# List of University of Texas at Austin alumni

This list of University of Texas at Austin alumni includes notable graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of the University of Texas at Austin. The institution is a major research university in Downtown Austin, Texas, US and is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, the university has had the fifth largest single-campus enrollment in the nation as of Fall 2006 (and had the largest enrollment in the country from 1997 to 2003), with over 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students and 16,500 faculty and staff. It currently holds the second largest enrollment of all colleges in the state of Texas.
Over 30 UT Austin undergraduates have served in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, such as Lloyd Bentsen '42, who served as both a U.S. senator and U.S. representative, and was the 1988 Democratic Party vice presidential nominee. Tom C. Clark, J.D. '22, served as United States attorney general from 1945 to 1949 and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. Cabinet members of American presidents include former United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson '75, former United States secretary of state James Baker '57, former secretary of education William J. Bennett, and former secretary of commerce Donald Evans '73. First Lady Laura Bush '73 and daughter Jenna '04 both graduated from UT Austin, as well as former first lady Lady Bird Johnson '33 & '34 and her eldest daughter Lynda. In foreign governments, the university has been represented by Fernando Belaúnde Terry '36 (42nd president of Peru), and Abdullah al-Tariki (co-founder of OPEC).
UT Austin alumni in academia include the 26th president of the College of William & Mary Gene Nichol '76, the 10th president of Boston University Robert A. Brown '73 & '75, and the 8th president of the University of Southern California John R. Hubbard. The university also graduated Alan Bean '55, the fourth man to walk on the Moon. Additionally, alumni of the university who have served as business leaders include ExxonMobil Corporation former CEO Rex Tillerson '75, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, founder & CEO of Keyhole and pioneer of the successor Google Maps & Google Earth John Hanke, and CEO of Southwest Airlines Gary C. Kelly.
In literature and journalism, UT Austin has produced Pulitzer Prize winners Gail Caldwell and Ben Sargent '70, as well as CNN anchor Betty Nguyen '95. Alumnus J. M. Coetzee also received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.
UT Austin has produced several musicians and entertainers. Janis Joplin, the singer who posthumously was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award attended the university, as well as February 1955 Playboy Playmate of the Month and Golden Globe recipient Jayne Mansfield. Founding members of psychedelic rock band The Bright Light Social Hour Jackie O'Brien and Curtis Roush both received master's degrees from the university in 2009 while completing their debut self-titled album. The big screen has carried the talents of actor Matthew McConaughey '93 (star of The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Sahara (2005), We Are Marshall (2007), et al.) with Farrah Fawcett (one of the original Charlie's Angels) on the small screen.
A number of UT Austin alumni have found success in professional sports. Seven-time Cy Young Award-winner Roger Clemens entered the MLB after helping the Longhorns win the 1983 College World Series. Professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant played one season with the Longhorns. Several Olympic medalists have also attended the school, including 2008 Summer Olympics athletes Ian Crocker '05 (swimming world record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist) and 4 × 400 m relay defending Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards '06. Mary Lou Retton (the first female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, five-time Olympic medalist, and 1984 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year) also attended the university.

## Academia and research
### University deans, chancellors, and presidents

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Paul R. Brown | | MPA PhD | Eighth president of Monmouth University |
| Robert A. Brown | 1973 1975 | BSc MSc | Tenth president of Boston University |
| Emily Cutrer | | BA, MA, PhD | Fourth president of Texas A&M-Texarkana |
| Ramón H. Dovalina | 1984 | PhD in Community College Leadership Program | Fifth president of Laredo Community College in Laredo, Texas, 1995–2007 |
| Pete Gallego | 1985 | JD | 13th president of Sul Ross State University |
| Leon A. Green | 1915 | LL.B. | Former dean at the Northwestern University School of Law |
| Kent Hance | 1968 | JD | Third chancellor of the Texas Tech University System; former United States representative, Texas District 19 |
| Karen S. Haynes | 1977 | PhD | Social worker, president of University of Houston–Victoria and California State University San Marcos |
| John R. Hubbard | 1938 1939 1950 | BA MA PhD | Historian, former president of the University of Southern California |
| Farnam Jahanian | | MA PhD | Computer scientist, president of Carnegie Mellon University |
| W. Page Keeton | 1931 | LL.M. | Former dean of the University of Texas School of Law |
| Ramayya Krishnan | | PhD | Dean of the Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College |
| Charles T. McCormick | 1909 | BA | Law dean at University of North Carolina and UT; taught at Northwestern; wrote classic works on evidence and damages |
| James Moeser | 1961 1964 | B.Mus. M.Mus. | Ninth chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| John T. Montford | 1965 | BA | First chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, 1996–2001; member of the Texas State Senate from Lubbock 1983–1996; businessman in San Antonio since 2001 |
| Diana Natalicio | 1969 | PhD | President of the University of Texas at El Paso, 1988–2019 |
| Gene Nichol | 1976 | JD | Former president of the College of William and Mary; former dean of the law schools at both the University of North Carolina and the University of Colorado at Boulder |
| Cristina Padolina | | PhD | President and Chief Academic Officer, Centro Escolar University, Manila, Philippines |
| Trudie Kibbe Reed | | BSW, MSW | President of Philander Smith College, 1998–2004; president of Bethune–Cookman University, 2004–2012 |
| Ricardo Romo | 1967 | BSc | Fifth president of the University of Texas at San Antonio; U.S. representative to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization; member of the president's Board of Advisers on Historically Black Colleges and Universities |
| M. David Rudd | | PhD | Twentieth (and current) president of the University of Memphis |
| Neal Smatresk | 1980 | PhD (Zoology and Marine Science) | 16th president of University of North Texas; 9th president of University of Nevada, Las Vegas |

