The following is a list of some notable people associated with the University of Colorado Boulder .
University of Colorado Boulder
Thomas R. Cech , Nobel laureate in Chemistry , 1989
Stanley Cohen , Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine , 1986
Eric Allin Cornell , Nobel laureate in Physics , 2001
John L. Hall , Nobel laureate in Physics, 2005
Paul Komor, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize , 2007[1]
Herbert Kroemer , Nobel laureate in Physics, 2000
Carl Wieman , Nobel laureate in Physics, 2001
David J. Wineland , Nobel laureate in Physics, 2012
Muhammad Yunus , Nobel Peace Prize, 2006
Waleed Abdalati , scientist, Chief Scientist of NASA
Patricia A. Adler , professor emerita of sociology
Bernard Amadei , civil engineer, founder of Engineers Without Borders
Mark Amerika , artist and author
Fred Anderson , historian, author of The Crucible of War
Albert Allen Bartlett , physicist, popular writer on exponential growth in populations and energy resources
Petr Beckmann , physicist, engineer
Kenneth Boulding , economist
Stan Brakhage , filmmaker
Sara Branham Matthews , microbiologist
Storm Bull , Professor Emeritus at the College of Music and Head of the Division of Piano
Adolf Busemann , pioneering aerospace engineer
Sarvadaman Chowla , mathematician
Ward Churchill , former ethnic studies professor noted for inflammatory statements dealing with 9/11 , dismissed from CU-Boulder 2007
Robert T. Craig , communication theorist and author of Communication Theory as a Field
William Duane , physicist
Max Mapes Ellis , explorer and physiologist
Larry Esposito , discoverer of Saturn 's fourth ring
Charbel Farhat , Chairman of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Stanford University
George Gamow , physicist and cosmologist
Brad Goode , jazz trumpeter
Alice F. Healy , psychologist
Robert Hill , harpsichordist and fortepianist
Linda Hogan , Native American poet, storyteller, academic, playwright, novelist, environmentalist and writer of short stories
Janet L. Jacobs , gender and religion sociologist
Deborah S. Jin , physicist
Daniel Kellogg , composer
Patricia Nelson Limerick , historian and occasional New York Times columnist
Margaret Murnane , physicist, pioneer of femto-second laser research; MacArthur fellow
Carter Pann , composer
Steven Pollock , physicist, U.S. Professor of the Year
Hobart Muir Smith , most published herpetologist of all time; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Phil Solomon , filmmaker, mentor
Joseph R. Tanner , former astronaut
John Taylor , physicist
Stanislaw Ulam , mathematician
James Voss , former astronaut
James F. Williams , Dean of Libraries
Muriel Sibell Wolle , artist and author
Betty Woodman , ceramic artist
George Woodman , ceramicist, painter, and photographer
Melanie Yazzie , sculptor, painter, and printmaker
Academia, science and technology
Len Ackland , professor at the University of Colorado and co-director of the Center for Environmental Journalism
Elaine Anderson , paleontologist
George J. Armelagos , Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University
John Christian Bailar , statistician, Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago
Janet Bonnema , civil engineer
Kathryn Bullock , electrochemist
Steve Chappell , aerospace engineer and NASA scientist
Erica Chenoweth , Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at the Harvard Kennedy School
Robert Corruccini , biological anthropologist and author of numerous monographs and articles on the theory of malocclusion
Hilda Counts , electrical engineer
Patrick Curran , professor of quantitative psychology at the University of North Carolina and Director of the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory
Ward Darley , president, University of Colorado
William E. Davis , former university president and United States Senate candidate
Vine Deloria, Jr. , academic and political author on Native American subjects
W. Edwards Deming , manufacturing quality expert
Marla Dowell , physicist, director of NIST Communications Technology Laboratory
Patricia Louise Dudley , zoologist specializing in copepods
Elsie Eaves , civil engineer
Kristian Skrede Gleditsch , Regius professor of political science at the University of Essex, and former president of the International Studies Association (2021-22)
Steve H. Hanke , professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University , adviser to presidents, currency reformer and commodity and currency trader
