CU Distinguished Alumni by Category

Educators~Teachers | Artists, Creators, and Entertainers | Athletes |
Corporate Executives | Communicators | Public Leaders~Public Servants | Scientists and Researchers | Global Citizens | Trailblazers

Educators/Teachers:

Roland Rautenstraus (CE '47, MSCE '49) CU President, 1974-1980

Ward Darley (BA '26, MD '29) CU President, 1953-1956.

 

Clifford Houston (ED '27, MA '28, PhD '33) CU Dean of Students; President Mesa State College; Superintendent of Grand Junction Public Schools

 

Mary-Ethel Ball (BA '14, ED '15) CU Dean of Women; organized first physical education program for Boulder Public Schools

 

Ruth Cave Flowers* (BA '24, MA '30) Second African-American woman to graduate from CU; attorney and educator; head of Department of Romance Languages at North Carolina College.

Ernestine Block Grigsby (BA '19) University Regent from 1930 - 1936; Chair of National Panhellenic Council

Amy Pitkin Stearns (BA '19) Wife of CU President Robert Stearns; sponsor of Mortar Board

Robert Stearns (BA '14, DhL '54) CU President from 1939 - 53

Philip Hart (BA '66) Professor of sociology at University of Massachusetts-Boston; author; film producer; economic development expert

Charles Lory (BS '01, MS '02, DhL '09) President Colorado State University, 1909 -1940

William Bud Davis (BS '51, EdD '63) Chancellor of Oregon State system, President of Idaho State University, University of New Mexico, Chancellor Louisiana State University

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Artists, Creators, and Entertainers:

Josephine Lousie Antoine (BA '29, DHM '35) Member of the New York Chautauqua and Metropolitan Opera Companies who performed throughout the country and on national radio.

Charles Eagle Plume (BA '32, DhH '81) Lecturer and collector/connoisseur of Native American art and culture

Patricia Elliott (BA '62) Television and stage actress, Tony Award winner

 

Dave Grusin (BA '56) Pianist, composer, music producer and arranger. Winner of three Academy Awards for movie scores and three Grammy Awards.

 

Cynthia Lawrence Calkins (BA '83, MMA '87) Opera star

Larry Linville (Ex '61) Actor, played Frank Burns on TV series M.A.S.H.

 

Alton Glenn Miller (Ex '26, DhH '84) The greatest band leader of his era; formed Glenn Miller Band in 1937and the Army Air Force Band during WW II; won first gold record in history for recording of "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

 

Tony Ortega (BA '80, MFA '95) Renowned artist throughout western United States

Rudy Pozzatti (BFA '50, MFA '69, DhH '73) Print maker, sculptor, painter

Robert Redford (Ex '58, DhL '87) Leading film actor and director; founder of the Sundance Institute and Festival

Dean Reed (BA '60) Idolized country, folk and rock singer/ song writer in Eastern Europe and South America; worked as a peace and political activist

Pete Smythe (Ex '34) Denver radio personality; the familiar voice on the DIA train

Dalton Trumbo (BA '29) Blacklisted author and screenwriter; Academy Award winner

Muriel Sibell Wolle (MFA '30) Long-time Chair of CU Department of Fine Arts; author/illustrator of six books on western mining and ghost towns

 

Marlene Tseng Yu (MFA '67) Renowned artist

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Athletes

Dick Anderson (BS '68) Three-time All-Pro Safety for Miami Dolphins; Florida State Senator

 

Tom Brookshier (PE '53) TV sports broadcaster, NFL All-Pro defensive back for the Philadelphia Eagles

 

Jimmie Heuga (BA '73) Olympic bronze medallist in slalom skiing, 1964; active in Multiple Sclerosis programs

 

Hale Irwin ((BS '68) Professional golfer; three times U.S. Open champion

 

Billy Kidd (BA '69) Olympic bronze medallist in alpine skiing, 1964; 1970 World Professional Ski Champion

Buddy Werner (Ex 64) International alpine ski racer

 

Bill Toomey (Jour '62) Olympic gold medal in decathalon, 1968

Dave Logan (A &S '76) CU All-American football player; professional football player; sports analyst; talk show host; drafted professionally in football, basketball and baseball.

