Notable and Famous University of Iowa Alumni
By Ben Frotscher
For nearly 180 years, Hawkeyes have soared to the top of their fields. Here’s a look at some of our most notable and famous University of Iowa alumni.
At the University of Iowa, our alumni truly transform the world.
Many of our more than 310,000 Hawkeyes have gone on to achieve greatness in their fields—whether it’s in the arts, athletics, business, public service, science, and much more. These individuals—who have made extraordinary contributions to their professions—represent some of our most notable and famous University of Iowa alumni.
While their paths are unique, they all share a common connection to Iowa. Explore their stories and learn more about some of our University of Iowa notable alumni.
Click or tap on a category to interact below.
PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM
B.J. Armstrong (89BA)
- Iowa men’s basketball point guard on four NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight
- Played 12 seasons in the NBA
- Three-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls
PHOTO: hawkeyesports.com
Ed Banach (83BGS)
- Three-time NCAA wrestling champion for Iowa
- Four-time All-American
- 1984 Olympic gold medalist
PHOTO: Hawkeye Recap
Lou Banach (83BGS)
- Two-time NCAA wrestling champion for Iowa
- 1984 Olympic gold medalist
PHOTO: Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com
Tom Brands (92BS)
- Three-time NCAA wrestling champion for Iowa
- 1996 Olympic gold medalist
- Four-time NCAA champion as Iowa men’s wrestling coach
PHOTO: hawkeyesports.com
Caitlin Clark (24BBA)
- NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer for women’s basketball
- No. 1 pick in 2024 WNBA Draft
- Indiana Fever point guard
PHOTO: hawkeyesports.com
Dallas Clark (07BA)
- 2002 John Mackey Award winner, which honors the most outstanding college football tight end
- Super Bowl XLI champion for the Indianapolis Colts
PHOTO: UI Archives
Chuck Darling (52BA)
- 1952 Big Ten MVP, All-American for Iowa men’s basketball
- Letterwinner for both men’s basketball, track and field
- Member of gold medal-winning 1956 Olympic men’s basketball team
PHOTO: hawkeyesports.com
Cooper DeJean
- 2023 unanimous All-American college football player
- Super Bowl LIX champion
- Philadelphia Eagles cornerback
PHOTO: Robert Pernett/Wikimedia Commons
Lou Holtz (62MA)
- Graduate assistant coach, graduate student at Iowa
- Former head football coach for six different programs
- Led Notre Dame football to 1988 national championship
- TV college football analyst
PHOTO: RADIO HALL OF FAME
Harry Kalas (59BA)
- Voice of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1971 to 2009
- 2002 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame
PHOTO: IOWA DIGITAL LIBRARY
Nile Kinnick Jr. (40BA)
- 1939 Heisman Trophy recipient
- Died in World War II
- Iowa’s football stadium was named in his honor in 1972
PHOTO: University of Iowa 1964 Yearbook
Paul Krause
- Two-way starter for Iowa football, also played baseball
- NFL leader for most interceptions in a career (81)
- 1969 NFL champion with the Minnesota Vikings
PHOTO: UI Archives
Ronnie Lester (81BGS)
- Led Iowa men’s basketball to the 1980 Final Four
- Member of NBA champion 1985 Los Angeles Lakers team
PHOTO: Ryan Soderlin/Rapid City Journal
Randy Lewis (88BGS)
- Two-time NCAA wrestling champion for Iowa
- 1984 Olympic gold medalist
PHOTO: IWCOA.NET
Terry McCann (57BSC)
- Two-time NCAA wrestling champion for Iowa
- 1960 Olympic gold medalist
PHOTO: Iowa Now
Don Nelson (64BS)
- Iowa men’s basketball all-time leading scorer at the end of his college career
- Eight-time NBA champion as player and coach
- 2012 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
PHOTO: hawkeyesports.com
Ed Podolak (69BBA)
- 1968 All-Big Ten for Iowa football at running back
- Super Bowl IV champion with the Kansas City Chiefs
- Long-time play-by-play announcer for Iowa football
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Eddie Robinson (54MA)
- Head coach of Grambling State University football for 55 years
- Third all-time winningest college football coach
- 1997 College Football Hall of Fame inductee
PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM
George Saling (32BSC)
- 1932 NCAA champion in the 110-meter hurdles at Iowa
- 1932 Olympic champion in the 110-meter hurdles
PHOTO: hawkeyesports.com
Bob Stoops (83BBA)
- All-Big Ten defensive back for football
- 2000 national champion head coach at Oklahoma
- Assistant football coach under Hayden Fry, Iowa's head football coach from 1979-1998
PHOTO: UIowa Libraries
Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (1925BA, 1927MA)
- First ghostwriter for Nancy Drew series
- 2001 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America
PHOTO: Cinematic arts at UIowa.edu
Scott Beck (07BA)
- Co-wrote the critically acclaimed horror film A Quiet Place
- Written 20 feature films, short films, and television shows with fellow alum Bryan Woods (07BA)
PHOTO: Uiowa.edu
T.C. Boyle (74MFA, 77PhD)
- Published 31 novels and more than 150 short stories
- 1988 PEN/Faulkner Award for his novel World’s End
PHOTO: UI Libraries
Tom Brokaw (10LHD)
- Anchor and managing editor for NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004
- 11-time Emmy Award winner, as well as 2004 Lifetime Achievement Emmy