### Professors, doctors and researchers

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| James P. Allison | 1969 1973 | BS PhD | Nobel Prize-winning immunologist |
| Jessie Andrews | 1886 | BA, MA | First woman graduate, first female faculty member (German), first female member of the alumni association; namesake of Andrews dormitory |
| J. Michael Bailey | 1989 | PhD | Psychologist specialized in sexual orientation |
| Amanda Bauer | 2008 | PhD | Astronomer and science communicator |
| Alan Bean | 1955 | BSc | Astronaut, lunar module pilot on Apollo 12 |
| R.H. Bing | 1935 | BA | Mathematician |
| Roger Birkman | 1961 | PhD | Psychologist specializing in self and social perception; creator of the Birkman Method assessment |
| Charles Black | 1935 1938 | BA MA | Law professor at Columbia and Yale; pioneer in civil rights litigation; author of leading treatise on the law of admiralty |
| Elizabeth Hill Boone | 1974 1977 | MA PhD | Order of the Aztec Eagle medal recipient for work in Mesoamerican art history |
| Barbara Hyde Bowman | 1958 | PhD | Geneticist, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and University of Texas Health Science Center; president of the American Society of Human Genetics |
| Robert S. Boyer | 1967 | BA | Computer scientist, co-inventor of the Boyer–Moore string-search algorithm |
| Lillian K. Bradley | 1960 | PhD | Associate professor at Texas Southern University; first African-American woman to earn a doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin |
| Michael Brame | 1966 | BA | Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington |
| Yaron Brook | 1989 1994 | MBA PhD | Former finance professor, Santa Clara University; President and executive director, Ayn Rand Institute |
| Brené Brown | | B.SW. | Research professor at University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work |
| Adi Bulsara | 1978 | PhD | Physicist, leader in nonlinear dynamics, PhD student of Ilya Prigogine |
| Karen Butler-Purry | 1987 | MS | Professor, Texas A&M University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Elsa Salazar Cade | 1968 1973 | BSc MA | Science educator and entomologist |
| Robert Cade | 1950 1961 | BA PhD | Inventor of sports drink Gatorade |
| William H. Cade | 1968 1972 1976 | BA MA PhD | Animal behaviorist, president of the University of Lethbridge |
| Ken Castleman | 1965 1967 1970 | BSc MSc PhD | Author of the textbook Digital Image Processing, president of Advanced Digital Imaging Research |
| Almadena Chtchelkanova | 1996 | MA | Developed and implemented portable, scalable, parallel adaptive mesh generation algorithms for computational fluid dynamics, weather forecast, combustion and contaminant transport |
| Christina Cogdell | 1991 2001 | BA PhD | Professor of Design, University of California, Davis |
| Robert Crippen | 1960 | BSc | Pilot of STS-1, first orbital test flight of NASA Shuttle program |
| Mohammed Dajani Daoudi | | MSc | Palestinian professor and peace activist |
| Leonard Eugene Dickson | 1893 1894 | BSc MSc | Mathematician |
| E. Allen Emerson | 1976 | BSc | Computer scientist, A. M. Turing Award |
| Joe Bertram Frantz | | BA MA PhD | Historian of the United States, the American West, and Texas |
| O. H. Frazier | 1963 | BA | Heart surgeon |
| Jinlong Gong | 2008 | PhD | Chinese chemist |
| Hector Hugo Gonzalez | 1974 | PhD | Nurse educator |
| Gordon Gunter | 1931 1945 | MA PhD | Influential fisheries scientist who pioneered the study of fisheries in the northern Gulf of Mexico |
| Laura M. Haas | 1981 | PhD | Computer scientist; created systems for data and mapping technology |
| Peter Bacon Hales | 1976 1980 | MA PhD | Chair and professor of Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago; historian and photographer specializing in contemporary art, American spaces and landscapes |
| Kevin Hannan | 1977 | MA | Ethnolinguist |
| Elise F. Harmon | early 1940s | MS | Chemist, physicist; major contributor to the miniaturization of computers |
| John Haynes, Jr. | | Medical Degree | Family physician and surgeon |
| Eamonn Healy | 1984 | PhD | Professor of chemistry at St. Edward's University |
| George Holden | | MA and PhD | Professor at Southern Methodist University |
| William Curry Holden | 1923 1928 | BA MA PhD | Historian, archaeologist, first director of the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock |
| Nancy B. Jackson | 1990 | PhD | Chemist, former president of the American Chemical Society |
| Niu Jingyi | 1953 | PhD | Chinese biochemist, the first citizen of the People's Republic of China to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1979 |
| F. Burton Jones | 1935 | PhD | Mathematician |
| Theresa A. Jones | 1992 | PhD | Professor of neuroscience at University of Texas at Austin |
| Persis Karim | 1998 | PhD | Professor of comparative literature, director of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University |
| V.O. Key, Jr. | 1929 1930 | BA MA | Political scientist; studied elections and voting behavior; taught at UCLA; professor at Johns Hopkins University; Alfred Cowles Professor of Government at Yale University; Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History and Government at Harvard University |
| Lauren Krivo | 1980 1984 | MA PhD | Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University |
| Hallie Lieberman | | MA | Sex and gender historian |
| Phil Ligrani | 1974 | BS | Professor of mechanical and aerospace Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| Alan Lomax | | BA | Musicologist and folklorist; son of John Avery Lomax |
| John Avery Lomax | 1908 | BA | Pioneering musicologist and folklorist |
| Steve Madere | | MSc | Computer scientist, founded Deja News |
| Gordon Eugene Martin | 1966 | PhD | Pioneering piezoelectric materials researcher for underwater sound transducers |
| Roscoe C. Martin | 1924; 1925 | BA, MA | Professor of political science and pioneer of academic discipline of public administration |
| Forrest McDonald | 1949 1955 | BA MA PhD | Historian, 1987 Jefferson Lecturer |
| Garnie W. McGinty | | PhD | Historian, Louisiana Redeemed: The Overthrow of Carpetbag Rule, 1876–1880, college president |
| Jeffrey L. Meikle | 1977 | PhD | Stiles Professor in American Studies Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin |
| Kenneth Merz | 1985 | PhD | Joseph Zichis Chair and professor at Michigan State University; editor-in-chief of American Chemical Society's Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling |
| Uta Merzbach | 1952 1954 | BA MA | Historian of mathematics; first curator of mathematical instruments at the Smithsonian Institution |
| J. Morgan Micheletti | 2010 | BSc | Ophthalmologist, researcher, inventor, Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award winner |
| Maggie Miller | 2015 | BA | Mathematician researching Low-dimensional topology at UT Austin; received the 2023 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize |
| Mike Montgomery | 1999 | BSc PhD | Astronomer, research scientist at McDonald Observatory |
| Robert Lee Moore | 1901 | BSc | Mathematician |
| Nancy A. Moran | 1976 | BA | Evolutionary biologist and entomologist, University of Texas Leslie Surginer Endowed Professor, and co-founder of the Yale Microbial Diversity Institute |
| Rishikesh Narayanan | 2004 | Post-doc | Neuroscientist at Indian Institute of Science; author; Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate |
| Donna Nelson | 1980 | PhD | Chemistry professor; Nelson Diversity Surveys author; scientific workforce scholar |
| Lisa Piccirillo | 2019 | PhD | Mathematician; solved the Conway Knot Problem |
| Ben H. Procter | 1940s | BA MA | Historian at Texas Christian University 1957–2000 |
| Coke Reed | 1962 1965 1966 | BSc MSc PhD | Mathematician, inventor of Data Vortex |
| Jacy Reese Anthis | 2015 | BSc | Social scientist, author of The End of Animal Farming |
| Mary Ellen Rudin | 1944 1949 | BA PhD | Mathematician |
| H. Grady Rylander | 1943 | BSME PhD | Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Director of Center for Electromechanics |
| Christine E. Schmidt | 1988 | BS | Biomedical engineer, nerve graft inventor, and professor at University of Florida |
| Tom Shires | 1944 | BSc | Trauma surgeon |
| Robert Slocum | 1981 | PhD | Professor of botany and biology at Goucher College |
| Bette Talvacchia | 1975 | MA | Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Art History Emeritus at the University of Connecticut |
| Don Thomas | 1941 1943 | BA MA | Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine |
| Beatrice Tinsley | 1964 | PhD | Astronomer |
| Neil deGrasse Tyson | 1983 | MA | Astrophysicist |
| Jennifer Walden | | BA | Plastic surgeon, researcher, and co-author of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Textbook |
| Walter Prescott Webb | 1915 | BA | Historian and author of the Handbook of Texas |
| Michael Webber | 1995 | BSc BA | Mechanical engineer and public speaker on energy policy |
| Spencer Wells | 1988 | BSc | Geneticist and anthropologist |
| Elizabeth H. West | 1901 | BA | Librarian; first woman to head the Texas State Library; first librarian of Texas Tech University; co-founder and first president of the Southwestern Library Association |
| Amelia Worthington Williams | 1926, 1931 | BA MA Ph.D. | Texas historian |
| Stephanie Wilson | 1992 | MSc | Astronaut, mission specialist on Space Shuttle mission STS-121 |

## NASA

| Name | Class year | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Michael A. Baker | 1975 | BSc | |
| Alan Bean | 1955 | BSc | Fourth person to walk on the Moon as a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 12 mission |
| Kenneth Cockrell | 1972 | BSc | |
| Robert L. Crippen | 1960 | BSc | |
| Frederick W. Leslie | 1974 | BSc | |
| Paul S. Lockhart | 1981 | MS | |
| Carl J. Meade | 1973 | BSc | |
| Andreas Mogensen | 2008 | PhD | |
| Frances "Poppy" Northcutt | 1965 | BSc | First female Mission Control engineer |
| Karen Nyberg | 1996 | MS | |
| Stephanie D. Wilson | 1992 | MS | |
| Neil Woodward | 1988 | MA | |

