List of Washington State University people

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

Nobel laureates

  • Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize, 1970, recipient for "Green Revolution", honorary doctorate recipient from WSU
  • Irwin Rose, 1948, 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner for research in immune defense and proteins; discoveries may lead to development of drugs to combat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, and cervical cancer; first year of undergraduate study was at WSU; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2005
  • Mario Vargas Llosa, recipient of 2010 Nobel Prize in literature, visiting faculty, 1968–69

Notable alumni

Academe

Animal husbandry

The arts, literature and media

  • Sherman Alexie, 1994 B.A. American studies, author and filmmaker; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003
  • Rudy Autio, sculptor, best known for figurative ceramic vessels
  • Cindy Brunson, 1996 B.A. communications/broadcasting, ESPN anchor, Pac-12 Networks commentator
  • Ana Cabrera, 2004 B.A. communications, CNN reporter and anchor
  • Betty Feves, artist
  • Deborah Gardner, Peace Corps volunteer murdered in Tonga in 1976; subject of American Taboo by Philip Weiss
  • Art Gilmore, 1931, voice actor and announcer
  • Keith Jackson, 1954 B.A. sports communications, ABC-TV sports commentator; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1978
  • Edward Kienholz, pop art installation artist
  • Grace Kim, cofounder of Schemata Workshop architecture firm in Seattle; cohousing expert; author of The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship and Career Development; commissioner of the Seattle Planning Commission.
  • Gary Larson, 1972 B.A. communications, Far Side cartoonist; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1990
  • Blake Lewis, American Idol Season 6 runner-up
  • Dolph Lundgren, Swedish actor, studied chemical engineering for a year at Washington State
  • Scott MacDonald, television actor
  • Patrick F. McManus, outdoor humor writer; studied at Washington State College before it became Washington State University
  • Edward R. Murrow, 1930 B.A. speech, journalist for CBS; "father of television news broadcasting"; WWII radio correspondent; Hear It Now radio program host; See It Now television program host; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1963
  • Krist Novoselic, 2016 B.S. social sciences, founding member and bassist for grunge band Nirvana
  • Barry Serafin, 1986 B.A. humanities, ABC News correspondent; received WSU Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1991
  • D. C. Simpson, creator of webcomic Ozy and Millie and political cartoon I Drew This
  • Clyfford Still, 1935 MFA, abstract expressionist painter,
  • Frances Yeend, lyric soprano opera singer

