to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry; noted for her work on the chemistry and agriculture of sugar beets |
| August Luebs (1889–1989) | Professor | Mechanical engineer |
| Bo Pelini (b. 1967) | Football coach | College football head coach |
| Terry Pettit (b. 1946) | Volleyball coach | 1995 national champion, AVCA Hall of Fame |
| Laura Poppo (b. 1962) | Department chair | Researcher |
| Mike Riley (b. 1953) | Football coach | NFL head coach; two-time Grey Cup champion |
| Fielding H. Yost (1871–1946) | Football coach | Six-time national champion, College Football Hall of Fame |