List of Purdue University alumni

Here follows a list of notable alumni of Purdue University.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Notable alumni

Academia

College chancellors, presidents and vice-presidents

• Robert Altenkirch – President of the New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Tony Frank – President, Colorado State University
• Richard J. Grosh – former President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Arthur G. Hansen – former President of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University
• Edwin D. Harrison – former President of the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Renu Khator – Chancellor of the University of Houston System and President of the University of Houston
• Dorothy Leland – President, Georgia College & State University
• Duane Litfin – President, Wheaton College
• Sally Mason – President of the University of Iowa, former Provost of Purdue University
• Hanna Nasser – former President of Birzeit University, political figure
• Sunder Ramaswamy – President of the Monterey Institute of International Studies
• Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw – Chancellor of Syracuse University
• Gary Allan Sojka – President of Bucknell University
• Hugo F. Sonnenschein – economist and educational administrator, President of the University of Chicago
• James J. Stukel – former President of the University of Illinois
• Blake Ragsdale Van Leer – former President of the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Larry N. Vanderhoef – Chancellor of the University of California, Davis
• Brent W. Webb – academic vice president of Brigham Young University
• John T. Wolfe Jr. – former President of Savannah State University

Deans

• Srinivas Aravamudan – Dean of the Humanities, Duke University
• Arthur J. Bond – Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at Alabama A&M University and civil rights activist
• Domenico Grasso – Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, University of Vermont
• Paul Weber – Dean of Faculties and interim president of the Georgia Institute of Technology

Professors

• Nolan B. Aughenbaugh – Antarctic explorer and Professor Emeritus of Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi
• James R. Barker – professor of Organizational Theory and Strategy, Waikato University
• Michael Baye – Bert Elwert Professor of Business Economics, Indiana University
• L. W. Beineke – professor of graph theory at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne
• Ronald A. Bosco – expert on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Puritan homiletics and poetics
• Ronald Breaker – Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University
• Monty Buell – chair of the Department of History and Philosophy at Walla Walla University
• George Casella – statistician at Rutgers University, Cornell University, and the University of Florida
• James Samuel Coleman – author of the Coleman Report on the sociology of education
• Carl W. Condit – architectural historian, Northwestern University
• Clarence Cory – the first Professor in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at UC Berkeley; received BME degree from Purdue University in 1889 at the age of 16 and a Doctor of Engineering degree from Purdue University in 1914
• Bruce E. Dale – Professor of Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University
• Kenneth E. deGraffenreid – Professor of Intelligence Studies, Institute of World Politics
• Victor Denenberg – developmental psychobiologist
• Ralph Faudree – mathematician, combinatorialist, provost at University of Memphis
• James Fieser – professor of philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Martin
• Allan Friedman – Guy L. Odom Professor of Neurological Surgery at Duke University Medical Center
• Leslie Glasgow – biologist and conservationist at Louisiana State University; assistant Secretary of the Interior from 1969 to 19790
• Kevin Granata – Adjunct Professor, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech; victim of the Virginia Tech massacre
• Michael T. Goodrich – mathematician, computer scientist, department chair at the University of California, Irvine
• Larry Howell – professor of mechanical engineering, Brigham Young University
• Roger G. Ibbotson – professor of finance, Yale School of Management
• Richard Ian Kimball – professor of history, Brigham Young University
• Benn Konsynski – Goizueta Business School, Emory University
• Lawrence Landweber – John P. Morgridge Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Arthur H. Lefebvre – professor; Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering between 1976–1993; pioneer of gas turbine technology and developer of fuel spray technology; professor at Cranfield University, UK
• G. V. Loganathan – Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech; victim of the Virginia Tech massacre
• Donald Matthews – political scientist, University of Washington
• James McDonald – economist at Brigham Young University
• Deborah E. McDowell – English professor and author
• Scott A. McLuckey – John A. Leighty Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University
• Dorothy Runk Mennen – theatre professor, author and Founding president of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
• Gary Milhollin – law professor, anti–nuclear weapons activist
• William F. Miller – vice president and provost, Stanford University
• Scott Minnich – associate professor of microbiology at the University of Idaho
• Toby Moskowitz – financial economist, University of Chicago
• David Mount – computer scientist, University of Maryland
• J. Keith Murnighan – Harold H. Hines Jr. Distinguished Professor of Risk Management at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Donna J. Nelson – chemistry professor; Nelson Diversity Surveys author, scientific workforce scholar (Postdoctorate 1980–1983)
• Robert W. Newcomb – professor of electrical engineering at the University of Maryland
• Dallin D. Oaks – linguistics professor at Brigham Young University
• Peter N. Peregrine – anthropologist and archaeologist
• Larry L. Peterson – computer scientist at Princeton University
• Ronald L. Phillips – biologist, University of Minnesota
• T. Pradeep – Professor of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
• Steven Pray – Bernhardt Professor of Nonprescription Products and Devices at Southwestern Oklahoma State University
• John C. Reynolds – computer scientist
• Sherwin Rosen – labor economist
• Lyle F. Schoenfeldt – business management professor, known for a standard textbook on human resources
• Granville Sewell – mathematician and intelligent design advocate
• Thomas B. Sheridan – Professor of Mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pioneer of robotics and remote control technology
• Carolyn Sherif – social psychologist
• Stephen C. Smith PhD – Sociology professor and researcher. Also practicing family therapist
• Murray Sperber – Professor Emeritus of English and American Studies at Indiana University, author of several books on college sports
• Yizhi Jane Tao – Rice University biochemist who mapped the structure of the influenza A virus nucleoprotein to an atomic level
• James Tour – synthetic organic chemist and nanotechnologist at Rice University
• Ralph von Frese – geophysicist who identified the Wilkes Land mass concentration in Antarctica
• Gregory Weeks – international relations scholar at Webster University Vienna
• Jill Zimmerman – computer scientist and the James M. Beall Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Goucher College
• John W. Sutherland – Professor and Fehsenfeld Family Head of Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE), Purdue University

