List of Purdue University alumni

Notable alumni

Academia

College chancellors, presidents and vice-presidents

• Robert Altenkirch – former president of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and University of Alabama in Huntsville
• Rebecca Ehretsman – eighteenth president of Wartburg College
• Hank Foley – current president of the New York Institute of Technology
• Tony Frank – president, Colorado State University
• Domenico Grasso – chancellor, University of Michigan-Dearborn
• Richard J. Grosh – former president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Arthur G. Hansen – former president of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University
• Edwin D. Harrison – former president of the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Renu Khator – chancellor of the University of Houston System and president of the University of Houston
• Dorothy Leland – president, Georgia College & State University
• Duane Litfin – president, Wheaton College
• Sally Mason – president of the University of Iowa, former Provost of Purdue University
• Hanna Nasser – former president of Birzeit University, political figure
• Sunder Ramaswamy – president of the Monterey Institute of International Studies
• Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw – chancellor of Syracuse University
• Gary Allan Sojka – president of Bucknell University
• Hugo F. Sonnenschein – economist and educational administrator, president of the University of Chicago
• James J. Stukel – former president of the University of Illinois
• Blake Ragsdale Van Leer – former president of the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Larry N. Vanderhoef – Chancellor of the University of California, Davis
• Brent W. Webb – academic vice president of Brigham Young University
• John T. Wolfe Jr. – former president of Savannah State University

Deans

• Srinivas Aravamudan – Dean of the Humanities, Duke University
• Arthur J. Bond – Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at Alabama A&M University and civil rights activist
• Paul Weber – Dean of Faculties and interim president of the Georgia Institute of Technology

• Ibrahim (Abe) Baggili – CSE Division Chair and Roger Richardson professor of computer science and cybersecurity, Louisiana State University

Professors

• Nolan B. Aughenbaugh – Antarctic explorer and professor emeritus of Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi
• Ibrahim (Abe) Baggili – CSE Division Chair and Roger Richardson professor of computer science and cybersecurity, Louisiana State University
• James R. Barker – professor of Organizational Theory and Strategy, Waikato University
• Michael Baye – Bert Elwert Professor of Business Economics, Indiana University
• L. W. Beineke – professor of graph theory at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne
• Ronald A. Bosco – expert on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Puritan homiletics and poetics
• Ronald Breaker – Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University
• Monty Buell – chair of the Department of History and Philosophy at Walla Walla University
• George Casella – statistician at Rutgers University, Cornell University, and the University of Florida
• James Samuel Coleman – author of the Coleman Report on the sociology of education
• Carl W. Condit – architectural historian, Northwestern University
• Clarence Cory – the first Professor in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at UC Berkeley; received BME degree from Purdue University in 1889 at age 16 and a Doctor of Engineering degree from Purdue University in 1914
• Bruce E. Dale – Professor of Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University
• Kenneth E. deGraffenreid – Professor of Intelligence Studies, Institute of World Politics
• Victor Denenberg – developmental psychobiologist
• Ralph Faudree – mathematician, combinatorialist, provost at University of Memphis
• James Fieser – professor of philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Martin
• Allan Friedman – Guy L. Odom Professor of Neurological Surgery at Duke University Medical Center
• Michael T. Goodrich – mathematician, computer scientist, department chair at the University of California, Irvine
• Kevin Granata – adjunct professor, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech; victim of the Virginia Tech massacre
• Ann E. Hagerman – professor of biochemistry at University of Miami
• William D. Haseman – computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and Carnegie Mellon University
• Larry Howell – professor of mechanical engineering, Brigham Young University
• Robert Owen Hutchins – professor organic chemistry at Drexel University
• Roger G. Ibbotson – professor of finance, Yale School of Management
• Richard Ian Kimball – professor of history, Brigham Young University
• Benn Konsynski – Goizueta Business School, Emory University
• Lawrence Landweber – John P. Morgridge Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Arthur H. Lefebvre – professor; Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering between 1976 and 1993; pioneer of gas turbine technology and developer of fuel spray technology; professor at Cranfield University, UK
• G. V. Loganathan – professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech; victim of the Virginia Tech massacre
• Fred Mannering – professor, College of Engineering, University of South Florida
• Donald Matthews – political scientist, University of Washington
• James McDonald – economist at Brigham Young University
• Deborah E. McDowell – English professor and author
• Scott A. McLuckey – John A. Leighty Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University
• Dorothy Runk Mennen – theatre professor, author, founding president of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association
• Gary Milhollin – law professor, anti–nuclear weapons activist
• William F. Miller – vice president and provost, Stanford University
• William E. Moore – chemistry professor and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Southern University; Moore was the first Black PhD in chemistry to graduate from Purdue
• Toby Moskowitz – financial economist, University of Chicago
• David Mount – computer scientist, University of Maryland
• J. Keith Murnighan – Harold H. Hines Jr. Distinguished Professor of Risk Management at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Donna J. Nelson – chemistry professor; Nelson Diversity Surveys author, scientific workforce scholar
• Robert W. Newcomb – professor of electrical engineering at the University of Maryland
• Dallin D. Oaks – linguistics professor at Brigham Young University
• Peter N. Peregrine – anthropologist and archaeologist
• Larry L. Peterson – computer scientist at Princeton University
• Ronald L. Phillips – biologist, University of Minnesota
• T. Pradeep – Professor of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
• Steven Pray – Bernhardt Professor of Nonprescription Products and Devices at Southwestern Oklahoma State University
• John C. Reynolds – computer scientist
• Sherwin Rosen – labor economist
• Lyle F. Schoenfeldt – business management professor, known for a standard textbook on human resources
• Granville Sewell – mathematician and intelligent design advocate
• Thomas B. Sheridan – Professor of Mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pioneer of robotics and remote control technology
• Carolyn Sherif – social psychologist
• Stephen C. Smith PhD – Sociology professor and researcher. Also practicing family therapist
• Murray Sperber – Professor Emeritus of English and American Studies at Indiana University, author of several books on college sports
• John W. Sutherland – professor and Fehsenfeld Family Head of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University
• Yizhi Jane Tao – Rice University biochemist who mapped the structure of the influenza A virus nucleoprotein to an atomic level
• James Tour – synthetic organic chemist and nanotechnologist at Rice University
• Ralph von Frese – geophysicist who identified the Wilkes Land mass concentration in Antarctica
• Gregory Weeks – international relations scholar at Webster University Vienna
• Donald Weeks – Maxcy Professor Emeritus of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Jill Zimmerman – computer scientist and the James M. Beall Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Goucher College

