List of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign people

This is an incomplete list of notable people associated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States of America. Bill Gates noted in a February 2004 speech that Microsoft hires more alumni of the university than from any other university in the world [1]. Notable people associated with the U of I have founded Oracle, Playboy, Netscape, Paypal, AMD, and Siebel. Notable people have invented the LED, integrated circuit, transistor, MRI, and plasma screen.

Notable faculty

• John Bardeen, 1951-1991 — Awarded Nobel prizes for Physics in 1953 for co-inventing the transistor and 1972 for work on superconductivity
• Elias Corey, 1951-59 — Nobel laureate (Chemistry, 1990)
• Nick Holonyak Jr. — Lemelson-MIT Prize (2004), National Medal of Technology (2002), National Medal of Science (1990); credited for the invention of the LED and the first semiconductor laser to operate in the visible spectrum
• Paul Lauterbur, 1985- — Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 2003)
• Anthony J. Leggett, 1983- — Nobel laureate (Physics, 2003)
• Salvador Luria, 1950-59 — Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1969)
• Rudolph Marcus, 1964-68 — Nobel laureate (Chemistry, 1992)
• Franco Modigliani, 1948-1952 — Nobel laureate (Economics, 1985)
• Abram L. Sachar, 1923-1948 — Founding president of Brandeis University
• Carl Woese — Crafoord Prize recipient (Bioscience, 2003); professor of microbiology, foreign member of the Royal Society

Notable alumni

Not all listed alumni graduated from the University, and are so noted if the information is known.

Nobel Prize Winners

• Edward Doisy, B.S. 1914, M.S. 1916 — Physiology or Medicine, 1943
• Vincent Du Vigneaud, B.S. 1923, M.S. 1924 — Chemistry, 1955; also served as faculty member
• Robert W. Holley, B.A. 1942 — Physiology or Medicine, 1968
• Jack Kilby, B.S. 1947 — Physics, 2000; inventor of the integrated circuit
• Edwin G. Krebs, B.A. 1940 — Physiology or Medicine, 1992
• Polykarp Kusch, M.S. 1933, Ph.D. 1936 — Physics, 1955
• John Schrieffer, M.S. 1954, Ph.D. 1957 — Physics, 1972; also served as faculty member
• Phillip Sharp, Ph.D. 1969 — Chemistry, 1993
• Wendell Stanely, M.S. 1927, PhD. 1929 — Chemistry 1946
• Rosalyn Yalow, M.S. 1942, Ph.D. 1945 — Physiology or Medicine, 1977

Pulitzer Prize Winners

• Barry Bearak, M.S. 1974 — International Reporting, 2002
• Michael Colgrass, B.A. 1956 — Music, 1978
• George Crumb, M.A. 1952 — Music, 1968
• David Herbert Donald, M.A. 1942, Ph.D. 1946 — Biography, 1961 and 1988
• Roger Ebert, B.S. 1964 — Criticism, 1975
• Roy J. Harris, B.A. 1925 — Public Service, 1950
• Hugh F. Hough, B.S. 1951 — Local General Spot News Reporting, 1974
• Paul Ingrassia, B.S. 1972 — Beat Reporting, 1993
• Monroe Karmin, B.S. 1950 — National Reporting, 1967
• Allan Nevins, B.A. 1912, M.A. 1913 — Biography, 1933 and 1937
• James Reston, B.S. 1932 — National Reporting, 1945 and 1957
• Robert Lewis Taylor, B.A. 1933 — Fiction, 1959
• George Thiem, B.S. 1921 — Public Service, 1950
• Carl Van Doren, B.A. 1907 — Biography, 1939
• Mark Van Doren, B.A. 1914 — Poetry, 1940
• Abe Zaidan, B.S. 1953 — Local Reporting, 1971

Astronauts

• Scott Altman, B.S. 1981
• Lee J. Archambault, B.S. 1982, M.S. 1984
• Dale A. Gardner, B.S. 1970
• David H. Matthiesen, B.S. 1980, M.S. 1982
• Steven R. Nagel, B.S. 1969
• Joseph R. Tanner, B.S. 1973