PHOTO: Iowa Now
Mitchell Burgess (78BA)
- Producer for The Sopranos and Blue Bloods, amongst others
- Three-time Primetime Emmy Award winner
PHOTO: Jay Dixit/Wikimedia Commons
Brooke Busey (00BA)
- Pen name is Diablo Cody
- 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Juno
- 2020 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Jagged Little Pill
PHOTO: Uiowa.edu
Sandra Cisneros (78MFA)
- Novel The House on Mango Street won the 1985 American Book Award
- 1995 MacArthur Fellow
PHOTO: Anneli Salo/Wikimedia Commons
Michael Cunningham (80MFA)
- Novel The Hours won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award
- Professor in the practice of creative writing at Yale University
PHOTO: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
Rita Dove (77MFA, 22LHD)
- 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Former U.S. Poet Laureate
- Author of Thomas and Beulah and the Darker Face of the Earth
PHOTO: Uiowa Facebook
Robin Green (77MFA)
- Writer and executive producer for The Sopranos
- Co-creator and executive producer for Blue Bloods
PHOTO: Cinematic arts at uiowa.edu
Donald Hall (91BFA)
- Animation film director, voice actor, and writer for Walt Disney Animation Studios and Skydance Animation
- 2015 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Big Hero 6
PHOTO: IOWA WRITERS' WORKSHOP
Paul Harding (00MFA)
- Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for debut novel Tinkers
- Visiting faculty member in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
PHOTO: Uiowa.edu
Joy Harjo (78MFA)
- 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate
- Author of 10 books of poetry and three children’s books
PHOTO: John Bollwitt/Flickr
W.P. Kinsella (78MFA)
- Author of critically acclaimed best seller Shoeless Joe
- Novel was adapted into the movie Field of Dreams in 1989
PHOTO: Dr. Jost Hindersmann/Wikimedia Commons
John Irving (67MFA)
- Four novels have reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list
- Author of The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules
- Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his script of the film adaptation of The Cider House Rules
PHOTO: Peabody Awards/Wikimedia Creative Commons
David Milch (70MFA)
- Writer and producer of several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood
- Four Primetime Emmy Awards
PHOTO: writing.uiowa.edu
Flannery O’Connor (47MFA)
- Published two novels, two short-story collections, and more than 100 book reviews
- Posthumously won the 1972 National Book Award for Fiction for The Complete Stories
PHOTO: Alessio Jacona/Wikimedia Commons
Ann Patchett (87MFA)
- 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award winner for novel Bel Canto
PHOTO: events.uiowa.edu
PHOTO: writersworkshop.uiowa.edu
Marilynne Robinson (17LHD)
- Novel Gilead won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- National Humanities Medal recipient in 2012 and Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction recipient in 2016
- Taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop for 25 years
PHOTO: Larry D. Moore/Wikimedia Commons
Jane Smiley (75MA, 76MFA, 79PhD)
- Novel A Thousand Acres won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- Elected as a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001
PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
Wallace Stegner (32MA, 35PhD)
- Novel Angle of Repose won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- Novel The Spectator Bird won the 1977 National Book Award for Fiction
PHOTO: IMDB.com
Daniel Weiss (98MFA)
- Co-creator of Game of Thrones
- Six Primetime Emmy Awards
PHOTO: Library of Congress
Tennessee Williams (38BA)
- Author of A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- Two Tony Awards for Best Play: The Rose Tattoo and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- 1979 American Theater Hall of Fame inductee
PHOTO: Iowa Now
Bryan Woods (07BA)
- Co-wrote the critically acclaimed horror film A Quiet Place
- Written 20 feature films, short films, and television shows with fellow alum Scott Beck (07BA)
PHOTO: UI Flickr
Simon Estes (86BM)
- Bass baritone opera singer who has performed for world leaders and U.S. presidents
- Performed for multiple seasons with the New York Metropolitan Opera
PHOTO: Iowa Now
Al Jarreau (64MA)
- 1982 Grammy Award winner for best male pop performance
- Ten Grammy Awards as a jazz and R&B singer
PHOTO: Cinematic arts at uiowa.edu
Mark Johnson (73MA)
- Film and television producer who won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture and 1989 Golden Globe for Rain Man
- Two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner as producer for Breaking Bad
PHOTO: cinematic arts at uiowa.edu
Ashton Kutcher
- TV and film actor
- Starred in That '70s Show and Two and a Half Men
PHOTO: theatre at uiowa.edu
Nicholas Meyer (68BA)
- Author, director, and screenwriter best known for two of the Star Trek feature films
- Wrote best-selling detective novel The Seven Percent Solution
PHOTO: CREDIT
Brandon Routh
- TV and film actor
- Starred as Superman in 2006 film Superman Returns
PHOTO: cinematic arts at uiowa.edu
Joe Russo (92BA)
- Director and writer for movies and TV shows such as Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Arrested Development