Science and technology

Astronauts and aviators

• Neil Armstrong – Gemini 8, Apollo 11; first man to walk on the Moon
• John Blaha – STS-29, STS-33, STS-43, STS-58, STS-79, STS-81
• Roy D. Bridges – STS-51-F
• Mark N. Brown – STS-28, STS-48
• John H. Casper – STS-36, STS-54, STS-62, STS-77
• Eugene Cernan – Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo 17; most recent man to walk on the Moon
• Roger Chaffee – killed in Apollo 1 accident
• Richard O. Covey – STS-51-I, STS-26, STS-38, STS-61
• Andrew J. Feustel – STS-125, STS-134
• Guy S. Gardner – STS-27, STS-35
• Henry C. Gordon – Air Force colonel selected for Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar program
• Virgil I. Grissom – second American in space, Gemini 3, killed in Apollo 1 accident
• Guy Gruters – fighter pilot and prisoner of war in the Vietnam War
• Gregory J. Harbaugh – STS-39, STS-54, STS-71, STS-82
• Iven Carl Kincheloe Jr. – flying ace of the Korean War, first pilot to fly above 100,000 feet
• Michael J. McCulley – STS-34
• Loral O'Hara – Soyuz MS-24
• Gary E. Payton – STS-51-C
• Mark L. Polansky – STS-98, STS-116, STS-127
• Jerry L. Ross – STS-61-B, STS-27, STS-37, STS-55, STS-74, STS-88, STS-110; holds the US record for spaceflights
• Karl Schoen – one of the first U.S. flying aces of World War I
• Loren J. Shriver – STS-51-C, STS-31, STS-46
• Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger – pilot of US Airways flight 1549 which successfully ditched in the Hudson River
• Scott D. Tingle – Soyuz MS-07
• Janice E. Voss – STS-57, STS-63, STS-83, STS-94, STS-99
• Charles D. Walker – STS-41-D, STS-51-D, STS-61-B
• Mary E. Weber – STS-70, STS-101
• George Welch – World War II fighter pilot and test pilot; best known for shooting down four Japanese planes during the attack on Pearl Harbor
• Donald E. Williams – STS-51-D, STS-34
• David A. Wolf – STS-58, STS-86, Mir 24, STS-89, STS-112, STS-127

