Notable Alumni of University of Utah
Notable alumni of University of Utah include Harper Lee (Novelist, author of To Kill a Mockingbird), Ted Bundy (Serial killer) and Stephen Covey (Educator and author of The 7 Habits).
Alumni list
Politics and law
-
Karl Rove 1950–
Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff under George W. Bush
-
Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. 1960–
Former governor of Utah and diplomat
-
Jake Garn 1932–
Former Utah senator, first sitting Congress member in space
-
George W. Romney 1907–1995
43rd governor of Michigan and former HUD secretary
-
Bob Bennett 1933–2016
Former U.S. senator from Utah
-
John R. Curtis 1960–
US senator from Utah, former Provo mayor
-
Olene S. Walker 1930–2015
15th governor of Utah
-
Rob Bishop 1951–
Former U.S. representative from Utah
-
Frank Moss 1911–2003
US senator from Utah, 1959 to 1977
-
Reed Owen Smoot 1862–1941
US Senator from Utah and LDS apostle
-
Wallace F. Bennett 1898–1993
Businessman and U.S. senator from Utah
-
Ben McAdams 1974–
U.S. Representative from Utah
-
Martha Hughes Cannon 1857–1932
Physician, Utah politician and women's rights advocate
-
Robert A. McDonald 1953–
8th U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, former P&G CEO
-
Rocky Anderson 1951–
Former Mayor of Salt Lake City and attorney
-
Norman H. Bangerter 1933–2015
13th governor of Utah
-
Frank J. Cannon 1859–1933
First U.S. senator from Utah
-
James V. Hansen 1932–2018
Former U.S. Representative from Utah
-
Heber Manning Wells 1859–1938
First Governor of Utah
-
Terrel Bell 1921–1996
Secretary of Education under Reagan
-
Wayne Owens 1937–2002
US congressman from Utah
-
William H. King 1863–1949
US Senator from Utah, lawyer and jurist
-
Curt Clawson 1959–
Former U.S. representative from Florida
-
Leslie L. Byrne 1946–
First woman elected to Congress from Virginia
-
Elbert D. Thomas 1883–1953
US senator from Utah
-
Calvin L. Rampton 1913–2007
11th governor of Utah
-
Abe Murdock 1893–1979
U.S. Senator and Congressman from Utah
-
Scott M. Matheson 1929–1990
12th governor of Utah
-
Ralph Becker 1952–
34th mayor of Salt Lake City
-
Brian Baird 1956–
Psychologist and former US representative from Washington
-
Benjamin Travis Laney 1896–1977
33rd governor of Arkansas
-
Merrill Cook 1946–2026
Former U.S. representative from Utah and businessman
-
Erin Mendenhall 1980–
Mayor of Salt Lake City
-
Herbert B. Maw 1893–1990
8th Governor of Utah
Business
-
Stephen Covey 1932–2012
Educator and author of The 7 Habits
-
Nolan Bushnell 1943–
Founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese
-
Edwin Catmull 1945–
Pixar co-founder and Turing Award recipient
-
John Warnock 1940–2023
Co-founder of Adobe Systems
-
James H. Clark 1944–
Founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape
-
J. Willard Marriott 1900–1985
Founder of Marriott hotels
-
Doug Bowser 1961–
Former president of Nintendo of America
-
David Neeleman 1959–
Founder of JetBlue and four other airlines
Science and academia
-
Alan Kay 1940–
Pioneer of object-oriented programming and GUI design
-
Don L. Lind 1930–2022
NASA astronaut and physicist
-
Ralph Hartley 1888–1970
Electronics researcher, inventor of the Hartley oscillator
-
Ralph Vary Chamberlin 1879–1967
Biologist, first dean of Utah's School of Medicine
-
Stanley Smith Stevens 1906–1973
Psychologist, founder of Harvard's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory
-
Hartland Snyder 1913–1962
Physicist of the Oppenheimer–Snyder model
-
Simon Ramo 1913–2016
Engineer known as father of the ICBM
-
Richard Foltz 1961–
Historian of Iranian civilization
-
Justin Frankel 1978–