Technology and Innovation

Panorama of the Bardeen Quad

• Sohaib Abbasi, B.S. 1980, M.S. 1980 — President and CEO of Informatica
• Max Abramovitz, B.S. 1929 — Architect on many campus and prominent international buildings including the United Nations Building, Assembly Hall (Champaign) and the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City
• Marc Andreessen, B.S. 1993 — Co-creator of Mosaic, and later co-founder of Netscape
• Bruce Artwick, M.S. 1976 — Creator of Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Carol Ross Barney, B.Arch. 1971, M.Arch. 1984 — Architect for the new U.S. Federal Building after the Oklahoma City bombing
• Arnold O. Beckman, B.S. 1922, MS 1923 — Inventor of pH meter, founder of Beckman Instruments; major donor to U of I, the Beckman Institute and Beckman Quadrangle are named after him
• Eric Bina, B.S. 1986, M.S. 1988 — Co-creator of the Mosaic and among the first employees of Netscape
• Donald L. Bitzer — 2003 Emmy Award in Technical Achievement for the invention of the plasma display
• Ed Boon, B.S. 1986 — Creator of the Mortal Kombat video game
• Temple Hoyne Buell, Architect for the first American central mall
• Steve Chen, Co-founder of YouTube
• Steve Dorner, B.S. 1983 — Creator of Eudora
• Lawrence Ellison — founder of Oracle Corporation (left after sophomore year)
• Michael Hart, B.A. 1973 — Founder of Project Gutenberg
• Jawed Karim, Co-founder of YouTube
• Fazlur Khan, Ph.D. 1955 — Designer and builder of the Sears Tower, tallest building in the world when it was built in 1973
• Max Levchin, B.S. 1997 — Co-founder of PayPal
• Bob Miner, B.A. (mathematics) 1963 — Co-founder of Oracle Corporation
• Ray Ozzie, B.S. 1979 — Creator of Lotus Notes cofounder of Lotus, co-President of Microsoft
• César Pelli, M.Arch. 1954 — Architect for the Petronas Twin Towers
• Jerry Sanders, B.S. 1958 — Co-founder and former CEO of Advanced Micro Devices
• Thomas Siebel, B.A. 1975, M.B.A. 1983, M.S. 1985 — Founder of Siebel Systems
• H. Gene Slottow — 2003 Emmy Award in Technical Achievement for the invention of the plasma display
• Michael P. Krasny, B.S. 1975 — Chairman Emeritus and founder of CDW

Science

• Murray S. Blum — Entomologist, authority on chemical ecology and pheromones
• Ronald Cohn, B.S. 1965, M.S. 1967, Ph.D. 1971 — Researcher and cameraman who helped document Koko, the mountain gorilla
• Alfred Y. Cho, B.S. 1960, M.S. 1961, Ph.D. 1968 — Father of molecular beam epitaxy; received the National Medal of Science in 1993
• Richard Hamming, Ph.D. 1942 — mathematician, who developed Hamming code and Hamming distance, winner of 1968 ACM Turing Award. IEEE's Richard W. Hamming Medal is named after him.
• Donald Johanson, B.S. 1966 — Anthropologist, discoverer of oldest known hominid, "Lucy"
• Francine Patterson, B.S. 1970 — Researcher who taught a modified version of American Sign Language to a mountain gorilla named Koko
• Charles W. Woodworth, B.S. 1885, M.S. 1886 — Founder of the Division of Entomology, University of California, Berkeley; the PBESA gives the C. W. Woodworth Award
• Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, Ph.D. 1975 — computer scientist, winner of 2000 ACM Turing Award, "in recognition of his fundamental contributions to the theory of computation, including the complexity-based theory of pseudorandom number generation, cryptography, and communication complexity"

Sports and Athletics

• Lou Boudreau, late Major League Baseball player and Baseball Hall of Famer.
• Mark Dalesandro, former Major League Baseball catcher and third baseman
• Darrin Fletcher, former Major League Baseball catcher
• Tom Haller, former Major League Baseball catcher
• Scott Spiezio, Major League Baseball infielder and former World Series Champion (2002)
• Dick Butkus, hall of fame National Football League linebacker
• Red Grange, charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Literature, Media, and Entertainment

