List of University of Connecticut people

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This is a list of notable alumni and faculty from the University of Connecticut.

Alumni

Arts and entertainment

• Pam Arciero – puppeteer
• Jennifer Barnhart – actor and puppeteer
• Michael Bergin – supermodel
• Beau Billingslea – voice actor and former UConn football player
• Tanisha Brito – former Miss Connecticut and Miss Georgia USA
• Sharon Butler — painter and publisher of NYC art journalTwo Coats of Paint
• Mary Cadorette – actor
• Judy Collins – musician
• Lui Collins – folk singer-songwriter
• Tristan Couvares – star of Control TV
• Patrick Earl Hammie – contemporary figurative artist
• Justin Foley – drummer for Killswitch Engage
• Ned Kahn – environmental artist and MacArthur Fellowship recipient
• Jeremy Leven – author, director, producer, and screenwriter
• Forrest McClendon - actor
• Moby – musician
• Donny Marshall - television sports broadcaster
• Bobby Moynihan – actor and comedian
• Julius R. Nasso – film producer
• Peter Niedmann – composer
• Ron Palillo – actor
• Morris Pleasure - composer, musician
• Toni Press-Coffman – playwright
• Meg Ryan – actress
• Skip Schoolnik – film director and producer
• Brian Schulz - Emmy-winning producer and cinematographer
• Rick Sternbach – Emmy-winning illustrator and visual effects artist
• Tony Todd – actor
• Paige Turco – actress
• Robert Wendel – composer and conductor
• Brad Williams – puppeteer
• Dana Wilson – composer and jazz pianist
• Kim Zolciak - participant in The Real Housewives of Atlanta
• Austin Stowell - actor

Authors and journalists

• Elizabeth Bear (Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky) – author
• Richard Bernstein – journalist and author
• Leslie Brody – non-fiction author and writing teacher
• P. W. Catanese - author of the Books of Umber and Further Tales Adventures series
• Robert D. Kaplan – journalist and Atlantic Monthly editor
• Bobbie Ann Mason – novelist and literary critic
• Leigh Montville – sports journalist
• Michael North – author and UCLA Professor
• Tim Page - Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic and biographer of Dawn Powell
• Ann Lane Petry – author
• Randall Pinkston - CBS News correspondent
• Joel Rosenberg – author
• Elaine Scarry – author and Harvard University professor
• Lewis Turco – poet and writing teacher

Business and industry

• Doug Bernstein - co-founder of Melissa & Doug toy company
• Robert Diamond – former president and CEO of Barclays Bank
• Clifford Grodd – former president and chief executive of Paul Stuart
• George Harrison – former senior Vice President of Marketing at Nintendo
• Bob Kaufman – president and co-founder of Bob's Discount Furniture
• Edward Kennedy, Jr. - President of the Marwood Group
• Timothy Shriver – Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics; member of Kennedy Family
• William S. Simon - former president and CEO of U.S Operations for Walmart

