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List of Oregon State University alumni

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Corvallis College's first graduating class was in 1870, and consisted of three people.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Oregon State University is located in Corvallis, Oregon in the United States. It traces its roots to 1856, when Corvallis Academy was founded. It was not formally incorporated until 1858 when the name was changed to Corvallis College, and was not chartered until 1868. In 1890 the school became known as Oregon Agricultural College, then in 1927 as Oregon State Agricultural College. Its current name was adopted in 1961. Alumni from each of these eras may be included on the list. More than 200,000 people have attended the university since its founding.[1]

Activism

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Bobby Henderson 1999–2003 Activist and creator of Pastafarianism [2]
Bruce W. Klunder ?–1958 Civil rights activist and Presbyterian minister [3]
Katherine Ann Power ?—2001 Anti-war activist, convicted of armed robbery and manslaughter who spent fourteen years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list [4]
Ada-Rhodes Short ?—2018 Transgender rights activist and mechatronic design engineer

Art and architecture

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
John Clem Clarke Painter [5]
Florence Holmes Gerke 1896–1964 Landscape architect of the International Rose Test Garden [6]
Tala Madani 1999–2004 Artist, painter featured in the 2017 Whitney Biennial [7]
Lee Arden Thomas Architect who designed the OSU Memorial Union
Karen Carson 1966 BFA Feminist artist, painting [8]

Business

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Thomas J. Autzen 1905–1909 Plywood manufacturing pioneer
Mercedes Alison Bates ?–1936 Former vice president of General Mills' Betty Crocker Cooking division; first female officer of General Mills [1]
Austen S. Cargill II ? Heir and major shareholder of Cargill, received a PhD from Oregon State University [1]
Peggy Cherng 1969–1971 CEO of Panda Express [9]
Randy Conrads ?–1972 Founder of Classmates.com [10]
Peter Gassner 1983–1989 Co-founder and CEO of Veeva Systems [11]
Jen-Hsun Huang 1980–1984 Co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA [12][13]
Timothy S. Leatherman ?–1970 Inventor of the Leatherman tool [14]
Brian McMenamin ?–1980 Co-founder of the McMenamins chain [15]
Mike McMenamin ?–1974 Co-founder of the McMenamins chain [15]
Bernie Newcomb ?–1965 Co-founder of E*TRADE [1]
Hüsnü Özyeğin Turkish billionaire businessman, philanthropist
Don Robert CEO of Experian [16]
Leonard Shoen Founder of U-Haul [17]
John A. Young ?–1953 Former president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard [1]

Education

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Holly Barnard ?–2009 Professor of Geography at University of Colorado Boulder and founder of the Critical Zone Laboratory [18]
Sara Harris Climate scientist and 3M National Teaching Fellow at the University of British Columbia
Wayne L. Hubbell ?–1965 Jules Stein Professor of Ophthalmology at UCLA [19]
Octave Levenspiel ?–1991 Emeritus professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University [20]
Staci Simonich Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University
Ann Streissguth Endowed professor emeritus and founding director of the Fetal Alcohol Drug Unit at the University of Washington School of Medicine
Carrie Halsell Ward 1922–1926 College lecturer and first Black student to graduate from OSU [21]
Michael Waterman early 70s Computational biologist; professor of biological science, mathematics, and computer science at the University of Southern California [22]

Entertainment

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Trevor Bardette Actor
John Brotherton Soap opera actor [1]
George Bruns ?–1936 Composer [1]
Meghna Chakrabarti 1994–1998 Journalist, radio producer, and host of the NPR program On Point
Pinto Colvig ?–1911 Voice actor; the original Bozo the Clown [1]
Kevin Hagen Actor
Harley Jessup ?–1976 1987 Best Visual Effects Oscar winner for the film Innerspace [1]
Cathy Marshall News anchor
Beau Mirchoff ?–2024 Actor [23]
Roger Nichols Recording engineer for Steely Dan
Jodi Ann Paterson ?–1998 2000 Playboy Playmate of the Year and model [24]
Meredith Phillips Star of ABC reality television show The Bachelorette
Mike Rich Screenwriter
Laurie Roth Syndicated radio talk-show host
Travis Rush Country music singer
Laura Faye Smith Voice actress [25]
Kendra Sunderland Model and pornographic actress; expelled from the university for public indecency [26]
Sara Jean Underwood 2002–2007 July 2006 Playboy Playmate of the Month, 2007 Playmate of the Year, actress, and model [27]

Literature and journalism

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Pamela Cytrynbaum Journalist and restorative justice practitioner
Geffrey Davis Poet
Webley Edwards ?–1927 World War II news correspondent [1]
Christopher Howell Poet
Chris Johns 1971–1974 Editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine
George Oppen Poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Mary Oppen Poet
Bert Sperling 1968–1972 Author and researcher

