# List of Portland State University alumni

Established as Vanport College in 1946, Portland State University is a public university officiated as a state institution in 1969. Located in the southwest Portland, Oregon, it is the only public university in the state that is located within a major metropolitan city, and is one of Oregon's largest universities. Its academic programs are organized in nine constituent schools and colleges, and have produced alumni across professions in the arts, sciences, business, academia, politics, and sports. As of 2019, the university claims over 180,000 alumni worldwide.

## Legend

Notes and abbreviations used
* Individuals who may belong in multiple sections appear only in one.
* An empty class year or school/degree box indicates only that this information is unknown or unconfirmed.
* "DNG" indicates the alumnus or alumna attended but did not graduate; known year(s) of attendance accompany this if available. "N/A" will be present in the degree box for these individuals, as it is confirmed they did not receive degrees.

## Academia

| Name | Class | School | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Lee D. Baker | 1989 | CLAS | B.S. | Professor of anthropology, Duke University |
| Jacob Biamonte | | | B.S. | Professor of quantum computing, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology |
| Hans G. Furth | 1960 | CLAS | PhD | Professor emeritus of philosophy, The Catholic University of America |
| Peter A. Griffin | | | B.S. | Professor of mathematics, California State University–Sacramento |
| George Guthridge | 1970 | CLAS | B.A. | Professor emeritus of English, University of Alaska Fairbanks; professor of English, University of Maryland Global College |
| Mitchell S. Jackson | | CLAS | B.A., M.A. | Associate professor of English, New York University |
| Michael Kazin | | CLAS | M.A. | Professor of history, Georgetown University |
| Bonnie McCay | 1969 | CLAS | B.A. | Professor emerita of anthropology, Rutgers University |
| David McDowall | 1973 | CLAS | B.S. | Professor of criminology, University at Albany, SUNY |
| Roberta Rudnick | 1980 | CLAS | B.S. | Assistant professor of geology, Harvard University; University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Thomas Talbott | | | B.S. | Professor emeritus of philosophy, Willamette University |
| Jack Ernest Vincent | 1957 | PSC | B.S. | Professor emeritus of political science, University of Idaho |
| Dali Yang | 1988 | CLAS | M.A. | Professor of political science, University of Chicago |

## Architecture and design

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Ref. |
| Sergio Palleroni | | | | Architect and co-founder of BASIC Initiative | |

## Art and literature

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Holly Andres | 2004 | CA | M.F.A. | Photographer |
| Damali Ayo | 2006 | CA | M.F.A. | Conceptual artist |
| Cal Barnes | DNG | | — | Novelist and playwright |
| John Callahan | DNG | | — | Cartoonist, creator of Pelswick |
| Francisco Laguna Correa | | CLAS | B.A. | Poet, professor of Latinx studies at University of Denver |
| Walt Curtis | | | | Poet and painter |
| Carolyn Davidson | 1971 | CLAS | B.A. | Graphic designer; creator of the Nike swoosh |
| Gwen M. Davidson | 1987 | CA | M.F.A. | Contemporary artist |
| Michael Dickman | DNG | | — | Poet, recipient of Alfred Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University |
| David James Duncan | 1973 | CLAS | B.A. | Novelist and essayist |
| Ann Gardner | 1974 | CA | M.F.A. | Glass artist |
| Larry Harvey | DNG | | — | Artist, co-founder of Burning Man festival |
| Michael Hornburg | DNG | | — | Novelist, journalist |
| Christopher Howell | 1971 | CLAS | M.A. | Poet, two-time National Endowment Fellowship winner |
| Anne Hughes | | | | Art patron, gallery owner |
| Ariana Jacob | 2010 | CA | M.F.A. | Contemporary artist |
| Lee Kelly | | VC | | Sculptor |
| Richard Kennedy | 1958 | PSC | B.A. | Children's author, proponent of Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship |
| Travis Knight | 1998 | CLAS | B.S. | Animator; CEO of LAIKA |
| Jack Ohman | | CLAS | B.A. | Editorial cartoonist of The Oregonian |
| Pierre Ouellette | | | | Science fiction author |
| Bill Plympton | 1968 | PSC | B.A. | Animator |
| Mike Richardson | 1977 | CA | B.A. | Publisher, founder of Dark Horse Comics |
| Deborah J. Ross | 1973 | CLAS | M.S. | Science fiction and fantasy author |
| Laura Ross-Paul | 1976 | CA | M.F.A. | Painter |
| Roland Smith | DNG | | — | Young adult fiction author |
| Howard Ben Tré | 1978 | CLAS | B.S.A. | Glass artist |
| Celeste West | | CLAS | B.A. | Librarian and author |
| John Sibley Williams | | GSBP | M.A. | Poet and publisher |

