# List of people from Emporia, Kansas

This article is a list of notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Emporia, Kansas.

## Academia

* Frank A. Beach (1911–1988), ethologist
* Richard Grant Hiskey (1929–2016), chemist
* Vernon Lyman Kellogg (1867–1937), entomologist, evolutionary biologist
* Samuel Martin (1924–2009), linguist
* Carl Salser (1921–2006), author, businessman, educator
* Arthur Samuel (1901–1990), computer scientist

## Arts and entertainment
### Film, television, and theatre

* Harry Cheshire (1891–1968), actor
* R. Lee Ermey (1944–2018), former U.S. Marine drill instructor, television host, and actor
* Thelma Hill (1906–1938), silent-film comedian
* Q (1996 or 1997), drag performer competing on season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race.
* James Still (1959– ), playwright

### Journalism

* William Allen White (1868–1944), author and newspaper editor
* William Lindsay White (1900–1973), author, newspaper editor, CBS war correspondent, Reader's Digest roving editor

### Literature

* Jacob M. Appel (1973– ), novelist (Einstein's Beach House)
* Don Coldsmith (1926–2009), novelist
* Denise Low (1949– ), poet
* Keith Waldrop (1932–2023), poet, translator

### Music

* Marvin Ash (1914–1974), jazz pianist
* Roy Burns (1935–2018), drummer
* Melora Creager (1966– ), cellist, singer-songwriter
* Kelley Hunt, blues pianist, singer-songwriter
* Cady Groves (1989–2020)
* Brian Leeds (1991–), electronic musician

### Other visual arts

* Wendell Castle (1932– 2018), furniture artist
* Evan Lindquist (1936–2023), artist, printmaker, Arkansas artist laureate
* Albert Murray (1906–1992), portrait painter
* Wilber Moore Stilwell (1908–1974), cartoonist, illustrator, painter

## Business

* David Green (1941– ), founder of Hobby Lobby
* George Webb Slaughter (1811–1895), cattle breeder and drover, Baptist minister

## Crime and law enforcement

* Mark Essex (1949–1973), mass murderer

## Military

* William F. Cloud (1825–1905), U.S. Army Colonel
* Grant F. Timmerman (1919–1944), U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient

## Politics
### National

* William Ripley Brown (1840–1916), U.S. Representative from Kansas
* Rose Conway, personal secretary to President Harry S. Truman
* Elmer O. Leatherwood (1872–1929), U.S. Representative from Utah
* Preston B. Plumb (1837–1891), U.S. Senator from Kansas, co-founder of Emporia
* Edward Herbert Rees (1886–1969), U.S. Representative from Kansas

### State

* Jim Barnett (1955– ), Kansas state legislator
* Samuel J. Crawford (1835–1913), 3rd Governor of Kansas
* Don Hill (1944– ), Kansas state legislator
* Jeff Longbine (1962– ), Kansas state legislator
* Peggy Mast (1948– ), Kansas state legislator
* Richard Proehl (1944– ), Kansas state legislator
* Roy Wilford Riegle (1896–1988), Kansas state legislator

## Religion

* Warren Parrish (1803–1877), early Mormon leader, Baptist minister

## Sports

* Clint Bowyer (1979– ), NASCAR driver
* Jim Everett (1963– ), quarterback
* Daniel Gallemore (1985– ), mixed martial artist
* J. L. Lewis (1960–2019), professional golfer
* John Lohmeyer (1951– ), defensive lineman
* Ray Pierce (1897–1963), baseball pitcher
* Paul Samson (1905–1982), U.S. Olympic swimmer, water polo player
* Dean Smith (1931–2015), former North Carolina basketball coach, member of College Basketball Hall of Fame