Programmer behind Winamp and Gnutella
-
Steve Nichols 1947–
Formula One car designer
-
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 1938–
Pulitzer-winning historian and Harvard professor
-
Tracy Hall 1919–2008
Chemist and pioneer of synthetic diamond research
-
Jim Blinn 1949–
Computer graphics expert formerly at NASA's JPL
-
Bui Tuong Phong 1942–1975
Computer graphics pioneer who invented Phong shading
-
Wilton Ivie 1907–1969
Arachnologist who described hundreds of spider species
-
Thomas Ypsilantis 1928–2000
Physicist, co-discoverer of the antiproton
-
Calvin Quate 1923–2019
Electrical engineer and Stanford professor
-
Willis J. Gertsch 1906–1998
Arachnologist who described over 1,000 species
-
Grover Krantz 1931–2002
Anthropologist who researched Bigfoot
-
Michael Ghiselin 1939–2024
Biologist, philosopher and historian of biology
Arts and media
-
Harper Lee 1926–2016
Novelist, author of To Kill a Mockingbird
-
Orson Scott Card 1951–
Science fiction writer, author of Ender's Game
-
Matthew Davis 1978–
Actor in The Vampire Diaries and Legally Blonde
-
Wallace Stegner 1909–1993
Novelist, historian and environmentalist
-
Lee Isaac Chung 1978–
Filmmaker, director of Munyurangabo
-
Kaskade 1971–
DJ and music producer
-
Leigh Harline 1907–1969
Film composer known for Disney scores
-
Anthony Geary 1947–2025
American actor with a career spanning four decades
-
Moroni Olsen 1889–1954
Film and stage actor
-
Rob Bowman 1960–
Film director and producer
-
Maggie Baird 1959–
Actress, activist and singer-songwriter
-
Paul McCarthy 1945–
Performance and installation artist
-
John Naisbitt 1929–2021
Author of Megatrends, futurist
-
Eric Larson 1905–1988
Disney animator, one of Nine Old Men
-
Mary Thurman 1895–1925
Silent film era actress
-
Joshua Rush 2001–
Actor known for Andi Mack
-
Maddox 1978–
Internet writer, blogger and YouTuber
-
Craig Richard Nelson 1947–2025
Actor in theater, film and television
-
Nancy Sullivan 1969–
Actress known for Drake & Josh
-
Robert Bringhurst 1946–
Canadian poet, typographer and author
-
Carolyn Carlson 1943–
Choreographer, dancer and poet
-
Joseph Kearns 1907–1962
Actor, played Mr. Wilson in Dennis the Menace
-
Wallace Thurman 1902–1934
Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance
-
Byron Foulger 1899–1970
Character actor in hundreds of stage, film and TV productions
-
Thomas King 1943–
Canadian writer, broadcaster and academic
-
Reed Howes 1900–1964
Model turned silent and sound film actor
-
Steven Sharp Nelson 1977–
Cellist of The Piano Guys
-
Richard Paul Evans 1962–
Author of The Christmas Box
-
Phyllis McGinley 1905–1978
Author of children's books and light verse
-
Helen Foster Snow 1907–1997
Journalist who reported from China as Nym Wales
-
Jon Schmidt 1966–
Pianist and composer
-
Bernard DeVoto 1897–1955
Historian, author and Harper's Magazine columnist
-
Gordon Jennings 1896–1953
Special effects artist with seven Academy Awards
-
Whit Hertford 1978–
Actor, theatre director and writer
-
Patrick Califia 1954–
Writer on sexuality and gender
Sports
-
Andrew Bogut 1984–
Australian basketball player, formerly in the NBA
-
Kyle Kuzma 1995–
NBA player for the Milwaukee Bucks
-
Hanno Möttölä 1976–
Finnish basketball player and coach
-
Jakob Pöltl 1995–
Austrian NBA basketball player
-
Andre Miller 1976–
Former NBA player
-
Alex Smith 1984–
NFL quarterback who played 16 seasons
-
Keith Van Horn 1975–
Former NBA forward
-
Delon Wright 1992–
Professional basketball player
-
Nikki Stone 1971–
Olympic freestyle skier
-
Will Clyburn 1990–
Basketball player for Fenerbahçe
-
Michael Doleac 1977–
Former professional basketball player