## Business and finance

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Rachel Christenson | | SB | M.S. | Entrepreneur, co-founder of Selling Energy |
| D. Scott Davis | | | B.S. | Chairman and CEO of UPS |
| Sho Dozono | 1968 | CE | M.Ed. | Businessman, CEO of Azumano Travel |
| Mike Erickson | 1988 | SB | B.S. | Entrepreneur |
| Judi Hofer | | | | Executive CEO, The May Department Stores Company |
| Darren Kimura | DNG | | — | Inventor of MicroCSP |
| Steven Smith | DNG | | — | Entrepreneur, founder of Tazo Tea Company |
| Norm Winningstad | 1973 | SB | M.B.A. | Businessperson, engineer |

## Civil society

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Arthur Honeyman | 1965, 1974 | CLAS | B.S., M.A. | Disability rights activist, writer |
| Ashley Gjøvik | 2012 | | B.S. | Activist and Apple Inc. whistleblower |
| Musse Olol | 1991 | | | Social activist FBI's 2011 Director's Community Leadership Award (DCLA) |
| Richard Pimentel | | | | Disability rights activist |
| Paul Popham | | PSC | | Founder of the Gay Men's Health Crisis; Vietnam War veteran |
| Robert Robideau | | CLAS | B.S. | Native American activist; acquitted in 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota |

## Entertainment
### Film, television, and performing arts

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Bruce Abbott | DNG | | — | Film and television actor |
| Cal Barnes | DNG | | — | Film actor and filmmaker |
| Mark Dacascos | | | | Film actor and martial artist |
| Karl Glusman | DNG | | — | Film actor |
| Katie Harman | 2003 | CLAS | B.S. | 2002 Miss America |
| Ian Karmel | 2009 | | B.S. | Stand-up Comedian |
| Terence Knox | | CA | M.F.A. | Film actor |
| Jennifer Lyon | DNG | | — | Competitor on Survivor: Palau |
| Holly Madison | DNG | | — | Playboy model, reality television star |
| Caroline McGowan | | | | Actress, Miss Oregon winner; Miss America competitor |
| Kari Ann Peniche | | | | Miss Teen USA winner |
| Rick Reynolds | 1976 | CLAS | B.S. | Comedian |
| Sara Jean Underwood | | | | Playboy model, actress |
| Erin Way | | | | Actress |

### Music

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Aminé | DNG | | — | Hip-hop artist |
| Mel Brown | | | | Jazz drummer, collaborator of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye |
| Ken Butler | 1977 | CA | M.F.A. | Experimental musician |
| Dave Carter | | CLAS | B.S. | Folk musician |
| Jack Ely | | | | Musician, singer of The Kingsmen |
| Eric Funk | 1972, 1978 | CLAS | B.A., M.A. | Contemporary classical composer and conductor |
| Haley Heynderickx | | | | Singer-songwriter |
| Issa | 2008 | SB | B.S. | Singer and songwriter |
| Courtney Love | DNG; att. c. 1983 | CLAS | — | Musician and actress; frontwoman of Grammy-nominated rock band Hole |
| Audrey Luna | 2001 | CLAS | B.A. | Grammy-winning soprano; hit highest note ever sung at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2017 |
| Rob Simonsen | | | | Film composer |
| Lawrence Leighton Smith | 1957 | CLAS | B.A. | Conductor and pianist |
| Esperanza Spalding | DNG; att. 2000–2001 | | — | Four time Grammy-winning jazz musician |
| Nancy Wilson | DNG; att. 1973 | | — | Singer and guitarist of Heart |

