The following is a list of encyclopedic people associated with the University of Arizona. Notable alumni include a former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the former U.S. Surgeon General, the creator of the television series "Sesame Street" and founder of the Children's Television Workshop, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Major League Baseball team, and several NASA astronauts.

Notable alumni and former students

Law, politics, and government

• Richard Carmona - former U.S. Surgeon General
• Raul Hector Castro - (JD 1949) former Governor of Arizona and ambassador to Argentina under U.S. President Jimmy Carter
• Dennis DeConcini - former U.S. Senator from Arizona (1977-1995)
• David Dewhurst - Lieutenant Governor of Texas
• Bob Dole - former U.S. Senator
• Paul Fannin - former Governor of Arizona (1955-1965) and U.S. Senator from Arizona (1965-1977)
• Samuel Pearson Goddard, Jr. - (JD 1949) former Governor of Arizona (1965-1967)
• Barry Goldwater - former U.S. Senator
• Jon Kyl (BA 1964, JD 1966) - U.S. Senator from 1995-present, former United States Representative from Arizona (1987-1995)
• Steve Soboroff - President, Playa Vista; Former Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Los Angeles; Former Los Angeles Parks Commissioner; Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles (2001)
• Morris K. Udall (JD 1949) - former U.S. Congressman, professional basketball player
• Stewart Udall (JD 1948) - former U.S. Congressman, former Secretary of the Interior under U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson

Religion

• Spencer W. Kimball - former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church)

Academia

• William Rathje (1967) - archaeologist & garbologist. A retired faculty member
• Marilyn C. Solvay (1973) - Museum Director, Art-Historian, Professor, Author, and Scholar

Arts & media

• Denise Austin: Exercise Consultant, Television Host
• Samaire Armstrong - actress
• Jerry Bruckheimer - film and television producer
• Joan Ganz Cooney - Creator of Sesame Street, founder of the Children's Television Workshop
• Ted DeGrazia - American impressionist painter, sculptor, and lithographer
• George Gray (game show host)
• Rob Hyland - actor
• J.A. Jance - mystery writer
• Nicole Randall Johnson - actress & comedian
• Barbara Kingsolver - author, local resident and activist, married to a UA faculty member
• Greg Kinnear (1985) - actor
• Kitty Kelley - author
• Aline Kominsky-Crumb (BFA) - underground comic book creator
• Kevin Leman (BS, MA, PhD) - psychologist and best-selling author
• Harvey Mason - famous musician (drummer) on the soul and jazz scene
• Linda McCartney - photographer
• Labina Mitevska - Macedonian actress
• Craig T. Nelson - actor
• Brian Ralston - Film score composer
• Nicole Richie - Actress
• Caroline Rhea - actress & comedian
• Linda Ronstadt - 11-time Grammy award winning singer
• Geraldo Rivera (1965) - talk show host, television journalist
• Richard Russo - Pulitzer Prize winner for his novel Empire Falls
• Rico Saccani - Cconductor
• Fritz Scholder - late Native American artist
• Garry Shandling - actor & comedian
• Ron Shelton - film screenwriter & director
• Richard Siken - (MFA poetry 1994) won the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, the oldest annual literary award in the U.S. 2004 marked the third time a UA alum won the prize.
• Vicki Lewis Thompson - author
• David Foster Wallace - author
• Kate Walsh - actress

Business

• Karl Eller - Arizona business leader and nationally recognized entrepreneur. Eller is also the namesake of the Eller College of Management.
• Rande Gerber, owner of Midnight Oil Bars and other nightlife businesses
• Terry Lundgren - CEO/Chairman of the Board/President/Director at Federated Department Stores, Inc., the parent company of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores
• Arturo Moreno - Owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Major League Baseball team, outdoor advertising entrepreneur
• Robert Sarver - Managing Partner, Majority Owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team. Director, SkyWest Airlines and Meritage Corporation.

Technology

• Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos - NASA astronomer and astrophysicist, Chief of Solar Physics Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, earned his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Arizona in 1968. He was a member of the team that worked on and built the International Ultraviolet Explorer and the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Don Pettit - NASA astronaut
• Ray Rafidi, Pie Fly
• Richard Scobee (1965) - late astronaut
• Cliff Stoll (Ph.D., 1980) - astronomer & Klein bottle manufacturer
• Paul Wehrle - physician who helped develop of methods to prevent and treat polio and smallpox

