Alumni Achievements
There are more than 470,000 UW–Madison alumni living around the world. UW alumni or faculty have been awarded 20 Nobel Prizes and 41 Pulitzer Prizes. Some 843 UW–Madison alumni serve as CEOs, and nearly 16,000 hold an executive management position.
Below you will find a compilation of notable and famous alumni in a variety of fields:
Arts and Entertainment
Jim Abrahams x’66
filmmaker, founder of the Charlie Foundation for Ketogenic Therapies
Mason Adams ’40, MA’41
Emmy Award–winning TV actor (Lou Grant)
Don Ameche x’31
actor (Cocoon)
Iris Apfel ’43
fashion icon
Charlie Berens ’09
creator of the Manitowoc Minute, a comedic take on the news with a Wisconsin twist
Andrew Bergman MA’66, PhD’70
film director/producer and writer (It Could Happen to You, Blazing Saddles)
Chester Biscardi ’70, MA’72, MM’74
composer
Jerry Bock ’48
co-composer of Fiddler on the Roof and Fiorello!
Phyllis Bramson MA’64
artist
Carol Helen Beule ’69, MFA’72
Emmy Award–winning costume designer (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
Stephen Burrows ’84
actor, film director
Erin Lee Carr ’10
director and producer for HBO documentaries; author of All That You Leave Behind, a memoire about her father, David Carr, a New York Times columnist
Dale Chihuly MS’67
glass artist (Mendota Wall in the Kohl Center)
Carrie Coon MFA’06
actor who starred in the movie Gone Girl and on stage
Joan Cusack ’84
actor (Working Girl, In & Out, Grosse Pointe Blank)
Lee (Louis) De Boer ’74
HBO mogul
André De Shields ’70
Emmy and Tony Award–winning actor, Broadway actor (The Full Monty, Hadestown), director
August Derleth ’30
author
Howard Dratch ’67
filmmaker
Michael Feldman ’70
host of public radio show Whad’Ya Know?
Sandi Fellman MFA’75
photographer
Kitt Reuter Foss ’79, MA’82
opera singer
Jerome “Jerry” Frautschi ’56
donor of $205 million to create Madison’s Overture Center
Zona Gale 1895, MA1899
author; first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama (Miss Lulu Bett, 1921)
Libby Geist ’02
former vice president and executive producer, ESPN Films and Original Content
Lauren Goff MFA’06
award-winning fiction writer
Erica Gruen MS’75
former president and CEO, Food Network
Uta Hagen x’41, honorary doctorate ’00
Broadway actor and acting teacher
Emily Hahn ’26
adventurer and travel writer who helped introduce U.S. readers to China, author of more than 50 books
Jane Hammond MFA’77
artist
Lorraine Hansberry x’52
playwright, author (Raisin in the Sun)
Lisa Heller ’90
executive vice president of HBO documentary and family programming
Kevin Henkes x’83
children’s book author and illustrator; winner of the Caldecott Medal (Kitten’s First Full Moon, 2004)
Frieda High (a.k.a. Wasikhongo Tesfagiorgis) MFA’71
artist, scholar, educator
Mary Hinkson ’46, MS’47
dancer, dance teacher
Jim Hirsch ’69
Hollywood screenwriter and producer (The Incredible Hulk, Rome)
Lee Hoiby ’47
composer
Anders Holm ’03
actor who has starred in Workaholics and The Mindy Project
bell hooks MA’76
cultural critic, author, poet
Mac Huff ’77
choral arranger
William Immerman ’59
film studio executive
Jane Kaczmarek ’79
actor (Malcolm in the Middle)
Kelly Kahl ’89
president of CBS Entertainment
Ben Karlin ’93
television producer and writer (The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Modern Family)
Rocco Landesman ’69
Broadway producer and former chair, National Endowment for the Arts
Sherrie Levine MFA’73
artist
Steve Levitan ’84
TV writer, director, executive producer (Just Shoot Me!, Modern Family)
Truman Lowe MFA’73
sculptor, 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Michael Mann ’65
filmmaker (Public Enemies, The Insider, The Last of the Mohicans)
Fredric March ’20
Oscar-winning actor (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1931; The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946)
Steve Marmel ’88
comedian, writer, TV producer
Steve Miller x’67
rock singer (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 2016)