## Humanities

| Name | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Chet Orloff | CLAS | M.A. | Historian, director emeritus of Oregon Historical Society |
| Mark Weber | CLAS | B.A. | Historian, director of Institute for Historical Review |
| Amos Yong | | | Pentecostal theologian |

## Media and communications

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Mike Bivins | | | | Journalist |
| Kambiz Hosseini | | | | Political satirist, radio host |
| Paul Linnman | | CLAS | B.A. | Television journalist, radio host |
| Lana Lokteff | | | | Alt-right YouTube personality |
| Michael Moynihan | 2000 | CLAS | B.A. | Journalist, author of Lords of Chaos |

## Government and politics
### Heads of state and government

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Ref. |
| Casten Nemra | 2000 | SB | B.B.A. | 7th President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands | |

### Governors of the United States

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Ref. |
| Barbara Roberts | 1964 | CLAS | B.A. | 34th Governor of Oregon | |

### State senators

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Margaret Carter | 1972 | CE | B.A. | Democratic member of Oregon State Senate |
| Avel Gordly | 1974 | CLAS | B.S. | First African American woman elected to the Oregon State Senate |
| Rod Monroe | 1965, 1969 | CLAS | B.S., M.A. | Democratic member of Oregon State Senate |
| Chuck Riley | | | | Democratic member of Oregon State Senate, 15th district |
| Martha Schrader | | CE, CUPA | M.A. | Democratic member of Oregon State Senate, 20th district |
| Chip Shields | | SSW | M.S.W. | Democratic member of Oregon State Senate, 22nd district |
| Rob Wagner | | CLAS | B.S. | Democratic member of Oregon State Senate, 19th district |

### State representatives

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Jeff Barker | | CLAS | B.S. | Democratic member of Oregon House of Representatives, 28th district |
| Rick Bauman | | | | Democratic member of Oregon House of Representatives, 11th/13th district |
| Deborah Boone | | CLAS | B.S. | Democratic member of Oregon House of Representatives, 32nd district |
| Scott Bruun | | SB | M.B.A. | Republican member of Oregon House of Representatives, 37th district |
| Albert H. Densmore | 1968 | CLAS | B.S. | Democratic member Oregon House of Representatives, 50th district |
| Richard Devlin | 1976 | CLAS | B.S. | Democratic member of Oregon House of Representatives and Senate |
| Margaret Doherty | | CLAS | B.A. | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 35th district |
| Larry Galizio | | CUPA | PhD | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 35th district |
| Joe Gallegos | | CLAS, SSW | B.S., M.S.W. | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 13th district |
| Chris Gorsek | 2004 | CLAS | PhD | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 49th district |
| Diego Hernandez | | SSW | M.S.W. | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 47th district |
| Nick Kahl | 2000 | CA | B.A. | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 49th district |
| Teresa Alonso Leon | 2013 | CUPA | M.A. | Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 22nd district |
| Thomas Lockhart | | SB | M.B.A. | Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, 57th district |
| Steve March 1997 | Urban Studies | M.A., PhD | Democratic Member of the Oregon House of Representatives, 46th district | |
| Jim Moeller | DNG | SSW | — | Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives, 49th district |
| Ron Packard | DNG | | — | Republican member of the California House of Representatives, 43rd district |
| Tawna Sanchez | 2012 | SSW | M.S.W. | Democratic member of Oregon House of Representatives, 43rd district |
| Bruce Starr | 1991 | CLAS | B.S. | Republican member of Oregon House of Representatives and State Senate |
| Carolyn Tomei | | SSW | M.S.W. | Democratic member of Oregon House of Representatives, 41st district |
| Matt Wand | 1997 | CLAS | B.S. | Republican member of Oregon House of Representatives, 49th district |

### Other U.S. political figures

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Joe DeLaCruz | DNG | | | Native American program leader, elected president of National Congress of American Indians |
| Susan Eggman | 2002 | SSW | PhD | Member of California State Assembly, 13th district |
| Joseph LeBaron | 1969 | CLAS | B.S. | U.S. Ambassador to Qatar |
| Marisa Lino | 1971 | CLAS | B.S. | U.S. Ambassador to Albania |
| Gladys McCoy | 1967 | SSW | M.S.W. | First African American woman elected to public office in Oregon |
| Charles Moose | | CUPA | M.A., PhD | Former police chief for Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the sites of the Beltway Sniper attacks |