## Business and finance

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Moulay Abdallah ben Ali Alaoui | 1989 | BA | Alaouite prince, advisor of King Mohammed VI and president of energy company Mediholding SA |
| Bud Brigham | 1983 | BSc in geophysics | Billionaire oil and gas developer |
| William Buckley, Sr. | 1904 1905 | BSc LL.B. | Oil speculator and political activist; father of William F. Buckley, Jr. |
| Leon Chen | 1997 2001 | BBA | Co-founder of Tiff's Treats |
| Tiffany Chen (née Taylor) | 1997 2001 | BS | Co-founder of Tiff's Treats |
| Robert H. Dedman, Jr. | 1979 | BA | Chairman of ClubCorp |
| Michael Dell | 1983 1984 | (never graduated) | Founder of Dell Computers |
| David Geffen | | (never graduated) | Co-founder of DreamWorks Animation; founder of Asylum Records and Geffen Records |
| Bill Gurley | 1993 | MBA (McCombs) | General partner at Benchmark Capital |
| John Hanke | 1989 | BA (Plan II) | Co-founder of Keyhole; manager of the Google successor programs Google Maps and Google Earth |
| Tom Hicks | 1968 | BBA (McCombs) | Former owner of the Texas Rangers |
| Jeffrey Hildebrand | 1981 1985 | BSc MSc | Chairman and CEO of Hilcorp; 56th richest American |
| William R. Johnson | 1974 | MBA (McCombs) | CEO of H.J. Heinz Co. |
| Gary C. Kelly | 1974 | BBA (McCombs) | CEO of Southwest Airlines |
| Duy-Loan Le | 1982 | BSE | Engineer; first woman and Asian elected Texas Instruments Senior Fellow |
| Austin Ligon | 1973 1978 | BA (Plan II) MA (Economics) | Co-founder and retired CEO, CarMax |
| Red McCombs | | MBA (McCombs) JD | Co-founder of Clear Channel Communications; former co-owner of the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Vikings |
| Robert McGehee | 1972 | JD | CEO of Progress Energy |
| Cal McNair | | | Chairman and CEO of the Houston Texans NFL franchise |
| James Mulva | 1968 1969 | BSc (McCombs) MBA (McCombs) | CEO of ConocoPhillips |
| Sarafina Nance | 2016 | BSc (Physics) | Science communicator, astrophysics researcher |
| Bill Noël | 1935 | BBA | Oil industrialist, banker, philanthropist from Odessa |
| William C. Nowlin | 1972 1979 | BSc (Cockrell) MSc (Cockrell) | Co-founder of National Instruments |
| Corbin J. Robertson | 1969 | | CEO of Natural Resource Partners |
| Thomas L. Ryan | 1987 | BBA (McCombs) | CEO of Service Corporation International, a Fortune 1,000 company |
| Tex Schramm | 1947 | BA | Former Dallas Cowboys general manager; Pro Football Hall of Fame member |
| Stacy H. Schusterman | | MBA | Chairman and CEO of Samson Energy; philanthropist |
| George Seay | 1989, 1998 | BA, MBA (McCombs) | Businessman, co-founder and CEO of Annandale Capital, philanthropist and conservative political activist |
| Roy Spence | 1971 | BA | Co-founder of national advertising agency GSD&M |
| Rex Tillerson | 1975 | BSc | Former chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, and former secretary of state in the first Donald Trump administration |
| James Truchard | 1964 1967 1974 | BSc MA PhD | Electrical engineer, co-founder, president, and chairman of the board of National Instruments |
| James Marion West, Jr. | | JD | Oilman, lumber mill owner, and rancher; considered the archetype of the Texas oilman |
| Graham Whaling | 1976 | BSc | Petroleum engineer and managing partner of Parkman Whaling LLC |
| C. John Wilder | 1974 | BBA (McCombs) | Former CEO of TXU, a Fortune 1,000 energy holdings company |
| Angus G. Wynne | 1938 | BA | Founder of Six Flags Over Texas |
| Bedford Wynne | | | Co-founder of the Dallas Cowboys |
| Peter Zandan | 1983 | PhD, MBA (McCombs) | Global vice chairman, Hill+Knowlton Strategies; founder of Intelliquest, Zilliant; Austin community figure |

## Entertainment
### Film and stage
#### Actors

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| F. Murray Abraham | | (never graduated) | Actor who won Academy Award for role in Amadeus |
| Fahad Albutairi | 2007 | BS | Saudi Arabian actor and stand-up comedian |
| Kevin Alejandro | | | Actor featured in Ugly Betty |
| Barbara Barrie | 1952 | BA | Broadway, film and television actress, Academy Award nomination for Breaking Away and Best Actress Award at Cannes Film Festival for One Potato, Two Potato |
| Steve Barton | | (never graduated) | Broadway actor |
| Florence Bates | 1906 | BSc | Character actress |
| Gail Davis | | BA | Actress, starred in 1950s syndicated western television series Annie Oakley |
| Felicia Day | 1998 | BSc | Actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), writer and producer |
| Deanna Dunagan | | BME | Stage, television, and film actress who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 2008 for her portrayal of Violet Weston in August: Osage County |
| Farrah Fawcett | | (never graduated) | Actress, star of films and original Charlie's Angels television series |
| Peri Gilpin | | (never graduated) | Actress, starred as Roz Doyle on TV series Frasier |
| Jon Hamm | | (never graduated) | Actor, starred as Don Draper on TV series Mad Men |
| Marcia Gay Harden | 1980 | BA | Actress who won Academy Award for role in Pollock, nominated for role in Mystic River; also Tony Award winner for God of Carnage |
| John Hillerman | | (never graduated) | Actor who won Golden Globe and Emmy Award for role in Magnum, P.I. |
| Susan Howard | | (never graduated) | Actress, played Donna Culver Krebbs on soap opera Dallas |
| Jonathan Islas | 2001 | BA | Telenovela actor |
| L. Q. Jones | 1950 | | Prolific actor and producer in Westerns |
| Todd Lowe | 1999 | BA | Actor on True Blood and Gilmore Girls |
| Allen Ludden | 1940 1941 | BA MA | Daytime Emmy Award winner for work as Password host, Peabody Award winner for Mind Your Manners |
| Jayne Mansfield | | (never graduated) | Actress, film star who won Theatre World Award and Golden Globe; mother of Mariska Hargitay |
| Chase Masterson | | BFA | Actress, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Yesterday Was a Lie |
| Matthew McConaughey | 1993 | BSc | Actor, film star who won Academy Award for role in Dallas Buyers Club |
| Bruce McGill | 1973 | BFA | Actor in films such as Animal House, My Cousin Vinny, The Insider, Cinderella Man, Collateral, Lincoln and many other film and television roles |
| Lindsey Morgan | 2012 | BA | Actress in The CW television series The 100 |
| Fess Parker | 1950 | BA | Actor, television star who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone |
| Fred Parker Jr. | 2003 | BA | Actor, appeared in The Best Man and I Saw the Light |
| Ashmit Patel | 2000 | BFA | Bollywood actor |
| Glen Powell | 2011 | (never graduated) | Actor, Top Gun: Maverick, Set It Up, The Dark Knight Rises, Scream Queens |
| Chris Rich | 1970 | MA | Actor, played Brock Hart on TV series Reba |
| Trevante Rhodes | 2012 | BSc | Actor, featured in Moonlight, Bird Box, and The Predator |
| Tex Ritter | | (never graduated) | Actor and singer in Westerns; father of John Ritter |
| Jason Saldaña | 2001 | BSc | Voice actor, Tucker in Red vs. Blue |
| Eli Wallach | 1936 | BA | Actor, featured in such films as The Magnificent Seven, The Godfather, Part III and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Emmy, Tony and honorary Academy Award winner |
| Noël Wells | 2010 | B.S.RTF | Actor, known for her television roles on Master of None and Saturday Night Live, as well as writing, directing, and starring in the film Mr. Roosevelt |
| Owen Wilson | 1991 | BA | Actor, screenwriter and producer, featured in such films as Wedding Crashers, Zoolander, Meet the Parents and Cars |
| Renée Zellweger | 1992 | BA | Actress, film star who won Academy Award for role in Cold Mountain and was nominated for roles in Bridget Jones's Diary and Chicago |

