List of Valparaiso University alumni

Valparaiso University is a Lutheran college located in Valparaiso, Indiana. Following is a list of Valparaiso University alumni.

Academia

R. J. Q. Adams (born 1943; M.A. 1969), professor of European and British history at Texas A&M University
Patrick Roger Cleary, founder of Cleary University^[1]
William P. Richardson (1864–1945), co-founder and first dean of Brooklyn Law School
Henry P. Rusk (1884–1954), dean of the department of agriculture at the University of Illinois
Thomas F. Schutte (1935–2025; B.A. degree 1957), president of Pratt Institute (1993–2017) and Rhode Island School of Design (1983 – 1992)^[2]
James Monroe Smith, president of Louisiana State University (1930–1939)

Business

Jay Christopher, cofounder of Pampered Chef
Don Fites, chairman and CEO (retired) of Caterpillar Inc.
Paul Schrage, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer of McDonald's Corporation; designed the "Golden Arches" logo
Kathi Seifert, executive vice president of Kimberly-Clark 1991–2004
Lowell Yerex, founder of Transportes Aéreos Centro Americanos (TACA), British West Indian Airways in Trinidad and Tobago, and Aerovias Brasil in Rio de Janeiro

Entertainment

Adam Amin, ESPN play-by-play broadcaster
Chris Bauman, entertainment entrepreneur and independent music activist^[3]
Beulah Bondi, actress
Alys McKey Bryant, record-setting aviation pioneer and exhibition pilot
JoBe Cerny, character actor and voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy
Paul Chambers, CNN anchor and film critic
Andre "Add-2" Daniels, rapper
Michael Essany, television talk show host
John Lutz, actor known for 30 Rock and writer for Saturday Night Live
Jacki Lyden, senior correspondent at NPR^[4]
David Ruprecht, host of Supermarket Sweep and Real People
Judith Sherman, multi-Grammy Award-winning record producer
Ginger Zee, meteorologist for Good Morning America and ABC News
Josh Langhoff, Wrigley Field organist^[5]

Law

David W. Dugan, United States Federal District Court Judge in the Southern District of Illinois
Omer Stokes Jackson, 28th Indiana Attorney General^[6]
Keith Kizer, Nevada Chief Deputy Attorney General and former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission^[7]
Moses Lairy, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, United States federal judge
Eugene E. Parker, sports attorney and agent to Larry Fitzgerald, Deion Sanders, Hines Ward, Greg Jennings, Ndamukong Suh, and Michael Crabtree
Shelice Tolbert, attorney in Indiana

Literature and journalism

Fredrick Barton, novelist and film critic^[8]
Anthony Bimba (1894–1982), newspaper editor, historian, and radical political activist^[9]
Barbara Ann Kipfer, linguist, lexicographer, author, and editor
Idael Makeever, poet
William March, novelist, known for Company K and The Bad Seed
Rene Steinke, novelist known for The Fires and Holy Skirts
Lowell Thomas, author, war correspondent during World War I who made T. E. Lawrence internationally famous, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Politics

Roy E. Ayers, United States House of Representatives and 11th Governor of Montana^[10]
Frederick M. Bernthal, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (1988–1990)
Mikhail Borodin, Soviet and Comintern representative to China
LeRoy Earl Brophey Sr., Minnesota House of Representatives
John E. Cashman, Wisconsin Senator
Stoyan Christowe, Vermont Senate (1959–1972)
Thurman C. Crook, a United States House of Representatives from Indiana^[11]
Marcellus Dorwin, Wisconsin State Assembly
Edward Grassman, Wisconsin State Assembly
Margaret Keenan Harrais, United States Commissioner at Valdez, Alaska and a deputy magistrate
Walter Hunt, Wisconsin Senate
Samuel B. Huston, Oregon Legislative Assembly
Andrieus A. Jones, United States Senate, supported New Mexico statehood
Edgar E. Lien, Wisconsin State Assembly
James F. McDowell, Wisconsin State Assembly
H. Lane Mitchell (Engineering), public works commissioner in Shreveport, Louisiana (1934–1968)^[12]
George William Norris, United States Senate from Nebraska and the father of the Tennessee Valley Authority^[13]
William Edmunds Plummer, Wisconsin State Assembly
Caleb Powers, United States House of Representatives from Kentucky; Secretary of State of Kentucky; convicted as an accessory to murder of the state governor^[14]
Benjamin Shively, United States Senate from Indiana (1909–1916)^[15]
Len Small, 26th Governor of Illinois^[16]
Donald Edgar Tewes, United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin^[17]
Jill Long Thompson, United States House of Representatives from Indiana 1989–1995 and Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development 1995–2001^[18]
Otis Wingo, United States House of Representatives from Arkansas's 4th congressional district (1913–1930)^[19]