Engineers

• Joy Lim Arthur – first woman engineer at White Sands Missile Range
• Mohamed Atalla – Distinguished Engineering Alumnus, inventor of MOSFET, pioneer in silicon semiconductors and security systems, founder of Atalla Corporation
• Stephen Bechtel Jr. – Chairman emeritus of Bechtel Group
• Don R. Berlin – chief designer of several military aircraft of World War II
• Afua Bruce – Executive Director of the National Science and Technology Council in the Office of Science Technology and Policy at the White House, Chief Program Officer at DataKind
• Orestes H. Caldwell – one of the first five members of the Federal Radio Commission
• Abraham Burton Cohen – civil engineer notable for designing record-breaking concrete bridges such as the Tunkhannock Viaduct
• John P. Costas – electrical engineer, inventor of the Costas loop and the Costas array
• Wayne Hale – NASA engineer
• Mamoon Hamid – Managing Member and General Partner at Kleiner Perkins
• Richard E. Hayden – acoustics engineer, won the Wright Brothers Medal in 1973 for a research paper on noise reduction for STOL aircraft
• John H. McMasters – aeronautical engineer
• John Joseph Martin – mechanical engineer, author of Atmospheric Entry
• Elwood Mead – Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation for construction of Grand Coulee, Hoover and Owyhee dams; namesake of Lake Mead
• Benjamin Franklin Miessner – engineer and inventor
• Daniel Raymer – aerospace engineer
• Henry Sampson – inventor and nuclear engineer
• Malcolm Slaney – electrical engineer and research scientist at Google
• Games Slayter – chemical engineer, inventor of fiberglass
• Bill Young – chemical engineer and pharmaceutical industry executive

Researchers

• Robert C. Baker – inventor of the chicken nugget
• Fernley H. Banbury – inventor of the Banbury mixer in 1916
• Farhan Baqai – camera engineer at Apple Inc. and IEEE fellow
• Myron L. Bender – biochemist, recipient of the Midwest Award of the American Chemical Society
• Seymour Benzer – physicist and biologist, winner of the Wolf Prize in Medicine in 1991
• Henry Luke Bolley – botanist, plant pathologist, and football coach
• Richard Bootzin – clinical and research psychologist
• Robert D. Cess – atmospheric scientist
• Rita R. Colwell – environmental microbiologist and scientific administrator; Director of National Science Foundation
• Ward Cunningham – inventor of the wiki concept
• Harry Daghlian – physics, the first peacetime fatality of nuclear fission
• Joel Emer – microprocessor architect and Intel Fellow
• Dan Farmer – computer security researcher
• Martin Feinberg – mathematician and chemical engineer
• Elizabeth J. Feinler – information scientist and Internet pioneer
• Gloria Niemeyer Francke – pharmacist and science writer
• William H. Gerstenmaier – associate administrator at NASA
• Norman E. Gibbs – software engineering researcher
• Millicent Goldschmidt – microbiologist and 2006 "Outstanding Alumni", Purdue Department of Biological Sciences
• Jonathan Grudin – researcher of human–computer interaction and computer-supported cooperative work
• Kun-Liang Guan – biochemist
• Clarence Hansell – research engineer who pioneered investigation into the biological effects of ionized air
• Obed Crosby Haycock – researcher of the upper atmosphere
• Jesse E. Hobson – director of SRI International
• Deng Jiaxian – physicist, "father of the Chinese A-bomb"
• Bradford Keeney – psychotherapist, ethnographer, cybernetician
• Gerhard Klimeck – nanotechnologist
• Harry Kloor – physicist, chemist, screenwriter
• Bertram Kostant – mathematician
• Markus Kuhn – computer scientist
• Matthew Luckiesh – "father of the science of seeing"
• Robert W. Lucky – electrical engineer, inventor, and research manager
• Andrew Majda – ISI highly cited researcher in mathematics
• Herbert Newby McCoy – chemist
• Elwood Mead – former Head, Bureau of Reclamation; oversaw the construction of Hoover Dam
• Marilyn T. Miller – pediatric ophthalmologist
• Ben Roy Mottelson – Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1975
• Ian Murdock – founder of the Debian Project
• David E. Nichols – pharmacologist, world-renowned expert on psychedelics, founder of the Heffter Institute
• Alex Golden Oblad – chemist and chemical engineer who worked on catalysis
• Edward Mills Purcell – Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1952
• C. N. R. Rao – solid-state and materials chemist
• Malcolm Ross – director of the US Navy manned balloon program Project Strato-Lab; set the current altitude record for manned balloon flight with Victor Prather in 1961
• Stacy Sims – exercise physiologist with a focus on women's health and fitness
• Joel Spira (businessman) – inventor of the electronic solid-state dimmer
• Yitang Zhang – mathematician known for his work with twin primes
• Ming-Ming Zhou – structural and chemical biologist