#### Directors, producers, and writers

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Wes Anderson | 1990 | BA | Filmmaker who was nominated for Academy Awards for The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel |
| Michael "Burnie" Burns | 1997 | BA | Actor, writer, film producer, film director; co-founder and former CEO of Rooster Teeth |
| Thonnis Calhoun | 1950 | BFA | Writer of plays, radio, and television shows |
| Joan Darling | | (Attended 1955–56, her junior year; did not graduate) | Director, First Love and "Chuckles Bites the Dust" |
| Mark Dennis | 2007 | BSc | Award-winning filmmaker, Strings |
| Jay Duplass | | MFA | Film director, producer and screenwriter; with brother Mark, half of the "Duplass Brothers" |
| Mark Duplass | 1999 | BA | Film director, producer and screenwriter, actor, musician; with brother Jay, half of the "Duplass Brothers" |
| Ben Foster | 2008 | BSc | Award-winning filmmaker, Strings |
| Henry Gayden | 2002 | BA | Screenwriter, Earth to Echo, Shazam! and There's Someone Inside Your House |
| Kovid Gupta | 2010 | BBA, BS, BA | Screenwriter, known for Indian television shows Balika Vadhu and Bade Acche Lagte Hain; author of Kingdom of The Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms |
| Matt Hullum | 1997 | BSc | Actor, film producer, film director, visual effects supervisor; co-founder and current CEO of Rooster Teeth |
| Abhijat Joshi | 2002 | MFA | Screenwriter best known for work in Lage Raho Munnabhai (fifth highest-grossing Bollywood film) |
| Bernard Lechowick | 1971 | MFA | Award-winning television show runner, writer and producer of Knots Landing, creator of Homefront, Second Chances, and Hotel Malibu |
| Richard Linklater | | (never graduated) | Academy Award-nominated film director and screenwriter, Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, Before Sunset, Bad News Bears, and Boyhood |
| Tim McCanlies | | (transferred to Texas A&M) | Writer and director of Secondhand Lions |
| Robert Rodríguez | 2008 | BA | Mexican American filmmaker, director of Spy Kids, Sin City, From Dusk till Dawn; studied at University of Texas at Austin College of Communication |
| Robert Schenkkan | | BA (Plan II) | Playwright and screenwriter, 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (The Kentucky Cycle) |
| Thomas Schlamme | | BA | Television and film director and producer |
| Harvey Schmidt | 1940 | | Writer of musical theatre; wrote lyrics for musicals The Fantasticks, 110 in the Shade, I Do! I Do!, Celebration |
| Hark Tsui | 1975 | BSc (at RTF) | Hong Kong film producer and film director, major figure of the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema |
| Tommy Tune | 1962 | BA | Broadway choreographer, dancer, stage and film actor |
| Gary Winick | 1970 | MFA | Director, producer, 13 Going on 30, Bride Wars |

### Music

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Anike | 2018 | | Formerly known as Wande; rapper and A&R administrator |
| Troy Coleman | 1993 | BA | Singer of country rap known as "Cowboy Troy", co-host of Nashville Star |
| Jack Cooper | 1999 | DMA | Composer and arranger: U.S. Army Jazz Knights, Aaron Neville, Berlin Jazz Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and TV shows Deal or No Deal, The Jenny Jones Show, American Restoration and Access Hollywood |
| Sarah Dougher | 1997 | MA; PhD | Indie-rock musician |
| Mary Dunleavy | 1990 | M.Mus. | Opera singer |
| Kinky Friedman | 1966 | BA | Singer and author |
| Nanci Griffith | | BA | Winner of 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album |
| Janis Joplin | | (never graduated) | Singer; posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Jerry Junkin | 1978 | BM, MM | Director of Bands at University of Texas Austin, Head of the Conducting Division, Music Director and Conductor of the Dallas Winds and the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia, Principal Guest Conductor of the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Wind Symphony |
| Sarah Lipstate | 2006 | | Guitarist and composer performs under the name Noveller |
| Lotic | 2012 | BSc | Electronic musician |
| Ray Lynch | 1967 | B.Mus. | Billboard Award-winning classical guitarist and lutenist |
| Sterling Morrison | 1971 | PhD | Founding member of rock band The Velvet Underground |
| Phillip Sandifer | 1982 | BA | Christian music songwriter and musician |
| Harriet Schock | 1962 | BA | Singer-songwriter |
| Michelle Shocked | 1983 | BSc | Protest-music writer and performer |
| Nikki Stringfield | 2012 | BSc | Guitarist for The Iron Maidens; former guitarist for Before the Mourning |
| Sloan Struble | 2022 | (never graduated) | Singer, songwriter, and producer; founder and lead of the indie pop project Dayglow |
| Cindy Yen | 2008 | BM, BA, BAJ | Singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actress based in Taiwan |

### Comics and cartooning

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Berkeley Breathed | 1979 | BSc | Author of comic strip Bloom County |
| Roy Crane | 1922 | BA | "Father of the adventure story cartoon strip"; author of syndicated Buz Sawyer |
| Charles Fincher | 1968 | BSc | Cartoonist (Thadeus & Weez, The Daily Scribble), lawyer |
| Ben Sargent | 1970 | BA | Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, Austin American-Statesman (1974–2009) |

## Government, law, and public policy
### U.S. presidential family members

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Jenna Bush | 2004 | BA | Daughter of President George W. Bush |
| Laura Bush | 1973 | MLS | Former first lady of the United States |
| Lady Bird Johnson | 1933 | BA | Former first lady of the United States; recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal |
| Lynda Bird Johnson Robb | 1966 | BA | Eldest daughter of Lyndon B. Johnson; former first lady of Virginia |

### Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Reference |
| Tom C. Clark | 1922 | JD | Former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |

### Justices of state supreme courts

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Reference |
| Joseph M. Watt | 1972 | JD | Chief justice, Oklahoma Supreme Court | |

### Federal judges

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| William C. Conner | 1941 1942 | BBA LL.B. | Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York |
| Randy Crane | 1985 1987 | BA JD | Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas |
| Ricardo Hinojosa | 1972 | BA | Chief judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas; former chair of the United States Sentencing Commission |
| William Wayne Justice | 1942 | BA JD | Federal judge for the Eastern District of Texas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas |
| Royce Lamberth | 1965 1967 | BA LL.B. | Federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia |
| Barefoot Sanders | 1949 1950 | BA JD | Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas |
| Diane Pamela Wood | 1971 1975 | BA JD | Chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School |

### Members of the United States Congress

    Note: "D" indicates a Democrat while "R" indicates a Republican.

