Notable Alumni

The education you receive at CU Boulder establishes a foundation of excellence that permeates your entire life. Every member of the Forever Buffs community is important to the fabric of the university, and these notable alumni are some of our most accomplished graduates.

Please note, “Ex” indicates a non-degree alum and the year of expected graduation.

Gordon Allot (A&S’1927; Law’1929)

U.S. Senator
Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, 1951–55

Gordon Allot

Dick Anderson (Mktg’68)

Football player
Member of the legendary 1972 Miami Dolphins World Champion team

Dick Anderson

Josephine Antoine (A&S’1929; HonDocHum’35)

Opera singer

Josephine Antoine

Benjamin Bailar (Geol’55)

U.S. Postmaster General, 1975–78

Benjamin Bailar

Stephen Bechtel, Jr. (Engr ex’47; HonDocSci’81)

President of the Bechtel Group

Stephen Bechtel, Jr.

David Bolen (Mktg’50; MS’50)

The first CU student to make an Olympic team in 1948
U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland
Ambassador to the German Democratic Republic

David Bolen

Hank Brown (Acct’61; Law’69)

U.S. Senator
President of CU 2005–08
President of the University of Northern Colorado

Hank Brown

Ralph Carr (BA’1910; Law’1912)

Colorado Governor
Champion for Japanese American civil rights during WWII

Ralph Carr

Carol Callan (MPE’77; MBA’87)

Assistant executive director, USA Basketball Women’s Programs

Carol Callan

Lynne Cheney (MEngLit’64)

Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities
Married to Vice President Dick Cheney

Lynne Cheney

William 'Bud' Davis (PE’51; EdD’63)

President, Idaho State University 1965–75
President, University of New Mexico 1975–82
Chancellor, Oregon University system
Chancellor, Louisiana State University 1989–96
Author of Glory Colorado! A History of the University of Colorado, Volumes 1 & 2

William 'Bud' Davis

W. Edwards Deming (MS’1924)

Renowned expert on quality in manufacturing
Revolutionized quality and dependability of Japan’s production

W. Edwards Deming

Patricia Elliot (A&S’62)

Television and Broadway actress

Patricia Elliot

Ruth Flowers (A&S’1924; MEdu’1930)

Head of the North Carolina College Department of Romance Languages
CU’s second Black female graduate after having been refused a diploma in 1920 from Boulder High School

Ruth Flowers

Chris Fowler (Jour’85)

Television sportscaster, ESPN

Chris Fowler

Michael Gelman (Jour’83)

Executive producer for Live with Regis and Kelly
Youngest producer of a national talk show

Michael Gelman

Tim Gill (ApMath’76)

Founder, chair, and chief technology officer, Quark Inc.
Created the Gill Foundation in support of gay and lesbian educational and social justice organizations

Tim Gill

Valorie Goodall (MMus’59)

Co-founder and producing director, Rutgers Opera Company

Valorie Goodall

Jim Gray (Jour’81)

Television sportscaster for ESPN, CBS and NBC
Emmy Award winner

Jim Gray

Barbara Grogan (Psych’69)

Founder and president, Western Industrial Contractors
First female chair of the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce

Barbara Grogan

David Grusin (Mus’56; HonDocHum’89)

Composer

David Grusin

Philip Hart (Soc’66)

Retired University of Massachusetts sociology professor
Author, filmmaker and expert on early Black aviators

Philip Hart

James 'Jimmie' Heuga (PolSci’73)

U.S. Olympic skier

James 'Jimmie' Heuga

Thomas Hornbein (A&S’52)

Medical scientist
First person to ascend Mount Everest via the treacherous West Ridge
Designed breathing mask that made climbing at high altitudes possible

Thomas Hornbein

Robert 'Bob' Howsam (A&S ex’40)

President and CEO of the Cincinnati Reds

Robert 'Bob' Howsam

Vicki Huddleston (A&S’64)

U.S. Ambassador to Mali and the Republic of Madagascar
U.S. Diplomat to Cuba, leading the State Department’s Offices of Cuban Affairs

Vicki Huddleston

William Hybl (Law’67)

President of the U.S. Olympic Committee, 1996–2000
U.S. representative to the United Nations General Assembly in 2001
CEO and chair of El Pomar Foundation since 1973

William Hybl

Hale Irwin, Jr. (Mktg’68)

Golfer

Hale Irwin, Jr.

