# List of people from Evanston, Illinois

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Evanston, Illinois. For a similar list organized alphabetically by last name, see the category page People from Evanston, Illinois.

## Academia

* Oliver Marcy, two-time president of Northwestern University
* Dale T. Mortensen, Nobel Prize winner in economics, faculty of Northwestern University
* Gail Thain Parker, scholar of American literature, president of Bennington College
* Dwight H. Perkins, economist, Harvard University
* Edmund Phelps, Nobel Prize winner in economics and professor
* Morton O. Schapiro, 16th president of Northwestern University, and 16th president of Williams College
* Stuart Vyse, psychologist and author; specialist on superstitions
* John Carrier Weaver, professor of geography, and college administrator for several major universities in the United States
* John Henry Wigmore, dean of Northwestern Law School

## Business

* William Liston Brown, director of American Ship Building Company
* James Cayne, former CEO of Bear Stearns
* Lester Crown, son of Chicago financier Henry Crown and controls family holdings
* John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay, born in Evanston
* Bob Galvin, former CEO of Motorola
* Hecky Powell, restaurateur
* Robert Sampson, disability rights activist born in Evanston
* Gordon Segal, founder and CEO of Crate & Barrel
* Gwynne Shotwell, businesswoman, engineer, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX
* John C. Whitehead, banker, chairman of Goldman Sachs, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State 1985–89, board member of World Trade Center Memorial Foundation (WTC Memorial Foundation)

## Entertainment

* Kate Baldwin, actress and singer
* Viola Barry, silent film actress
* William Bassett, actor
* Carlos Bernard, actor
* Marlon Brando, actor
* Tamara Braun, actress
* Heather Burns, actress
* Ronnie Burns, actor
* Timothy Carhart, actor
* William Christopher, actor, charity spokesperson
* Joan Cusack, actress
* John Cusack, actor
* John Dickson, poet and short story writer
* Sean Evans, host of Hot Ones
* Robert Falls, director
* Richard Fancy, actor
* Julie Fulton, actress
* Zach Gilford, actor
* Alicia Goranson, actress
* Seth Gordon, director, producer, editor
* Laura Harrier, actress
* Barbara Harris, actress
* Charlton Heston, actor
* Anders Holm, comedian and co-creator of Workaholics
* James Jewell, voice actor, producer and director for radio shows The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet
* Jake Johnson, actor
* Amanda Jones, Miss Illinois USA 1973 & Miss USA 1973
* Tim Kazurinsky, actor and writer, Saturday Night Live
* Walter Kerr, drama critic
* Lauren Lapkus, actor and comedian
* Jeffrey Lieber, writer and co-creator of the television series Lost
* Richard Long, actor
* Michael Madsen, actor
* John Lee Mahin, Oscar-nominated screenwriter
* Jeff McCracken, actor, director, producer
* Elizabeth McGovern, Oscar-nominated actress
* Patrick Melton, screenwriter
* Josh Meyers, actor and comedian
* Seth Meyers, actor and comedian
* John Moffatt, producer
* Jessie Mueller, actress and singer
* Bill Murray, actor and comedian
* Ajay Naidu, actor and singer
* Christopher Nolan, director, screenwriter, and producer
* Jonathan Nolan, screenwriter, producer and director
* James Olson, actor
* Geeta Patel, film and TV director
* D.A. Pennebaker, documentary filmmaker
* William Petersen, actor
* Steve Pink, director, screenwriter, and producer
* Jeremy Piven, actor
* Shira Piven, director
* David Schwimmer, actor
* Anna D. Shapiro, award-winning director
* Martin Sherman, actor
* Jerry Springer
* Hope Summers, actress, founder of Evanston's Showcase Theater
* Daniel Sunjata, actor
* Dave VanDam, voice actor
* Lori Voornas, radio personality
* Ruby Wax, comedian
* Jenniffer Weigel, actress, writer
* Rafer Weigel, actor, television personality