Arts and entertainment

• Dulquer Salmaan – Indian Actor and film producer
• Robert K. Abbett – book-cover illustrator and outdoor painter
• George Ade – humorist
• Ted Allen – host of Chopped and Queer Eye
• Max Armstrong – agriculture broadcaster in Chicago
• Donald Bain – author and ghostwriter
• Karen Black – actress
• Monte Blue – actor of the silent film era, later a character actor
• Millie Bobby Brown – actress, known for her role in the television series Stranger Things as well as in the Enola Holmes films.
• Jack Cashill – author, journalist, blogger, contributor to WorldNetDaily
• Kenneth Choi – actor, known for his role as Jim Morita in Captain America: The First Avenger, also Red Dawn and sitcoms
• Kate Collins – author
• Trevor Collins – Manager at Achievement Hunter
• Thomas James De la Hunt – Indiana historian and columnist
• Eric Dill – musician, member of the band The Click Five
• Simone Elkeles – young-adult romance writer
• Dick Florea – television personality in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• William R. Forstchen – novelist
• Jim Gaffigan – comedian and actor
• JoAnn Giordano – textile artist
• Mass Giorgini – punk rock producer of bands such as Rise Against and Anti-Flag and bassist for Screeching Weasel and Squirtgun
• Gerald Jay Goldberg – novelist
• Harold Gray – creator of Little Orphan Annie comic strip
• Jeff Grubb – author and game designer
• Gabriel Gudding – essayist and poet
• Moira Gunn – host of National Public Radio programs Tech Nation and BioTech Nation
• John Guzlowski – author
• Stephen McKinley Henderson - actor
• Jack Horkheimer – host of astronomy television program Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer
• Benjamin Bean Horner – architect and photographer
• Steve Horton – New York Times bestselling graphic novelist
• Rick Karr – journalist
• Callie Khouri – screenwriter, director, and film producer
• Jane King – business journalist
• Michael King – political commentator, columnist, television producer
• Harry Kloor – screenwriter, physicist, chemist
• Mercedes Lackey – fantasy novelist
• Wayne Lamb – Broadway and television dancer and Professor Emeritus of Theatre
• Ian McCollum – YouTuber, firearm historian; owner and host of the website and YouTube channel Forgotten Weapons
• John T. McCutcheon – cartoonist, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1931
• Delita Martin – printmaker and mixed media artist
• Hoshang Merchant – poet
• Felicia Middlebrooks – radio news broadcaster
• Gavin Mikhail – pianist, singer-songwriter
• Karen Marie Moning – novelist
• Tom Moore – theater director
• Carrie Newcomer – singer and songwriter
• Clifton Nicholson – sculptor and jewelry designer
• Mark O'Hare – writer and cartoonist who has worked on various Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network programs such as Rocko's Modern Life
• Bree Olsen – adult film actress
• Chubby Parker – folk musician
• George Peppard – actor
• Bob Peterson – animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor at Pixar
• Julian Phillips – Emmy Award winner, co-host of weekend Fox & Friends, Fox TV
• Carol Plum-Ucci – young-adult novelist and essayist
• Pat Proctor – war game developer, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel
• Bruce Rogers – typographer, inventor of the Centaur typeface
• Peter Schneider – film executive, the Walt Disney Company
• Dave Schulthise – punk rock bass guitarist for the Dead Milkmen
• Gary Mark Smith – artist, author, master global street photographer
• Richard Sprague – author and researcher of the John F. Kennedy assassination
• Martha Hopkins Struever – dealer and scholar of American Indian art
• Elizabeth Stuckey-French – short story writer and novelist
• Booth Tarkington – novelist
• Stephanie S. Tolan – children's book author
• Martin Walls – poet
• Don West – pitchman, television personality, wrestling broadcaster
• Perry Wilson – movie critic, thecinemapsycho.com
• Lebbeus Woods – artist and architect
• Jaspreet Singh – artist
• Timothy Thomson – Singer