-
MyKayla Skinner 1996–
Gymnast, Olympic vault silver medalist
-
Kim Tillie 1988–
French former professional basketball player
-
Hilary Lindh 1969–
Alpine skier, world champion and Olympic medalist
-
Jill Bakken 1977–
2002 Olympic gold medalist in bobsleigh
-
Nathaniel Coleman 1997–
Sport climber; Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist
-
Tom Chambers 1959–
Former NBA player and four-time All-Star
-
Conrad Anker 1962–
Mountaineer, rock climber and author
-
Lance Allred 1981–
First deaf player to play an NBA game
-
Luka Pavicevic 1968–
Montenegrin basketball coach and former player
-
Blaine Lindgren 1939–2019
Hurdler who competed at the 1964 Olympics
-
Bill McGill 1939–2014
Basketball player who invented the jump hook
-
Arnie Ferrin 1925–2022
Professional basketball player and athletics administrator
-
Luther Burden 1953–2015
Former NBA and ABA basketball player
-
Danny Vranes 1958–
Former professional basketball player
-
Grete Eliassen 1986–
Freestyle skier, Winter X Games bronze medallist
-
Josh Grant 1967–
Former pro basketball player, University of Utah alumnus
-
Pelle Larsson 2001–
Swedish basketball player for the Miami Heat
-
Roni Remme 1996–
World Cup alpine ski racer
-
Jerry Chambers 1943–
Former professional basketball small forward
-
Mikael Jantunen 2000–
Finnish basketball player for Real Madrid
-
Britton Johnsen 1979–
Former NBA player, University of Utah graduate
-
Shona Thorburn 1982–
Canadian basketball player, formerly of Seattle Storm
-
Annelies Cook 1984–
American biathlete
-
Mills Lane 1937–2022
Boxing referee and district court judge
-
Sophia Laukli 2000–
Cross-country skier and World Cup race winner
-
Michelle Plouffe 1992–
Canadian basketball player and Olympian
-
Vern Gardner 1925–1987
Basketball player, Utah All-American and Philadelphia Warriors
-
Jason Washburn 1990–
Professional basketball player
-
Branden Carlson 1999–
NBA player for the Portland Trail Blazers
-
J. J. O'Brien 1992–
Professional basketball player
-
Kim Gaucher 1984–
Canadian professional basketball player
-
Ma Jian 1967–
Former Chinese basketball player who played in US college
-
Tang Wei-tsu 1964–
Alpine skier and businessman, two-time Winter Olympian
Other fields
-
Ted Bundy 1946–1989
Serial killer
-
Thomas S. Monson 1927–2018
16th president of the LDS Church
-
Russell M. Nelson 1924–2025
17th President of the LDS Church and surgeon
-
Gordon B. Hinckley 1910–2008
15th president of the LDS Church
-
David O. McKay 1873–1970
Ninth president of the LDS Church
-
George Albert Smith 1870–1951
Eighth president of the LDS Church
-
Henry B. Eyring 1933–
First Counselor in LDS Church First Presidency
-
Brigham Henry Roberts 1857–1933
LDS Church leader, historian and politician
-
Melvin Russell Ballard 1928–2023
Acting President of the LDS Church Quorum of the Twelve
-
Kurt Burnette 1955–
Byzantine Catholic Eparch of Passaic
No alumni match.
From Wikidata “educated at” records (including people who attended without graduating), ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions. Degrees and years follow Wikidata and are left out where it has none.
Alumni network
Colleges that share the most alumni with University of Utah (people who attended both).
- Brigham Young University-Provo 11
- Harvard University 9
- University of California-Berkeley 5
- Stanford University 5
- George Washington University 4
- University of Southern California 3
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 3
- University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 3
- University of Pennsylvania 3
- Weber State University 3
- Cornell University 2