Jeanne Jackson (Fin’74)

CEO, Banana Republic, 1995–2000
CEO, Walmart.com, 2000–02

Jeanne Jackson

Jo Ann Joselyn (ApMath’65; MAstro’67; PhD’78)

First female and first American secretary general of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics

Jo Ann Joselyn

William Jovanovich (Engl’41)

Publisher, Harcourt Brace & Jovanovich
Published authors such as George Orwell, Charles Lindbergh and Alice Walker

William Jovanovich

Ruth Keesling (Jour’53)

President of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, 1987–91

Ruth Keesling

Billy Kidd (Econ’69)

Olympic skier
Won a silver model in the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria

Billy Kidd

Richard Knowlton (Econ, Geog’54)

Chair, Hormel Foods Corporation 

Richard Knowlton

Cynthia Lawrence (Mus’83; MFA’87)

Opera singer

Cynthia Lawrence

Larry Linville (Engr ex’61)

Actor

Larry Linville

Charles Lory (Phys’1901; MS’1902; HonDocLaw’1909)

President of Colorado State University, 1909–40

Charles Lory

Doug Looney (Jour’63)

Senior writer, Sports Illustrated

Doug Looney

Theodore Maiman (EngrPhys’49)

Developed the first laser

Theodore Maiman

Bill Marlot (Bus’67)

President and CEO, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association

Bill Marlot

Sanford McDonnell (MechEngr’48)

President and CEO, McDonnell Douglas Corporation

Sanford McDonnell

R.C. Mercure, Jr. (Phys’51; MS’56; PhD’57)

Co-founder and president, Ball Brothers Research Corporation

R.C. Mercure, Jr.

Glenn Miller (A&S ex’1926; HonDocHum’84)

Formed the Glenn Miller Orchestra
Member of the Army Air Force band during World War II
Won the first gold record awarded by the recording industry for selling 1.2 million copies of Chattanooga Choo Choo

Glenn Miller

Jerry McMorris (Mgmt’62)

Former owner, Colorado Rockies baseball team
 Jerry McMorris

William Mooney (A&S’58)

Actor Played Paul Martin on All My Children

William Mooney

Earl Morris (A&S’1914; MA’1915; HonDocSci’42)

Archaeologist
Earl Morris

Tony Ortega (BA’80; MFA’95)

Artist

CU seal

Alva A. 'Gov' Paddock (A&S’1910)

Editor
Historian

Alva A. 'Gov' Paddock

Bob Palmer (Jour’60)

News anchor

Bob Palmer

Trey Parker (A&S ex’93)

Co-creator and executive producer, South Park

Trey Parker

Glenn Porzak (PolSci’70; Law’73)

Led the first American team to climb two peaks over 26,000 feet on the same trip: Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse
Fourth American to climb the “Seven Summits”

Glenn Porzak

Roberta Ramo (Hum’64)

First female president of the American Bar Association

Roberta Ramo

Robert Redford (A&S ex’58; HonDocHum’87)

Actor, director and producer
Founded the Sundance Institute

Robert Redford

Dean Reed (A&S’60)

Musician and actor

Dean Reed

Rick Reilly (Jour’81)

Back-page columnist for ESPN The Magazine
Author of “Life of Reilly” column in Sports Illustrated
Co-author of the movie Leatherheads
Founder of the anti-malaria effort Nothing But Nets

Rick Reilly

Roy Romer (Law’52)

Governor of Colorado
Chair, Democratic National Committee
Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District

Roy Romer

Joe Romig (Phys’63; PhDAstroPhys’75)

Astrophysicist
Two-time All-American football player
Rhodes Scholar

Joe Romig

Luis Rovira (Econ, PolSci’48; Law’50)

Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice

Luis Rovira

Ken Rutherford (PolSci’85; ExecMBA’93)

Co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network, part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines that won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997
Professor of political science at Missouri State University

Ken Rutherford

Wiley Rutledge (Law’1922; HonDocLaw’40)

Supreme Court Justice, 1943–49

Wiley Rutledge

Spencer Silver (PhDChem’66)

Inventor, Post-it Notes adhesive

Spencer Silver

Mary Decker Slaney (ex’79)

World-class runner

Mary Decker Slaney

Leroy Smith (IntlAf’62)

U.S. Embassy Counsel
First Secretary, Paris, France

Leroy Smith

Jean Wilson Stafford (A&S’36; MA’38; HonDocHum’72)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Jean Wilson Stafford

Matt Stone (Art, Math’93)

Co-creator and executive producer, South Park

Matt Stone

Peter Teets (ApMath’63; MS’65; HonDocSci’90)

President, Lockheed Martin Corporation, 1997–99
Under Secretary of the United States Air Force, 2001

Peter Teets

William Toomey (Jour’62)

U.S. Olympic decathlete

William Toomey

Llewellyn Thompson (A&S’1928; HonDocLaw’58)

U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1957–62

Llewellyn Thompson

Dalton Trumbo (A&S ex’1929)

Screenplay writer

Dalton Trumbo

Marilyn Van Derbur (Engl’60)

Miss America 1958

Marilyn Van Derbur

Byron White (A&S’38; HonDoc’63US)

Supreme Court Justice
Rhodes Scholar
All-American football player

Byron White

Clayton White (Psych’34; MD’42)

Medical scientist
Rhodes Scholar
Worked to develop the field of blast biology

Clayton White

Muriel Sibell Wolle (MA’1930)

CU professor
Artist

Muriel Sibell Wolle

John Wooten (PE’59)

Football player

John Wooten

Steve Wozniak (Engr ex’69; HonDocSci’89)

Co-founder, Apple Computer

Steve Wozniak

Marlene Tseng Yu (Art’67)

Artist

CU seal