Business and industry

• Samuel R. Allen – CEO of John Deere
• Chuck Armstrong – president of the Seattle Mariners
• Joyce Beber – advertising executive, promoter of hotelier Leona Helmsley
• Stephen Bechtel Jr. – chairman emeritus and director of Bechtel Group, Inc.
• Paul Bevilaqua – chief engineer, Advanced Development Projects, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
• Gordon Binder – former CEO of Amgen
• Michael Birck – chairman and founder of Tellabs, Inc.
• Charles F. Bowman – co-founder of Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn
• Beth Brooke – global vice chair of Public Policy for Ernst & Young
• Susan Bulkeley Butler – first female partner at Accenture; author of Become the CEO of You, Inc.
• Herman Cain – businessman, politician, and columnist; former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza
• James Cash Jr. – member of the boards of directors at General Electric, Microsoft, and Walmart
• JoMei Chang – co-founder of Tibco Software
• Allen Chao – co-founder of Watson Pharmaceuticals
• Richard E. Dauch – co-founder of American Axle & Manufacturing
• Rodger Dean Duncan – author and business consultant
• Michael L. Eskew – chairman and CEO, UPS
• Robert M. Feustel – leader of various railroad and energy companies; later served on Purdue University's Board of Trustees.
• Gen Fukunaga – president of FUNimation
• Greg Hayes – CEO and chair of RTX Corporation; Business Roundtable member
• Gerald D. Hines – real estate developer and principal of Hines
• John R. Horne – former CEO of Navistar
• Brian Lamb – co-founder, chairman, and CEO of C-SPAN
• Howard Lance – CEO of Maxar Technologies
• Marshall Larsen – former chairman, president, and CEO of Goodrich Corporation
• Cook Lougheed – entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Bala S. Manian – medical technology entrepreneur
• Preston McAfee – economist at Google
• Steven McGeady – former Intel executive
• Wade Miquelon – executive vice president and chief financial officer for Walgreens
• Herman H. Pevler – former president of the Norfolk and Western Railway and of the Wabash Railroad
• Patricia Kessler Poppe – president & CEO, CMS and Consumers Energy, CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Company
• Orville Redenbacher – business leader and agriculturalist; co-founder of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn
• Donald Rice – CEO of Agensys and board member of Wells Fargo Bank
• Lee Schmidt – golf course architect, co-founder of Lee-Schmidt Design, Inc.
• Edmund Schweitzer – president of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
• Ruth Siems – home economist with General Foods, inventor of Stovetop Stuffing
• Venu Srinivasan – chairman of TVS Motor
• Don Thompson – CEO of McDonald's
• James A. Thomson – president and CEO, Rand Corporation
• Paul C. Varga – former chief executive officer and Chairman of Brown–Forman
• Gregory Wasson – president and chief operating officer, Walgreens corporation
• Sanjiva Weerawarana – co-founder, chairman and CEO of WSO2

Government and law

National office

• Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa – Minister of Finance of Indonesia
• Akinwumi Adesina – President of the African Development Bank
• Rashid al-Rifai – ambassador and government minister in Iraq
• Joseph Kingsley Baffour-Senkyire – Ghanaian academic, politician and diplomat; member of parliament in the first republic of Ghana and formerly Ghana's ambassador to the United States of America
• Jim Baird – U.S. Representative from Indiana's 4th district
• Donald W. Banner – former U.S. Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
• Joe L. Barton – U.S. Representative from 6th District of Texas
• Birch Bayh – former United States Senator from Indiana
• Earl L. Butz – former Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture
• Chang Chia-juch – former Minister of Economic Affairs of Taiwan
• Bob Charles – former member of the Australian House of Representatives
• Mark Chen – former Secretary-General and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan
• Curt Clawson – U.S. Representative from Florida's 19th congressional district
• Chuck Conner – Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture
• Margaret E. Curran – United States Attorney for Rhode Island
• Harry Allison Estep – Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
• Fahmi Fadzil – member of Malaysian House of Representatives and Minister of Communications and Digital
• Mauricio Fernández Garza – former Mayor of San Pedro Garza García and former Mexican Senator from Nuevo León
• Gary A. Grappo – U.S. Ambassador to Oman
• John H. Hager – Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education
• Keith Hall – former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Clifford M. Hardin – former Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture
• Ralph Harvey – U.S. Representative from Indiana
• Adnan Kahveci – Turkish Minister of State and Minister of Finance, founding member of the Motherland Party
• Keith J. Krach – former U.S. Under Secretary of State; Chairman/CEO of DocuSign and Ariba; Chairman of Purdue Board of Trustees
• Suwat Liptapanlop – government minister in Thailand
• David McKinley – U.S. Representative for West Virginia
• Ted McKinney – U.S. Under Secretary, Trade & Foreign Agricultural Affairs, USDA; CEO of National Association of State Departments of Agriculture-NASDA
• Anthony W. Miller – United States Deputy Secretary of Education
• Marwan Muasher – Deputy Prime Minister, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• Essam Sharaf – former Prime Minister of Egypt
• Jefferson Shreve – U.S. Representative from Indiana's 6th congressional district
• Ann Stock – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
• Kevin Sullivan – White House Communications Director
• Claude R. Wickard – former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
• Richard Llewellyn Williams – first U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia
• Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu – Member of Parliament in India
• Mathukumilli dr Bharat – Member of Parliament in India

Military

• Terry M. Cross – former vice commandant of the United States Coast Guard
• Nelson F. Gibbs – U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
• Sun Liren – Chinese Nationalist general who excelled in the Burma Campaign during World War II
• Carter B. Magruder – four-star general, U.S. Army
• Glen W. Martin – Inspector General of the U.S. Air Force
• Frank C. McConnell – US Army brigadier general
• B. J. Penn – former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy
• Carol M. Pottenger – vice admiral, U.S. Navy
• Jerald D. Slack – U.S. Air National Guard major general, Adjutant General of Wisconsin
• Carol I. Turner – former Chief of the United States Navy Dental Corps
• James C. Van Sice – former Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
• Russell R. Waesche – commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II
• Fahmi Fadzil – Member of Parliaments in Malaysia
• David D. Thompson – United States Space Force general who has served as the first vice chief of space operations
• Derek Tournear – Director of the Space Development Agency