## Music

* Steve Albini, music producer
* Fred Anderson, saxophonist
* Benjamin Bagby, singer, performer of medieval music
* Stuart D. Bogie, musician and arranger
* David Burge, pianist
* Kenneth C. Burns, Jethro of Homer and Jethro
* Kevin Cronin, of REO Speedwagon
* Patti Drew, 1960s soul singer
* Alexander Frey, conductor, pianist, organist, harpsichordist, composer and recording artist
* Ezra Furman, of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons
* Steve Goodman, songwriter and musician
* Greg Graffin
* Nancy Gustafson, opera singer
* David Ryan Harris, musician
* Stafford James, musician, composer
* Josh Kantor, organist
* Howard Levy, harmonica musician
* Junior Mance, jazz pianist and composer
* Jason Narducy, musician
* Michael Omartian, pianist, keyboard player and producer
* Julianne Phillips, model and actress
* Matthew Polenzani, opera singer
* Ryan Raddon, producer known as Kaskade
* Frank Rosenwein, classical oboist
* Joe Rushton, jazz bass saxophonist
* Natalie Sleeth, composer
* Grace Slick, of Jefferson Starship
* Patrick Stump, of Fall Out Boy
* Eddie Vedder, of Pearl Jam
* Loraine Wyman, early 20th-century performer and fieldworker in folk song

## Politics, government, and military

* W. Russell Arrington, Illinois state legislator and lawyer
* Alan E. Ashcraft Jr., Illinois state representative and judge
* George Wildman Ball, Undersecretary of State for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
* James J. Barbour, Illinois lawyer and state legislator, practiced law in Evanston
* John Lourie Beveridge, 16th governor of Illinois
* Charles E. Browne, Wisconsin territorial legislator
* Marguerite S. Church, U.S. representative 1951–1963
* Ralph E. Church, U.S. representative 1935–1941, 1943–1950
* James M. Cole, U.S. Deputy Attorney General
* Burton C. Cook, U.S. representative 1865–1871
* Charles Gates Dawes, vice president of the United States, 1925–1929; Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1925
* Henry M. Dawes, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency 1923–1924
* Frances L. Dawson, Illinois state representative and educator
* Thomas C. Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate in Connecticut
* Robert Gettleman, federal judge
* James William Good, U.S. Secretary of War 1929
* Nathaniel M. Gorton, federal judge
* Mary Jeanne Hallstrom, nurse and politician
* Julian J. Hook, Minnesota state legislator and lawyer
* Jim Kolbe, congressman
* Lynn Morley Martin, Secretary of Labor under President George H.W. Bush
* Catherine Waugh McCulloch, lawyer, suffragist, first woman to be elected Justice of the Peace in Illinois
* H.H.C. Miller, colonel to Illinois Governor Richard Yates, Jr., three-time mayor of Evanston
* Lenora Moragne (1931–2020), nutritionist
* Lorraine H. Morton, mayor of Evanston, Illinois from 1993 to 2009; Evanston's longest serving mayor, first Democratic mayor and first African-American mayor
* John Porter, congressman
* Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, congressman
* Andrew Shuman, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 1877–1881
* Joseph A. Strohl, Wisconsin state senator
* Leroy D. Thoman, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner 1883–1885
* Julius White, American Civil War brigadier general

## Scientists

* Isabella Garnett, pioneering African-American female physician and founder of Community Hospital
* J. Allen Hynek, astronomer, professor, and ufologist
* Peter Shirley, computer scientist and computer graphics researcher