#### Senators

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Lloyd Bentsen | 1942 | JD | Former senator (D) from Texas |
| Tom Connally | 1898 | JD | Former representative and senator (D) from Texas |
| Kay Bailey Hutchison | 1962 1967 | BA JD | Former United States senator (R) from Texas (1993–2013) |
| Earle Bradford Mayfield | 1900 1901 | JD | Former United States senator from Texas (1923–1929) |
| Ralph Yarborough | 1927 | JD | Former United States senator from Texas (1957–1971) |

#### Representatives

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Michael A. Andrews | 1967 | BA | Former representative (D) from Texas' 3rd congressional district |
| William R. Archer | 1946 1951 | BA LL.B | United States representative from Texas (1971–2001) |
| Steve Bartlett | 1971 | BA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1983–1991) |
| James Andrew Beall | 1890 | JD | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1903–1925) |
| Chris Bell | 1982 | BJ | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (2003–2005) |
| John Junior Bell | 1932 1936 | College JD | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1955–1957) |
| Lloyd Bentsen | 1942 | JD | U.S. representative (1948–1955), U.S. senator (1970–1992), U.S. vice presidential candidate (1988), and secretary of the treasury under President Bill Clinton |
| Thomas Lindsay Blanton | 1897 | JD | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1917–1929, and 1930–1937) |
| Eldon Beau Boulter | 1965 | BA | Former member of the United States House of Representatives from Amarillo (1985–1989) |
| Jack Brooks | 1943 1949 | BA LL.B. | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1953–1995) |
| Jim Chapman | 1968 | BBA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1985–1997) |
| Henry Cuellar | 1981 1998 | JD PhD | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (2005– ) |
| Lloyd Doggett | 1967 1970 | BA JD | Former justice of the Texas Supreme Court (1989–1994), Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1995– ) |
| Bob Eckhardt | 1935 1939 | BA LL.B. | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1967–1981) |
| Pete Geren | 1974 1978 | BA JD | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1989–1997) |
| Charles Gonzalez | 1969 | BA | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1999– ) |
| Ed Gossett | 1924 1927 | BA LL.B. | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1939–1951) |
| Rubén E. Hinojosa | 1962 | BBA | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1997– ) |
| Frank Ikard | 1936 1937 | BA LL.B. | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1951–1961) |
| John Marvin Jones | 1907 | LL.B. | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1917–1940) |
| Abraham Kazen, Jr. | 1940 | Pre-Law | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1967–1985) |
| Richard Kleberg | 1911 | JD | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1931–1945) |
| Marvin Leath | 1954 | BBA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1979–1991) |
| Tom Loeffler | 1968 1971 | BA JD | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1979–1987) |
| Bill Patman | 1953 | BBA LL.B. | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–1985) |
| J.J. Pickle | 1938 | BA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1963–1995), namesake of the University of Texas' J.J. Pickle Research Campus |
| Morris Sheppard | 1897 | BA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1902–1913) |
| Mac Sweeney | 1897 | BA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wharton (1985–1989) |
| William Homer Thornberry | 1897 | BA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1949–1963) |
| Jim Turner | 1897 | BA | Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1997–2005) |

### United States governors

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Greg Abbott | 1981 | BBA | 48th governor of Texas |
| Dolph Briscoe | 1942 | BA | 41st governor of Texas |
| Jeb Bush | 1974 | BA | 43rd governor of Florida |
| John B. Connally | 1939 1941 | BA LL.B. | 39th governor of Texas, wounded while riding in the car during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy |
| Dan Moody | 1910 1914 | BA LL.B. | 30th governor of Texas and opponent of the Ku Klux Klan; at age 33 he was elected and took office as the youngest governor in Texas history |
| Bill Owens | | BA LL.B. | 40th governor of Colorado |
| Ann Richards | | BA LL.B. | 45th governor of Texas |

### Politicians and diplomats outside the U.S.

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Allah Bachayo Talpur | 1936 | MSc | Member of the Sindh Legislative Assembly, member of the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, member of American Soybean Association |
| Francisco Santos Calderón | | | Former vice president of Colombia (2002–2010) |
| Laurentino Cortizo | 1979 | MBA | President of Panama (2019–) |
| María de Lourdes Dieck-Assad | 1983 | PhD | Economist, former Mexican ambassador to the European Union (2004–2007) |
| Salam Fayyad | 1986 | PhD | Former prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority (2007–2013) |
| Hişyar Özsoy | 2004 2010 | MSc, PhD | Kurdish academic and politician in Turkey |
| Abdullah Tariki | 1947 | MA | First and former Saudi minister of petroleum and mineral resources (1960–1962); co-founder of the OPEC |
| Fernando Belaúnde Terry | 1935 | BA | Former president of Peru (1963–1968, 1980–1985) |
| Dinesh Trivedi | 1974 | MBA | Former Indian union minister of state for health and family welfare (2009 and 2011–2011); former union minister for railways (2011–2012) |

### Members of the United States Cabinet

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Robert B. Anderson | 1932 | LL.B. | Secretary of the treasury (1957–1961), deputy secretary of defense (1954–1955), and secretary of the Navy (1953–1954) under Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| James Baker | 1957 | JD | Secretary of state under George H. W. Bush, secretary of the treasury under Ronald Reagan, and White House Chief of Staff under both George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan |
| William J. Bennett | | PhD | President Reagan's chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1981–1985); secretary of education (1985–1988); President George Herbert Walker Bush's "drug czar" (1989–1990) |
| Lloyd Bentsen | 1942 | LL.B. | U.S. representative (1948–1955); U.S. senator (1970–1992); secretary of the treasury under President Bill Clinton |
| George Christian | 1971 | BA | Journalist, former White House press secretary (1966–1969) |
| Ramsey Clark | 1949 | BA | Lawyer, former United States attorney general (1967–1969) |
| Tom C. Clark | 1922 | BA LL.B. | Former United States attorney general (1945–1949) |
| John Connally | 1941 | LL.B. | 39th governor of Texas (1963–1969); former United States secretary of the treasury (1971–1972); seriously wounded during the assassination of John F. Kennedy |
| Donald Evans | 1969 1973 | BSc MBA (McCombs) | Former secretary of commerce under George W. Bush |
| Scott McClellan | 1991 | BA | Former White House Press Secretary (2003–2006) |
| Rex Tillerson | 1975 | BSc | 69th United States secretary of state (2017–2018) |

### Armed forces

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Bobby Ray Inman | 1950 | BA | Retired United States Navy admiral, director of the National Security Agency, Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy (University of Texas at Austin) |
| Neel Ernest Kearby | 1936 | BBA | World War II aviator, Medal of Honor recipient |
| Jeannie Leavitt | 1990 | BA | First female fighter pilot in the United States Air Force |
| William McRaven | 1977 | BA | Retired United States Navy admiral, 2014 commencement speaker |
| Russell Albert Steindam | 1968 | BA | Army ranger, Medal of Honor recipient |
| Robin G. Tornow | 1972 | MA | Retired United States Air Force brigadier general |
| Charles F. Widdecke | 1941 | BA | Retired United States Marine Corps major general; recipient of the Navy Cross |