David Haussler , professor, University of California, Santa Cruz
Clayton Heathcock , Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley
Gretchen Hofmann , professor of ecological physiology of marine organisms at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Tom Hornbein , developed the standard breathing mask after climbing Mt. Everest in 1963
Charles Hoskinson , Mathematician, founder of Cardano and co-founder of Ethereum
Moriba Jah , astrodynamicist ; associate professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin ; Core Faculty of the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences ; former spacecraft navigator for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory [2]
Alan Kay , computer scientist , Turing Award winner
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross , Swiss-born psychiatrist and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying
Ron Larson , professor of mathematics at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Emory Lindquist , Rhodes scholar , Swedish American historian, president of Bethany College and Wichita State University
Theodore Harold Maiman , demonstrated the first laser
Tom Maniatis , Edelma Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Christopher McKay , planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center
Lou Alta Melton , civil engineer and bridge engineer
Kenneth Miller , biologist at Brown University
Kathe Perez , speech-language pathologist[3]
Ralph Prator , first president of California State University, Northridge
Philip Radovic , podiatric surgeon
Kay Schallenkamp , president of Emporia State University , and later Black Hills State University
Leon Silver , geologist at California Institute of Technology, past president of Geological Society of America, trained Apollo astronauts in field geology
Christopher Sorensen , Cortelyou-Rust University Distinguished Professor and a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar in the Kansas State University Physics Department[4]
Gary Stormo , geneticist and pioneer of bioinformatics and genomics
Michael T. Voorhees , entrepreneur, engineer, designer, geographer, and aeronaut
Arts and film
3OH!3 , electronic music group
Linda Alterwitz , artist and photographer
Josephine Antoine , coloratura soprano with the Metropolitan Opera
Brandon Barnes , drummer for the band Rise Against and Pinhead Circus
Charles L. Bestor , composer and music educator
Austin Bisnow , songwriter, producer, and lead singer of the band MAGIC GIANT
Rodney Carswell , painter
Chairlift , electronic-pop group
Derek Cianfrance , screenwriter and film director
Lydia Cornell , actress, author
Eli Craig , screenwriter and film director
Eric Darnell , director
Joey Diaz , comedian
Brian Dietzen , actor
Lisa Donovan , actress and writer
Patricia Elliott , actress
Joe Flanigan , actor
Tanner Foust , television host, stunt driver, professional racing driver
Nicole Fox , model, winner of America's Next Top Model , Cycle 13
Drew Goddard , film and television screenwriter, director and producer
Jake Goldberg , actor
Dave Grusin , composer, winner of three Academy and three Grammy awards
Heather Hach , wrote the screenplay for the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday and the book of the Broadway musical Legally
Blonde
Erinn Hayes , actress
Jonah Hill , actor
David "GrandPooBear" Hunt , speedrunner and streamer well known for retro Super Mario games
Angus T. Jones , actor
R. J. Kern , artist and photographer
Shawn King , drummer, percussionist, trumpeter, accordionist, organist for the band DeVotchKa
Chaney Kley , actor
Land of the Loops , electronica musician
William Lewis , opera tenor and academic
Larry Linville , actor (M*A*S*H )
Low vs Diamond , rock band
Erin Macdonald , science consultant for Star Trek
Ross Marquand , actor
Christopher Meloni , actor
Glenn Miller , composer, big band leader
Joan Moment , painter and educator
Nathaniel Motte , singer, songwriter, producer, performer, film composer, instrumentalist, and playwright
Thomas Noel , historian
Peter O'Fallon , director, producer and writer
Trey Parker , co-creator of South Park
Caroline Polachek , singer-songwriter
Robert Redford , actor (did not graduate), Oscar winner, founder of the Sundance Film Festival
Dean Reed , actor, singer and songwriter, director, and social activist
Joe Safdie , poet
Aaron Simpson , Emmy-nominated animation producer
Susan Arnout Smith , award-winning playwright and novelist
Paul Soldner , artist
Matt Stone , co-creator of South Park