Sub-national office

• Ron Alting – Indiana State Senator
• Brian Bosma – Speaker of the Indiana General Assembly
• Robert J. Burkhardt – former Secretary of State of New Jersey
• Suzanne Crouch – 52nd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
• Sue Ellspermann – Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
• Kirk Fordice – former Governor of Mississippi
• Kent Gaffney – former member of the Illinois House of Representatives
• Chuck Goodrich – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• Jerry E. Hinshaw – former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
• Elaine Hopson – Oregon state representative
• Matt Hostettler – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• Ralph S. Johnson – aviator; former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives
• Delores G. Kelley – Maryland State Senator
• Sheila Klinker – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• J. Tom Lendrum – member of the Ohio House of Representatives
• Harry G. Leslie – former Governor of Indiana
• Robert Presley O'Bannon – member of the Indiana Senate
• Alan Olsen – Oregon State Senator
• Paul Parks – Massachusetts Secretary of Education
• Zach Payne – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• Scott Reske – member of the Indiana House of Representatives
• William Ridenour – member of the West Virginia House of Delegates
• Larry Ross, member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
• Darlene Senger – member of the Illinois House of Representatives
• Wayne Townsend – member of both houses of the Indiana legislature and the Democratic candidate for governor in 1984
• Frank Watson – member of the Illinois Senate

Local office

• Isaac Colton Ash – Los Angeles, California, City Council member
• Jane Baker – first female mayor of San Mateo, California
• John J. Barton – former mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana
• Marty Blum – former mayor of Santa Barbara, California
• Elgin English Crull – longest serving city manager of Dallas, Texas to date ; was city manager when John F. Kennedy was assassinated
• A.E. Henning – Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1929–33
• Robert J. LaFortune – former mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Bart Peterson – former mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana
• David H. Rodgers – former mayor of Spokane, Washington

Other political and legal figures

• Nels Ackerson – lawyer, 2008 candidate for U.S. Congress from Indiana
• Allen Alley – Oregon Republican Party chairman
• Roberto Feliberti Cintrón – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
• Uthum Herat – Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund
• Jeffrey M. Lacker – president of Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
• Charles Mok – Hong Kong Legislative Council member
• Marilyn Quayle – lawyer, novelist, and political figure, wife of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle
• Kyle Roche, cryptocurrency lawyer
• Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Indonesian Minister of Finance

Sports

Baseball

• Bernie Allen – 12-year career infielder with the Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators, New York Yankees and Montreal Expos; also played for the Boilermakers
• Jermaine Allensworth – former Major League Baseball player
• Roger Bossard – head groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox, sports turf consultant for MLB, NFL, Major League Soccer
• Jay Buente – relief pitcher for the Florida Marlins
• Michael Duursma – shortstop for the Netherlands national baseball team
• Bob Friend – former MLB pitcher; 4-time All-Star, World Series Champion
• Josh Lindblom – relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Joe McCabe – former Major League baseball player
• Cameron Perkins – infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Kevin Plawecki – catcher for the Boston Red Sox
• Moose Skowron – former Major League Baseball player; 6-time All-Star, 5-time World Series Champion
• Nick Wittgren – Relief Pitcher for the Miami Marlins