Military

[edit]
Marion Eugene Carl
Anthony E. Van Dyke
Name Attended Notability Reference
Edward C. Allworth ?–1916 Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor [1]
Rex T. Barber ?–1940 World War II pilot credited with killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto [1]
Marion Eugene Carl ?–1938 World War II flying ace; record-setting test pilot; United States Marine Corps (USMC) major general [1]
Elmer E. Hall World War II brigadier general, USMC
John Noble Holcomb 1967 Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor [1]
Ulysses G. McAlexander Commander of Army ROTC; earned the nickname "Rock of the Marne" during World War I
Anthony E. Van Dyke ?–1978 USMC colonel and current commander of Marine forces at Henderson Hall [28]

Politics

[edit]
Cecil D. Andrus
John Ensign
Douglas McKay
Name Attended Notability Reference
Cecil D. Andrus 1952 Governor of Idaho (1971–1977, 1987–1995) and U.S. secretary of the interior (1977–1981) [1]
Earl I. Anzai ?–1964 Attorney general of Hawaii (1999–2002) [29]
Brad Avakian ?–1984 Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (2008–2019) [30]
Rod Chandler ?–1968 U.S. representative of Washington (1983–1993) [31]
Charles Crookham 1941–1943 Attorney general of Oregon (1992–1993) [32]
John Ensign ?–1981 U.S. representative of Nevada (1995–1999); Nevada U.S. senator (2001–2011) [33]
John Hubert Hall ?–1923 Governor of Oregon (1947–1949); member of the Oregon House of Representatives (1936–1947) [1]
Julia Butler Hansen 1924–1926 U.S. representative of Washington (1960–1974) [34]
Darlene Hooley ?–1961 U.S. representative of Oregon (1997–2009) [35]
Elaine Hopson 1960 Oregon state representative [36]
Hector Macpherson, Jr. 1936–1940 Oregon state senator (1971–1974) [37]
Rich McCormick 1976–1980 Member of the US House of Representatives from Georgia (2023-present) [38]
Douglas McKay ?–1917 Governor of Oregon (1949–1952) and U.S. secretary of the interior (1953–1956) [1]
Paul Peek ?–? California secretary of state (1940–1943); speaker of the California State Assembly (1939) [39]
Pou Sohtireak ?–1980s Cambodian Minister for Industry, Mines and Energy [40]
Norris Poulson 1923 U.S. representative of California (1943–1945, 1947–1955); mayor of Los Angeles, California (1953–1961) [41]
Hedy Rijken ? Oregon state representative (1989-1995) [42]
Frederick Steiwer ?–1902 Oregon U.S. senator (1927–1937) [43]
Lowell Stockman ?–1922 U.S. representative of Oregon (1943–1953) [44]
Jolene Unsoeld 1949–1951 U.S. representative of Washington (1989–1995) [45]
Robert M. Veatch 1868–1871 Oregon representative (1883–1886), senator (1887–1892), and mayor of Cottage Grove, Oregon [46]
James K. Weatherford 1868–1872 Oregon representative, Speaker of the House (1876), senator, and mayor of Albany, Oregon [47]
Mary Carlin Yates ?–1968 U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Burundi and U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Ghana [1]
Irwandi Yusuf 1993 Governor of Indonesian province of Aceh [48]

Religion

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Bobby Henderson ?–2003 Activist and creator of Pastafarianism [2]
Katharine Jefferts Schori ?–1983 Presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and oceanographer [49]
Linus Pauling
William Oefelein
Donald Pettit

Science and engineering

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Charity Dean 1995–2000 Epidemiologist, assistant director of the California Department of Public Health, and co-founder and CEO of the Public Health Company
Paul H. Emmett 1917–1922 Manhattan Project research staff member and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences [50]
Milton Harris 1924–1926 Founded the Harris Research Laboratories, which later merged with Gillette [51]
Donald M. Kerr ?–1969 Wildlife biologist and founder of the High Desert Museum [52]
Ann Kiessling ?–1971 Reproductive biologist and leading stem cell researcher
Glenn Odekirk 1923–1927 Hughes Aircraft aerospace engineer, helped design the H-4 Hercules [53]
William Oefelein ?–1988 NASA astronaut [54]
Linus Pauling 1917–1922 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and 1962 Nobel Peace Prize recipient [1]
Donald Pettit ?–1978 NASA astronaut [55]
Stephen O. Rice Pioneer in the related fields of information theory, communications theory, and telecommunications
J. Michael Scott ?–1973 Ornithologist, research scientist, Peace Corps volunteer [56]
Ernest H. Taves Psychiatrist, author, and UFO skeptic
William Tebeau 1948 Chemical engineer and first African-American male graduate
Earl A. Thompson Inventor of the manual transmission synchronizer in 1923 and leader of the team at General Motors Corporation that developed the first Hydramatic automatic transmission in 1940
Marta Torres ?–1988 Marine geologist known for her work on the geochemistry of cold seeps and methane hydrates
Warren Washington 1954?–1958 Atmospheric scientist

Sports

[edit]

Technology

[edit]
Name Attended Notability Reference
Philip Emeagwali 1974–1977 1989 Gordon Bell Prize winner [57]
Douglas Engelbart ?–1948 Inventor of the computer mouse and winner of the National Medal of Technology [1]
Jensen Huang 1980–1984 Founder of Nvidia

