List of Oregon State University alumni


This is a list of notable alumni of Oregon State University, a university in Corvallis, Oregon in the United States. The university traces its roots back to 1856 when Corvallis Academy was founded. It wasn't formally incorporated until 1858 when the name was changed to Corvallis College, and wasn't chartered until 1868. In 1890 the school became known as Oregon Agricultural College, in 1927 it was known as Oregon State Agricultural College, and the current name was adopted in 1961. Alumni from each of these eras may be included on the list, and more than 200,000 people have attended the university since its founding.

Science, engineering, and academics

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Philip Emeagwali1974–19771989 Gordon Bell Prize winner
Paul H. Emmett1917–1922Manhattan Project research staff member and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Douglas Engelbart?–1948Inventor of the computer mouse
Wayne L. Hubbell?–1965Led development of site-directed spin labeling ; member of the National Academy of Sciences
Donald M. Kerr?–1969Wildlife biologist and founder of the High Desert Museum
Ann Kiessling?-1971Reproductive biologist and leading stem cell researcher
Octave Levenspiel‡?–1991Emeritus Professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University, author of five books, and member of the National Academy of Engineering
Linus Pauling‡1917–19221954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and 1962 Nobel Peace Prize recipient; the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel Prizes
Glenn Odekirk1923–1927Hughes Aircraft Aerospace Engineer, helped design the H-4 Hercules
William Oefelein?–1988NASA astronaut
Donald Pettit?–1978NASA astronaut
J. Michael Scott?–1973Ornithologist, Peace Corps volunteer
Michael Watermanearly 70sComputational biologist; professor of biological science, mathematics, and computer science at the University of Southern California; elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering ; elected Foreign Member of the French Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Politics and diplomacy

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Cecil D. Andrus1952Governor of Idaho and U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Earl I. Anzai?–1964Attorney General of Hawaii
Brad Avakian?–1984Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
Rod Chandler?–1968U.S. Representative of Washington
Charles Crookham1941–1943Attorney General of Oregon
John Ensign?–1981U.S. Representative of Nevada ; Nevada U.S. Senator
John Hubert Hall?–1923Governor of Oregon ; member of the Oregon House of Representatives
Julia Butler Hansen1924–1926U.S. Representative of Washington
Darlene Hooley?–1961U.S. Representative of Oregon
Hector Macpherson, Jr.1936-1940Oregon State Senator
Douglas McKay?–1917Governor of Oregon and U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Paul Peek?–?California Secretary of State ; Speaker of the California State Assembly
Pou Sohtireak?–1980sCambodian Minister for Industry, Mines and Energy
Norris Poulson1923U.S. Representative of California ; mayor of Los Angeles, California
Frederick Steiwer?–1902Oregon U.S. Senator
Lowell Stockman?–1922U.S. Representative of Oregon
Jolene Unsoeld1949–1951U.S. Representative of Washington
Robert M. Veatch1868-1871Oregon Representative, Senator, and mayor of Cottage Grove, Oregon
James K. Weatherford1868-1872Oregon Representative, Speaker of the House, Senator, and mayor of Albany, Oregon
Mary Carlin Yates?–1968U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi and U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana
Irwandi Yusuf1993Governor of Indonesian province of Aceh

Business

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Thomas J. Autzen1905–1909Plywood manufacturing pioneer
Mercedes Alison Bates?–1936Former vice president of General Mills' Betty Crocker Cooking division; first female officer of General Mills
Austen S. Cargill II?Heir and major shareholder of Cargill, received a PhD from Oregon State University
Peggy Cherng1969–1971CEO of Panda Express
Randy Conrads?–1972Founder of Classmates.com
Jen-Hsun Huang?–1984Co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA
Timothy S. Leatherman?–1970Inventor of the Leatherman tool
Brian McMenamin?–1980Co-founder of the McMenamins chain
Mike McMenamin?–1974Co-founder of the McMenamins chain
Bernie Newcomb?–1965Co-founder of E*TRADE
Don Robert?–?CEO of Experian
Leonard Shoen?–?Founder of U-Haul
John A. Young?–1953Former president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard

Journalism and arts

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Chris Anderson1968–1972Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize
John BrothertonSoap opera actor
George Bruns?–1936Composer
Pinto Colvig?–1911Voice actor; the original Bozo the Clown
Webley Edwards?–1927World War II news correspondent
Kevin HagenActor
Christopher HowellPoet
Harley Jessup?–19761987 Best Visual Effects Oscar winner for the film Innerspace
Chris Johns1971-1974Current Editor-In-Chief of National Geographic magazine
Tala Madani1999–2004Artist, painter featured in the 2017 Whitney Biennial
George OppenWinner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize in poetry
Mary OppenPoet
Meredith PhillipsStar of ABC reality television show The Bachelorette
Mike RichScreenwriter
Laurie RothSyndicated radio talk-show host
Travis RushCountry music singer
Bert Sperling1968-1972Author and researcher
Roger Werth?–19801980 Pulitzer Prize in photography winner

Military

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Edward C. Allworth?–1916Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
Rex T. Barber?–1940World War II pilot credited with killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Marion Eugene Carl?–1938World War II flying ace; record-setting test pilot; United States Marine Corps Major General
John Noble Holcomb1967Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
Anthony E. Van Dyke?–1978USMC Colonel and current commander of Marine forces at Henderson Hall

Olympians and historic endeavorers

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Stacy Allison?–1984First American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest
Dick Fosbury?–1972Inventor of Fosbury Flop who won gold medal in 1968 Summer Olympics
Joseph Hansen1999–2001†2004 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the men's eight with coxswain rowing event
Josh Inman1998–20032008 Summer Olympics bronze medalist in the men's eight with coxswain rowing event
Amy Martin?2000 Summer Olympics competitor in the women's eight with coxswain rowing event
Keith Monohan?–?Ultimate Players Association's 1996 Callahan Award winner
Gary Payton1986–1990†2000 Summer Olympics gold medalist as a member of the United States men's national basketball team
Selina Scoble?-?2000 Summer Olympics participant for the USA women's volleyball team
Willi Unsoeld?–1951Led the first United States climbing expedition to the summit of Mount Everest
Robert Zagunis?-?1976 Summer Olympics participant in men's rowing

Athletics and sport

See List of Oregon State University athletes.

Other

NameAttendedNotabilityReference
Bobby Henderson?–2003Creator of Flying Spaghetti Monsterism
Katharine Jefferts Schori?–1983Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and oceanographer
Jodi Ann Paterson?–19982000 Playboy Playmate of the Year
Katherine Ann Power?—2001Anti-war activist, convicted of armed robbery and manslaughter, 14 years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list
Sara Jean Underwood2002–2007July 2006 Playboy Playmate of the Month and 2007 Playmate of the Year

Legend