### Other U.S. political and legal figures

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Stacey Abrams | 1998 | MPA | Activist, Minority Leader (2011–2017) in the Georgia House of Representatives, candidate in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election |
| Elsa Alcala | | J.D. | Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8; former Houston prosecutor and state district and intermediate appeals judge |
| Ben Barnes | | | Former Texas speaker of the House (1965–1969) and Lieutenant Governor of Texas (1969–1973) |
| Dan Bartlett | | BA | White House communications director for President George W. Bush |
| Steven Best | | | Professor of philosophy and spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front |
| William H. Bledsoe | | Attended briefly c. 1889 | Lawyer and member of both houses of the Texas legislature from Lubbock, 1915–1929 |
| Ed Blizzard | 1975 | BA | Prominent pharmaceutical injury attorney |
| Bill Blythe | | BA | Republican state representative from Harris County, 1971–1983 |
| Esther Buckley | | BSc | Member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1983–1992; educator in Laredo, Texas |
| George C. Butte | 1904 | MA | Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1924; member of the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, 1932–1936 |
| Frank Kell Cahoon | 1957 | BSc | Midland oilman; former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives |
| John Carona | 1978 | BBA | Member of the Texas Senate from District 16, 1996–2015 |
| Liz Carpenter | 1942 | BJ | Former press secretary to First Lady Lady Bird Johnson |
| Waggoner Carr | | | Law school, former speaker of Texas House of Representatives and Attorney General of Texas |
| Carlos Cascos | | Accounting | Secretary of State of Texas, beginning 2015; outgoing county judge of Cameron County, Texas, 2007–2015 |
| Nellie Connally | | | Former first lady of Texas |
| Kilmer B. Corbin | | Law | Texas state senator from Lubbock (1949–1957); father of actor Barry Corbin |
| Christi Craddick | 1992 | Bachelor's degree | Texas Railroad Commission member since 2012 from Midland; daughter of Texas state representative Tom Craddick |
| Vivien Crea | 1972 | BA | Vice admiral; first woman to attain flag rank; first female vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard |
| Brandon Creighton | c. 1992 | Bachelor of Arts | Member of the Texas House of Representatives from Conroe; lawyer and businessman |
| Phil Dyer | 1973 | BBA | Mayor of Plano, Texas (2009–2013), president of LegacyTexas Bank |
| Elma Salinas Ender | 1974 | BSc | First Hispanic woman to serve on a state district court in Texas, judge of the 341st Judicial District from 1983 to 2012 |
| Marsha Farney | 2007 | PhD in curriculum development and educational instruction | Texas state representative from District 20 in Williamson County; former member of the Texas State Board of Education from District 10 |
| Tommy Franks | | (never graduated) | Former commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command |
| Kenn George | | MBA | Texas state representative from Dallas (1999–2003); businessman |
| Mike Godwin | 1980 1990 | BA JD | First staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, former general counsel of Wikimedia Foundation |
| Craig Goldman | | BA | Member of the Texas House of Representatives from his native Fort Worth; real estate businessman |
| John W. Goode | 1943 | Bachelor's degree | Attorney in San Antonio and Republican political figure in the 1950s and 1960s |
| Lance Gooden | | BA BBA | Texas state representative for Kaufman County (2011–2015; 2017– ), businessman |
| Lena Guerrero | | (never graduated) | Former Texas state representative from Travis County, first woman to serve on the Texas Railroad Commission |
| Bobby Inman | 1950 | BA | Former director of the National Security Agency |
| Joe Jamail | 1950 1953 | BA JD | Trial lawyer |
| Cyndi Taylor Krier | 1971 | Bachelor's degree | First Republican woman to serve as both a state senator from Bexar County (1985–1993) and as the Bexar County administrative judge (1993 to 2001) |
| Dan Kubiak | 1962 | BBA PhD | Texas state representative from Rockdale (1969–1983; 1991–1998), businessman |
| John Kuempel | | Bachelor's degree | Texas state representative from Seguin (since 2010), businessman |
| Fritz Lanham | 1900 | BA | Politician, author of Lanham Act, the law governing U.S. trademark policy |
| Jodie Anne Laubenberg | | BA | Texas state representative from Collin County since 2003, businesswoman in Allen, Texas |
| Adam R. Lee | 2002 | BA | Maine state representative |
| Debra Lehrmann | 1979 1982 | BA JD | Texas Supreme Court justice (Place 3), former 360th District Court judge in Fort Worth |
| Joe K. Longley | 1969 | JD | 138th president of the State Bar of Texas (2018) |
| J. M. Lozano | 2003 | BA | Texas state representative from Kingsville since 2011 |
| Crawford Martin | | Law school courses; transferred to Cumberland School of Law | Attorney General of Texas (since 1967), former Texas state senator (1949–1963); Texas Secretary of State (1963–1966); mayor of Hillsboro |
| Charles Matthews | 2006 | PhD | Mayor of Garland, Texas 1984–1986, member of the Texas Railroad Commission 1995–2005, and chancellor-emeritus of the Texas State University System 2005–2010 |
| Robert Morrow | 1990 | Master of Business Administration | Chairman of the Travis County Republican Party since 2016; considered a conspiracy theorist and anti-Hillary Clinton activist |
| Steve Munisteri | | BBA JD | Departing Republican Party of Texas state chairman |
| Jim Murphy | 1980 | BA | Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Houston, 2007–2009 and since 2011; real estate businessman |
| Elizabeth Neumann | | BA Government | Counterterroism expert in the George W. Bush Administration; Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant Secretary of Threat Prevention and Security for the United States Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration |
| David Newell | | Law degree | Republican member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; former Harris County assistant district attorney |
| George E. Nowotny | 1955 | BSc | Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Fort Smith, 1967–1972; since resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| James E. Nugent | 1949 | JD | Member of the Texas House of Representatives from Kerrville (1961–1979) and member of the Texas Railroad Commission (1979–1995) |
| Dade Phelan | 1998 | Bachelor's degree | Republican state representative for District 21 in Beaumont, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (2021–) |
| Four Price | | BA | Republican state representative for District 87 in Amarillo |
| Bennett Ratliff | 1983 | BS in civil engineering | Republican state representative from District 115 in Dallas County (2013–2015) |
| Bill Ratliff | | BS in civil engineering | Republican state senator from Mount Pleasant (1989–2000; 2003–2004) and lieutenant governor (2000–2003) |
| Sam Rayburn | | | Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives |
| Richard Raymond | | BA | State legislator, advocate for Hispanic causes |
| John Ben Shepperd | 1941 | LL.B | State attorney general (1953–1957) |
| Steven Wayne Smith | 1986 | Law | Former justice of the Texas Supreme Court |
| Sarah Weddington | | | Attorney and lecturer, represented "Jane Roe" in the landmark Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court case |
| Bill White | 1974 | BA | Mayor of Houston |
| Harry Whittington | | BA, JD | Texas attorney, known for being accidentally shot by Vice President Dick Cheney |
| Pamela Willeford | 1972 | BA | U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein |
| Jared Woodfill | | BA | Houston attorney; chairman of the Harris County Republican Party, 2002–2014 |

## Journalism and media

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Paul Begala | 1983 1990 | BA JD | Former host of CNN's Crossfire |
| Benjamin Bryant | | (medically withdrew) | Radio and television broadcaster, BZ/MP executive editor, host of The Brink with Benjamin Bryant |
| Liz Carpenter | 1942 | | Feminist writer, former press secretary to First Lady Lady Bird Johnson |
| Walter Cronkite | | | Anchor for CBS Evening News |
| Alireza Jafarzadeh | 1981 | MSc | Media commentator on the Middle East, TV news analyst |
| Harvey Kronberg | 1972 | | Owner and operator of the Quorum Report and Texas Energy Report, political analyst for Spectrum News |
| Betty Nguyen | 1995 | BA | Anchor for The CBS Morning News |
| James C. Tanner | | BA | Journalist, winner of the 1961 Gerald Loeb Award for Newspapers |
| Stephanie Trong | 1998 | BA | Former executive editor of the magazine Jane (2005–2007) |
| Ben Wedeman | 1982 | BA | Senior correspondent for CNN |
| Joe Yonan | 1989 | BA | Food and Dining Editor and Weeknight Vegetarian columnist for The Washington Post |