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Edmonston Jr., George. "OSU's Famous Alumni". Oregon State University Alumni Association. Archived from the original on April 5, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2006.
  2. 1 2 "Corvallis man's parody is Internet 'monster'". The Register-Guard. Retrieved March 28, 2007. [dead link]
  3. ↑ "Clipping from Corvallis Gazette-Times - Newspapers.com". Corvallis Gazette-Times. April 8, 1964. p. 2. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Highlights from the 2000-2001 Annual Report of the OSU Department of Philosophy". oregonstate.edu. Archived from the original on September 20, 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  5. ↑ Traub, Alex (June 28, 2021). "John Clem Clarke, a Pop Art Perennial in SoHo, Dies at 83". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A. (1928). Women of the West: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Living Eminent Women in the Eleven Western States of the United States of America. Publishers Press. p. 159. Retrieved August 27, 2024 – via Wikisource. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ "Tala Madani Public Lecture". Oregon State University. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  8. ↑ Ayres, Anne. "Oral history interview". Smithsonian. Retrieved May 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Panda Express' billionaire CEO dishes up a stir-fry empire". Los Angeles Times. January 11, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Classmates.com founder gives to OSU". Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Leadership | Veeva". www.veeva.com. March 22, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Jen-Hsun Huang". College of Engineering - Oregon State University. Oregon State University. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  13. ↑ Huang, Jensen. "Jensen Huang - Founder and CEO - NVIDIA | LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Timothy S. Leatherman". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on January 26, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  15. 1 2 "The Brews Brothers". Oregon State University Alumni Association. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  16. ↑ "Donald A. Robert". NNDB. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Leonard S. Shoen". Harvard Business School. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Fall 2005 Newsletter, Graduate School, Oregon State University". oregonstate.edu. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Wayne L. Hubbell Summary". UCLA. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
  20. ↑ "Octave Levenspiel". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on May 4, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ "OSU names new residence hall for African-American student". Oregon State University. July 14, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Michael Waterman". Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  23. ↑ Beau Mirchoff [@beau_mirchoff]; (April 9, 2024). "I FINALLY DID IT! But I did just eat a bag of chips for breakfast so did I really learn anything?" – via Instagram.
  24. ↑ "Oregon Stater Class News". Oregon State University Alumni Association. Archived from the original on September 21, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Laura Faye Smith" (PDF). Casting Networks. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  26. ↑ "'Library Girl' Reveals Her Customers' Weirdest Cam Requests". April 10, 2015.
  27. ↑ "NORM: Oops, Britney's doing it again". reviewjournal.com. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  28. ↑ "Commanding Officer Of HQBN, HQMC". United States Marine Corps. Archived from the original on March 31, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  29. ↑ "Earl I. Anzai - a Honolulu, Hawaii (HI) Lawyer". FindLaw. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
  30. ↑ "Oregon Blue Book". Oregon State Archives. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Alumni Fellows Recipient Biographies". Oregon State University Alumni Association. Archived from the original on August 31, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
  32. ↑ Crookham, Berkeley (December 2004). "Living History: Charles S. Crookham (1923-2004)". Oregon State Bar Bulletin. Oregon State Bar Association. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
  33. ↑ "ENSIGN, John Eric - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
  34. ↑ "HANSEN, Julia Butler - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
  35. ↑ "HOOLEY, Darlene - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 11, 2006.
  36. ↑ "Vote Smart | Facts For All". Vote Smart. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  37. ↑ "Hector Macpherson, Jr. -- A Service of Remembrance, April 9, 2015." Shedd, OR: Oakville Presbyterian Church, 2015, pg. 4.
  38. ↑ "MDJ Voter Guide, 6th Congressional District". MDJOnline.com. May 7, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  39. ↑ "Paul Peek (June 5, 1904 - April 7, 1987)". courtinfo.ca.gov. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  40. ↑ Pou Sohtireak
  41. ↑ "POULSON, C. Norris - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
  42. ↑ "Two for the House". The Register-Guard. May 2, 1990. p. 10.
  43. ↑ "STEIWER, Frederick - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
  44. ↑ "STOCKMAN, Lowell - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
  45. ↑ "UNSOELD, Jolene - Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
  46. ↑ "Robert M. Veatch," in History of Oregon: Volume II. Chicago, IL: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 1922; pp. 234-237.
  47. ↑ "Hon. James K. Weatherford," in History of Oregon: Illustrated: Volume II. Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Co., 1922; pg. 154.
  48. ↑ "Visit from Governor Irwandi". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  49. ↑ "OSU Alum to Head U.S. Episcopal Church". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on July 3, 2006. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  50. ↑ "Paul H. Emmet". Oregon State University. Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  51. ↑ "Milton Harris: A Biography". Oregon State University. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  52. ↑ "Welcome". High Desert Museum. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  53. ↑ Glenn Odekirk
  54. ↑ "Astronaut Bio: William A. Oefelein (1/2006)". NASA. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  55. ↑ "Astronaut Bio: Don Pettit (1/2006)". NASA. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  56. ↑ "Senior scientist: Michael Scott". U.S. Geological Survey, University of Idaho. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  57. ↑ "Philip Emeagwali". The Black Inventor Online Museum. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
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