Diplomacy, government, law, and politics

• Hajim al-Hassani – Speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly under the Iraqi Transitional Government
• Bethany J. Alvord - Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court
• Bona Arsenault – Canadian Member of Parliament (1945-1957)
• Vanessa Lynne Bryant - U.S. District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Richard Calder – senior official at the CIA
• Tansu Çiller – Prime Minister of Turkey (1993-1996), the first female to hold the position
• Eric D. Coleman - Deputy President Pro Tempore in the Connecticut Senate
• Carol Ann Conboy – Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court
• Joe Courtney - U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district
• Alfred V. Covello - Senior U.S. District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Bill Curry - political analyst and journalist; two-time Democratic nominee for Governor of Connecticut; advisor to President Bill Clinton
• Emilio Q. Daddario - U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 1st congressional district (1959-1971)
• John A. Danaher III - State of Connecticut Superior Court Judge; Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Public Safety (2007-2010); U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut (2001-2002)
• Alexandra Davis DiPentima - Chief Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court
• Christopher F. Droney - U.S. Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut (1993-1997); Mayor of West Hartford, Connecticut (1985-1989)
• Charles A. Duelfer – Leader of the Iraq Survey Group
• J. Michael Farren - Deputy White House Counsel to President George W. Bush (2007-2009)
• Samih Farsoun – academic and Arab-American activist
• C. Frank Figliuzzi - Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation (2011-2012)
• Sam Gejdenson – U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district (1981-2001)
• Robert Giaimo – U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district (1959-1981); helped create the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Washington Metro
• Mary Glassman - First Selectman of Simsbury, Connecticut
• Bernard F. Grabowski - U.S. Representative from Connecticut (1963-1967)
• F. Herbert Gruendel - Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court
• Eliot A. Jardines – Assistant Deputy Director of U.S. National Intelligence for Open Source Intelligence (2005-2008)
• Denise Johnson - Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
• Joette Katz - Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court(1992-2011)
• Christine E. Keller - Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court
• Douglas S. Lavine - Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court
• Martin Looney - Majority Leader, Connecticut Senate
• Konstantina Lukes - Mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts (2007-2010)
• Robert J. Lynn - Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court
• Mark J. Marcus - Former Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and politician.
• Joan G. Margolis - U.S. Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Donna F. Martinez - U.S. Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Brett H. McGurk - Special Adviser to the United States Ambassador to Iraq
• Shaun McNally – Democratic politician
• Thomas Joseph Meskill – Governor of Connecticut (1971-1975); Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1975-1993); U.S. Representative for the Connecticut's 6th congressional district (1967-1971)
• Chris Murphy – U.S. Senator from Connecticut; U.S. Representative for the Connecticut's 5th congressional district (2007-2013)
• Kathleen Murphy - President, Fidelity Personal Investing, a unit of Fidelity Investments
• Kevin J. O'Connor - U.S. Attorney for District of Connecticut (2002-2006); Associate Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice (2006); Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General, Department of Justice (2007); Associate Attorney General of the United States, Department of Justice (2008-2009)
• Richard N. Palmer - Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
• Rosemary S. Pooler – U.S. Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Juan Ramirez, Jr. - Judge of the Florida District Court of Appeals, Third District
• William St. Onge - U.S. Representative from Connecticut (1963-1970)
• Ronald A. Sarasin - U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 5th congressional district (1973-1979)
• Pedro Segarra - Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut
• Kevin Sullivan - Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut (2004-2007); President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut Senate (1997-2004)
• David Valesky – member of the New York State Senate
• Christine S. Vertefeuille - Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court in (2000-2010)
• Ariane D. Vuono - Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court
• Sam Webb – Chairman of the Communist Party USA
• William A. Webb - U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

Education

• Stanley F. Battle — educator, author, civic activist and former leader of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Coppin State University and Southern Connecticut State University
• Scott S. Cowen – president of Tulane University
• Kathleen Musante DeWalt - director of the Center for Latin American Studies – University of Pittsburgh
• Thomas C. Duffy – deputy dean of the Yale School of Music
• Martha Piper – immediate past president and vice chancellor of the University of British Columbia
• Joseph W. Polisi – president of The Juilliard School
• Florence Roisman – Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law professor and social activist
• Timothy Perry Shriver – teacher and philanthropist
• Kevin Swick – early childhood education theorist

Military

• Kenneth North – former United States Air Force Brigadier General
• Paul A. Yost, Jr. – former United States Coast Guard Commandant
• Samuel Jaskilka - former United States Marine Corps Commandant

Science

• Franklin Chang-Diaz – astronaut and physicist
• Howard S. Hoffman (Ph.D 1957) - experimental psychologist
• Benjamin Hsiao (MS 1984) - Chief Research Officer and Vice-President for Research at Stony Brook University, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the American Chemical Society, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• David Lee – Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• Kevin B. MacDonald – evolutionary psychology theorist
• Richard Mastracchio – astronaut and engineer
• Vijay P. Parashar – oral and maxillofacial radiologist and Associate Professor
• Massimo Pigliucci – outspoken evolutionary theorist and philosopher
• Philip Rubin – CEO and senior scientist at Haskins Laboratories
• Yuwen Zhang – Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Missouri

