List of Emporia State University people

Politics and government

• Jim Barnett – physician and former Kansas Senator; Republican nominee for governor in 2006
• James L. Cathey, Jr. – Mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana, 1973 to 1977^[3]
• Stephanie Clayton – Kansas House of Representatives House District 19
• William J. Durham – African-American attorney and leader in the civil rights movement
• Stan Frownfelter – Kansas House of Representatives House District 37
• L. M. Gensman – former U.S. Representative from Oklahoma
• Jim Kelly – Kansas House of Representatives House District 11
• Jeff Longbine – Kansas Senate District 17
• John Conover Nichols – former U.S. Rep. from Oklahoma; vice president of Transcontinental and Western Airlines
• Roy Wilford Riegle – probate judge, teacher, Kansas Senate member, Knights Templar Grand Master
• Dale Emerson Saffels – Kansas House of Representatives; nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
• Harold See – Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
• Jack Sinagra– mayor, state senator, chair of Port Authority in New Jersey

Grant F. Timmerman

• Sam V. Stewart – Montana Supreme Court Justice
• Vern Swanson – Kansas House of Representatives House District 64
• Annie Tietze – Kansas House of Representatives House District 53
• Grant F. Timmerman – awarded Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism during Battle of Saipan
• Mark Treaster – former member of Kansas House of Representatives
• Ed Trimmer – Kansas House of Representatives House District 79
• Bob Whittaker – United States House of Representatives

Media and arts

• Kay Alden – five-time Emmy award-winning television writer
• Louis F. Burns – Osage Nation/Osage Indian historian and author
• Curt Dawson (1960) – stage and television actor^[4]
• Katie A. Keane – theatrical/television actress
• Evan Lindquist – artist given Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) in 2010
• Hattie Horner Louthan – author of five books and contributor to newspapers and magazines
• Deborah Raney – women's fiction writer
• Randall J. Stephens – author and historian

Science and technology

• Panos Zavos – reproduction specialist

Business

• William Coffin Coleman – founder of Coleman Company; taught at Ottawa University for a year before serving as principal of Blue Rapids schools for a year; mayor of Wichita in 1923 and 1924

Education

• H. Edward Flentje – professor at Wichita State University; interim president of ESU in 2011
• Harry Levinson – Chairman emeritus and founder of the Levinson Institute; clinical professor of psychology (emeritus) at Harvard Medical School
• Barbara Kiefer Lewalski – Guggenheim Fellow in 1967; William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of History and Literature and of English, Emeritus at Harvard
• W. Ann Reynolds – chancellor of the California State University and City University of New York
• Jackie Vietti – President of Butler Community College for 17 years; Interim President of ESU in 2015

Athletes and coaches

• Frank Anderson – former head baseball coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, now an assistant for the University of Houston
• Dale Burnett – former NFL player; played for the New York Giants and was on 1932 World Championship team
• Glenn Campbell – NFL player for New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Pirates
• Jory Collins – 6th head women's basketball coach at Emporia State from 2010 to 2018^[5]
• Eldon Danenhauer – NFL player for Denver Broncos
• John Davis – NFL player for Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears
• Don Dennis – pitched for St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 and 1966
• Al Feuerbach – former Olympian and world record holder in the shot put
• Bob Fornelli – head baseball coach at Emporia State (2004–2018)
• Kelly Goodburn – NFL player for Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins; played in XXIV Super Bowl when Washington won World Championship

Homer Woodson Hargiss

• Homer Woodson Hargiss – head football coach for 12 years and compiled a 62-23-11 record; his 1926 squad produced a 7-0-0 record, the only perfect season in ESU history
• Steve Henry – drafted by the NFL St. Louis Cardinals in 1979; played one year each for the Cardinals, the New York Giants, and the Baltimore Colts
• Garin Higgins – current head football coach at Emporia State^[6]
• Brad Hill – head baseball coach at Kansas State University
• Gene Johnson – head basketball coach at Wichita State University and Kansas Wesleyan University, won two AAU national titles and was assistant coach for the 1936 gold medal Olympic basketball team; credited with inventing the full-court zone press
• Fred Kipp – played baseball for the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Los Angeles Dodgers
• Ryan Kohlmeier – played on various Major League Baseball teams, as well as Minor League Baseball teams; current dentist in Emporia, KS
• John Kuck – gold medal winner in the shot put at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam
• Bob Leahy – played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and also coached in the NFL
• Leon Lett – helped Hornets to the NAIA National Championship game in 1989; played for Dallas Cowboys in 3 Super Bowls
• John Lohmeyer – defensive end for Emporia State and former Kansas City Chiefs player; currently Director of Development for the Emporia State University foundation^[7]
• George Munday – NFL player for Cleveland Indians, New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Gunners
• Archie San Romani – won the national collegiate mile in 1935 and the 1,500-meter run in 1936; anchored distance medley relay that set world record in 1936; was fourth in the 1,500-meter run at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; set a world record in the 2,000-meter run in 1937 that stood for 25 years
• Brian Shay – running back for ESU; won the 1998 Harlon Hill Trophy; broke 17 NCAA Division II records; played for the Berlin Thunder and Orlando Rage; was a member of the 1999 Kansas City Chiefs practice squad
• Steve Shifflett – major league baseball player for Kansas City Royals
• Bill Tidwell – four-time NAIA national cross country champion; Emporia State Athletics Director from 1971 to 1979, cross country and track & field coach from 1979–1984
• Fran Welch – quarterbacked ESU football team to a 24-1-2 record; in 24 years as a football coach, compiled a 116-81-15 mark; his track and cross country teams claimed 18 league crowns, four NAIA cross country championships, one NAIA track title, and one NCAA small college cross country title
• Austin Willis – football player, currently Emporia State football's strength and conditioning coach