List of Washington State University people

The Washington State University Alumni Association defines an alumnus as anyone who was a student at WSU and is no longer attending. This page lists accomplished alumni and faculty members of WSU.

Notable alumni

Academe

Animal husbandry
  • Helen Elaine Freeman, conservationist and endangered species advocate; specialized in saving snow leopards
  • Ivan Peterson, 1942 D.V.M., member of Alpha Tau Omega; president of Sphinx Club and of Crimson Court; veterinarian in California; worked with television series Lassie; friend to Jane Goodall and helped sponsor her chimpanzee research; died in 1967

The arts, literature and media
  • Sherman Alexie, 1994 B.A. American studies, author and filmmaker; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003
  • Rudy Autio, sculptor, best known for figurative ceramic vessels
  • Betty Feves, artist
  • Deborah Gardner, Peace Corps volunteer murdered in Tonga in 1976; subject of American Taboo by Philip Weiss
  • Art Gilmore, 1931, voice actor and announcer
  • Keith Jackson, 1954 B.A. sports communications, ABC-TV sports commentator; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1978
  • Edward Kienholz, pop art installation artist
  • Gary Larson, 1972 B.A. communications, Far Side cartoonist; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1990
  • Blake Lewis, American Idol Season 6 runner-up
  • Dolph Lundgren, Swedish actor, studied chemical engineering for a year at Washington State
  • Scott MacDonald, television actor
  • Patrick F. McManus, outdoor humor writer; studied at Washington State College before it became Washington State University
  • Edward R. Murrow, 1930 B.A. speech, journalist for CBS; "father of television news broadcasting"; WWII radio correspondent; Hear It Now radio program host; See It Now television program host; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1963
  • Barry Serafin, 1986 B.A. humanities, ABC News correspondent; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1991
  • D. C. Simpson, creator of webcomic Ozy and Millie and political cartoon I Drew This
  • Clyfford Still, 1935 MFA, abstract expressionist painter,
  • Frances Yeend, lyric soprano opera singer
  • Krist Novoselic, 2016 B.S. social sciences, founding member and bassist for grunge band Nirvana

Business
  • Paul Allen, 1977 (1973–75), co-founder of Microsoft; owner of Vulcan Enterprises, Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers; philanthropist; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999
  • Scott E. Carson, B.A. business administration, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airlines
  • Clint Cole, co-founder of Heartstream, creator of first automatic external defibrillator (AED) for commercial use; co-founder of Digilent, a Pullman electronics manufacturer
  • J. Patrick Foley, 1955 B.A. education, president of Hyatt Hotels Corporation (1978–1984); chief executive officer of Braniff Airlines (1984–1988); served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of DHL Corporation Inc./DHL Airways Inc. (1988–1999)
  • Robert L. Phillips, 1976 B.A. economics and B.A. mathematics. Author, entrepreneur and professor.
  • Mark Suwyn, 1967 Ph.D. inorganic chemistry, CEO of NewPage Corp.; former chair and CEO of Louisiana-Pacific Corp., 1996–2004; former executive at International Paper and E.I. DuPont; member and former chair of WSU Foundation Board of Trustees

Government, law and politics
  • Svend Auken, 1962, Danish politician, Minister of Environmental Affairs 1993–2001
  • John Folger, 1914 B.S. horticulture, 1917 M.S. horticulture, US Ambassador to Belgium 1957–59; member of board of governors of New York Stock Exchange; president of Investment Bankers Association of America; chaired GOP National Finance Committee; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1963
  • Walt Horan, politician; Republican member of United States House of Representatives for ten terms
  • Mike Lowry, 1962 B.A. general studies, former Governor of Washington
  • Jim Moeller, politician from Washington, serves in Washington State House of Representatives representing 49th Legislative District
  • Patty Murray, 1972 B.A. physical education, US Senator representing Washington
  • Marshall Neill, 1936 B.A. political science, Federal district court judge; Washington State Supreme Court judge; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1979
  • George Nethercutt, 1967 B.A. English, US Congressman, 1995–2005
  • Sam Reed, 2000–2013 Washington Secretary of State
  • Robert A. Roe, Democrat representing New Jersey in US House of Representatives for over 23 years

Humanities

Military
  • Robert Higgins, 1957 B.S. pharmacy, navy rear admiral, deputy surgeon general, and Medical Corps chief; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2002
  • Charles Ross Greening, 1936 B.S. Fine Arts, colonel in US Air Force; captained the Hari Kari-er in the Doolittle Raid of Japan
  • James Fleming, colonel in US Air Force; helicopter pilot; Medal of Honor recipient for life-saving actions at Duc Co, South Vietnam in 1968
  • Dale Noyd, decorated captain and fighter pilot in US Air Force who gained worldwide attention when he became conscientious objector to protest Vietnam War
  • Sigmund R. Petersen, 1961 B.S. in civil engineering, rear admiral in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps); fourth director of NOAA Corps (1990–1995)
  • Ronald J. Shurer II, 2001 B.A. Business Administration, Staff Sergeant and US Army Special Forces Medic. Recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in the Battle of Shok Valley, 2008 in Afghanistan.