Science and technology

Astronauts and aviators

• Neil Armstrong – Gemini 8, Apollo 11; first man to walk on the Moon
• John Blaha – STS-29, STS-33, STS-43, STS-58, STS-79, STS-81
• Roy D. Bridges – STS-51-F
• Mark N. Brown – STS-28, STS-48
• John H. Casper – STS-36, STS-54, STS-62, STS-77
• Eugene Cernan – Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo 17; most recent man to walk on the Moon
• Roger Chaffee – killed in Apollo 1 accident
• Richard O. Covey – STS-51-I, STS-26, STS-38, STS-61
• Andrew J. Feustel – STS-125, STS-134
• Guy S. Gardner – STS-27, STS-35
• Henry C. Gordon – Air Force colonel selected for Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar program
• Virgil I. Grissom – second American in space, Gemini 3, killed in Apollo 1 accident
• Guy Gruters – fighter pilot and prisoner of war in the Vietnam War
• Gregory J. Harbaugh – STS-39, STS-54, STS-71, STS-82
• Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr. – flying ace of the Korean War, first pilot to fly above 100,000 feet (30,480 m)
• Michael J. McCulley – STS-34
• Loral O'Hara – astronaut candidate selected in 2017
• Gary E. Payton – STS-51-C
• Mark L. Polansky – STS-98, STS-116, STS-127
• Jerry L. Ross – STS-61-B, STS-27, STS-37, STS-55, STS-74, STS-88, STS-110; holds the US record for spaceflights
• Karl Schoen – one of the first U.S. flying aces of World War I
• Loren J. Shriver – STS-51-C, STS-31, STS-46
• Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger – pilot of US Airways flight 1549 which successfully ditched in the Hudson River
• Scott D. Tingle – Soyuz MS-07
• Janice E. Voss – STS-57, STS-63, STS-83, STS-94, STS-99
• Charles D. Walker – STS-41-D, STS-51-D, STS-61-B
• Mary E. Weber – STS-70, STS-101
• Donald E. Williams – STS-51-D, STS-34
• David A. Wolf – STS-58, STS-86, Mir 24, STS-89, STS-112, STS-127