## Literature, writing, and translation

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Raye Virginia Allen | | BA MA | Cultural historian and author |
| Raymond Benson | 1978 | BFA | Thriller author, most known as the first American to pen official James Bond novels |
| Gail Caldwell | 1978 1980 | BA MA | Book critic at The Boston Globe, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism |
| Michael Chorost | 1988 2000 | MA PhD | Author (Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human), authority on cochlear implants and neurally controlled prosthetics |
| J. M. Coetzee | 1968 | PhD | Winner of 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature |
| Deborah Coonts | 2011 | MA | Romantic mystery novelist, lawyer |
| Madison Cooper | 1915 | BA | Businessman, novelist (Sironia, Texas) |
| Judy Dean | 1976 | Bachelor's degree in Radio/TV/Film | Author of Winston Pooh: An Investigation into the Real Story behind the Stories |
| Kate Heyhoe | | BA | Cookbook author |
| Rolando Hinojosa | 1953 | BA | Novelist, winner of the Premio Quinto Sol prize |
| H.L. Hix | 1985 1987 | MA PhD | Award-winning poet, program director at the University of Wyoming |
| Elmer Kelton | 1948 | BA | Western novelist, winner of a number of prizes in western literature |
| Julie Kenner | 1987 | BA | Romance and fantasy author |
| Willie Morris | 1956 | BA | Author, journalist, editor of Harper's Magazine, Rhodes scholar |
| Ladan Osman | | MFA | Poet and teacher; winner of the 2014 Sillerman First Book Prize |
| Sharon Kay Penman | | BA | Author of historical novels (Welsh Princes Trilogy, Plantagenet Series) |
| Lawrence Person | 1987 | BA | Science fiction writer, editor of Hugo Award-nominated SF-fanzine Nova Express |
| Gab Reisman | | MFA | Playwright |
| Pamela Ribon | 1996 | BFA | Novelist, television writer, actor |
| Rick Riordan | 1986 | BA | Novelist (the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series) |
| Olen Steinhauer | | BFA | Novelist (the Milo Weaver Trilogy) |
| Bruce Sterling | | BFA | Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning science fiction novelist, cyberpunk (Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology, The Difference Engine) |
| Whitley Strieber | 1968 | BA | Horror and science fiction novelist (The Wolfen, Warday), Ufologist (Communion) |
| Janice Woods Windle | | | Author of historical novels (True Women) |

## Social reformers

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Reference |
| Rip Esselstyn | 1986 | | Food writer and health activist | |

## Sports
### Baseball

| Name | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Max Alvis | | Former MLB baseman |
| Roger Clemens | (never graduated) | Starting pitcher for five MLB teams, 7-time Cy Young Award-winner, 1986 American League MVP, 11-time All-Star, 2-time World Series champion, winner of 1983 College World Series |
| Dennis Cook | | Former MLB pitcher |
| Jordan Danks | | MLB outfielder |
| Kirk Dressendorfer | | Former MLB pitcher, National College Baseball Hall of Famer |
| Adam Dunn | | MLB outfielder |
| Bibb Falk | | Former MLB left fielder; former University of Texas baseball coach |
| Ron Gardenhire | (never graduated) | Former MLB shortstop, former manager of the Minnesota Twins |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | | Former MLB pitcher |
| Wayne Graham | | Former MLB pinch hitter, third baseman and left fielder |
| Burt Hooton | | Former MLB pitcher, National College Baseball Hall of Famer |
| J. P. Howell | | MLB pitcher |
| Calvin Murray | | Former MLB outfielder |
| Spike Owen | | Former MLB shortstop |
| Mark Petkovsek | | Former MLB pitcher |
| Omar Quintanilla | | MLB infielder |
| Bruce Ruffin | | Former MLB pitcher |
| Calvin Schiraldi | | Former MLB pitcher |
| Kal Segrist | (never graduated) | MLB second baseman; fifth head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball program |
| Huston Street | | MLB pitcher |
| Greg Swindell | | Former MLB pitcher, member of the 1984 Olympic Baseball Team |
| Taylor Teagarden | | MLB catcher |

### Softball

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Reference |
| Cat Osterman | | | Former NPF player, Olympic gold and silver medalist | |

### Basketball

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | | (never graduated) | NBA power forward, 7-time NBA All Star |
| D. J. Augustin | | | NBA point guard |
| Mohamed Bamba | | | NBA center for the Orlando Magic |
| Avery Bradley | | | NBA shooting guard |
| J'Covan Brown | | | Player in the Israel Basketball Premier League |
| Jamie Carey | 2005 | BA MSc | Former WNBA point guard |
| Marcus Carr | | | Basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League |
| Matt Coleman III | | | Player for Hapoel Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Premier League |
| Kevin Durant | | (never graduated) | NBA small forward and shooting guard, 2014 NBA MVP, 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year, 8-time NBA All-Star, 2010 FIBA World Championship MVP, 3-time NBA scoring champion, 2-time NBA champion, 2-time NBA Finals MVP |
| Maurice Evans | | | NBA small forward and shooting guard |
| T. J. Ford | | B.S. | Former NBA point guard |
| Daniel Gibson | | | NBA guard |
| Jordan Hamilton | | | Player in the Israel Basketball Premier League |
| Nekeshia Henderson | | | Former WNBA player |
| Royal Ivey | | | NBA point guard |
| Chris Mihm | | | Former NBA center |
| Elijah Mitrou-Long | | | Canadian-Greek basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League |
| Johnny Moore | | | Former NBA point guard |
| Terrence Rencher | | (never graduated) | Former NBA point guard |
| Isaiah Taylor | | | Player in the Israel Basketball Premier League |
| James Thomas | | | Former NBA forward, current player for Israeli Maccabi Haifa BC |
| B. J. Tyler | | | Former NBA point guard |
| Danny Wagner | | | Former NBL and NBA guard |

### Football

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Major Applewhite | 2002 | BS | Former college quarterback, 2001 Holiday Bowl MVP, former co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for UT Austin, current University of South Alabama head coach |
| Don Barton | | (never graduated) | Former NFL halfback |
| Cedric Benson | | | NFL running back, Doak Walker Award winner |
| Jim Bertelsen | | | Former NFL running back |
| Glenn Blackwood | | | Former NFL safety |
| Justin Blalock | | | NFL guard |
| Bill Bradley | | | Former NFL defensive back |
| James Brown | | | Former quarterback |
| Tarell Brown | | | NFL cornerback |
| Bob Bryant | | | American Football League end |
| Earl Campbell | | (never graduated) | Former NFL running back, College Football and Pro Football Hall of Famer |
| Kwame Cavil | | BA | Former NFL, current CFL wide receiver |
| Jamaal Charles | | | NFL running back, former track and field athlete |
| Quan Cosby | | (never graduated) | NFL wide receiver |
| Tim Crowder | | | NFL defensive end |
| Leonard Davis | | | NFL offensive guard |
| Gib Dawson | | | Former NFL halfback |
| Phil Dawson | | BA | NFL placekicker |
| Derrick Dockery | | BA | NFL offensive guard |
| Jermichael Finley | | | NFL tight end |
| Jerry Gray | | | Former NFL cornerback, College Football Hall of Famer |
| Cedric Griffin | | | NFL cornerback |
| Michael Griffin | | BA | NFL safety |
| Casey Hampton | | | NFL nose tackle |
| William Harris | | | Former NFL tight end |
| Tony Hills | | | NFL offensive tackle |
| Priest Holmes | | | Former NFL running back |
| Michael Huff | | | NFL safety and cornerback |
| Quentin Jammer | | | NFL safety |
| Derrick Johnson | | (never graduated) | NFL linebacker |
| J. T. King | | | Head football coach and athletic director of the Texas Tech Red Raiders |
| Tom Landry | 1949 | BBA | Former NFL cornerback and head coach, NFL Hall of Famer |
| Bobby Layne | | (never graduated) | Former NFL quarterback, College Football and NFL Hall of Famer, source of the "Curse of Bobby Layne" |
| Jeff Leiding | 1984 | | All-American and NFL player |
| D. D. Lewis | | | NFL linebacker |
| Colt McCoy | | | NFL quarterback |
| Eric Metcalf | | | Former NFL running back and wide receiver, return specialist |
| Roddrick Muckelroy | 2008 | BA | NFL linebacker |
| Dan Neil | | | Former NFL offensive guard, two-time Super Bowl champion |
| Tommy Nobis | | | Former NFL linebacker, College Football Hall of Famer |
| Frank Okam | | | NFL defensive tackle |
| Brian Orakpo | | | NFL linebacker |
| Cory Redding | | (never graduated) | NFL defensive end |
| Bijan Robinson | 2023 | | NFL running back |
| Brian Robison | | BA | NFL defensive end |
| Shaun Rogers | | | NFL defensive tackle |
| Aaron Ross | | | NFL cornerback |
| Bo Scaife | 2004 | BA | NFL tight end |
| Jonathan Scott | | | NFL offensive tackle |
| Lyle Sendlein | 2006 | BA | NFL center |
| Jordan Shipley | | | NFL wide receiver |
| Chris Simms | | BA | Former NFL quarterback |
| Harry Stafford | | | NFL back |
| Tom Stolhandske | | | NFL and CFL player |
| James Street | | | Former college football quarterback |
| Kasey Studdard | | BA | NFL offensive guard |
| Limas Sweed | | | Former NFL, current CFL wide receiver |
| David Thomas | | BSc | NFL tight end |
| Earl Thomas | | | NFL safety |
| Marcus Tubbs | | | NFL defensive tackle |
| Justin Tucker | | | NFL placekicker |
| Nathan Vasher | | | Former NFL cornerback |
| Mike Williams | | | Former NFL offensive tackle and guard |
| Ricky Williams | | (never graduated) | Former NFL and CFL running back |
| Roy Williams | | | Former NFL wide receiver |
| Hugh Wolfe | 1938 | | All-American and NFL player |
| Rodrique Wright | | | NFL and CFL defensive end |
| Selvin Young | 2006 | BA | NFL running back |
| Vince Young | 2013 | BA | NFL quarterback |