Basketball

• Brian Cardinal – NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, former professional NBA basketball player from 2000 to 2012
• Joe Barry Carroll – NCAA Final Four 1980, former NBA basketball player, 1st pick overall in NBA Draft
• Terry Dischinger – former NBA basketball player, NBA Rookie of the Year; Olympic Gold in basketball
• Katie Douglas – former basketball player in the WNBA
• Ray Eddy – former Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball head coach
• Carsen Edwards – NBA player Boston Celtics, twice named an All-American
• Herm Gilliam – NBA Champion Portland Trail Blazers, NBA player, NCAA Finals 1969
• Paul Hoffman – former NBA player, BAA Rookie of the Year, NBA Champion, former general manager for the Baltimore Bullets
• Robbie Hummel – 1st Team All-Big Ten; professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves
• JaJuan Johnson – Big-Ten Player of the Year; current professional basketball for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League
• Carl Landry – 1st Team All-Big Ten; current professional NBA player for the Sacramento Kings
• Billy Keller – NCAA Finals 1969, 3-time ABA Champion, former University of Indianapolis men's basketball coach
• Frank Kendrick – former NBA player and NBA Champion, Golden State Warriors
• Alan Major – former head coach of the Charlotte 49ers
• Cuonzo Martin – current head coach of the Missouri Tigers men's basketball
• Brad Miller – former NBA basketball player, two-time NBA All-Star
• E'Twaun Moore – 1st Team All-Big Ten; currently an NBA free agent, last played for the Phoenix Suns
• Rick Mount – three-time All-American at Purdue and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year; NCAA Finals 1969; former American Basketball Association basketball player
• Matt Painter – current Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball head coach, former coach at Southern Illinois University, 16 NCAA Tournament appearances
• Glenn Robinson – 1994 NCAA Player of the Year, two-time 1st Team All-American; former NBA player, 1st pick overall in NBA draft ; NBA champion with San Antonio Spurs
• Amy Ruley – North Dakota State University women's basketball coach
• Dave Schellhase – first-team All-American at Purdue; former Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball head coach, former Minnesota State-Moorhead head coach
• Jerry Sichting – NBA Champion Boston Celtics, NBA player, NCAA Final Four 1980
• Kevin Stallings – current Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball head coach, former coach at Illinois State University
• Caleb Swanigan—NCAA National Player of the year 2017, NBA first round draft pick, Big Ten Player of the year 2017
• Howie Williams – Olympic Gold in basketball, AAU National Champion
• Trevion Williams – basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• John Wooden – Basketball Hall of Fame honoree as both player and coach; 10-time NCAA Champion coach at UCLA; 1932 National champion and All-American as player
• Zach Edey – 2-time consensus national player of the year, 2 time all American; Currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies.
• Stephanie White – - former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA.
• Jaden Ivey – Top 5 pick in NBA Draft. Currently plays for Detroit Pistons

Football

• Mike Alstott – former NFL and Super Bowl Champion fullback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Purdue's all-time leading rusher
• Cliff Avril – NFL defensive end of the Seattle Seahawks; Champion Super Bowl XLVIII and participated in XLIX
• Ryan Baker – NFL defensive end for the Miami Dolphins, 2009–2012
• Erich Barnes – NFL defensive back, four-time All-Pro
• David Blough – NFL assistant quarterbacks coach for the Washington Commanders
• Drew Brees – Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, All-Pro, Pro Bowl quarterback, San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints; Maxwell Award; 2 x Heisman Trophy Finalist; Rose Bowl Game
• George Bolan – Chicago Staleys, Bears
• Dave Butz – 16-year, 2x Super Bowl Champion NFL Lineman with the Washington Redskins and selected to the all NFL 1980s Team
• Scott Campbell – played quarterback for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons
• Rosevelt Colvin – 2x Super Bowl Champion, professional football player in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots
• Gary Danielson – former NFL quarterback; current TV announcer, College Football
• Len Dawson – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback with the Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl IV MVP
• Jim Everett – Pro Bowl NFL quarterback; Saint Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers
• Tim Foley – Former Defensive Back for Purdue and Defensive Back for Miami Dolphins Super Bowl Champions
• Gilbert Gardner – NFL linebacker, member of the Super Bowl XLI-winning Indianapolis Colts
• Wayne Gift – NFL player with the Cleveland Rams
• Bob Griese – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback with the Miami Dolphins; lead Dolphins to 17-0-0 perfect season; 2x Super Bowl Champion quarterback; College Football Hall of Fame, Rose Bowl Champion quarterback
• Steve Griffin – former NFL and Arena Football League player
• Nick Hardwick – former NFL center of the San Diego Chargers
• Matt Hernandez – NFL offensive tackle
• Mark Herrmann – former NFL quarterback with the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers; 3-time Bowl game MVP with Purdue, Heisman Trophy finalist
• Paul Humphrey – NFL center for the Brooklyn Dodgers
• Clarence Janecek – NFL offensive guard of the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Dustin Keller – NFL tight end of the Miami Dolphins
• Ryan Kerrigan – NFL linebacker of the Washington Redskins / Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles; 1st Team All-American
• Ed Klewicki – Detroit Lions, 1930s
• Jon Krick – Arena Football League player
• John Letsinger – Pittsburgh Pirates, 1933
• Matt Light – NFL left tackle of the New England Patriots; 3x Super Bowl Champion Super Bowl, and participated in XLII
• Jim Looney – NFL linebacker of the San Francisco 49ers
• Marc May – NFL tight end of the Minnesota Vikings
• Rondale Moore – NFL wide receiver of the Arizona Cardinals
• Raheem Mostert – NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers
• Wave Myers – former coach at Ball State
• Mike Neal – NFL defensive tackle of the Green Bay Packers
• Rob Ninkovich – linebacker for the New England Patriots; has also played for the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins
• Kyle Orton – quarterback, drafted by the Chicago Bears had played for several NFL teams.
• Curtis Painter – backup quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, drafted in 2009 to succeed Peyton Manning
• Shaun Phillips – NFL defensive end of the Tennessee Titans
• Mike Phipps – College Football Hall of Fame former NFL Quarterback, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Heisman Trophy Runner-up
• Bernard Pollard – NFL safety of the Tennessee Titans
• Ed Rate – former NFL blocking back for the Milwaukee Badgers
• Karl Singer – AFL tackle for the Boston Patriots
• Joe Skibinski – former NFL guard for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers
• Ed Skoronski – NFL player
• Blane Smith – former NFL linebacker for the Green Bay Packers
• Anthony Spencer – NFL linebacker drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2007
• John Standeford – NFL wide receiver of the Detroit Lions, member of the Super Bowl XLI-winning Indianapolis Colts
• Darryl Stingley – former NFL wide receiver with the New England Patriots
• Hank Stram – Pro Football Hall of Fame coach of the Kansas City Chiefs
• Taylor Stubblefield – NCAA Division 1 football career receptions leader, played for the St. Louis Rams
• Kevin Sumlin – Former the Head coach of the Arizona Wildcats and currently associate head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and tight ends coach for the University of Maryland
• Michael Terrizzi – played briefly for the San Francisco 49ers
• Calvin Williams – NFL wide receiver of the Philadelphia Eagles; rookie of the year
• Clem Woltman – former NFL tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles
• Rod Woodson – Super Bowl Champion Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back, 11-time Pro-Bowler and former NFL cornerback
• Aiden O’Connell – Quarterback Drafted in the 5th Round 135th Pick in 2023. Currently plays for the Las Vegas Raiders
• Derrick Barnes – Linebacker Drafted in the 4th Round 113th Pick in 2021. Currently plays for the Detroit Lions