Engineers

• Stephen Bechtel, Jr. – Chairman emeritus of Bechtel Group
• Don R. Berlin – chief designer of several military aircraft of World War II
• Michael Bernauer - inventor of the ShedNet
• Orestes H. Caldwell – one of the first five members of the Federal Radio Commission
• Abraham Burton Cohen – civil engineer notable for designing record-breaking concrete bridges such as the Tunkhannock Viaduct
• John P. Costas – electrical engineer, inventor of the Costas loop and the Costas array
• Wayne Hale – NASA engineer
• Richard E. Hayden – acoustics engineer, won the Wright Brothers Medal in 1973 for a research paper on noise reduction for STOL aircraft
• John H. McMasters – aeronautical engineer
• John Joseph Martin – mechanical engineer, author of Atmospheric Entry
• Elwood Mead – Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation for construction of Grand Coulee, Hoover and Owyhee Dams; namesake of Lake Mead.
• Benjamin Franklin Miessner - engineer and inventor (did not graduate)
• Daniel Raymer – aerospace engineer
• Henry Sampson – inventor and nuclear engineer
• Games Slayter – chemical engineer, inventor of fiberglass

Researchers

• Robert C. Baker – inventor of the chicken nugget
• Myron L. Bender – biochemist, recipient of the Midwest Award of the American Chemical Society
• Seymour Benzer – physicist and biologist, winner of the Wolf Prize in Medicine in 1991
• Henry Luke Bolley – botanist, plant pathologist, and football coach
• Richard Bootzin – clinical and research psychologist
• Robert D. Cess – atmospheric scientist
• Rita R. Colwell – environmental microbiologist and scientific administrator; Director of National Science Foundation
• Ward Cunningham – inventor of the wiki concept
• Harry Daghlian – physics, the first peacetime fatality of nuclear fission
• Joel Emer – microprocessor architect and Intel Fellow
• Dan Farmer – computer security researcher
• Martin Feinberg – mathematician and chemical engineer
• Elizabeth J. Feinler – information scientist and Internet pioneer
• Gloria Niemeyer Francke – pharmacist and science writer
• William H. Gerstenmaier – associate administrator at NASA
• Norman E. Gibbs – software engineering researcher
• Jonathan Grudin – researcher of human–computer interaction and computer-supported cooperative work
• Kun-Liang Guan – biochemist
• Clarence Hansell – research engineer who pioneered investigation into the biological effects of ionized air
• Obed Crosby Haycock – researcher of the upper atmosphere
• Jesse E. Hobson – director of SRI International
• Deng Jiaxian – physicist, "father of the Chinese A-bomb"
• Bradford Keeney – psychotherapist, ethnographer, cybernetician
• Gerhard Klimeck – nanotechnologist
• Harry Kloor – physicist, chemist, screenwriter
• Bertram Kostant – mathematician
• Markus Kuhn – computer scientist
• Matthew Luckiesh – "Father of the Science of Seeing"
• Robert W. Lucky – electrical engineer, inventor, and research manager
• Andrew Majda – ISI highly cited researcher in mathematics
• Herbert Newby McCoy – chemist
• Elwood Mead – former Head, Bureau of Reclamation; oversaw the construction of Hoover Dam
• Marilyn T. Miller – pediatric ophthalmologist
• Ben Roy Mottelson – Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1975
• Ian Murdock – founder of the Debian Project
• David E. Nichols – pharmacologist, world-renowned expert on psychedelics, founder of the Heffter Institute
• Alex Golden Oblad – chemist and chemical engineer who worked on catalysis
• Edward Mills Purcell – Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1952
• C. N. R. Rao – solid-state and materials chemist
• Malcolm Ross – director of the US Navy manned balloon program Project Strato-Lab; set the current altitude record for manned balloon flight with Victor Prather in 1961
• Yitang Zhang – mathematician known for his work with twin primes
• Ming-Ming Zhou – structural and chemical biologist