Thomas L. Miller ’62
TV writer/producer (Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Bosom Buddies, Perfect Strangers)
Walter Mirisch ’42
producer (The Magnificent Seven, In the Heat of the Night, West Side Story, The Apartment)
Linda Montano MFA’69
artist
Erroll Morris ’69
movie, cable TV, and documentary producer (The Thin BlueLine, Gates of Heaven, The Fog of War)
Bruce Nauman ’64
artist
Tracy Nelson ’67
country singer
Joyce Carol Oates MA’61
novelist
Hans Obma ’02
actor (Better Call Saul; known for expertise with accents and playing villains)
Zorba Paster ’69
public radio host (On Your Health)
Meinhardt Raabe ’37
actor (The Wizard of Oz)
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ’18
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Yearling
Nicole Rocklin ’01
producer who was part of team who won an Oscar for the movie Spotlight
Josh Sapan ’75
president and CEO, AMC Networks
Richard Schickel ’55
Time magazine film critic
Michael Schultz ’61
actor, director, filmmaker
Al Schwartz ’53
retired TV producer, longtime producer and director of the Golden Globe Awards and American Music Awards
Ben Sidran ’67
jazz pianist
Glenn Silber ’72
documentary filmmaker (The War at Home)
Boz Skaggs (William Royce) x’66
rock singer
Danez Smith ’12
award-winning poet who authored the collections [insert] Boy and Don't Call Us Dead: Poems, both of which have received multiple awards
Joey Soloway ’87
director, author, and GLBTQ+ activist who created the Amazon series Transparent, 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Brian Stack MA’88
writer for all three of Conan O’Brian’s shows and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Richard Steiner ’68
coproducer, Broadway musicals
Peter Straub ’65
gothic author, 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Susan Straub ’66
founder of New York City nonprofit Read to Me, 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
John Szarkowski ’48
photographer, former director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City
Brandon Taylor MS’17
former scientist turned award-winning novelist
Peter Tiboris ’70, MS’74
conductor and founder of Mid America Productions
Daniel J. Travanti ’63
Emmy Award–winning actor (Hill Street Blues)
Butch Vig ’80
music producer of bands (Nirvana, Garbage)
James Watrous ’31, MA’33, PhD’39
painter of Memorial Union’s Paul Bunyan murals
Eudora Welty ’2
author (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Optimist’s Daughter, 1973)
Allee Willis ’69
composer of hit songs such as “September” and the Friends theme song, noted collector of kitsch
Michael Wilmington x’68
Chicago Tribune film critic
Frank Lloyd Wright x1890
architect
David ’70 and Jerry ’72 Zucker
movie producers (Airplane, Naked Gun)
Athletics
Alan Ameche ’56
1954 Heisman trophy winner
Kenneth Behring ’51
former owner, Seattle Seahawks
Chris Borland ’13
prematurely left a promising NFL career because of concerns about CTE; is now an advocate for those with the disease
Steven Bornstein ’74
former president and CEO, National Football League
Ron Dayne x’00
1999 Heisman trophy winner
Harold “Bud” Foster ’30
longtime UW basketball coach
Suzy Favor Hamilton ’91
track star; competed in 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics
Eric Heiden x’81
Olympic speed skater
Phil Hellmuth Jr. x’86
professional poker player, youngest winner of the World Series of Poker
Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch x’45
UW football star
Beau Hoopman ’03
gold medalist, rowing, 2004 Olympics
Lee Kemp ’79, MBA’83
Wisconsin’s greatest wrestler, who missed his chance at Olympic gold when the U.S. withdrew from the 1980 Olympics
Rose Lavelle ’17
standout soccer player for the U.S. women’s team in 2019 World Cup
D. Wayne Lukas ’57, MS’60
trainer of thoroughbred race horses
Buddy Melges ’51
America’s Cup skipper
Eric Mueller ’94
silver medalist, rowing, 1996 Olympics
Carly Piper x’05