• Mark Staff Brandl, B.F.A. 1978; artist, art historian and critic
• Dee Brown, M.S. 1951 — Author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
• Avery Brundage, B.S. 1909; Olympian, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President (1952-1972)
• Marty Casey, B.A. Lead vocal of the band,Lovehammers
• John Chancellor, — Political analyst and newscaster for NBC Nightly News
• Iris Chang, B.A. 1989 — Author of The Rape of Nanking
• Roger Ebert, B.S. 1964 — Film critic
• Dave Eggers, — Writer
• Lee Falk, 1932 — Creator of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician
• Bill Geist, 1968 — CBS News correspondent
• Gene Hackman — Actor
• Erika Harold, — Miss America 2003
• Hugh Hefner, B.A. 1949 — Founder of Playboy magazine
• Nicole Hollander, B.A. 1960 — Syndicated cartoonist of Sylvia
• Th. Emil Homerin, B.A. 1977, M.A. 1978; professor, scholar of religion
• Irene Hunt, B.A. 1939 — Newbery Medal winning author of Up a Road Slowly
• Arte Johnson, 1949 — Laugh-In television personality
• Frederick C Klein, B.A. 1959 — sportswriter Wall Street Journal' and author
• Ang Lee, 1980 — Academy Award-winning movie director (Best Director, 2005, Brokeback Mountain)
• Carol Marin, 1970 — Former news anchor, 60 Minutes correspondent, and Illinois Journalist of the Year (1988)
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, 1980 — Actress
• Donna Mills, — Movie and TV actress
• Robert Novak, B.A. 1952 — Political commentator
• Suze Orman, B.A. 1973 — Financial adviser and author
• Larry Parks, — Academy-Award-nominated actor; blacklisted in Hollywood after testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee
• Henry Petroski — Civil engineer and writer
• Richard Powers, M.A. 1979 — Novelist and writer
• Irna Phillips, 1923 — Creator of the soap opera
• Andy Richter, briefly attended — Actor and former Conan O'Brien sidekick
• Alan Ruck, — Actor (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Star Trek: Generations, Spin City)
• Gene Shalit, 1949 — Film critic
• Lorado Taft, Sculptor, writer and educator
• Lynne Thigpen, B.A. 1970 — 1997 Tony Award-winning actress
• Jean Thompson, Novelist, prize-winning short story writer

Kurt Walters, Teacher, Stand-Up Historian.

• Douglas Wilson, — Television personality/designer

Politics

• John Anderson — U.S. Representative and 1980 presidential candidate
• Jon Corzine — Governor of New Jersey (2006-present); U.S. Senator from New Jersey (2001-2006); Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (1994-1999)
• Dorothy Day, 1918 — founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
• Atef Ebeid — Former prime minister of Egypt
• Jesse Jackson — Civil rights leader, presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition -Expelled before graduation.
• Jesse Jackson Jr., B.A. 1993 — U.S. Representative from Illinois
• Annette Lu — Vice-president of the Republic of China
• Lynn Martin, B.A. 1960 — U.S. Representative from Illinois (1981-1991) and Secretary of Labor in the cabinet of George H.W. Bush (1991-1993)
• Fidel V. Ramos, 1951 — Former president of the Philippines
• Samuel K. Skinner, 1960 — Secretary of Transportation; chief of staff during the George H. W. Bush Administration
• Keith Stroup, 1965, founder of NORML.

Business

• Jim Cantalupo, 1966 — Chairman and CEO of McDonald's (1991-2004)
• Jerry Colangelo, B.S. 1962 — President & CEO of Phoenix Suns and managing general partner of Arizona Diamondbacks
• George M.C. Fisher, 1962 — CEO of Eastman Kodak
• John Georges, 1951 — CEO of International Paper
• Mannie Jackson, 1960 — Former pro basketball player, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters
• Robert L. Johnson, — Founder of Black Entertainment Television; principal owner of the Charlotte Bobcats
• Tom Murphy, 1938 — Chairman of General Motors
• Ron Popeil, 1957 — Inventor of the Infomercial
• Abe Saperstein, — Creator of the Harlem Globetrotters
• Jack Welch, M.S. 1959, Ph.D. 1961 — CEO of General Electric (1981-2001)
• C. E. Woolman, — Founder of Delta Air Lines
• Leslie B. Worthington, 1923 — President of U.S. Steel