### Judges

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Anna J. Brown | 1975 | CLAS | B.S. | U.S. federal judge |
| Paul De Muniz | 1972 | CLAS | B.S. | Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice |
| R. William Riggs | 1961 | CLAS | B.A. | Oregon Supreme Court justice |
| Betty Roberts | 195 | PSC | B.S. | First woman to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court and Oregon Court of Appeals |

### International political figures

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Ref. |
| Anas Khalid Al Saleh | 1997 | B.S. | SB | Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait | |

## Sciences and technology

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Chad Cary | | CLAS | M.S. in Geography | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Commissioned Officer Corps rear admiral; Director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps (2024–present) |
| John Hughes | | SSW | M.S.W. | Pioneer in school-based alcohol and drug prevention efforts |
| Fariborz Maseeh | | CLAS | B.S., M.S. | Pioneer in the field of micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS); founder of IntelliSense |
| Jill Mikucki | 2001 | CLAS | M.S. | Microbiologist and Antarctic researcher; professor of microbiology at University of Tennessee, Knoxville |
| Bruce Ogilvie | | CLAS | M.S. | Sports psychologist and professor, San Jose State University |
| Sage Sharp | | CLAS | B.S. | Programmer who contributed to Linux kernel |

## Sports

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Shaun Bodiford | | | | Football wide receiver, New York Giants; Oakland Raiders |
| Kameron Canaday | | | | NFL player |
| Tony Curtis | | | | Football backup tight end, Dallas Cowboys |
| Clint Didier | | | | NFL tight end, Super Bowl XVII Champion |
| Dan Frantz | | | | Football player, Chicago Rush |
| Adam Hayward | 2006 | | | Linebacker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Darick Holmes | | | | NFL running back, Buffalo Bills |
| Evan Jager | 2015 | CLAS | B.S. | Distance runner |
| Dave Jansen | | | | Wrestler, mixed martial artist |
| Joe Kraemer | | | | Major League Baseball player, Chicago Cubs |
| Jeff Lahti | | | | Retired Major League Baseball pitcher; 1982 World Series Champion |
| Neil Lomax | 1981 | CLAS | B.S. | National Football League quarterback, St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals (1981–89) |
| Steve Olin | 1988 | | | Major League Baseball pitcher |
| Andre Murray | 2009 | CLAS | B.S. | Basketball player, Tokio Marine Nichido Big Blue |
| Shannon O'Keefe | | | | Professional bowler, coach |
| Mike Pierce | | | | Two-time All-American wrestler; professional mixed martial artist, formerly competed in the UFC |
| Gordon Riese | 1964 | | | Portland State pitcher, Pac-10 referee |
| Richard Sanders | | | | Wrestler, NCAA, FILA and Summer Olympics |
| Bree Schaaf | 2002 | CLAS | B.A. | U.S. Olympic bobsledder, 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver |
| Paul Schrieber | | | | Major League Baseball umpire |
| Jordan Senn | | | | Linebacker, Carolina Panthers |
| DeShawn Shead | 2011 | CLAS | B.S. | Safety for the 2014 Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks |
| Dave Stief | | | | Football wide receiver, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Redskins |
| Julius Thomas | | | | Tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Tom Trebelhorn | 1970 | CLAS | B.S. | Major League Baseball manager |
| Ime Udoka | | | | Head coach for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association |
| Dominic Waters | | | | Israel Basketball Premier League basketball player |
| Freeman Williams | | | | Retired National Basketball Association guard |

## Miscellaneous

| Name | Class year | School(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Julienne Bušić | | CLAS | M.A. | Widow of Zvonko Bušić; convicted in hijacking of TWA Flight 355 |
| Patrice Lumumba Ford | | CLAS | B.A. | Convicted member of the terrorist group, the Portland Seven |
| Randall Woodfield | DNG; att. 1970–1974 | | — | Green Bay Packers draftee; later convicted serial killer |