gold medalist, swimming, 2004 Olympics
George Poage 1903
African American medal winner in track, 1904 Olympics
Allan “Bud” Selig ’56
former commissioner, Major League Baseball; chairman, Selig Executive Leasing Corp.; former owner, Milwaukee Brewers
Judith Sweet ’69
first woman president of National Collegiate Athletic Association
Al Toon ’95
Badger wide receiver turned businessman
Professional football: Beau Allen, Zack Baun, Beau Benzschawel, Tyler Biadasz, Vince Biegel, Quintez Cephus, Jack Cichy, Corey Clement, Ryan Connelly, Michael Deiter, David Edwards, T. J. Edwards, Alex Erickson, Troy Fumagalli, Melvin Gordon, Ryan Groy, Rob Havenstein, Alec Ingold, Leon Jacobs, Natrell Jamerson, Dare Ogunbowale, Chris Orr, Ryan Ramczyk, Joe Schobert, Jonathan Taylor, JJ Watt, Russell Wilson
Professional hockey: Brian Elliott, Trent Frederic, Jake Gardiner, Wyatt Kalynuk, Luke Kunin, Jake McCabe, Ryan McDonagh, K’Andre Miller, Joe Pavelski, Justin Schultz, Brendan Smith, Craig Smith, Derek Stepan, Ryan Suter, Kyle Turris
Men’s professional basketball: Frank Kaminsky
Women’s professional basketball: Jolene Anderson, Rae Lin D’Alie, Marsha Howard, Taylor Wurtz
Women’s professional volleyball: Kelli Bates, Lauren Carlini, Tiffany Clark, Madison Duello, Lauryn Gillis, Romana Kriskova, Sheila Shaw, Tionna Williams
Business
Virgil Abloh ’03
founder of Off-White, artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s wear
Carol Bartz ’71
former chair, president and CEO of Yahoo! Inc.
Kenneth Behring ’51
former owner, Seattle Seahawks
Oscar C. Boldt ’48
chair, Boldt Group
Viveca Chan ’76
CEO of WE Marketing Group, China’s first international ad agency
Jerome A. Chazen ’48
founder and chair, Chazen Capital Partners; former CEO, Liz Claiborne Inc.
C. K. Chow ’72
former chair of Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing, which owns the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Paul J. Collins ’58
former vice chair, Citigroup, London
Susan A. Davis ’68
chair and CEO, Susan Davis International (public relations), Washington, DC
Kenny Dichter ’90
CEO, Wheels Up; 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Marshall Erdman ’48
architect and builder, protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright (x1890)
Thomas Falk ’80
former president and CEO, Kimberly-Clark Corp.
David W. Grainger ’50
senior chairman, W. W. Grainger Inc.
Elzie Higginbottom ’65
founder, chair, and CEO, East Lake Management
Stacy Igel ’99
founder and creative director, Boy Meets Girl
Aaron Kennedy MBA’89
founder and former chair and president, Noodles and Co.
Kenji Kitatani MA’78, PhD’81
president, Live Asia, Inc.
Kay Smith Koplovitz ’67
founder, USA Network
Erick Laine ’55
chair, former president, and CEO, Alcas Corp. (died Dec. 2020)
Joan Lappin ’64
founder and chair, Gramercy Capital Management
Michael Levin ’72
executive chair, Titan Steel; founder and CEO, NewView Technologies
Sheldon ’51, LLB’53 and Marianne x’54 Lubar
UW Board of Regents President 1997–98, former assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Sheldon), philanthropists; 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients
Marie Moody ’90
founder, Stella & Chewy’s raw pet-food company
John P. Morgridge ’55
former chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems, San Jose, California
David Nicholas ’83
president and CEO, Nicholas Co.
Arthur C. Nielsen Sr. ’18
founder, A. C. Nielsen Co.
Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. ’41
former chair emeritus, A. C. Nielsen Co.; former director, Dun & Bradstreet
Bill Nygren MS’81
mutual fund analyst and manager
Tadashi Okamura MBA’73
president and CEO, Toshiba Corp.
Steven Pogorzelski ’83
former president, Monster North America; CEO of Avention, Inc.
Tom Pyle MBA’63
chair and president, Pyle Group; former chair and CEO, Rayovac Corp.
Lee R. Raymond ’60
former chairman and CEO, ExxonMobil
John Rowe ’67, JD’70
president and CEO, Exelon Corp.