Arts and entertainment

• Dulquer Salmaan – Malayalam Actor
• Robert K. Abbett – book-cover illustrator and outdoor painter
• George Ade – humorist
• Ted Allen – food and wine connoisseur on the Bravo Channel's Emmy-winning television program Queer Eye; writer, author and TV host
• Max Armstrong – agriculture broadcaster in Chicago
• Donald Bain – author and ghostwriter (Murder, She Wrote, Coffee, Tea or Me)
• Monte Blue – actor of the silent film era, later a character actor
• Jack Cashill – author, journalist, blogger, contributor to WorldNetDaily
• Kenneth Choi – actor, known for his role as Jim Morita in Captain America: The First Avenger, also Red Dawn and sitcoms
• Kate Collins – author (Flower Shop Mysteries)
• Thomas James De la Hunt – Indiana historian and columnist
• Eric Dill – musician, member of the band The Click Five
• Simone Elkeles – young-adult romance writer
• Dick Florea – television personality in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• William R. Forstchen – novelist
• Jim Gaffigan – comedian and actor
• JoAnn Giordano – textile artist
• Mass Giorgini – punk rock producer of bands such as Rise Against and Anti-Flag and bassist for Screeching Weasel and Squirtgun
• Gerald Jay Goldberg – novelist
• Harold Gray – creator of Little Orphan Annie comic strip
• Jeff Grubb – author and game designer
• Gabriel Gudding – essayist and poet
• Moira Gunn – host of National Public Radio programs Tech Nation and BioTech Nation
• John Guzlowski – author
• Jack Horkheimer – host of astronomy television program Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer
• Rick Karr – journalist
• Callie Khouri – screenwriter, director, and film producer
• Jane King – business journalist
• Michael King – political commentator, columnist, television producer
• Harry Kloor – screenwriter, physicist, chemist
• Mercedes Lackey – fantasy novelist
• Wayne Lamb – Broadway and television dancer and Professor Emeritus of Theatre
• John T. McCutcheon – cartoonist, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1931
• Jaime Martínez Tolentino – writer
• Hoshang Merchant – poet
• Felicia Middlebrooks – radio news broadcaster
• Gavin Mikhail – pianist, singer-songwriter
• Karen Marie Moning – novelist
• Tom Moore – theater director
• Carrie Newcomer – singer and songwriter
• Clifton Nicholson – sculptor and jewelry designer
• Mark O'Hare – writer and cartoonist who has worked on various Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network programs
• Perry Wilson - Movie Critic, thecinemapsycho.com
• Chubby Parker – folk musician
• Jim Payne – news anchor
• George Peppard (attended) – actor
• Bob Peterson – animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor at Pixar
• Julian Phillips – Emmy Award winner, co-host of weekend Fox & Friends, Fox TV
• Carol Plum-Ucci – young-adult novelist and essayist
• Pat Proctor – war game developer, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel
• Bruce Rogers – typographer, inventor of the Centaur typeface
• Dulquer Salmaan – film actor and businessman
• Dave Schulthise – punk rock bass guitarist for the Dead Milkmen
• Mark William Shaw – network television personality, author, lawyer
• Gary Mark Smith – artist, author, master global street photographer
• Richard Sprague – author and researcher of the John F. Kennedy assassination
• Martha Hopkins Struever – dealer and scholar of American Indian art
• Elizabeth Stuckey-French – short story writer and novelist
• Booth Tarkington – novelist
• Stephanie S. Tolan – children's book author
• Martin Walls – poet
• Don West – pitchman, television personality, wrestling broadcaster
• Lebbeus Woods – artist and architect

Business and industry

• Samuel R. Allen – CEO of John Deere
• Chuck Armstrong – president of the Seattle Mariners
• Joyce Beber – advertising executive, promoter of hotelier Leona Helmsley
• Stephen Bechtel, Jr. – Chairman Emeritus and Director of Bechtel Group, Inc.
• Paul Bevilaqua – Chief Engineer, Advanced Development Projects, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
• Gordon Binder – former CEO of Amgen (1988–2000).
• Michael Birck – Chairman and Founder of Tellabs, Inc.
• Charles F. Bowman – co-founder of Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn
• Beth Brooke – Global Vice Chair of Public Policy for Ernst & Young
• Susan Bulkeley Butler – first female partner at Accenture and author of Become the CEO of You, Inc.
• Herman Cain (MS '71) – businessman, politician, and columnist; former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza
• James Cash, Jr. – member of the boards of directors at General Electric, Microsoft, and Walmart
• JoMei Chang – co-founder of Tibco Software
• Allen Chao – co-founder of Watson Pharmaceuticals
• Richard E. Dauch – co-founder of American Axle & Manufacturing
• Rodger Dean Duncan – author and business consultant
• Michael L. Eskew – Chairman and CEO, UPS
• Gen Fukunaga – President of FUNimation
• Jeffery R. Gardner – President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer of Windstream Corporation
• Gerald D. Hines (BSME 1948) – real estate developer and principal of Hines
• John R. Horne (BS 1960) - former CEO of Navistar
• William A. Koch – developer of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari
• Keith J. Krach – President of 3points LLC; co-founder of Ariba Inc., served as Chairman and CEO
• Brian Lamb – co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of C-SPAN
• Howard Lance – chairman, president, and CEO of Harris Corporation
• Marshall Larsen – former chairman, president, and CEO of Goodrich Corporation
• Cook Lougheed – entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Bala S. Manian – medical technology entrepreneur
• Preston McAfee – economist at Google
• Steven McGeady – former Intel executive
• Wade Miquelon – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Walgreens
• Herman H. Pevler – former president of the Norfolk and Western Railway and of the Wabash Railroad
• Patricia Kessler Poppe - President & CEO, CMS & Consumers Energy
• Orville Redenbacher – business leader and agriculturalist of popcorn fame
• Donald Rice – CEO of Agensys and boardmember of Wells Fargo Bank
• Lee Schmidt – golf course architect, co-founder of Lee-Schmidt Design, Inc.
• Edmund Schweitzer – President of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
• Carlos Septién – CEO of Grupo Elektra and Banco Azteca
• Ruth Siems – home economist with General Foods, inventor of Stovetop Stuffing
• Venu Srinivasan – chairman of TVS Motor
• Don Thompson – CEO of McDonald's
• James A. Thomson – President and Chief Executive Officer, Rand Corporation
• Gregory Wasson – President and Chief Operating Officer, Walgreens corporation
• Sanjiva Weerawarana – co-founder, Chairman and CEO of WSO2