 

John Wooten (PE '59) CU All-American football player; professional football player for Cleveland Browns; Vice President/Director of Personnel Operations, Philadelphia Eagles; Assistant Director of Player Personnel for Baltimore Ravens

Mary Decker Slaney (Ex '79) World-class track athlete setting every American running record from 800 to 10,000 meters

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Corporate Executives

Richard Tatlow (BS '27, CE '33) President of the American Consulting Engineers Council and the American Society of Civil Engineers

Walter Koch (BA '23) President of Mountain States Telephone Company; Denver Attorney

Stephen Bechtel, Jr. (Ex '47, DHS '81) Head of Bechtel Group; Chair of National Academy of Engineering (LLB '13) President of Great Western Sugar Co.; CU Athletic Hall of Honor

Floyd Hall (BA '38) General Manager of TWA; President of Eastern Air Lines

Sanford McDonnell (ME '48) President of McDonnell Aircraft Corp.

Melvin Clark (CHE '37) Executive Vice President of Vulcan Materials Company; President of Chorine Institute

Richard Knowlton (BA '54) President and CEO of Hormel Co.; CU Athletic Hall of Honor

Jerry McMorris (Bus '62) Chairman, president and CEO of Colorado Rockies baseball team

George Newton (BA '33) Prominent investment banker; CU Athletic Hall of Honor

Robert Howsam (Ex '40) General Manager St. Louis Cardinals 1964-1966; General Manager, President and CEO of Cincinnati Reds.

Jeanne Pellegren Jackson (BA/Finance '74) CEO, Walmart.com; President, Banana Republic; Executive V.P. , Victoria's Secret; Senior V.P., Walt Disney Co.

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Communicators

Chris Fowler (Jour '85) Anchor/Reporter for ESPN sports

Alva Paddock (BA '10) Editor and Publisher of Boulder Daily Camera

 

Robert Palmer (Jour '60) News anchor and executive editor for Denver's KCNC Channel 4; Emmy Award winner

Louisa Ward Arps (A&S '23) Author, historian, librarian, naturalist

Eugene Fowler (BA '14, MHE '47) Managing editor The New York American; author

 

Doug Looney (Jour '63) Senior sports writer, Sports Illustrated; co-author of New York Times best selling book, Under the Tarnished Dome: How Notre Dame Betrayed Its Ideals for Football Glory

Rick Reilly (Jour '81) Journalist, Sports Illustrated; five-time National Sportswriter of the Year

Jean Stafford (BA '36, MA '36, DHH '72) Pulitzer Prize winning author

William Jovanovich (Engl '41, PHD H) President and CEO of Harcourt, Brace and Javanovich; Author of numerous essays and books

Lee Hanna (Jour '54) Vice President NBC News, winner of 25 awards including 3 Emmy and 2 Peabody Awards

 

Marilyn Van Derbur Atler (BA '60) Miss America 1958; founder and spokesperson for Adult Incest Survivors Program of Denver's Kempe Center

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Public Leaders~Public Servants

Eugene Milliken (LLB '13, DHL '57) First CU graduate to serve in U.S. Senate

O. Hatfield Chilson (LLB '27) U.S. District Judge; Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior; Colorado Sports Hall of Fame

Moses Lasky (BA '26, LLB '28) Prominent San Francisco attorney; leader in anti-trust and business litigation

Benjamin Bailar (Geol '55) U.S. Postmaster General; Executive Vice President of U.S. Gypsum Company

Donald Brotzman (Bus '49, LLB '49) U.S. Congressional Representative; U.S. Attorney for Colorado; CU Athletic Hall of Honor

Afred Arraj (LLB '28) U.S. District Judge for Colorado

Virginia Neal Blue (BA '31) Colorado State Treasurer; Colorado Woman of the Year; CU Regent

Raphael Moses (BA '36, LLB '37) Leading Colorado water lawyer; legal counsel for CU; CU Regent

Jean Breitenstein (BA '22, LLB '24) U.S. District Court Judge; U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge; President of Colorado Bar Association

Nicholas Doman (MA '35) Assistant to U.S. chief prosecutor at Nuremberg Trials; partner in New York law firm

Gordon Allott (BA '27, LLB '29, LHD '69) Colorado Lieutenant Governor; U.S. Senator; All-America track team

Hank Brown (Acct '61, Law '69) U.S. Senator; U.S. Representative; Colorado State Senator; President University of Northern Colorado

 

Ralph Carr (BA '10, Law '12) Governor of Colorado; champion of civil rights for Japanese Americans during WW II