Eric Stough , producer and the director of animation on South Park
Steve Taylor , singer/songwriter and film director
Dalton Trumbo , writer, Academy Award winner
Joan Van Ark , actress
Townes Van Zandt , country-folk singer-songwriter, withdrew in his sophomore year
Linda Williams , professor of film studies at the University of California, Berkeley
Chris Wood , electronic musician
Pamela Z , composer, performer, and media artist
Dean Zanuck , motion picture executive and producer
Astronauts
Loren Acton , NASA astronaut
Patrick Baudry , CNES astronaut
Vance D. Brand , NASA astronaut
Scott Carpenter , NASA astronaut in second orbital flight (fourth crewed) of Project Mercury
Kalpana Chawla , NASA astronaut, died on Columbia
Takao Doi , NASA astronaut
Samuel T. Durrance , NASA astronaut
John Herrington , NASA astronaut
Richard Hieb , NASA astronaut
Marsha Ivins , NASA astronaut
John M. Lounge , NASA astronaut
George Nelson , NASA astronaut
Ellison Onizuka , NASA astronaut, died on Challenger in January 1986
Stuart Roosa , NASA astronaut, flew on Apollo 14
Ronald M. Sega , NASA astronaut
Steven Swanson , NASA astronaut
Jack Swigert , NASA astronaut, flew on Apollo 13
James Voss , NASA astronaut
Athletics
Bobby Anderson , former NFL running back for the Denver Broncos
Dick Anderson , former NFL safety for the Miami Dolphins
Tom Ashworth , former NFL offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks
Sal Aunese , Big Eight Newcomer of the Year
Chidobe Awuzie , NFL cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys
David Bakhtiari , NFL offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers
Justin Bannan , former NFL defensive tackle for the Denver Broncos
Dede Barry , cyclist, won silver in the 2004 Summer Olympics in the women's time trial
Mitch Berger , former NFL punter
Greg Biekert , former NFL linebacker for the Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings
Eric Bieniemy , former NFL running back and offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs
Chauncey Billups , Detroit Pistons of the NBA , 2004 NBA Finals MVP
Abhinav Bindra , shooter, won gold for India in the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 10 metre air rifle
Joan Birkland , Colorado state women's amateur golf and tennis champion
Jeremy Bloom , Olympic skier (played football for Colorado), drafted by Philadelphia Eagles
Cliff Branch , former wide receiver with the Oakland Raiders
Tyler Brayton , NFL defensive end, plays for the Carolina Panthers
Carlon Brown , basketball player, 2013-14 top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League
Chris Brown , former NFL running back for the Houston Texans
Heidi Browning , NHL chief marketing officer
Rae Carruth , former wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers
Franklin Clarke , former All-Pro wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys
Emma Coburn , mid-distance runner, Olympian 2016 Bronze Medalist Steeplechase, 2017 World Champion
Mark Cooney , former NFL linebacker for the Green Bay Packers
Joe Cooper , former NBA center
Mason Crosby , NFL kicker for the Green Bay Packers
Alan Culpepper , runner, Olympian, 2000 and 2004
Koy Detmer , former NFL quarterback
Spencer Dinwiddie , NBA guard for the Brooklyn Nets
Boyd Dowler , former NFL wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers
Jon Embree , former head football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes
Christian Fauria , NFL tight end for the Carolina Panthers
Peter Foley (born 1965 or 1966), former snowboarding coach; suspended for 10 years for sexual misconduct
Bill Frank , Canadian Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Tom Garfinkel , president and CEO of the Miami Dolphins
David Gibbs , former NFL head coach
Taylor Gold (born 1993), snowboarder; Olympic bronze medalist
Adam Goucher , professional runner with Nike, Olympian 2000
Kara Goucher , runner, Olympian 2008, 2012
Daniel Graham , former NFL tight end for the Denver Broncos
Natalia Grossman , IFSC Climbing World Cup champion sport climber
Alex Gurney , professional auto racing driver
Andre Gurode , former All-Pro center for the Dallas Cowboys
D.J. Hackett , former NFL wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers
Tyler Hamilton , cyclist with many impressive finishes at the Tour de France, Summer Olympics
David Harrison , former NBA center
Don Hasselbeck , former NFL tight end
Steven J. Hatchell , president and CEO of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc.