Government and law

National office

• Akinwumi Adesina – President of the African Development Bank
• Rashid al-Rifai – ambassador and government minister in Iraq
• Donald W. Banner – former U.S. Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
• Joe L. Barton – U.S. Representative from 6th District of Texas (R)
• Birch Bayh – former United States Senator from Indiana (D)
• Earl L. Butz – former Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (R)
• Chang Chia-juch – former Minister of Economic Affairs of Taiwan
• Bob Charles – former member of the Australian House of Representatives
• Mark Chen – former Secretary-General and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan
• Curt Clawson – U.S. Representative from Florida's 19th congressional district (R)
• Chuck Conner – Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture
• Margaret E. Curran – United States Attorney for Rhode Island
• Harry Allison Estep – Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (R)
• Mauricio Fernández Garza – former Mayor of San Pedro Garza García (1989–1991) and former Mexican Senator from Nuevo León (1994–2000)
• Gary A. Grappo – U.S. Ambassador to Oman
• John H. Hager – Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education (R)
• Keith Hall – former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Clifford M. Hardin – former Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (R)
• Ralph Harvey – U.S. Representative from Indiana (R)
• Adnan Kahveci – Turkish Minister of State and Minister of Finance, founding member of the Motherland Party
• Suwat Liptapanlop – government minister in Thailand
• David McKinley – U.S. Representative for West Virginia (R)
• Anthony W. Miller – United States Deputy Secretary of Education
• Marwan Muasher – Deputy Prime Minister, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• Essam Sharaf – former Prime Minister of Egypt
• Ann Stock – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
• Kevin Sullivan – White House Communications Director
• Claude R. Wickard – former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
• Richard Llewellyn Williams – first U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia

Military

• Terry M. Cross – former Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard
• Nelson F. Gibbs – U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
• Sun Liren – Chinese Nationalist General who excelled in the Burma Campaign during World War II
• Carter B. Magruder – four-star General, U.S. Army
• Glen W. Martin – Inspector General of the U.S. Air Force
• B. J. Penn – former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy
• Carol M. Pottenger – Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
• Jerald D. Slack – U.S. Air National Guard Major General, Adjutant General of Wisconsin
• Carol I. Turner – former Chief of the United States Navy Dental Corps
• James C. Van Sice – former Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
• Russell R. Waesche – Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II

Sub-national office

• Ron Alting – Indiana State Senator (R)
• Brian Bosma – Speaker of the Indiana General Assembly
• Robert J. Burkhardt – former Secretary of State of New Jersey (D)
• Suzanne Crouch – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• Jim Davis – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• Sue Ellspermann – Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (R)
• Kirk Fordice – former Governor of Mississippi (R)
• Kent Gaffney – former member of the Illinois House of Representatives (R)
• Jerry E. Hinshaw (Class of 1940) – former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives (R)
• Ralph S. Johnson (Class of 1930) – aviator; former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives (R)
• Delores G. Kelley – Maryland State Senator (D)
• Sheila Klinker – member of the Indiana House of Representatives (D)
• J. Tom Lendrum – member of the Ohio House of Representatives (R)
• Harry G. Leslie – former Governor of Indiana (R)
• Alan Olsen – Oregon State Senator (R)
• Scott Reske – member of the Indiana House of Representatives (D)
• Darlene Senger – member of the Illinois House of Representatives (R)
• Wayne Townsend – member of both houses of the Indiana legislature and the Democratic candidate for governor in 1984 (D)
• Frank Watson – member of the Illinois Senate (R)