Sports

Men's basketball

• Jeff Adrien – power forward for the Charlotte Bobcats
• Chuck Aleksinas – former center for the Golden State Warriors
• Ray Allen – 5th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft
• Hilton Armstrong – 12th pick in 2006 NBA Draft, (New Orleans Hornets) forward/center
• Josh Boone – 23rd pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (New Jersey Nets)
• Denham Brown – 40th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (Seattle SuperSonics)
• Scott Burrell – first American draft pick for MLB and NBA, played in the NBA from 1995–2001
• Caron Butler – 10th pick in 2002 NBA Draft, (Los Angeles Clippers) guard
• Andre Drummond - 9th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons
• Khalid El-Amin – former Chicago Bulls guard
• Rudy Gay – NBA 8th overall pick in 2006 NBA Draft, Memphis Grizzlies guard
• Tate George – former basketball player for the New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks
• Ben Gordon – 3rd pick in 2004 NBA Draft, Charlotte Bobcats guard
• Richard Hamilton – 7th pick in 1999 NBA Draft, Chicago Bulls guard
• Toby Kimball – former NBA forward, played for six teams, spent most of his career with the San Diego Rockets
• Travis Knight – former NBA player, 29th pick in 1996 NBA Draft, center
• Bruce Kuczenski – Former NBA forward/center
• Jeremy Lamb - guard for the Houston Rockets
• Ater Majok - 58th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers
• Donyell Marshall – 4th pick in 1994 NBA Draft
• Emeka Okafor – 2nd pick in 2004 NBA Draft, center
• Kevin Ollie – former NBA guard, current UConn basketball head coach
• Tom Penders – head men's basketball coach at the University of Houston
• A. J. Price – 52nd pick on the 2009 NBA Draft, point guard for the Washington Wizards
• Cliff Robinson – basketball player for the New Jersey Nets
• Stanley Robinson - 59th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic
• Doron Sheffer - former Israeli basketball superstar
• Chris Smith – former Minnesota Timberwolves guard
• Bob Staak – former Wake Forest University and NBA coach
• Hasheem Thabeet – 2nd pick in the 2009 NBA draft to the Memphis Grizzlies
• Corny Thompson – former NBA forward for the Dallas Mavericks
• Charlie Villanueva – 7th pick in 2005 NBA Draft, (Detroit Pistons) forward
• Jake Voskuhl – center currently playing for the Charlotte Bobcats
• Kemba Walker - 9th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats
• Marcus Williams – 22nd pick in 2006 NBA Draft, (New Jersey Nets) guard

Women's basketball

• Svetlana Abrosimova – formerly forward for the Minnesota Lynx, the Connecticut Sun and the Seattle Storm
• Ashley Battle – 25th overall pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft, currently plays for the New York Liberty
• Sue Bird – point guard for the Seattle Storm, 1st overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, 2x Olympic champion, 4x All-Star
• Swin Cash – forward for the Seattle Storm, 2nd overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft
• Tina Charles – 1st overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft, center for the Connecticut Sun
• Kalana Greene -forward/guard for the Connecticut Sun
• Charde Houston – Current WNBA player for the Minnesota Lynx
• Asjha Jones – center/power forward for the Connecticut Sun
• Rebecca Lobo – former WNBA player and current ESPN analyst
• Renee Montgomery – point guard for the Connecticut Sun
• Jessica Moore – WNBA player for the Los Angeles Sparks
• Maya Moore - 1st overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft, forward for the Minnesota Lynx
• Shea Ralph – drafted in the third round (40th pick) of the 2001 WNBA Draft by the Utah Starzz, currently assistant coach for the University of Connecticut
• Jennifer Rizzotti – former pro basketball player and current University of Hartford women's head coach
• Nykesha Sales – former WNBA player for the Connecticut Sun
• Kelly Schumacher – former WNBA player for the Indiana Fever. 14th overall pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft
• Ann Strother – 15th overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, formerly played for the Atlanta Dream
• Ketia Swanier – 12th overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury
• Diana Taurasi – 1st overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, guard for the Phoenix Mercury
• Barbara Turner – 11th overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft. Currently plays for Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. Women's Basketball
• Tamika Williams – – 6th overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft. Formerly played for the Connecticut Sun, currently head coach of the Indian National Team and an analyst for ESPN
• Kara Wolters – former WNBA center for the Houston Comets, currently broadcaster and analyst for Connecticut radio network