Athletics

• Hassan Adams - NBA player (New Jersey Nets)
• Brian N. Anderson - MLB center fielder for the Chicago White Sox.
• Gilbert Arenas - NBA All-Star with the Washington Wizards
• Marisa Baena- LPGA golfer
• Bob Baffert - 3-time Eclipse Award winner as outstanding horse trainer
• Adia Barnes- Former WNBA player
• Jason Bates - former Major League Baseball infielder
• Michael Bates - 5-time Pro Bowl kick returner and Bronze medal winner in the 200 meters during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona
• Amanda Beard - Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Mike Bell - NFL running back for the Denver Broncos.
• Lance Briggs - NFL Pro Bowl linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
• Tedy Bruschi - three-time Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots
• Mike Bibby - NBA point guard for the Atlanta Hawks.
• Kurt Busch - NASCAR driver for Penske Racing (attended but did not graduate).
• Antoine Cason - CB for the San Diego Chargers. 2007 Jim Thorpe Award winner.
• Joe Cavaleri - The Ooh-Aah Man
• George DiCarlo - Arizona's first Olympic Gold Medal winner, 400 Meter Freestyle and Silver Medal 1500 Meter Freestyle. Two time NCAA Champion 500 Yard Freestyle
• Sean Elliott - World Champion NBA player with the San Antonio Spurs. Graduated from Cholla High School in Tucson, AZ.
• Jennie Finch - Olympic Gold Medal winning professional women's softball pitcher
• Abdihakem Abdirahman- American long-distance runner and U.S. 2008 Olympic Trials 10,000 meter champion
• Nick Folk - kicker for the Dallas Cowboys
• Terry Francona - manager of the 2004 World Series Champions Boston Red Sox
• Brenda Frese - Head women's basketball coach at Maryland (2006 national champs)
• Channing Frye - NBA player (New York Knicks)
• Jim Furyk - PGA Tour golfer and 2003 U.S. Open Winner
• Robert Gamez - PGA Tour golfer
• Natalie Gulbis - LPGA golfer
• Chip Hale - former Major League Baseball player & present coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks
• Ron Hassey - former Major League Baseball player of 14 years and present coach for the Seattle Mariners
• Chris Henry - running back for the Tennessee Titans
• Alicia Hollowell - former University of Arizona national champion softball pitcher
• Trevor Hoffman - 6 Time All-Star MLB pitcher. All-time Major League save record holder
• Jack Howell - retired Major League Baseball player of 11 years
• Andre Iguodala - NBA player (Philadelphia 76ers)
• Richard Jefferson - NBA player (New Jersey Nets) Member of the 2001 Final Four Team
• Jay John - Former Arizona men's basketball assistant coach; former Oregon State men's basketball head coach
• Vance Johnson - NFL player (Denver Broncos)
• Steve Kerr - five-time NBA champion (Chicago Bulls - 3, San Antonio Spurs - 2)
• Spencer Larsen - NFL Linebacker for the Denver Broncos
• Kenny Lofton - MLB player (Los Angeles Dodgers). He also played for the Wildcats basketball team.
• Chris McAlister - NFL Super Bowl Champion cornerback with the Baltimore Ravens.
• Josh Miller - NFL punter for the New England Patriots.
• Ryk Neethling - Nine-time NCAA National Champion in men's swimming, Arizona Athlete of the Year and PAC-10 Athlete of the Year for four consecutive years, 1999 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, University of Arizona Athlete of the Century, 2004 Summer Olympics Gold Medalist in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay with a world record 3:13.17 performance
• Dennis Northcutt - NFL wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars
• Lorena Ochoa - LPGA golfer
• Antonio Pierce - NFL Linebacker for the New York Giants
• Todd Pletcher (1989) ? Leading thoroughbred trainer; three-time Eclipse Award winner
• DaShon Polk - NFL linebacker for the Houston Texans
• Dan Pohl - Former PGA Golfer
• Don Pooley - Former PGA Golfer
• Rory Sabbatini - PGA Tour Golfer
• J.T. Snow - Former MLB player and 6-time Rawlings Golden Glove Award winner
• Annika Sörenstam - Arguably the greatest female golfer of all time
• Mike Springer - PGA Golfer
• Damon Stoudamire - NBA player (Memphis Grizzlies)
• Salim Stoudamire (2005) - NBA player (Atlanta Hawks)
• Jason Terry - NBA player (Dallas Mavericks)
• Tom Tolbert - former NBA player and current NBA broadcast analyst
• Amy Van Dyken Gold Medalist swimmer in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games
• Bobby Wade - NFL wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings
• Luke Walton - NBA player (L.A. Lakers), son of former NBA great Bill Walton, Member of the 2001 Final Four team

Notable former and current faculty and staff

• Nicolaas Bloembergen - Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1981.
• Gail Lee Bernstein - History. Considered one of the pioneers of Japanese women's studies.
• Mike Candrea - head softball coach, head coach for the 2004 gold medal U.S. Women's Olympic softball team
• David Chalmers - philosopher in the field of philosophy of mind.
• William G. Dever - biblical archaeologist.
• Rich Jorgensen - Professor of plant sciences, editor of The Plant Cell
• Keith Lehrer - (PhD) Professor of philosopher, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Fang Lizhi - Physics. Helped inspire China's 1989 Pro-Democracy Movement.
• Willis Lamb - Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1955.
• Andy Lopez - head baseball coach
• Lute Olson - head basketball coach
• Vernon L. Smith - former professor and economist whose research at UA for 26 years led to his honor as a Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2002.
• Andrew Weil - Director of the Program in Integrative Medicine, internal medicine professor, popular author.
• Arthur Winfree - theoretical biologist (died in 2002), winner 2000 Norbert Wiener Prize in Applied Mathematics
• Gerard P. Kuiper - astronomer, discovered various moons of Jovian planets and the Kuiper Belt.
• Bart Bok - astronomer
• Fulvio Melia - astrophysicist

References