Local office

• Robert G. Abboud – village president of Barrington Hills, Illinois. 2008 candidate for U.S. Congress (D)
• Robert E. Armstrong – former mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana (R)
• Isaac Colton Ash – Los Angeles, California, City Council member
• Jane Baker – first female mayor of San Mateo, California
• John J. Barton – former mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana (D)
• Marty Blum – former mayor of Santa Barbara, California
• Elgin English Crull – longest serving city manager of Dallas, Texas to date (1952 to 1966); was city manager when John F. Kennedy was assassinated
• A.E. Henning – Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1929–33
• Robert J. LaFortune, former mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Thomas McDermott, Jr. – mayor of Hammond, Indiana (D)
• Bart Peterson – former mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana (D)
• David H. Rodgers – former mayor of Spokane, Washington (R)

Other political and legal figures

• Nels Ackerson – lawyer, 2008 candidate for U.S. Congress from Indiana (D)
• Allen Alley – Oregon Republican Party chairman
• Uthum Herat – Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.
• Jeffrey M. Lacker – president of Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
• Fred Meyer (Class of 1949) – state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, 1988 to 1994; Dallas businessman
• Marilyn Quayle – lawyer, novelist, and political figure, wife of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle
• Lou Zaeske – leader of English-only movement and advocated for Czech ethnic causes
• Charles Mok – Hong Kong Legislative Council member

Sports

Baseball

See also: Purdue Boilermakers baseball § Notable former players

• Bernie Allen – 12-year career infielder with the Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators, New York Yankees and Montreal Expos; also played for the Boilermakers
• Jermaine Allensworth – former Major League Baseball player
• Roger Bossard – head groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox, sports turf consultant for MLB, NFL, Major League Soccer
• Jay Buente – relief pitcher for the Florida Marlins
• Michael Duursma – shortstop for the Netherlands national baseball team
• Bob Friend – former MLB pitcher
• Josh Lindblom – relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Joe McCabe – former Major League baseball player
• Kevin Plawecki – catcher for the New York Mets
• Moose Skowron – former Major League Baseball player; 6-time All-Star, 5-time World Series Champion
• Nick Wittgren - Relief Pitcher for the Miami Marlins

Basketball

See also: Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball § Boilermakers in the NBA, ABA, NBL

• Brian Cardinal – NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, former professional NBA basketball player from 2000–2012
• Joe Barry Carroll – NCAA Final Four 1980, former NBA basketball player, 1st pick overall in NBA Draft (1980)
• Terry Dischinger – former NBA basketball player, (1962–73) NBA Rookie of the Year; Olympic Gold in basketball (1960)
• Katie Douglas – basketball player in the WNBA
• Ray Eddy – former Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball head coach
• Paul Hoffman – former NBA player, BAA Rookie of the Year (1947), NBA Champion (1948), former general manager for the Baltimore Bullets
• Robbie Hummel – 1st Team All-Big Ten; professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves
• JaJuan Johnson – Big-Ten Player of the Year; current professional basketball for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League
• Carl Landry – 1st Team All-Big Ten; current professional NBA player for the Sacramento Kings
• Billy Keller – NCAA Finals 1969, former ABA basketball player, former University of Indianapolis men's basketball coach
• Frank Kendrick – former NBA player and champion (1975), Golden State Warriors
• Alan Major – current head coach of the Charlotte 49ers
• Cuonzo Martin – current head coach of the University of California-Berkeley
• Brad Miller – former NBA basketball player, two-time NBA All-Star
• E'Twaun Moore – 1st Team All-Big Ten; current professional NBA player for the Chicago Bulls
• Rick Mount – three-time All-American at Purdue and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year; NCAA Finals 1969; former American Basketball Association basketball player
• Matt Painter – current Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball head coach, former coach at Southern Illinois University, 5 NCAA Tournament appearances
• Glenn Robinson – 1994 NCAA Player of the Year (John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Awards and four other polls), two-time 1st Team All-American; former NBA player, 1st pick overall in NBA draft (1994); NBA champion (2005) with San Antonio Spurs
• Amy Ruley – North Dakota State University women's basketball coach
• Dave Schellhase – first-team All-American at Purdue; former Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball head coach, former Minnesota State-Moorhead head coach
• Jerry Sichting – former professional player in the NBA, NCAA Final Four 1980
• Kevin Stallings – current Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball head coach, former coach at Illinois State University
• Caleb Swanigan -- NCAA National Player of the year 2017, NBA first round draft pick, Big Ten Player of the year 2017, Biggie
• John Wooden – Basketball Hall of Fame honoree as both player and coach; 10-time NCAA Champion coach at UCLA; 1932 National champion and All-American as player