## Sports figures

* Mike Adamle, NFL running back and sports broadcaster
* Cornelia Wicker Armsby, golfer
* Bessie Anthony, golfer
* Elmer Bennett, ACB basketball player
* Dave Bergman, MLB player for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers
* Pete Burnside, MLB pitcher for the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles
* John Castino, MLB infielder for the Minnesota Twins
* Jack Cooley, basketball player for the University of Notre Dame
* Yu Darvish, baseball player for the Chicago Cubs
* Luke Donald, professional golfer
* Paddy Driscoll, Hall of Fame football player
* Lindsey Durlacher, wrestler
* Kevin Foster, MLB pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers
* Pat Fitzgerald, head football coach for the Northwestern Wildcats
* Tim Floyd NBA and college basketball coach
* Clint Frank, college football halfback, 1937 Heisman Trophy winner
* Kevin Frederick, MLB pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays
* Timothy Goebel, Olympic figure skater
* Dov Grumet-Morris (born 1982), ice hockey player
* Robert Jeangerard, Olympic basketball gold medalist
* Damon Jones, NFL tight end
* Brandon Hyde, coach for the Chicago Cubs
* Mike Kenn, offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons, Pro Bowl selection
* Bob Lackey, Marquette and ABA basketball player
* Jim Lindeman, MLB player for the St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and New York Mets
* Freddie Lindstrom, Hall of Fame baseball player
* Billy Martin, tennis player and coach
* Brian McBride, soccer player
* Bob Mionske, Olympic and professional bicycle racer
* Emery Moorehead, tight end for Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears
* Steve Parker, NFL player
* Wes Parker, MLB first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers
* Josh Paul, MLB catcher for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Tampa Bay Devil Rays
* Dan Peterson, basketball coach
* Mike Quade, baseball player, coach and manager of Chicago Cubs
* Dewey Robinson, MLB pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
* Mike Rogodzinski, MLB outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies
* Clarke Rosenberg (born 1993), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League
* Erik Spoelstra, head coach, Miami Heat
* Everette Stephens, player for the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks
* Dick Strahs, MLB pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
* Peter Ueberroth, sixth commissioner of Major League Baseball, chairman of the United States Olympic Committee
* Ed Weiland, MLB pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
* Aaron Williams, NBA basketball player
* Tommy Wingels, NHL player for the Chicago Blackhawks

## Visual artists, designers

* Jane Fulton Alt, photographer
* John Dilg, painter and educator
* Edie Fake, fine artist and comic/zine author
* Karen Finley, performance artist
* Margaret Burnham Geddes, architect
* Martha Nessler Hayden, painter
* Kysa Johnson, painter
* Albert Henry Krehbiel, art teacher; impressionist painter and muralist; married to Dulah Marie Evans; died in Evanston
* Allison Miller, abstract painter
* Eugene Montgomery, painter
* Jay Ryan, illustrator and screen-printer, working professionally as The Bird Machine, musician
* Robert Slimbach, typeface designer, author of Myriad, Adobe Garamond, Adobe Jenson, Utopia, Cronos
* Adrian Smith, architect of the tallest building in the world
* Alan Wanzenberg, architect and designer
* Gahan Wilson, cartoonist for The New Yorker, Playboy
* Erik Winquist, visual effects supervisor,

## Writers, playwrights, journalists

* Mildred L. Batchelder, namesake of the ALA award given to the publisher of a translated children's book
* Beatrice Bruteau, contemplative, philosopher and author
* Algis Budrys, science fiction author
* Carolyn Crimi, writer of children's books
* Allen G. Debus, historian of science and medicine, known primarily for his work on the history of chemistry and alchemy
* Sarah Dessen, fiction author
* Carl Fick, author and film director
* James Foley, journalist, freelance war correspondent, and first American killed by the terrorist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
* Jeffrey Gettleman, journalist
* Charles Gibson, news anchor
* Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond organ
* George W. Hotchkiss, 19th-century journalist, editor, historian, and lumber dealer
* Cassidy Hubbarth, sports anchor
* Charles R. Johnson, author, National Book Award winner
* Clara Ingram Judson, children's book author
* Benay Lappe, publicist, professor, writer, female theologian, Covenant Award winner in education
* Susan Lukas, née Ries, writer
* Mark McIntosh, priest and theologian
* Samuel Merwin, author and playwright
* Bob Mionske, attorney, author, former Olympic and professional bicycle racer
* Drew Pearson, newspaper columnist
* Torrey Peters, author and PEN/Hemingway Award winner
* Richard Powers, author and National Book Award winner
* Alice Riley (1867–1955), author of children's media; founder of the Drama League of America and the Evanston Arts Center; lived in Evanston
* Albert Tangora, holder of world speed record for typing on a manual typewriter
* George Thiem, 1950 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter
* Edward Thomson, writer and bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
* Henry Kitchell Webster, author and playwright
* Edmund White, literary critic, novelist
* Frances Willard, temperance advocate and suffragist
* Garry Wills, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/critic

## Other

* Starr Faithfull, socialite known for her unsolved death