Science, space and technology

Sports and athletics

Notable faculty
  • Olusola Adesope, Boeing Distinguished Professor of STEM Education
  • James Asay, Institute of Shock Physics researcher; member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • LeRoy Ashby, regents professor of history; twice Washington Professor of the Year; author of With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830
  • Brett Atwood, print and online journalist; co-founder of Rolling Stone Radio; former managing editor at Amazon.com, RealNetworks and Billboard magazine
  • Buck Bailey, WSU baseball coach
  • V. N. Bhatia, former WSU Honors Program director; Knight of Denmark, Dannebrog Order
  • Anjan Bose, electrical engineering professor and former dean; developed training simulators and computational tools for reliable power-system operation; member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • Walter Clore, horticulture researcher; "father of the Washington wine industry"
  • Clint Cole, co-founder of Heartstream, creator of the first automatic external defibrillator (AED) for commercial use; co-founder of Digilent, a local Pullman electronics manufacturer
  • R. James Cook, plant pathologist, cropping systems and biotechnology researcher; led first field test of a genetically modified organism in the Pacific Northwest; member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Alfred W. Crosby, professor of history 1966-1977; Crosby coined the term Columbian exchange in his 1972 book The Columbian Exchange. His is considered a founder of the field of environmental history.[4]
  • Rodney Croteau, leader in biosynthesis of cancer-fighting Taxol; expert on terpenoids; member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • J. Thomas Dickinson, physicist, known for work in fracture, tribology and laser interactions with materials; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • William Henry Dietz ("Lone Star Dietz"), WSU football coach; won first annual Rose Bowl; professional football coach
  • Don A. Dillman, sociologist; Regents Professor; Foley Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Policy; major contributor to modern survey methods; past president of the American Association of Public Opinion Research; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Elson S. Floyd, professor of Higher Education Administration; president of Washington State University
  • Roald H. Fryxell, WSU professor of geoarchaeology in the Department of Anthropology; namesake of the Fryxell crater on the Moon
  • Norman S. Golding, food scientist, inventor of Cougar Gold cheese
  • Jeffrey Gramlich, professor of accounting
  • Yogendra Gupta, physicist, director of WSU Institute for Shock Physics; Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • John Hirth, mechanical and materials engineer; characterized and modeled the behavior of materials at atomic and microstructural levels, including thin film formation useful to the semiconductor industry; member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • Alexander Kuo, humanities and creative writing professor; author; writer-in-residence
  • Mark G. Kuzyk, physicist, discoverer of the Kuzyk limit and the Kuzyk quantum gap
  • Kelvin Lynn, materials scientist, renowned for "positron annihilation" research; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • John M. Madsen, former dean and general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Amy Mazur, Claudius O. and Mary W. Johnson Distinguished Professor in Political Science[5]
  • Frances K. McSweeney, psychologist known for work on behavior and reinforcement, with findings on short-term changes in reinforcer effectiveness; WSU Meyer Distinguished Professor of Psychology; Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis
  • Sue Peabody, Meyer Distinguished Professor of history
  • Charles Pezeshki (Dr. Chuck), WSU professor of mechanical and materials engineering, 1998–present; past chair of the University Faculty Senate; founder and director of the Industrial Design Clinic
  • Bhakta B. Rath, assistant professor of metallurgy and material Science; material physicist; head of the Materials Science and Component Technology of the United States Naval Research Laboratory
  • V. Lane Rawlins, professor of economics and WSU president emeritus
  • Clarence A. "Bud" Ryan Jr., isolated and synthesized systemin, first polypeptide hormone found in plants, and discovered that plants produce natural insecticides in response to pest attacks; member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Michael Skinner, molecular and reproduction biologist; made discoveries in epigenetics including reduction in male fertility for four generations; his findings appeared in Discover magazine's "100 top science stories of 2005"
  • Samuel H. Smith, WSU President Emeritus; former NATO post-doctoral fellow
  • William Jasper Spillman, WSU professor of agriculture; wheat breeder; independently rediscovered Mendel's Law of Heredity; "father of agricultural economics
  • Clyfford Still, abstract expressionist painter, Clyfford Still Museum, Denver
  • Matthew Avery Sutton, WSU Professor of History. Scholar of American Evangelism.
  • Orville Vogel, WSU and USDA wheat breeder; developer of semi-dwarf wheat varieties that fueled the Green Revolution; recipient of the National Medal of Science
  • Diter von Wettstein, plant geneticist; internationally recognized for genetically modifying barley for brewing processes and disease resistance; National Academy of Sciences foreign associate; member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences
  • Allen I. White, WSU professor of pharmacy faculty 1940–1960; dean of the WSU College of Pharmacy 1960–1979; pioneered off-campus training for the college7

Notable regents

References
  1. Doughery, Phil. "D.B. Tuber". History Link.
  2. Esteban, Michelle (10 October 2014). "D.B. Tuber dedicates life to warn others of dangers of drugs". KOMO news.
  3. "Nirvana | Music". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/alfred-crosby-environmental-historian-of-columbian-exchange-dies-at-87/2018/04/05/d16963e2-38de-11e8-9c0a-85d477d9a226_story.html
  5. Aumen, Adrian (2016-04-13). "WSU professor leads international study of women's rights". WSU Insider. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
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