Football

See also: Purdue Boilermakers football

• Mike Alstott – former NFL and Super Bowl Champion fullback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Purdue's all-time leading rusher
• Cliff Avril – NFL defensive end of the Seattle Seahawks; Champion Super Bowl XLVIII and participated in XLIX
• Ryan Baker – NFL defensive end for the Miami Dolphins, 2009–2012
• Drew Brees – Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, All-Pro, Pro Bowl quarterback, New Orleans Saints; Maxwell Award; 2 x Heisman Trophy Finalist; Rose Bowl Game
• Dave Butz – 16-year, 2x Super Bowl Champion NFL Lineman with the Washington Redskins and selected to the all NFL 1980s Team
• Scott Campbell – played quarterback for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons
• Roosevelt Colvin – 2x Super Bowl Champion, professional football player in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots
• Gary Danielson – former NFL quarterback; current TV announcer, College Football
• Len Dawson – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback with the Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl IV MVP
• Jim Everett – Pro Bowl NFL quarterback; Saint Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers
• Gilbert Gardner – NFL linebacker, member of the Super Bowl XLI-winning Indianapolis Colts
• Wayne Gift – NFL player
• Bob Griese – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback with the Miami Dolphins; lead Dolphins to 17-0-0 perfect season; 2x Super Bowl Champion quarterback; College Football Hall of Fame, Rose Bowl Champion quarterback
• Steve Griffin – former NFL and Arena Football League player
• Nick Hardwick – former NFL center of the San Diego Chargers
• Matt Hernandez – NFL offensive tackle
• Mark Herrmann – former NFL quarterback with the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers; 3-time Bowl game MVP with Purdue
• Paul Humphrey – NFL center for the Brooklyn Dodgers
• Clarence Janecek – NFL offensive guard of the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Dustin Keller – NFL tight end of the Miami Dolphins
• Ryan Kerrigan – NFL linebacker of the Washington Redskins; 1st Team All-American
• Ed Klewicki – Detroit Lions, 1930s
• Jon Krick – Arena Football League player
• John Letsinger – Pittsburgh Pirates, 1933
• Matt Light – NFL left tackle of the New England Patriots; 3x Super Bowl Champion Super Bowl (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX), and participated in XLII
• Jim Looney – NFL linebacker of the San Francisco 49ers
• Marc May – NFL tight end of the Minnesota Vikings
• Wave Myers – former coach at Ball State
• Mike Neal – NFL defensive tackle of the Green Bay Packers
• Rob Ninkovich – linebacker for the New England Patriots; has also played for the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins
• Kyle Orton – quarterback, drafted by the Chicago Bears has played for several NFL teams and currently for the Buffalo Bills.
• Curtis Painter – backup quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, drafted in 2009 to succeed Peyton Manning
• Shaun Phillips – NFL defensive end of the Tennessee Titans
• Mike Phipps – College Football Hall of Fame former NFL Quarterback, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Heisman Trophy Runner-up
• Bernard Pollard – NFL safety of the Tennessee Titans
• Ed Rate – former NFL blocking back for the Milwaukee Badgers
• Karl Singer – AFL tackle for the Boston Patriots
• Joe Skibinski – former NFL guard for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers
• Ed Skoronski – NFL player
• Blane Smith – former NFL linebacker for the Green Bay Packers
• Anthony Spencer – NFL linebacker drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2007.
• John Standeford – NFL wide receiver of the Detroit Lions, member of the Super Bowl XLI-winning Indianapolis Colts
• Darryl Stingley – former NFL wide receiver with the New England Patriots
• Hank Stram – Pro Football Hall of Fame coach of the Kansas City Chiefs
• Taylor Stubblefield – NCAA Division 1 football career receptions leader, played for the St. Louis Rams
• Kevin Sumlin - Head coach of the Arizona Wildcats
• Michael Terrizzi – played briefly for the San Francisco 49ers
• Calvin Williams – NFL wide receiver of the Philadelphia Eagles; rookie of the year
• Rod Woodson – Super Bowl Champion (XXXV) Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back, 11-time Pro-Bowler (at three different positions) and former NFL cornerback

