Alumni Achievement

Iowa State University boasts some of the most successful and distinguished alumni in the United States. Iowa Staters have gone on to successful careers in a variety of fields and received recognition for a variety of achievements. If you know of a successful alumnus who should be recognized by Iowa State University with an alumni award, please contact Julie Larson at jlarson@alumni.iastate.edu or visit our Awards Web site for more information.

The following list is just a sample of some of the successful individuals Iowa State University counts among its alumni, living and deceased:

IN POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND ACTIVISM...

Katherine Abraham (’76 econ), Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sawsan Al-Sharifi (MS ’81 ani sci, PhD ’83), former Iraqi Minister of Agriculture
Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista (PhD ’80 econ), former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of Economics
Bruce Braley (’80 pol sci), U.S. representative, Iowa’s 1st district
Carrie Chapman Catt (1880), founder, League of Women Voters
Lauro Cavazos (PhD ’54 physiology), former U.S. Secretary of Education
Nancy Cox (’70 bacteriology), Chief of the Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and 2006 U.S. Federal Employee of the Year
Vine Deloria (’58 gen sci), Native American rights leader
Lawrence D. Downing (’58 chem), president, National Sierra Club Foundation
John Garang (PhD ’81 econ), former vice president of Sudan and former leader of Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army
Thomas R. Harkin (’62 government), U.S. Senator, Iowa, who authored 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act
Dwight Ink (’47 pol sci), retired U.S. presidential advisor who worked with every administration from Eisenhower to Reagan
Dave Loebsack (’74 pol sci MA ’76), U.S. representative, Iowa’s 2nd district
Thomas H. MacDonald (1904 civil engr), Chief of the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads, 1919-1953
Charles T. Manatt (’58 rural soc), former U.S. Ambassador to Dominican Republic and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee
Elwood Mead (1883 civil engr), Bureau of Reclamation commissioner during the construction of the Hoover Dam; Lake Mead is named for him
Frederick Douglass Patterson (DVM ’23, MS vet path ’27), founder, United Negro College Fund
Sally Pederson (’73 hotel, restaurant, and instit mgmt), former Iowa lieutenant governor
Scott Stanzel (’95 journalism), deputy press secretary, The White House
Lee Teng-Hui (attended, ’53 ag econ), president, Republic of China, 1988-2000
Henry A. Wallace (’10 ani husb, MS ’26), U.S. vice president, 1941-1945
Henry C. Wallace (1892 ani husb), U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, 1921-1924

IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY...

Jane Armstrong-Byrne (’57 hotel, restaurant, and instit mgmt), one of the first female vice presidents of a U.S. Fortune 500 Company
Stephanie Burns (PhD ’82 organic chem), CEO, Dow Corning
Vance D. Coffman (’67 aeronautical engr), retired CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Eric Crowell (’80 indus admin), CEO, Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Iowa Lutheran Hospital, and Blank Children’s Hospital
Michael J. Dubes (’66 phys ed), president, Conseco Insurance Group
Roswell Garst (attended, ’20 ani husb), established one of the world’s leading seed corn companies
Isaiah Harris (’74 indus admin), former CFO, BellSouth
Allen Jacobson (’47 chem engr), retired CEO, 3-M
Jerry Junkins (’59 elec engr), former CEO, Texas Instruments
Rick Jurgens (’71 indus admin), CEO, Hy-Vee
Richard McCormick (’61 elec engr), retired CEO, Qwest
Otto Miller (’30 chem engr), former CEO, Standard Oil
James J. Renier (PhD ’55 chem), retired CEO, Honeywell
Jonathan D. Rich (’77 chem), CEO, Momentive, Inc.
Sehat Sutardja (’83 elec engr), CEO, Marvell Technology Group
Thornton “T.A.” Wilson (’43 aeronautical engr), former CEO, Boeing Company

IN ATHLETICS...