Football

• Deon Anderson – former Dallas Cowboys fullback
• Will Beatty - New York Giants offensive tackle
• Tyvon Branch - Oakland Raiders safety
• Cody Brown - NFL linebacker
• Donald Brown – running back for the Indianapolis Colts
• Darius Butler – Indianapolis Colts cornerback
• Marcus Easley - Buffalo Bills wide receiver
• Kirk Ferentz – former UConn linebacker and current University of Iowa football head coach, former University of Maine football head coach, former Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens offensive line coach
• Alfred Fincher – New Orleans Saints linebacker
• Nick Giaquinto – former NFL tailback, member of the Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins
• Byron Jones - Dallas Cowboys cornerback
• Brian Kozlowski – former NFL fullback/tight end
• Greg Lloyd, Jr. - Indianapolis Colts linebacker
• Robert McClain - Atlanta Falcons cornerback
• Dan Orlovsky – Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback
• Kendall Reyes - San Diego Chargers defensive end
• Sam Rutigliano – former Cleveland Browns head coach
• Anthony Sherman - Kansas City Chiefs fullback
• Shane Stafford – Arena Football League quarterback
• Donald Thomas - New England Patriots guard
• Jordan Todman - Jacksonville Jaguars running back
• Lawrence Wilson - New Orleans Saints linebacker

Baseball

• Jesse Carlson – MLB pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays
• Rajai Davis – MLB outfielder for the Detroit Tigers
• Walt Dropo – former all-star Major League Baseball first baseman, 1950 MLB Rookie of the Year Award winner (American League)
• Jeff Fulchino – MLB pitcher for the Houston Astros
• Jason Grabowski – former Major League Baseball player
• Dan Iassogna – Major League Baseball umpire
• L. J. Mazzilli - Minor League Baseball player
• Charles Nagy – former all-star Major League Baseball pitcher
• Mike Olt - MLB infielder
• Jim Penders - UConn baseball coach
• Bob Schaefer – bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and former manager for the Kansas City Royals
• Rollie Sheldon – former MLB pitcher, member of the 1961 and 1962 World Series Champion New York Yankees
• George Springer - MLB outfielder
• Pete Walker – former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher and current Toronto Blue Jays Pitching Coach
• Gary Waslewski – MLB pitcher

Men's hockey

• Todd Krygier – former NHL left-winger for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

Men's soccer

• Kevin Burns – Midfielder for the Columbus Crew
• Chukwudi Chijindu – striker for Chivas USA
• George Fochive – midfielder for the Portland Timbers
• Josh Ford – goalkeeper for Seattle Sounders FC
• Chris Gbandi – former player for FC Dallas
• Julius James – defender for the Columbus Crew
• Andrew Jean-Baptiste – defender for the NY Red Bulls
• Damani Ralph – former Chicago Fire player and current FC Rubin Kazan striker
• Bobby Rhine – former player for FC Dallas
• Toni Stahl – midfielder for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers
• Shavar Thomas – soccer player for the Philadelphia Union
• Kwame Watson-Siriboe – defender for the Chicago Fire
• O'Brian White – striker for Seattle Sounders FC

Women's soccer

• Sara Whalen – Olympic silver medalist
• Niki Cross

Other

• Dan Cramer - rugby player and hockey captain while attending; currently a mixed martial artist for Bellator Fighting Championships; formerly a competitor for the UFC - Ultimate Fighter Season 7 contestant