Science and medicine

Blanche Evans Dean, naturalist, conservationist, and author
Reuben Kahn, immunologist and inventor of a test for syphilis^[20]
Carl Glennis Roberts (1886–1950), surgeon, gynecologist, and civil rights activist^[21]
Edward Thomas Abrams, doctor and legislator

Sports

Ryan Broekhoff, former NBA player
Bryce Drew, college basketball coach and former NBA player^[22]
Scott Drew, college basketball coach and NCAA National Champion
Keith Kizer, former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Nevada Chief Deputy Attorney General^[7]
Cal Luther, college basketball coach
Lloyd McClendon, Major League Baseball player and manager
Frederick "Fuzzy" Thurston, professional football player with the Green Bay Packers (1959–67)
Jim Wacker, former football coach at the University of Minnesota
Austin Walton, NBA agent and owner of Walton Sports Management Group

Technology

Nicholas Skytland, NASA, Chief Technologist and Director of Business Development, NASA Johnson Space Center

References

^ "Patrick Roger (P.R.) Cleary | Ann Arbor District Library". aadl.org. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
^ "C of C Sets Symposium". The Tribune. April 13, 1974. p. 9. Retrieved April 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "How can I tell my business is doomed?". June 6, 2014.
^ "Book Explores Intellectual Power of William James". NPR.org: All Things Considered. November 12, 2006.
^ "From Chapel to Wrigley: How Josh Langhoff '99 Became a Chicago Cubs Organist". Valpo Stories. April 21, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
^ "Heart Attack is Fatal to O. S. Jackson". Valparaiso Vidette Newspaper. June 3, 1940.
^ ^a ^b Feour, Royce (February 27, 2008). "Running the NAC is no easy task, but Kizer makes the best of it".
^ "Fredrick Barton Amazon Author Page". Amazon.
^ William Wolkovich, Bay State "Blue" Laws and Bimba: A Documentary Study of the Anthony Bimba Trial for Blasphemy and Sedition in Brockton, Massachusetts, 1926. Brockton, MA: Forum Press, n.d. [1973]; pg. 33.
^ "Montana Governor Roy Elmer Ayers". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "Thurman C. Crook". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "H. Lane Mitchell dies, funeral Friday morning", Shreveport Times, November 9, 1978, p. 10-A
^ "George William Norris". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "Caleb Powers". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "Ralston Praises Work of Shively For Public". The Indianapolis News. March 15, 1916.
^ "Illinois Governor Lennington Small". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
^ "Donald Edgar Tewes". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "Jill Long Thompson". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "Otis Wingo". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
^ "From the Archives". Valpo Magazine. 31 (1): 7. Fall 2014.
^ "Roberts, Carl Glenn". Who's Who in Colored America. Vol. 1. Who's Who in Colored America Corporation. 1927. pp. 169–170 – via Google Books.
^ "Bryce Homer Drew". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

[1] "Patrick Roger (P.R.) Cleary | Ann Arbor District Library". aadl.org. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

[2] "C of C Sets Symposium". The Tribune. April 13, 1974. p. 9. Retrieved April 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "How can I tell my business is doomed?". June 6, 2014.

[4] "Book Explores Intellectual Power of William James". NPR.org: All Things Considered. November 12, 2006.

[5] "From Chapel to Wrigley: How Josh Langhoff '99 Became a Chicago Cubs Organist". Valpo Stories. April 21, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2025.

[6] "Heart Attack is Fatal to O. S. Jackson". Valparaiso Vidette Newspaper. June 3, 1940.

[:0-7] Feour, Royce (February 27, 2008). "Running the NAC is no easy task, but Kizer makes the best of it".

[8] "Fredrick Barton Amazon Author Page". Amazon.

[9] William Wolkovich, Bay State "Blue" Laws and Bimba: A Documentary Study of the Anthony Bimba Trial for Blasphemy and Sedition in Brockton, Massachusetts, 1926. Brockton, MA: Forum Press, n.d. [1973]; pg. 33.

[10] "Montana Governor Roy Elmer Ayers". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[11] "Thurman C. Crook". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[12] "H. Lane Mitchell dies, funeral Friday morning", Shreveport Times, November 9, 1978, p. 10-A

[13] "George William Norris". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[14] "Caleb Powers". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[15] "Ralston Praises Work of Shively For Public". The Indianapolis News. March 15, 1916.

[16] "Illinois Governor Lennington Small". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

[17] "Donald Edgar Tewes". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[18] "Jill Long Thompson". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[19] "Otis Wingo". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 14, 2012.

[valpomag-20] "From the Archives". Valpo Magazine. 31 (1): 7. Fall 2014.

[WhosWho-21] "Roberts, Carl Glenn". Who's Who in Colored America. Vol. 1. Who's Who in Colored America Corporation. 1927. pp. 169–170 – via Google Books.

[22] "Bryce Homer Drew". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

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