Jimmie Heuga , alpine skiing, 1964 Olympic bronze medalist in slalom
Katie Hnida , football place kicker (graduated from the University of New Mexico )
Jay Howell , retired Major League Baseball pitcher of 15 years
Jay Humphries , former NBA guard
Hale Irwin , golfer , three-time U.S. Open champion
Brian Iwuh , former NFL linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jonathan Kaye (born 1970), professional golfer on PGA Tour
Billy Kidd , alpine skiing, 1964 Olympic silver medalist in slalom , 1970 World Champion (combined )
Joe Klopfenstein , former NFL tight end for the Buffalo Bills
Stuart Krohn (born 1962), professional rugby union player
Sepp Kuss , cyclist, winner of the 2023 Vuelta a España
Matt Lepsis , former NFL offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos
Michael Lewis , former All-Pro safety for the San Francisco 49ers
Phillip Lindsay , NFL running back for the Denver Broncos
Dave Logan , former NFL receiver, broadcaster
Eliot Marshall , retired mixed martial arts fighter[5]
Nikki Marshall , NWSL defender for the Portland Thorns FC
Scotty McKnight , former NFL WR for the New York Jets
Matt Miller , former NFL offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns
William Nelson , professional runner, Olympian 2008; Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the CU XC/Track & Field Teams
Isaiah Oliver , NFL cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons
Tyler Polumbus , former NFL offensive tackle for the Washington Redskins
Vince Rafferty , former NFL center and guard for the Green Bay Packers
Marcus Relphorde (born 1988). basketball player in the Israeli National League
Paul Richardson , former NFL wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks
Dathan Ritzenhein , professional runner with Nike , Olympian 2004, 2008, and 2012
Paul Robinson , professional rock climber
Bill Roe , former NFL and USFL linebacker
Spider Sabich , alpine skiing, 1968 Olympian (5th in slalom ), and pro champion, 1971 and 1972
Rashaan Salaam , former NFL running back, 1994 Heisman Trophy winner
Cory Sandhagen , mixed martial artist who is currently ranked #5 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight rankings
Brendan Schaub , former NFL candidate; retired mixed martial artist for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ; stand-up comedian
Laviska Shenault , NFL wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jenny Simpson , 1500 meter runner, Olympian 2008, 2012, 2016 Bronze Medalist
Jimmy Smith , NFL cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens
Nate Solder , NFL offensive tackle for the New York Giants
John Stearns , former catcher for Philadelphia Phillies and NY Mets
Alexandra Stevenson , tennis player
Kordell Stewart , former NFL quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Bill Symons , former CFL All-Star for the Toronto Argonauts
Debi Thomas , Olympic figure skater in 1988
Tedric Thompson , NFL safety for the Kansas City Chiefs
Bill Toomey , Olympic gold medalist in the 1968 decathlon
Rachel Wacholder , model and beach volleyball player
Ward Walsh , former NFL running back
Scott Wedman , former NBA forward
Michael Westbrook , former NFL wide receiver
Terrence Wheatley , former NFL cornerback for the New England Patriots , first-team All-Big 12
Damen Wheeler , former NFL and XFL cornerback
Alfred Williams , former NFL linebacker, 1990 Butkus Award winner
Ahkello Witherspoon , NFL cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers
John Wooten , All-American; played for the Cleveland Browns ; former vice president/director for the Philadelphia Eagles ; assistant director for the Baltimore Ravens
Business and economy
Mohamed Al-Mady , president of SABIC
Jake Burton Carpenter , founder of Burton Snowboards
John Dendahl , retired business executive and member of the 1960 US Olympic ski team
Steve Ells , founder, chairman, and CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill
Thorleif Enger , former boss of Yara International ; indicted in 2012 in relation to the company's business practices in Libya [6]
Richard S. Fuld , former Lehman Brothers chairman and CEO
Tim Gill , founder and former Chairman of Quark, Inc.