Bob Schlicht ’73
former president, M&I Bank
Toni Sikes MS’83
founder, president and CEO, Guild.com
Carol Skornicka ’62, MS’64, JD’77
former senior vice president, Midwest Express Airlines
Joan Edelman Spero ’66
former president, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Peter Tong MA’65
high-tech entrepreneur; senior advisor at Arsenal Capital Partners
Charlie Trotter ’82
chef and owner of Charlie Trotter’s restaurant, Chicago (died Nov. 2013)
Scott Vandersanden EMBA’00
president, AT&T Wisconsin
Peter Weil ’70, JD’74
Los Angeles–based attorney, 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Duane Zitzner ’70
former vice president, Hewlett-Packard
Education
Carolyn “Biddy” Martin PhD’85
former chancellor, UW–Madison; now president of Amherst College
Kit Saunders Nordeen MS’66, PhD’77
first UW women’s athletic director
Frederick Jackson Turner 1884, MA1888
historian who devised the “frontier thesis” about the American West
David Ward MS’62, PhD’63
former chancellor, UW–Madison
Helen C. White PhD’24
pioneering English professor at UW–Madison
John Wiley MS’65, PhD’69
former chancellor, UW–Madison
Government and Politics
U.S. senators: Tammy Baldwin JD’89, Wisconsin
Former U.S. vice president: Dick Cheney PhDx’68
Former U.S. senators: Russ Feingold ’75, Wisconsin; Jon Blair Hunter ’64, MS’66, West Virginia; Herb Kohl ’56, Wisconsin; Robert Marion La Follette Jr. x’17, Wisconsin; Charles Robb ’61, Virginia
U.S. representatives: Jason Crow ’02, Colorado; Bill Foster ’76, Illinois; Glenn Grothman ’77, JD’83, Wisconsin; Jim Jordan ’86, Ohio; Marcy Kaptur ’68, Ohio; Debbie Lesko ’81, Arizona; Mark Pocan ’86, Wisconsin; Bryan Steil JD’07, Wisconsin
Former U.S. representatives: Tammy Baldwin JD’89, Wisconsin; Tom Barrett BA’76, JD’80, Wisconsin; M. Bob Carr ’65, JD’68, Michigan; Mark Green JD’87, Wisconsin; Steve Gunderson ’73, Wisconsin; Steve Kagan ’72, MD’76, Wisconsin; Bob Kastenmeier LLB’52, Wisconsin; Scott Klug MBA’90, Wisconsin; Debbie Lesko ’81, Arizona; David Obey BA’76, JD’80, Wisconsin; F. James Sensenbrenner JD’68, Wisconsin
Governors: Tony Evers ’73, MS’76, PhD’86, Wisconsin.
Former governors: James Doyle ’67, Wisconsin; Lee Dreyfus ’49, MA’52, PhD’58, Wisconsin; Phillip Fox La Follette LLB’22, Wisconsin; Richard Lamm ’57, Colorado; Patrick Lucey ’46, Wisconsin; Russell Peterson ’38, PhD’42, Delaware; Tommy Thompson ’63, JD’66, Wisconsin
Mayors: Cavalier Johnson ’09, Milwaukee
Former mayors: Sue Bauman ’65, JD’81, MS’81, Madison; Tom Barrett BA’74, JD’80, Milwaukee; Dave Cieslewicz ’81, Madison; George Forster ’28, Madison; Laura Miller ’80, Dallas, John Norquist ’71, MA’88, Milwaukee; Paul Soglin ’66, JD’72, Madison; Sergio Fajardo Valderrama MA’81, PhD’84, Medellín, Colombia
Others: Iajuddin Ahmed MS’58, PhD’62, former president of Bangladesh
Thomas Barnett ’84
Pentagon adviser; senior strategic researcher, Naval War College
Charlene Barshefsky ’72
former U.S. trade representative
Jodie (Joan) Zeldes Bernstein ’48
former director, Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection
Cecil Blake PhD’76
former chief government spokesperson, minister of information and broadcasting, Sierra Leone
Lynne Vincent Cheney PhD’70
spouse of vice president Dick CheneyPhDx’68, former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities
Florence Chenoweth MS’70, PhD’86
former minister of Agriculture in Liberia
Piyabutr Cholvijarn ’72
president of Kenan Institute of Asia, former president and CEO of Union Bank of Bangkok
Ada Deer ’57
former head of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs
Lawrence Eagleburger ’52, MS’57
former secretary of state, diplomat
Abdel Rahman Hamad MS’72, PhD’75
former Palestinian minister of housing
JoAnn Jones ’82, MS’83, JD’87
former president, Ho-Chunk Nation
Richard Jones MS’76, PhD’80
former ambassador to Lebanon
Robert M. La Follette 1879
former Wisconsin governor and congressman, leader of Progressive movement
John Lange ’71, JD’75
former ambassador to Botswana
Jon Leibowitz ’80
lawyer who served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission
Patrick Lucey ’46
former U.S. ambassador to Mexico
Doris Meissner ’63, MA’69
former head of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Gaylord Nelson LLB’42
former Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator, founder of Earth Day
Vel Phillips LLB’51
first woman and African American elected to Milwaukee’s Common Council, first African American judge in Wisconsin, first woman and African American to serve as Wisconsin’s secretary of state
Joy Newberger Picus ’51
former Los Angeles city council member
Kate Hamilton Pier LLB1887
attorney and first woman in the U.S. to be granted a judicial appointment (commissioner of Milwaukee County Circuit Court)
Conchita Poncini-Jimenez MS’64
former president, Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on the Status of Women
Rafael Rangel-Sostmann MS’67, PhD’73
former rector of Mexico’s Monterrey Institute of Technology
Daniel Speckhard ’80, MA’82, MS’83
former ambassador to Greece and to the Republic of Belarus; now president and CEO of Corus International, an ensemble of faith-based organizations
Tommy Thompson ’63, JD’66
former Wisconsin governor, former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, current interim president of the UW System
Hung-mao Tien MA’66, PhD’69
former minister of foreign affairs, Taiwan
Frances Ulmer ’69, JD’72
former lieutenant governor, Alaska
Jean Wilkowski ’44
former ambassador, 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Yeshey Zimba ’75, MA’76
former prime minister, Bhutan
Journalism and Media
Lynsey Addario ’95
Pulitzer Prize–winning photojournalist known for war photography
Stephen E. Ambrose ’57, PhD’63
author, biographer, historian
Avi (Edward Wortis) ’59, MA’62
children’s author, Newbery Medal winner
Lowell Bergman ’66
former 60 Minutes producer, Pulitzer Prize winner as New York Times journalist
Deborah Blum MA’82
author, Pulitzer Prize winner
Walt Bogdanich ’75
60 Minutes producer, New York Times investigative editor, Pulitzer Prize winner, 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Steven Bornstein ’74
chair, GO.com; former head of ABC Sports
Rita Braver ’70
national reporter, CBS News
William Broad MA’77
Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, New York Times
Jane Brody MS’63
health columnist, New York Times
Christopher Bury MA’77
former correspondent and backup anchor for ABC News’ Nightline, now with Al Jazeera America
Kelly Cobiella ’93
CBS Evening News correspondent
John Darnton ’67
Pulitzer Prize winner and writer for the New York Times
William Evjue x1906
founder of the Capital Times
Jason Gay ’92
Wall Street Journal sports columnist and rabid Badger fan
John Geddes MA’76
comanaging editor, New York Times
Peter Greenberg ’72
chief travel correspondent, Travel Channel; travel editor, Today
Jeff Greenfield ’64
news analyst, CNN
Ina Jaffe ’72
NPR correspondent
Carrie Johnson MA’96
NPR justice correspondent
Haynes Johnson MS’56
author and journalist; former columnist, Washington Post; Pulitzer Prize winner
Kay Koplovitz ’67
former president and CEO, USA network
Belle Case La Follette 1879, LLB1885
journalist, Progressive movement leader
Dale Lang ’55
former chair, Lang Communications (published Working Woman magazine)
David Maraniss x’71
Pulitzer Prize–winning associate editor, Washington Post; author
Bruce (Rudy) Martzke ’64
former sports columnist, USA Today
Patricia McConnell ’81, MS’84, PhD’88
former cohost, Calling All Pets, Wisconsin Public Radio; author
Robert D. McFadden ’60
Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, New York Times
Karl E. Meyer ’51
editor, World Policy Journal; former reporter and member of editorial board, New York Times
Edwin Newman ’40
author, journalist
Eric Newhouse ’67
Pulitzer Prize winner
Pongsak Payakvichien MA’71
Thai newspaper-journalism pioneer
David Pittle MS’65, PhD’69
former senior vice president of technical policy, Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports)
Manu Raju ’02
senior congressional correspondent for CNN
Steven Raymer ’67, MA’71
former director, National Geographic Society News Service
Ben Relles ’97
head of unscripted programming, YouTube Originals (got his start with “Obama Girl” video)
Rhonda Wolter Rowland ’84
video producer and former CNN medical correspondent
Richard Schickel ’55
book author; former movie critic, Time/Life
Anthony Shadid ’90
journalist, Washington Post; Pulitzer Prize winner
Leonard Shapiro ’68
former sports columnist, Washington Post
Larry ‟Ratso” Sloman MS’72