Business

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

Government, law and politics

U.S. Senator Patty Murray
Former Congressman George Nethercutt

Humanities

Military

Science, space and technology

Sports and athletics

Notable faculty

  • Olusola Adesope, Boeing Distinguished Professor of STEM Education
  • James Asay, Institute of Shock Physics researcher; member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • LeRoy Ashby, regents professor of history; twice Washington Professor of the Year; author of With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830
  • Brett Atwood, print and online journalist; co-founder of Rolling Stone Radio; former managing editor at Amazon.com, RealNetworks and Billboard magazine
  • Buck Bailey, WSU baseball coach
  • Josephine Thorndike Berry, head of the Department of Home Economics, State College of Washington
  • V. N. Bhatia, former WSU Honors Program director; Knight of Denmark, Dannebrog Order
  • Anjan Bose, electrical engineering professor and former dean; developed training simulators and computational tools for reliable power-system operation; member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • Susmita Bose, Indian-American scientist and Herman and Brita Lindholm Endowed Chair Professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University
  • Asif J. Chaudhry, Vice President of International Programs, United States Ambassador to Moldova 2008–2011, also WSU Ag Econ PhD graduate 1988
  • Walter Clore, horticulture researcher; "father of the Washington wine industry"
  • Clint Cole, co-founder of Heartstream, creator of the first automatic external defibrillator (AED) for commercial use; co-founder of Digilent, a local Pullman electronics manufacturer
  • R. James Cook, plant pathologist, cropping systems and biotechnology researcher; led first field test of a genetically modified organism in the Pacific Northwest; member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Alfred W. Crosby, professor of history 1966–1977; coined the term "Columbian exchange" in his 1972 book of the same name; considered a founder of the field of environmental history[4]
  • Rodney Croteau, leader in biosynthesis of cancer-fighting Taxol; expert on terpenoids; member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • J. Thomas Dickinson, physicist, known for work in fracture, tribology and laser interactions with materials; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • William Henry Dietz ("Lone Star Dietz"), WSU football coach; won first annual Rose Bowl; professional football coach
  • Don A. Dillman, sociologist; Regents Professor; Foley Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Policy; major contributor to modern survey methods; past president of the American Association of Public Opinion Research; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Gabriel Fielding, author in residence and professor of English.
  • Elson S. Floyd, professor of Higher Education Administration; president of Washington State University
  • Roald H. Fryxell, WSU professor of geoarchaeology in the Department of Anthropology; namesake of the Fryxell crater on the Moon
  • Norman S. Golding, food scientist, inventor of Cougar Gold cheese
  • Jeffrey Gramlich, professor of accounting
  • Yogendra Gupta, physicist, director of WSU Institute for Shock Physics; Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • John Hirth, mechanical and materials engineer; characterized and modeled the behavior of materials at atomic and microstructural levels, including thin film formation useful to the semiconductor industry; member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • Alexander Kuo, humanities and creative writing professor; author; writer-in-residence
  • Mark G. Kuzyk, physicist, discoverer of the Kuzyk limit and the Kuzyk quantum gap
  • Kelvin Lynn, materials scientist, renowned for "positron annihilation" research; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • John M. Madsen, former dean and general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Armand Mauss, former professor of sociology and religious studies; frequently published works relating to Mormonism
  • Amy Mazur, Claudius O. and Mary W. Johnson Distinguished Professor in Political Science[5]
  • Frances K. McSweeney, psychologist known for work on behavior and reinforcement, with findings on short-term changes in reinforcer effectiveness; WSU Meyer Distinguished Professor of Psychology; Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis
  • Sue Peabody, Meyer Distinguished Professor of history
  • Charles Pezeshki (Dr. Chuck), WSU professor of mechanical and materials engineering, 1998–present; past chair of the University Faculty Senate; founder and director of the Industrial Design Clinic
  • Bhakta B. Rath, assistant professor of metallurgy and material Science; material physicist; head of the Materials Science and Component Technology of the United States Naval Research Laboratory
  • V. Lane Rawlins, professor of economics and WSU president emeritus
  • Cecilia Richards, mechanical engineer, known for her work on small-scale heat engines and on microelectromechanical systems
  • Clarence A. "Bud" Ryan Jr., isolated and synthesized systemin, first polypeptide hormone found in plants, and discovered that plants produce natural insecticides in response to pest attacks; member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Michael Skinner, molecular and reproduction biologist; made discoveries in epigenetics including reduction in male fertility for four generations; his findings appeared in Discover magazine's "100 top science stories of 2005"
  • Samuel H. Smith, WSU President Emeritus; former NATO post-doctoral fellow
  • William Jasper Spillman, WSU professor of agriculture; wheat breeder; independently rediscovered Mendel's Law of Heredity; "father of agricultural economics
  • Clyfford Still, abstract expressionist painter, Clyfford Still Museum, Denver
  • Matthew Avery Sutton, WSU Professor of History; scholar of American evangelism
  • Mario Vargas Llosa, recipient of 2010 Nobel Prize in literature, Visiting Faculty, 1968-69
  • Orville Vogel, WSU and USDA wheat breeder; developer of semi-dwarf wheat varieties that fueled the Green Revolution; recipient of the National Medal of Science
  • Diter von Wettstein, plant geneticist; internationally recognized for genetically modifying barley for brewing processes and disease resistance; National Academy of Sciences foreign associate; member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences
  • Allen I. White, WSU professor of pharmacy faculty 1940–1960; dean of the WSU College of Pharmacy 1960–1979; pioneered off-campus training for the college

Notable regents

References

  1. ^ Doughery, Phil. "D.B. Tuber". History Link.
  2. ^ Esteban, Michelle (10 October 2014). "D.B. Tuber dedicates life to warn others of dangers of drugs". KOMO news.
  3. ^ "Nirvana | Music". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  4. ^ Harrison Smith (2018-04-05). "Alfred Crosby, environmental historian of 'Columbian exchange,' dies at 87". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  5. ^ Aumen, Adrian (2016-04-13). "WSU professor leads international study of women's rights". WSU Insider. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Washington State University
Located in: Pullman, Washington
Academics
AthleticsCampusesMediaStudent lifePeople
Miscellaneous
  • Founded: 1890