Beth Bader (’97 exercise and sport sci), LPGA golfer
Matt Blair (’74 phys ed), retired Pro Bowl NFL linebacker
Glen Brand (’50 civil engr), Olympic gold medalist, wrestling
John Cooper (’62 phys ed), former Ohio State University head football coach
Troy Davis (attended, ’96 soc), 1996 Heisman Trophy runner-up
Nawal El Moutawakel (’88 phys ed), first Arab woman, first African woman, and first Muslim woman to win Olympic gold and 2012 Olympics evaluation committee president
Dan Gable (’71 phys ed), Olympic gold medalist and noted collegiate coach, wrestling
Ron Galimore (’81 speech comm), first black U.S. Olympic gymnast
Fred Hoiberg (’95 finance), former NBA player and current assistant general manager, NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves
Jeff Hornacek (’86 accounting), retired NBA all-star
Kevin Jackson (attended, ’91 human sci), Olympic gold medalist, wrestling
Yobes Ondieki (’86 marketing), first man to run 10,000 meters in under 27 minutes
Ben Peterson (’72 architecture), Olympic gold medalist, wrestling
Cael Sanderson (’01 art and design), Olympic gold medalist and first-ever undefeated four-time NCAA wrestling champion

IN JOURNALISM, PUBLISHING, ARTS, AND MEDIA...

Robert Bartley (’59 journalism), former editor, The Wall Street Journal, and 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Terry Anderson (’74 journalism and pol sci), former Middle East Bureau Chief, The Associated Press
Ann K. Cooper (’71 home ec journalism), former foreign correspondent, National Public Radio
Jacquelyn Jeras Ellis (’92 journalism), weather anchor, CNN
Jerry Knight (attended, ’70 journalism), Washington Post business writer
Tom Knudson (’80 journalism), two-time Pulitzer Prize winner
Ted Kooser (’62 English and speech), U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner
Robert Kowalski (’66 journalism, MS ’67 ag journalism), best-selling medical author
Sean McLaughlin (’88 journalism), former Today Show weekend weather anchor
Christine Romans (’93 journalism and French), CNN financial reporter
Hugh Sidey (’50 journalism), presidential biographer and former White House columnist, Time
Paul Shirley (’00 mech engr), ESPN.com blogger and author
Lauren Soth (’32 ag journalism, MS ’38 ag econ), Pulitzer-prize winning editorial writer
Randall Wreghitt ('78 journalism), Broadway producer

IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND INNOVATION...

Clayton Anderson (MS ’83 aerospace engr), NASA astronaut
John Vincent Atanasoff (MS ’26 math), inventor of the electronic digital computer
Wesley Buchele (PhD ’54 ag engr), inventor, round hay baler
Griffith Buck (’48 horticulture, MS ’49, PhD ’53), developed roses that could survive low temperatures
George Washington Carver (1894 ag, MS 1896), honored scientist
Mildred Day (’28 home ec), created recipe for Rice Krispies Treats
Kay Eliason (’51 ag engr), construction manager, Great Alaska Pipeline
Darleane Christian Hoffman (’48 chem, PhD ’51), honored scientist
Samuel Massie (PhD ’46 chem), honored scientist
Conde McCullough (’10 civil engr), noted bridge architect
Jon Pickard (’76 architecture), architect, Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Bruce Roth (PhD ’81 organic chem), inventor, cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor
Lois Tiffany (’45 botany, MS ’47, PhD ’50), national fungi expert
Thomas Whitney (’61 elec engr, MS ’62, PhD ’64), inventor, pocket calculator
Harley Wilhem (PhD ’31 chem), co-inventor, process for large-scale uranium production
Elizabeth Degarmo Yetley (’63 comm nutrition, MS ’70, PhD ’74), lead scientist, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

IN HIGHER EDUCATION...

Michael Crow (’77 pol sci), president, Arizona State University
H.H. Dukes (DVM ’18, MS ’23), author, “Duke’s Veterinary Physiology,” one of the longest continually published texts in veterinary medicine
Olive Mugenda (MS ’83 family env, PhD ’88), vice chancellor, Kenyatta University, and the first female vice chancellor of a public university in Kenya
James L. Oblinger (MS ’70 food tech, PhD ’72) chancellor, North Carolina State University
Graham Spanier (’69 sociology, MS ’71), president, Pennsylvania State University