journalist and author who has written about Bob Dylan, Mike Tyson, Harry Houdini, Howard Stern, and other colorful figures
William Siemering ’56, MS’60
a founder of National Public Radio, creator of All Things Considered
Robert Sims MA’71
former executive vice president, National Geographic Society
Steven Smith ’72
former CEO of Journal Communications, Milwaukee
Alair Townsend MS’64
former vice president and publisher, Crain’s New York Business
Greta Van Susteren ’76
attorney and former TV news anchor for CNN, Fox News, and NBC News; now political analyst with Gray Television
Mitchell Waldrop PhD’75, MA’77
author, public affairs specialist, National Science Foundation
Patricia K. Wells MA’72
cookbook editor and author; restaurant critic; former food editor, International Herald Tribune
Jonathan Wolman ’72
former editor and publisher, Detroit News; former executive editor and vice president, Associated Press
David Zweifel ’62
editor emeritus, Capital Times, Madison
Robert Leroy Bartley MS’62
editorial-page editor of the Wall Street Journal for more than 30 years
Justice
Shirley Abrahamson DJS’62
former chief justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
William Bablitch ’63, JD’68
former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Ann Walsh Bradley JD’76
justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Louis Butler JD’77
first African American Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
William Callow ’43, LLB’48
retired Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
Barbara B. Crabb ’60, LLB’62
chief U.S. district judge (semiretired), Western District of Wisconsin
Judith Dobkin ’65
prosecuting attorney, Chicago Justice Department Strike Force
James Doyle ’67
former attorney general, State of Wisconsin
Nathan S. Heffernan ’42, LLB’48
chief justice (retired), Wisconsin Supreme Court
Richard B. Lowe III ’64
former justice, New York Supreme Court
David T. Prosser Jr. JD’68
former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Mabel Watson Raimey 1918
believed to be the first Black woman to graduate from the UW and the first to practice law in Wisconsin
Donald W. Steinmetz ’49, JD’51
former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
J. B. Van Hollen JD’90
former attorney general, State of Wisconsin
Jon P. Wilcox JD’65
former justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Kashoua Kristy Yang JD’08
judge, Milwaukee Circuit Court; first Hmong American female judge in the nation
Medicine
Marci Bowers ’80
sought-after sex reassignment surgeon who is herself transgender
Helen Dickie ’35, MD’37
pulmonologist who helped identify “farmer’s lung” and helped eradicate TB on campus; one of the UW’s first female faculty members
Mary Lasker x’22
creator of the influential Lasker Foundation, which lobbied to strengthen cancer and other medical research
Harriett Goldhor Lerner ’66
psychologist, author
Abraham Maslow ’30, MA’31
psychologist, devised “hierarchy of needs” theory
Eilzabeth McCoy ’25, PhD’29
noted microbiologist who helped identify the first marketable strain of penicillin
Ann McKee ’75
expert in degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
Karl Menninger ’14, MS’15
psychiatrist; founder, Menninger Clinic
Linnea Smith ’81, MD’84
founder and medical director of Yanomono Medical Clinic in Peru, 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Kevin Thao ’06, MD’10, MPh’11
physician, Aspirus Wausau Family Medicine; faculty associate, UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Nonprofit Leaders
Paula Bonner MS’78
former president and CEO, Wisconsin Alumni Association
Josh Bycel ’93
founder, OneKidOneWorld; 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Kaleem Caire ’00 and Lisa Peyton-Caire ’96, MS’99
cofounders, Next Generation Education Foundation; 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients
Sarah Coglianese ’00
creator of #WhatWouldYouGive campaign
Abigail David, ’96, MS’98
director, Helping Hands Center; 2009 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Clayt Freed ’97
founder and director, Progressive Voter Network; 2009 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Shihoko Fujiwara ’03
coordinator with the Polaris Project, nonprofit organization that combats human trafficking; 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Matthew Geck ’92, MD’96
