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Politics & Government

ISU alumni in politics/government...

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
*Ezra Taft Benson (MS '27 ag econ), former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Bruce Braley (’80 pol sci), U.S. representative, Iowa’s 1st district
Garrey Carruthers (PhD '68 econ), former governor of New Mexico
*Carrie Chapman Catt (1880), founder, League of Women Voters
Lauro Cavazos (PhD ’54 physiology), former U.S. Secretary of Education
Nancy Cox (’70 bacteriology), director of the Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and 2006 U.S. Federal Employee of the Year
Parviz Davoodi (MS '80 econ, PhD '81), first vice president of Iran
*Vine Deloria (’58 gen sci), Native American rights leader
*John Garang (PhD ’81 econ), former vice president of Sudan and former leader of Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army
*James Lorraine Geddes (1879), U.S. Civil War general and composer of war songs The Stars and Stripes and The Soldiers' Battle Prayer
Thomas R. Harkin (’62 government), U.S. Senator, Iowa, who authored 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act
*Bourke Hickenlooper ('21 English & speech), former governor of Iowa
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
Dan Mozena ('70 political sci), U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh
*Frederick Douglass Patterson (DVM ’23, MS vet path ’27), founder, United Negro College Fund
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

*indicates deceased