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Then: 1935

byron white

Byron R. White (Econ’38) came to notice for his athletic prowess, then proved himself a star in almost everything else.

Perhaps CU Boulder’s most celebrated alumnus, the football hero dubbed “Whizzer White” graduated first in his class, won a Rhodes Scholarship, served as a U.S. Naval officer, went to Yale Law School and, at age 44, became one of the youngest ever U.S. Supreme Court justices.

A Colorado native, White also ranks among the longest-serving justices — 31 years.

In this photograph, one in a series of CU football players, he was still a teenager.

White died in 2002, in Denver. He would have turned 100 this June.

Photo courtesy CU Heritage Center