Notable Alumni of Grinnell College

Yoweri Museveni 1944–

President of Uganda

Also attended: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

John Garang 1945–2005

Leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army

Also attended: Iowa State University

Florin Cîțu 1972–

Former Prime Minister of Romania

Bachelor's degree · Economics · Class of 1996

Also attended: Iowa State University

Harry Hopkins 1890–1946

8th US Secretary of Commerce, aide to Roosevelt

Sen Katayama 1859–1933

Japanese Marxist, journalist, co-founder of Japanese Communist Party

Also attended: Yale University, Maryville College

Tom Cole 1949–

U.S. Representative from Oklahoma

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1971

Also attended: Yale University, University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus

Joe Walsh 1961–

Former U.S. Representative and 2020 presidential candidate

Also attended: University of Chicago, University of Iowa

K. C. Wu 1903–1984

Former Mayor of Shanghai and Taiwan provincial chairman

Also attended: Princeton University

George A. Wilson 1884–1953

28th governor of Iowa and US senator

Also attended: University of Iowa

Charles A. Rawson 1867–1936

Briefly US senator from Iowa in 1922

James Wilson 1835–1920

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for sixteen years

Theodore E. Burton 1851–1929

Ohio Republican politician and U.S. Senator

Also attended: Oberlin College

Ezra P. Savage 1842–1920

12th governor of Nebraska

Alan Wheat 1951–

Former U.S. representative from Missouri

Joseph N. Welch 1890–1960

Army chief counsel in the Army–McCarthy hearings

Also attended: Harvard University

Otha Wearin 1903–1990

Former U.S. congressman and writer

Chase Strangio 1982–

Lawyer and transgender rights activist

Also attended: Northeastern University

Donald Hayworth 1898–1982

Former U.S. Representative from Michigan

Also attended: University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison

George Moose 1944–

Diplomat, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

Also attended: Syracuse University

Robert Noyce 1927–1990

Co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1949

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bruce Friedrich 1969–

Co-founder and president of The Good Food Institute

Tan Him 1893–1947

Taiwanese economist and banker

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Thomas Cech 1947–

Chemist, 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

Clair Cameron Patterson 1922–1995

Geochemist and geologist

Also attended: University of Chicago, University of Iowa

John Bell Hatcher 1861–1904

Paleontologist who discovered Torosaurus and Triceratops

Also attended: Yale University

Benjamin Barber 1939–2017

Political theorist, author of Jihad vs. McWorld

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1960

Also attended: Harvard University

Henry Carter Adams 1851–1921

Economist and University of Michigan professor

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University, Andover Newton Theological School

Oliver Ellsworth Buckley 1887–1959

Electrical engineer known for submarine telephony

Also attended: Cornell University

Dana Ulery 1938–

Computer scientist and engineer

Also attended: University of Delaware

Eleonore Stump 1947–

Philosopher and professor at Saint Louis University

Also attended: Harvard University, Cornell University

Nathaniel Borenstein 1957–

Computer scientist and co-designer of MIME

Also attended: Ohio State University-Main Campus, Carnegie Mellon University

William A. Noyes 1857–1941

Chemist and University of Illinois chemistry chair

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Jesse Macy 1842–1919

Political scientist and historian at Grinnell College

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Paul Patterson 1943–2014

Neuroscientist and professor at Caltech

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Samuel Hoyt Elbert 1907–1997

Linguist of Hawaiian and Polynesian lexicography

Mary Sue Coleman 1943–

13th president of the University of Michigan

Also attended: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Wallace Loh 1945–

Former president of University of Maryland, College Park

Bachelor of Arts · Psychology · Class of 1965

Also attended: Yale University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Cornell University

Gary Cooper 1901–1961

Hollywood actor

Herbie Hancock 1940–

American jazz pianist and composer

Also attended: Manhattan School of Music

Peter Coyote 1941–

Actor and narrator, appeared in E.T

Also attended: San Francisco State University

Kumail Nanjiani 1978–

Pakistani-American comedian, actor and screenwriter

Spouse: Emily V. Gordon (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)

Walter Koenig 1936–2026

Actor and screenwriter, Chekov in Star Trek

Also attended: University of California-Los Angeles, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater

Emily Bergl 1975–

English-born American actress

Martha Cooper 1943–

Photojournalist and former New York Post photographer

James Norman Hall 1887–1951

Writer, co-author of the Bounty Trilogy

Also attended: Harvard University

Fred Hersch 1955–

Jazz pianist and composer, 17-time Grammy nominee

Also attended: The New England Conservatory of Music

Hallie Flanagan 1890–1969

Theatrical producer who ran the Federal Theatre Project

Also attended: Harvard University

Ian Roberts 1965–

Actor, comedian, Upright Citizens Brigade co-founder

Roberta Smith 1947–

Former co-chief art critic of The New York Times

Amy Clampitt 1920–1994

Poet

Bachelor of Arts · English studies · Class of 1941

Pat Irwin 1955–

Composer and musician, former B-52s member

Zander Cannon 1972–

Cartoonist known for Top 10, Smax and Kaijumax

Gary Giddins 1948–

Jazz critic and author

Albert Shaw 1857–1947

Journalist and academic

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Mary Anthony 1916–2014

Choreographer, modern dancer and dance teacher

Cornelia Clarke 1884–1936

Nature photographer from Grinnell, Iowa

Morgan Taylor 1903–1975

Olympic 400m hurdles medalist

Jay Clark 1880–1948

Sport shooter at the 1920 Olympics

Also attended: Harvard University

Christine Thorburn 1969–

Road cyclist and two-time Olympian

Also attended: Stanford University

Bernice King 1963–

Minister, lawyer and daughter of Martin Luther King Jr

Also attended: Emory University, Spelman College

Father: Martin Luther King Jr. (Emory University, Morehouse College)

Mother: Coretta Scott King (The New England Conservatory of Music, Antioch University-Los Angeles)

Cha Liang-Chao 1896–1982

Educator and philanthropist

Also attended: University of Chicago, Teachers College at Columbia University