List of people from Topeka, Kansas
This is a list of people from Topeka, Kansas.
Academia
- Warren Faidley, meteorologist, storm chaser
- Riley Gardner, psychologist
- Wes Jackson, environmentalist, The Land Institute
- Sokoni Karanja, child development expert
- G. Warren Nutter, economist
- Ruth Patrick, botanist, limnologist
- Walton T. Roth, psychiatrist and psychophysiological researcher
- David Curtis Skaggs, Jr., historian
- John Brooks Slaughter, electrical engineer, National Science Foundation director
Arts and entertainment
Film, television, and theatre
- Brandon Adams, actor
- Annette Bening, actress
- Gregg Binkley, actor
- Roscoe Born, actor
- Jack Colvin, actor
- Samuel M. Comer, set decorator
- George Dickerson, actor, poet, writer
- Jayne Houdyshell, actress
- Jeff Kready, Broadway actor
- Alix Lapri, actress
- Ted North, actor
- Sheila Ryan, actress
- Travis Schuldt, actor
- Lois Smith, actress
- Fay Tincher, actress
Journalism
- Allen W. Clark, journalist, businessman
- Audrey Cooper, journalist and news executive
- Elizabeth Farnsworth, broadcaster, filmmaker
- Donald C. Thompson, war photographer, director, producer
Literature
- Thomas Fox Averill, novelist
- Gwendolyn Brooks, poet
- Irene Bennett Brown, American author of children's, young adult and adult fiction
- Jeannette Eyerly, novelist, columnist
- Janet Fox, fantasy and horror writer, poet
- Jane Heap, editor, publisher
- Ben Lerner, poet
- Karen Salyer McElmurray, essayist, novelist
- Eric McHenry, poet
- Frances Clarke Sayers, author, lecturer, librarian
- Ed Skoog, poet
- Linda Spalding, novelist, editor
- Rex Stout, novelist
- Max Yoho, author
- Kevin Young, poet, author, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Music
- Phil Ehart, drummer, founding member of the band Kansas
- Streamline Ewing, jazz trombonist
- Aulsondro "Emcee N.I.C.E." Hamilton, musician, member of KansasCali, known for Crash soundtrack
- Coleman Hawkins, jazz saxophonist
- Dave Hope, bass guitarist, former member of Kansas
- Josh Kulick, former heavy metal drummer for Through The Eyes Of The Dead
- Katrina Leskanich, singer
- Kerry Livgren, founding member of the bands Kansas and AD
- Andy McKee, musician
- Kirke Mechem, composer
- Origin, metal band
- Kliph Scurlock, drummer
- Jamshied Sharifi, composer, musician
- Kenny Starr, country singer
- Rich Williams, guitarist, member of Kansas
Other visual arts
- James Pringle Cook, Western landscape painter
- Aaron Douglas, Harlem Renaissance artist
- Georgia Louise Harris Brown, architect
- Peter Max Lawrence, contemporary media artist
Business
- Henry Bubb, president and chairman of Capitol Federal Savings Bank
- Brad Garlinghouse, business executive, investor
- Cyrus K. Holliday, first president of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad; founder of Topeka township
- John F. Kilmartin, retail executive
Crime
- Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, kidnapper, murderer, robber
- Anthony LaRette, convicted serial killer executed in Missouri
- Amy Watkins, murder victim
Medicine
- Karl Bowman, psychiatrist
- Harriet Lerner, clinical psychologist and author
- Karl Menninger, psychiatrist
- Roy W. Menninger, psychiatrist
- William C. Menninger, psychiatrist
- W. Walter Menninger, psychiatrist
- Karl Targownik, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor
Military
- Wilder D. Baker, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral during World War II
- Ronald Evans, astronaut
- Harry D. Felt, U.S. Navy Admiral
- Donald Hudson, World War I flying ace
- Joseph K. Hudson, U.S. Army brigadier general
- Philip Johnston, U.S. Marine Corps code-talker
- Frank E. Petersen, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. General
Politics
National
- Linda Carol Brown, plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
- Oliver Brown, plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
- Arthur Capper, U.S. Senator from Kansas, 20th Governor of Kansas
- Helen Chenoweth-Hage, U.S. Representative from Idaho
- Albert M. Cole, U.S. Representative from Kansas
- Sam A. Crow, U.S. federal judge
- Charles Curtis, 31st Vice President of the United States
- Ron Estes, U.S. representative for Kansas and Kansas State Treasurer
- Harry W. Fraser, labor leader
- David Archibald Harvey, U.S. House Delegate from Oklahoma Territory
- Donald R. Heath, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam
- Zelma Henderson, plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
- Nancy Kassebaum, U.S. Senator from Kansas
- Alf Landon, 26th Governor of Kansas, 1936 Republican candidate for U.S. President
- Jake LaTurner, former U.S. representative from Kansas and state treasurer and state senator
- John Thomas Marten, U.S. federal judge
- John Martin, U.S. Senator from Kansas
- Isabell Masters, perennial third-party candidate for U.S. president
- Noah C. McFarland, Commissioner of the United States General Land Office
- John G. Otis, U.S. Representative from Kansas
- Brad Parscale, campaign manager for Donald Trump
- Megan Phelps-Roper, political activist and former member and dissident of the Westboro Baptist Church
- Nathan Phelps, LGBT rights activist
- Shirley Phelps-Roper, lawyer, anti-LGBT political activist
- John Ritchie, abolitionist
- Pat Roberts, U.S. Senator from Kansas
- William R. Roy, U.S. Representative from Kansas
- Thomas Ryan, U.S. Representative from Kansas and Ambassador to Mexico
- John States Seybold, Governor of Panama Canal Zone
- Jim Slattery, U.S. Representative from Kansas
- John L. Waller, U.S. Consul to Madagascar
State
- John Alcala, Kansas state legislator
- Carol A. Beier, Kansas Supreme Court Justice
- Robert Coldsnow, Kansas state legislator
- Robert E. Davis, Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
- Joan Finney, 42nd Governor of Kansas
- Shanti Gandhi, physician and legislator
- A. C. Hamlin, Oklahoma state legislator
- Alexander Miller Harvey, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
- Anthony Hensley, Kansas state legislator
- Marla Luckert, Kansas Supreme Court justice
- Lutie Lytle, lawyer, 1st African-American woman admitted to Kansas bar
- Kay McFarland, Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
- Eric Rosen, Kansas Supreme Court Justice
- Caleb Stegall, Kansas Supreme Court Justice
- Jeff Stone, Wisconsin state legislator
- Clifford W. Trow, Oregon state legislator
- William C. Webb, Wisconsin and Kansas legislator
- Jackie Winters, Oregon state legislator
Local
- Jacob Alan Dickinson, Topeka Board of Education president, desegregation supporter
Religion
- Lillian M. Mitchner, social reformer; President, Kansas State Woman's Christian Temperance Union
- Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church
- Charles Sheldon, minister, author
Sports
American football
- Chris Beatty, coach
- Tom Dinkel, linebacker
- Forrestal Hickman, offensive tackle
- Teven Jenkins, offensive tackle
- Mike Lemon, linebacker
- Trey Lewis, defensive tackle
- Lamar Mady, center
- Larry McGinnis, guard
- Jack Nason, tackle, wingback
- John H. Outland, college football coach and namesake of Outland Trophy
- John Parrella, defensive tackle
- Ryan Torain, running back
- Chuck Washington, defensive back
- Troy Wilson, defensive end
Baseball
- Aaron Crow, pitcher
- Rick DeHart, pitcher
- Bingo DeMoss, 2nd baseman, manager
- Art Griggs, 1st baseman
- Ross Grimsley, pitcher
- Clarence Heise, pitcher
- Bernadine Maxwell, utility player
- Larry Miller, pitcher
- Dink Mothell, pitcher, utility player
- Don O'Riley, pitcher
- Scott Taylor, pitcher
- Mike Torrez, pitcher
- Ryan Zeferjahn, pitcher
Basketball
- Chris Babb, shooting guard in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Leo Lyons, power forward
- Fred Slaughter, center, sports agent
- Dean Smith, University of North Carolina and Basketball Hall of Fame coach
- Mark Turgeon, head basketball coach at University of Maryland; formerly coach at Texas A&M University
- Kyle Weems, small forward
Golf
- Marilynn Smith, pro golfer and LPGA co-founder, member of World Golf Hall of Fame
- Gary Woodland, golfer
Racing
- Fred Comer, race car driver
- Louis Durant, race car driver
- Bruce Hill, race car driver
Other
- Simon Becher, soccer player
- Bob Benoit, pro bowler
- Casey Converse, U.S. Olympic swimmer, coach
- Art Crews, pro wrestler
- Bob Davis, sportscaster
- Bill Disney, U.S. Olympic speed skater
- Jack Disney, U.S. Olympic cyclist
- Melvin Douglas, Olympic wrestler, 1996 and 2000 and World Championship gold medalist
- Max Falkenstien, radio broadcaster
- Margaret Thompson Murdock, member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, and first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Summer Olympics
- Charles Nelson, U.S. Olympic volleyball player
- Anna Seaton, U.S. Olympic rower