### Golf

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Mark Brooks | | | Winner of the 1996 PGA Championship |
| Ben Crenshaw | | | Winner of 1984 and 1995 Masters Tournaments, World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, 1972 NCAA champion |
| Bob Estes | | | Professional golfer |
| Harrison Frazar | 1996 | Psychology | Professional golfer |
| Tom Kite | | (never graduated) | Professional golfer, World Golf Hall of Famer, golf course architect, first pro player to add a third wedge to his bag |
| Justin Leonard | | (never graduated) | Professional golfer, Open Championship winner (1997) |
| Harvey Penick | | | Professional golfer and golf coach, World Golf Hall of Famer, author |
| Scottie Scheffler | 2018 | Finance | Winner of 2022 Masters Tournament, 2024 Masters Tournament, and 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal |
| Jordan Spieth | | | Winner of 2015 Masters Tournament, 2015 US Open, and the 2017 Open Championship |
| Sherri Steinhauer | | (never graduated) | Professional golfer, Women's British Open winner |
| Jhonattan Vegas | | | Venezuelan professional golfer |

### Swimming

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Ricky Berens | 2010 | Finance | Specialized in freestyle events; world record-holder in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics, Olympic silver medalist in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay in London, two-time NCAA champion |
| Jack Conger | 2017 | | Specializes in butterfly and freestyle events; gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 9-time NCAA Champion, 17-time All-American, 3-time NCAA team champion, current NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record-holder in the 200-yard butterfly |
| Ian Crocker | 2005 | BSc | World record-setter and winner of 4×100 m medley relay gold medals in both the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics |
| Josh Davis | 1994 | | Won three gold medals in the 1996 Summer Olympics and two silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics |
| Nate Dusing | 2002 | | Won the bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal in the 800 m freestyle relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics |
| Jimmy Feigen | 2012 | | Won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a gold medal for the 4x100-meter freestyle relay for the 2016 Summer Olympics |
| Townley Haas | 2019 | | Specializes in freestyle events; gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Olympic finalist in the 200 m freestyle at the 2016 Summer Olympics (5th place), 10-time NCAA champion, 18-time All-American, 3-time NCAA team champion, former NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record-holder in the 200-yard freestyle, 2019 AAU Sullivan Award finalist |
| Brendan Hansen | 2005 | BSc | Former world record holder in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke and current record holder in the 4×100 m medley relay; at the 2004 Summer Olympics won the gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay, silver at the 100 m breaststroke, and bronze at the 200 m breaststroke; at the 2008 Summer Olympics his team won gold and set a world record in the 4×100 m medley relay |
| Shaun Jordan | 1991 | | Won gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at both the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics |
| Will Licon | 2017 | Sport Management | Specializes in breaststroke and medley events; 11-time NCAA Champion, 15-time All-American, 3-time NCAA team champion, current NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record-holder in the 200-yard breaststroke, 2017 Big 12 Athlete of the Year, Texas Cowboys alum |
| Aaron Peirsol | 2006 | | Won Olympic medals at the 2000 (silver in 200 m backstroke), 2004 (gold in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and the 4×100 m medley relay), and 2008 Summer Olympics (gold in the 100 m backstroke and 4×100 m medley relay, silver in the 200 m backstroke); former world record-holder in the 100 m backstroke, current world record-holder 4×100 m medley relay, current world record-holder in the 200 m backstroke |
| Joseph Schooling | 2018 | | Specializes in butterfly, freestyle, and medley events; gold medalist in the 100 m butterfly in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, winner of Singapore's first Olympic medal in swimming, Olympic record-holder in the 100 m butterfly, 12-time NCAA champion, 22-time All-American, 4-time NCAA team champion, former NCAA and U.S. Open record-holder in the 100 & 200 y butterfly |
| John Shebat | 2019 | | Specializes in backstroke, butterfly, and medley events; 5-time NCAA Champion, 9-time All-American, 3-time NCAA team champion, and the 2017 Big 12 Swimmer of the Year |
| Clark Smith | 2017 | | Specializes in freestyle events; gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 4-time NCAA Champion, 6-time All-American, 3-time NCAA team champion, former NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record-holder in the 500 and 1650 y freestyles, current American record-holder in the 1000 y freestyle; son of University of Texas Olympic swimmer Tori Trees |
| Kirk Stackle | 1990 | | 1988 Olympic team in the 200 breaststroke |
| Garrett Weber-Gale | 2007 | | Swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world record-holder in two events |
| Joscelin Yeo | 2003 | | Rhodes scholar, competed on the Singapore national team at the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics, more Olympic games than any other Singaporean athlete |

### Track and field

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Reference |
| Sanya Richards-Ross | 2006 | BSc | Medalist in 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics | |

### Soccer

| Name | Class year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability | Reference |
| Haley Berg | 2021 | BA | Professional soccer player | |
| Cyera Hintzen | 2020 | BA | Professional soccer player | |

### Other sports

| Name | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Andrew Craig | Corporate Communications | Professional mixed martial artist formerly competing in the UFC's Middleweight Division |
| Mary Lou Retton | | First female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, five-time Olympic medalist, 1984 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year |
| Eileen Tell | | Tennis player |

## Miscellaneous

| Name | Class Year(s) | Degree(s) | Notability |
| Mark Aguhar | | Fine Art | Artist and activist |
| Natalia Anciso | 2008 | BA | Contemporary artist and educator |
| Stacy Barnett | 2009 | BSc | Victim in the West Campus murders in 2009 |
| Nancy Lee Bass | 1937 | English | Philanthropist |
| William Lee Bergstrom | | (never graduated) | Gambler and high roller |
| Brian Brushwood | 1997 | Plan II honors program | Magician, podcaster, author, lecturer, known for Scam School |
| Thomas Darnell | 1979 | | Contemporary painter |
| Monique Evans | | Nutritional Science and Pre-Med major | Miss Texas 2014 and Miss Florida USA 2020 |
| John Goosey | 2008 | BA | Victim in the West Campus murders in 2009 |
| Ann Hand | | (never graduated) | Jewelry designer |
| Virginia Mecklenburg | 1968, 1970 | B.A., M.A. | Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum |
| Lisa Orr | 1983 | B.A. | Potter and teacher of ceramics |
| Brucene Smith | | | Miss Texas World 1971, Miss World USA 1971, Miss American Beauty 1974 (Miss U.S. International 1974) & Miss International 1974 |
| Jessica Trisko | 2006 | Master of Arts | Miss Earth 2007 |