Other sports

• Stephan Bonnar – appeared on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, retired professional mixed martial artist, two-time Golden Gloves Champion, UFC Hall of Fame member
• David Boudia – Olympic diver
• Larry Burton – Olympic runner
• Keith Carter – Olympic swimmer
• Joe Corso – Olympic wrestler
• Javier Díaz – Olympic swimmer for Mexico
• Dick the Bruiser – professional wrestling champion; real name William Afflis; also played in the NFL
• Amanda Elmore – Olympic rower
• Ray Ewry – ten-time Olympic champion in track and field
• Jon Fitch – Boilermaker team captain wrestler; professional mixed martial artist, formerly with the Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Cliff Furnas – Olympic runner
• Ray Gunkel – AAU Champion wrestler, NCAA semifinalist and professional champion
• Ed Glover – Olympic pole-vaulter
• Matt Hamill – three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling, silver and gold medalist of the 2001 Summer Deaflympics; mixed martial artist who fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship; retired
• Lacey Hearn – Olympic athlete
• Chris Huffins – Olympic decathlete
• Steele Johnson – Olympic diver
• Pariya Junhasavasdikul – Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour
• Shiv Kapur – Professional golfer
• Gerald Koh – Olympic swimmer
• Gyöngyvér Lakos – Olympic swimmer
• Matt Mitrione – former NFL player and current Heavyweight fighter for Bellator MMA
• Nate Moore – Boilermaker team captain wrestler; current MMA competitor, formerly fighting for Strikeforce (mixed martial arts)
• Nedzad Mulabegovic – shot put for Croatia
• Betty Mullen-Brey – 100-meter butterfly
• Ryan Newman – 2008 Daytona 500 Champion, 2002 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year
• Coralie O'Connor – swimming
• Jake O'Brien – Boilermaker wrestler; current MMA fighter, previously the WEC and the UFC
• Ike Olekaibe – Olympic athlete
• Carol Pence-Taylor – Olympic swimmer
• Kara Patterson – Javelin
• Eric Rodwell – professional bridge player
• Joan Rosazza – Olympic swimmer
• Chris Schenkel – sportscaster
• Lauren Sesselmann – Women's Soccer for Canada
• Doug Sharp – Olympic bobsledder
• Miguel Torres, wrestler; current professional mixed martial arts fighter, former WEC Bantamweight Champion
• Frank Verner – Olympic athlete
• Fred Wampler – PGA Tour golfer
• Beth Whittall – 100-meter butterfly for Canada
• Jeanne Wilson-Vaughn – Olympic swimmer
• Fred Wilt – Olympic runner

Other alumni

• David A. Bednar – LDS Church Apostle; former President of BYU-Idaho
• Vikram Buddhi – imprisoned for threatening the life of U.S. President George W. Bush
• Theodore M. Burton – LDS Church leader
• Kathy Calvin – chief executive officer, United Nations Foundation
• John Mark Dean – conservationist and marine biologist
• Russell Mawby – chairman emeritus, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Sarah Jo Pender – convicted murderer and prison escapee
• Eric Justin Toth – fugitive on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list
• Richard Leroy Walters – homeless philanthropist