PHOTO: lectures at uiowa.edu
Morgan Sackett (23BA)
- Three-time Primetime Emmy Award winner as producer for VEEP, Parks and Recreation, and The Good Place
PHOTO: Music at uiowa.edu
David Sanborn
- Alto saxophonist who won six Grammy Awards
- Played on albums for Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, and more
PHOTO: stories at uiowa.edu
Harper Steele (85BA)
- Writer for Saturday Night Live for 13 years
- Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program (Saturday Night Live)
PHOTO: libraries at uiowa.edu
Gene Wilder (55BA)
- Starred in Starred in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein
PHOTO: wikimedia commons
David Armbruster Sr. (1920BA, 1931MA)
- Head coach of Iowa men’s swimming and diving from 1917 to 1958
- Invented the butterfly stroke in 1935
PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
George Gallup (1923BA, 1925MA, 1928PhD, 67LLD)
- Created the Gallup Poll, which measures public attitudes toward economic, political, and social issues
- Life Magazine named him one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century
PHOTO: UI COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
E.F. Lindquist (27PhD)
- Former UI College of Education professor
- Creator of the ACT and other standardized tests
PHOTO: Dian Nissen/Wikimedia Commons
George Nissen (37BSC)
- Won three NCAA men’s gymnastics titles at Iowa
- Invented the modern-day trampoline
PHOTO: engineering at uiowa.edu
Harry Olson (1924BE, 1925MS, 1928 PhD, 1932EE)
- More than 100 patents granted in his name
- Created magnetic tape recorders for sound and television, the electronic music synthesizer, and underwater sound equipment
PHOTO: stories at uiowa.edu
Ignacio Ponseti (44R, 07DSC)
- Created a non-surgical method for treating babies and infants with clubfoot
- Trained more than 200 residents and fellows on what is now known as the Ponseti Method
PHOTO: engineering at uiowa.edu
James Van Allen (36MS, 39PhD)
- Long-time professor and head of the physics department at Iowa
- Discovered Earth’s radiation belts in 1958 using instruments on the Explorer 1 and 3 satellites
- Received the 1987 National Medal of Science—the highest U.S. honor in science
PHOTO: center for intellectual freedom at uiowa.edu
Terry Branstad (69BA)
- 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa, serving 22 years
- Former U.S. Ambassador to China
PHOTO: UI archive
George Clarke (1878LLB)
- 21st governor of Iowa
- Nile Kinnick was his grandson
PHOTO: Target
Michael Fiddelke (99BSE)
- CEO of Target
- Serves on the executive committee of the National Retail Federation and on the board of the Retail Industry Leaders Association
PHOTO: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Charles Grassley
- Pursued a PhD in political science at Iowa
- U.S. senator for the state of Iowa since 1981
PHOTO: UI Archive
Leo Hoegh (1929BA, 1932JD)
- 33rd governor of Iowa
- Former National Security Council member
PHOTO: IUI Archive
Harold Hughes
- Attended Iowa on a football scholarship
- 36th governor of Iowa
PHOTO: UI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
PHOTO: engineering at uiowa.edu
Kelly Ortberg (82BSME)
- Former president and CEO of Rockwell Collins and Collins Aerospace
- Current president and CEO of Boeing
PHOTO: UICA FILE PHOTO
Richard Schnieders (70BA)
- Chairman and CEO of SYSCO, the largest food service marketing and distribution company in North America
PHOTO: engineering at uiowa.edu
C. Maxwell Stanley (1926BSE, 1930MS)
- Co-founder of HON Industries, a leading designer and manufacturer of office furniture
PHOTO: lectures at uiowa.edu
Ted Waitt (17LHD)
- Co-founded computer company Gateway
- Former CEO of Gateway
PHOTO: facilities at uiowa.edu
Elizabeth Catlett (40MFA)
- Recipient of the first Master of Fine Arts in sculpture
- Award-winning sculptor and graphic artist
- Catlett Residence Hall is named in her honor
PHOTO: Hawkeyesports.com
Christine Grant (70BA, 74PhD)
- First women's athletic director at Iowa, held position until retiring in 2000
- Received the NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award, which honors individuals who have provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics
- Iowa's field hockey field is named in her honor
PHOTO: UI Libraries
Frank Kinney Holbrook
- Competed for both Iowa football, men’s track and field
- First African American to play on a varsity athletic team at Iowa
PHOTO: Iowa Now
James Alan McPherson (71MFA)
- 1977 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for Elbow Room
- First African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- Iowa Writers’ Workshop faculty member for more than three decades
PHOTO: UI Archive
Frederick “Duke” Slater (1928LLB)
- Iowa’s first African American All-American football student-athlete
- College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame honoree
- Slater Residence Hall, Iowa’s football field, is named in his honor
PHOTO: okhistory.org
Juanita Kidd Stout (39BA)
- First woman elected to any judgeship in the U.S.
- First African American woman to serve on the supreme court of any state
PHOTO: HAWKEYESPORTS.COM
Emlen Tunnell
- Played for Iowa football for two seasons
- First African American to play for the New York Giants
- First African American to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