Lynne Cheney (M Englit '64) W.H. Brady, Jr., Distinguished Fellow at American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research; Chairman of National Endowment for the Humanities; married to Vice President Richard Cheney

Roy Romer (Law '52) Governor of Colorado; member of State Senate and House; Superintendent of Los Angeles Public Schools

Roberta Cooper Ramo (Hum '64) First female president of American Bar Association; President, University of New Mexico Board of Regents

Luis Rovira (PolSci/Econ '48, Law '50) Chief Justice of Colorado Supreme Court

Byron White (BA '38, DHL '63) Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; Rhodes Scholar; All-America football player; CU Athletic Hall of Honor

Wiley Rutledge (LLB '22, LHD '40) U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Associate Justice of U.S. Appeals Court

Lee Knaus (Law '11) Occupied highest seat in each of the three branches of Colorado government: legislative, judicial, and executive. Governor; Chief Justice of Colorado Supreme Court, President Pro Tem of Colorado Senate.

Ira Rothgerber (LLB '01) Denver lawyer and county judge

Ira Rothgerber Jr. (PSc '34, LLB '35, LHD '75) Corporate Lawyer

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Scientists and Researchers

Kenneth Sawyer (MD '31) Chief surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital in Denver

Oscar Clagett (MD '33) (DHS '62) Chief of surgery and professor at Mayo Clinic

Mary Marr Collier (MD '24) and Douglas Collier (MD '23) (D. 1969) Medical missionaries; built hospital in Thailand and developed treatment for leprosy

Thomas Hendricks (MS Geol '29) (1907 - 1985) Distinguished geologist; winner of Medal of Freedom and Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Department of Interior

Jo Ann Cram Joselyn* (ApMath '65, Mastro '67, PhD '78) Secretary General of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics; Chief of Geospace branch of Research and Development Division at Space Environment Laboratory of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Secretary-General of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy

Theodore Maiman* (Engr Phy '49) Developer of first laser; VP of advanced technology for TRW; head of quantum electronics for Hughes Research Laboratories

Earl Morris* (BA '14, MA '15, Hon DSc '42) Anthropologist and archaeologist who studied Mayan ruins in the Yucatan, the Cliff Dweller remains in southern Colorado, the Pueblo ruins at Aztec, New Mexico and Basket Maker sites near Durango, Colorado

Joseph Romig (BA '63, PhD '75) Research Physicist; Rhodes Scholar; All-America football player

Thomas Hornbein (BA '52) Professor and researcher in anesthesiology; Mountaineer; climbed Mt. Everest in 1963; developed standard breathing mask for mountain climbers

 

Clayton White (BA '34, MD '42) Rhodes Scholar, Director of Lovelace Foundation for Medical Research and Education

Marjorie Woodard Evans (BA '42) Director of Poulter Laboratory and Physical Sciences Division, Stanford Research Institute; noted ecologist

Robert Isaak (EE '43, MS '49) Director of Sonic Sonar Division of US Naval Undersea Center; Director of Engineering for Honeywell

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Global Citizens

Bethuel Webster Jr. (BA '22, LHD '72) U.S. Ambassador to United Kingdom; President of New York City Bar Association; Trustee of Ford Foundation

David Bolen (B.S. '50, M.S. '50) U.S. Ambassador to German Democratic Republic, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland; first CU Student on U.S. Olympic Team

Llewellyn Thompson (BA '28, DhL '58) Ambassador to USSR, 1957 - 62; Consul to Moscow, 1940 - 44; received Medal of Freedom

Leroy Smith (IntlAf '62) Served as Counsel/First Secretary at United States Embassy Secretary in Paris

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Trailblazers

Jo Ann Cram Joselyn (see Scientists and Researchers)

Theodore Maiman (see Scientists and Researchers)

Earl Morris (see Scientists and Researchers)

 

Glenn Porzak (BA '70, JD '73) World-class mountaineer, one of first to climb the highest peak on all seven continents; conservationist; water attorney

Roberta Cooper Ramo (See Public Leaders/Public Servants)

Ruth Cave Flowers (see Educators/Teachers)

W. Edwards Deming (MS '24, LLD '87) Renowned expert on quality in manufacturing; known for work which created a revolution in quality and dependability of Japan's production and turned country into economic superpower

Steve Wozniak (HonDocHum '89) Co-founder, Apple Computer Company; philanthropist.

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* Appears in more than one category

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