founder, SpineHope; 2009 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Zainab Ghadiyali ’12
cofounder of Wogrammer
Shana Hazan ’02
chief development officer, Jewish Family Services of San Diego
James Kass ’91
founder, Youth Speaks; 2008 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Steven Olikara ’12
founder and president, Millennial Action Project
Janet Olson ’92
founder, Basic Animal Rescue Training; 2008 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Roberto Rivera ’04
founder of Chicago-based The Good Life Organization
Ben Schumaker ’03, MS’06
founder, The Memory Project; 2008 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Kathy Dwyer Southern BBA’68, MA’72
former president and CEO, Capitol Children’s Museum, Washington, DC
Zoe Timms ’97
director, Women’s Education Program; 2009 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Neil Willenson ’92
CEO and founder, One Heartland; 2009 Forward under 40 Award recipient
Jake Wood ’05
founder of Team Rubicon, which mobilizes volunteers after natural disasters
Science
Fay Ajzenberg-Selove MS’49, PhD’52
physicist, recipient of 2007 National Medal of Science
Matthew Aliota ’05, PhD’10
expert in tropical mosquito-borne diseases including the Zika virus
Ethel K. Allen ’28, MS’30
coauthor of the “encyclopedia” of the role of legumes in nitrogen fixation
John Bardeen ’28, MS’29
winner, two Nobel Prizes in physics
Günter Blobel PhD’67
winner, 1999 Nobel Prize in medicine; head of cell biology lab at Rockefeller University in Manhattan
Laurel Clark ’83, MD’87
astronaut, space shuttle Columbia
Raymond Damadian ’56
inventor, magnetic resonance imager for diagnosis
Hector DeLuca MS’53, PhD’55
UW faculty, pioneer in synthesizing vitamin D
Matthew Desmond MS’04, PhD’10
Princeton sociologist who won a 2016 Pulitzer for the book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Carl Djerassi PhD’45
chemist, Stanford University professor; “father of the birth control pill”; novelist; playwright
James Dumesic ’71
discovered process for turning biomass into hydrogen
Conrad Elvehjem ’23, MS’24, PhD’27
former UW professor and president; discovered cure for pellagra
Thelma Estrin ’48, MS’49, PhD’52
pioneering engineer who introduced computing technology into medical research
Alice Evans MS1910
dairy researcher who was key in the advent of pasteurization
Fran Hamerstrom MS’40
pioneering wildlife ecologist who was one of the first women in the field, known for her research on raptors
David M. Jacobs MA’68, PhD’73
retired Temple University historian and ufologist known for his research and books on alleged alien abductions
Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller PhD’65
computer science pioneer who was the nation’s first woman (and possibly first person, male or female) to earn a PhD in computer science
Jack St. Clair Kilby MS’50
physicist; inventor; winner, Nobel Prize in physics
Charles Lindbergh x’24
aviator who completed the first solo trans-Atlantic flight
Karl Paul Link ’22, MS’23, PhD’25
discovered blood thinner dicumerol
Jim Lovell x’50
astronaut, Apollo 13 mission
Alan MacDiarmid MS’52, PhD’53
professor, University of Pennsylvania; winner, Nobel Prize in chemistry
John Muir x1863
naturalist, father of national park system
John Allen Paulos ’67, PhD’74
mathematician; author of 1989 bestseller, Innumeracy
George Schaller MS’57, PhD’62
animal behaviorist
Brewster Shaw ’68, MS’69
astronaut, space shuttle Columbia; former director, Space Shuttle Operations, NASA,
Fredrick J. Stare ’31, MS’33, PhD’34
founder of Harvard’s department of nutrition
Harry Steenbock MS’10, PhD’16
professor, discovered and patented vitamin D irradiation method
Adam Steltzner PhD’99
one of NASA’s top engineers who is leading the effort to find life on Mars
Paulina Stowhas MS’15
veterinarian and expert on human-wildlife conflicts
Margaret (Maggie) Turnbull ’98
astronomer who specializes in looking for life on habitable planets
Stephen Turner ’91
founder and chief technology officer of Pacific Biosciences, 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
Rupa Valdez ’03, MS’07, PhD’12
assistant professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia; founder, Blue Trunk Foundation