Other sports

• Stephan Bonnar – appeared on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, retired professional mixed martial artist, two-time Golden Gloves Champion, UFC Hall of Fame member
• David Boudia – Olympic diver (2008, gold 2012, silver 2016)
• Larry Burton – Olympic runner (1976)
• Keith Carter – Olympic swimmer (silver, 1948)
• Joe Corso – Olympic wrestler (1976)
• Javier Díaz – Olympic swimmer for Mexico (2000, 2004)
• Dick the Bruiser – professional wrestling champion. Real name was William Afflis. Also played in the NFL.
• Amanda Elmore – Olympic rower (gold 2016)
• Ray Ewry – ten-time Olympic champion in track and field (gold, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908)
• Jon Fitch – Boilermaker team captain wrestler; professional mixed martial artist, formerly with the Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Cliff Furnas – Olympic runner (1920)
• Ed Glover – Olympic pole-vaulter (bronze, 1906)
• Matt Hamill (attended) – three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling, silver and gold medalist of the 2001 Summer Deaflympics; mixed martial artist who fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship; retired
• Lacey Hearn – Olympic athlete (1904)
• Chris Huffins – Olympic decathlete (1996, 2000)
• Steele Johnson – Olympic diver (silver 2016)
• Pariya Junhasavasdikul – Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour
• Gerald Koh – Olympic swimmer (2000)
• Gyöngyvér Lakos – Olympic swimmer (2000)
• Matt Mitrione – former NFL player and current Heavyweight fighter for Bellator MMA
• Nate Moore – boilermaker team captain wrestler; current MMA competitor, formerly fighting for Strikeforce (mixed martial arts)
• Nedzad Mulabegovic – shot put for Croatia (2012)
• Betty Mullen-Brey – 100-meter butterfly (1956)
• Ryan Newman – driver, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year; 2008 Daytona 500 winner, 2013 Brickyard 400 winner
• Coralie O'Connor – swimming (1952)
• Jake O'Brien – Boilermaker wrestler; current MMA fighter, previously the WEC and the UFC
• Ike Olekaibe – Olympic athlete (2000)
• Carol Pence-Taylor – Olympic swimmer (1948)
• Kara Patterson – Javelin (2012)
• Eric Rodwell – professional bridge player
• Joan Rosazza – Olympic swimmer (silver, 1956)
• Chris Schenkel – sportscaster
• Lauren Sesselmann – Women's Soccer for Canada (2012)
• Doug Sharp – Olympic bobsledder (2002)
• Miguel Torres (attended), wrestler; current professional mixed martial arts fighter, former WEC Bantamweight Champion
• Frank Verner – Olympic athlete (1904)
• Fred Wampler – PGA Tour golfer
• Beth Whittall – 100-meter butterfly for Canada (1956)
• Jeanne Wilson-Vaughn – Olympic swimmer (1948)
• Fred Wilt – Olympic runner (1948)
• Howie Williams – gold in basketball (1952)
• Shiv Kapur- Professional golfer

Other alumni

• David A. Bednar – LDS Church Apostle; former President of BYU-Idaho
• Vikram Buddhi – imprisoned for threatening the life of U.S. President George W. Bush
• Theodore M. Burton – LDS Church leader
• Kathy Calvin – chief executive officer, United Nations Foundation
• Russell Mawby – chairman emeritus, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Sarah Jo Pender, convicted murderer and prison escapee.
• Eric Justin Toth – fugitive on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list
• Richard Leroy Walters – homeless philanthropist
• Tyler Trent - three-time cancer survivor, promoter of cancer research, public figure

See also

• List of Purdue Boilermakers head football coaches