Ron Gordon , former president of Atari
Brent Handler , entrepreneur and pioneer of the destination club industry
Michael Karlan , founder of the nation's largest social and networking group, Professionals in the City
David Kennedy , co-founder of Wieden + Kennedy advertising agency, known for its 1980s "Just Do It" campaign for Nike
Matt Larson , founder and CEO of Confio Software
Lieutenant Colonel Thita Rangsitpol Manitkul , former congresswoman , politician , female officer of Royal Thai Armed Forces , Ministry of Defence (Thailand) Spokesperson and Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Defence (Thailand) [7]
Sanford McDonnell , President of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
Chris Myers , former vice president of Business Development at Lockheed Martin and former mayor of Medford, New Jersey
Scott Oki , former senior vice president of sales and marketing for Microsoft who conceived and built Microsoft's international operations
Lucy Sanders , CEO and co-founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology [8]
Steuart Walton , attorney and grandson of Sam Walton
Journalism
John Branch , sports writer for The New York Times and recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
Dave Briggs , co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend , Fox News Channel
Benedict Carey , medical and science writer for The New York Times
Dan Carlin , television/radio journalist and podcaster
Linda Chavez , political analyst and Fox News commentator
Kevin Corke , White House correspondent, Fox News
Tom Costello , NBC News, Washington-based correspondent
Chris Fowler , ESPN
Jim Gray , sports reporter
Tom Keene , editor-at-large for Bloomberg News
Herb Keinon , columnist and journalist for The Jerusalem Post
Joe Kernen , CNBC anchor
Zachery Kouwe , former financial journalist
Robert Palmer , Emmy Award winner, news editor and executive editor
Carl Quintanilla , CNBC News anchor
Lara Jo Regan , documentary and fine art photographer, photojournalist, author, winner of World Press Photo of the Year
Rick Reilly , ESPN commentator and former Sports Illustrated writer, ten-time National Sportswriter of the Year
Jonathan Weil , columnist for Bloomberg News and former writer for the Wall Street Journal
Law
Christine Arguello (born 1955), federal court judge, Denver, Colorado
Roger S. Burdick , Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court
Howard Jenkins Jr. , labor lawyer and civil servant
Louis O. Kelso , inventor of the employee stock ownership plan
William Lee Knous , former associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
Ashby Pate , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Palau
Wiley Rutledge , former Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
John Suthers , former Attorney General of Colorado
Bethuel M. Webster , lawyer and founder of Webster & Sheffield
Byron White , former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Literature
Molly Bloom , author
Ed Dorn , poet
John Fante , author of Ask the Dust
Mark Leyner , author
Jean Stafford , Pulitzer Prize winner for The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford
Luís Alberto Urrea , Mexican American poet, novelist, and essayist
Carrie Vaughn , author
Jack Williamson PhD, science fiction author and educator
Politics
Congressman Joe Neguse
former congressman Ed Perlmutter
Former Oregon Governor Kate Brown
Donald G. Brotzman , former U.S. Representative for Colorado
Hank Brown , U.S. Senator; U.S. Representative; former president of the University of Northern Colorado , and the University of Colorado system
Kate Brown , 38th Governor of Oregon and former Secretary of State
George Alfred Carlson , 20th Governor of Colorado
Morgan Carroll , Colorado State Senate Majority Leader
Mary Ann Casey , Ambassador to Algeria , Tunisia
Mike Coffman , Mayor of Aurora, Colorado , former U.S. Representative for Colorado
John J. Easton, Jr. , Attorney General of Vermont
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj , leader of non-violent revolution that brought democracy to Mongolia , President of Mongolia , Prime Minister of Mongolia
Maria Handley , member-at-large of the Democratic National Committee
Greg Harris , member of Illinois House of Representatives
Vicki Huddleston , Ambassador to Madagascar , Mali , Chief of U.S. Interests Section Havana, Cuba
Wayne Harold Johnson (Master of Public Administration ), Republican member of both houses, consecutively, of the Wyoming State Legislature from Cheyenne , 1993–2017
Mark Leno California politician
Karen Middleton , member, Colorado House of Representatives
Ed Perlmutter , former U.S. Representative for Colorado
Bill Ritter (Colorado Law School), Denver District Attorney , Advisor to the U.S. Attorney General , Governor of Colorado (D )
Roy Romer (Colorado Law School), former Colorado governor
Kenneth Rutherford , activist in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , president of Liberia
Richard A. Sossi , Maryland politician
John Suthers , former Mayor of Colorado Springs , Former Attorney General of Colorado , former United States Attorney for the District of Colorado , Former District Attorney for the 4th Judicial District of Colorado
Llewellyn Thompson , Ambassador to USSR, consul to Moscow, received the Medal of Freedom
Purnomo Yusgiantoro , Minister of Defense of Indonesia , former secretary general of OPEC