Faculty

Current

• Gina Barreca – humor author, contributor to The Hartford Courant, blogger for The Chronicle of Higher Education and Psychology Today, and professor of English Literature and feminist theory
• Robert L. Birmingham – Professor of Law
• Ann Charters – Beat scholar who worked with Jack Kerouac to write his biography (Professor of English)
• Kenneth Fuchs – Grammy-nominated composer and former head of the Department of Music (School of Fine Arts)
• Johann Peter Gogarten - evolutionary biologist working on horizontal gene transfer
• Robert A. Gross – historian, author of The Minutemen and their World
• Wally Lamb – best-selling author (Associate Professor of Creative Writing; also a UConn graduate)
• Richard Normand Langlois – economist (Professor of Economics)
• Earl MacDonald - Director of Jazz Studies, jazz composer, arranger, pianist, former musical director for Maynard Ferguson
• Ronald Mallett – researcher in time travel (Professor of Physics)
• Ross Miller – literary critic and biographer for Philip Roth and nephew of playwright Arthur Miller
• Ruth Millikan – philosopher of language (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy)
• Ravindra Nanda - Chair of the Division of Orthodontics at University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine
• Olu Oguibe – Professor of Painting and author of The Culture Game
• Sam Pickering – teacher portrayed by Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (Professor of English)
• Joseph Renzulli - gifted education theorist
• Julian Rotter - psychologist who developed social learning theory and locus of control (Emeritus Professor of Psychology)
• Wayne Worcester – author and journalist (Professor of Journalism)
• Merrill Singer – Medical Anthropologist who was involved in the creation of critical medical anthropology and syndemics theory (Professor of Anthropology)

Former

Note: Years and official titles are given when possible.

• Ann Beattie - author
• Albert Francis Blakeslee - botanist (when it was still Connecticut Agricultural College)
• Taylor L. Booth - Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
• Francelia Butler - author and renowned expert on children's literature (Professor of English, 1968–1992)
• Lien Chan - former vice president of the Republic of China (Assistant Professor of Political Science, 1967–1968)
• Roy D'Andrade - developer of cognitive anthropology
• Victor Denenberg - developmental psychobiologist
• Richard Eberhart - poet
• James C. Faris - anthropologist (Professor of Anthropology and Near Eastern Studies)
• Brison D. Gooch - historian of 19th century Europe, taught at UC prior to 1973
• J. A. Scott Kelso - neuroscientist (Professor of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences)
• Susan Kinsolving - poet
• Myron W. Krueger - computer scientist (Professor of Computer Science, 1974–85)
• Everett Carll Ladd - political scientist, Director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (1964–1999)
• Glenn J. Lesniak - U.S. Army Major General
• Alvin Liberman - speech scientist (Professor of Psychology)
• Ovide F. Pomerleau - psychologist (Professor of Psychiatry [Psychology], 1979-1985)
• Richard Popkin - philosophy historian
• Gideon Rodan - biochemist and osteopath (School of Dental Medicine, 1970 to 1985)
• Charles Schlueter – trumpeter
• Harold Seidman - legendary political scientist and public administration expert (Professor of Political Science, 1971–1984)
• Paul N. Siegel - Marxist (Professor of English Literature)
• Edmund Ware Sinnott - botanist and prolific author (Professor of Botany and Genetics, 1915–1928)
• Ian Stewart - mathematician (Visiting Professor of Mathematics, 1977–1978)
• Rex Warner - author and translator (Professor of Classics, 1962–1973)
• Fujia Yang - physicist (Visiting Professor of Physics)
• Xiangzhong "Jerry" Yang – world animal cloning leader and director of the Center for Regenerative Biology (Professor of Animal Science)

Presidents of the University of Connecticut

• Philip E. Austin (1996-2007, 2010-2011)
• Homer D. Babbidge Jr (1962-1972)
• John T. Casteen III (1985-1990)
• John A. DiBiaggio (1979-1985)
• Susan Herbst (2011–Present)
• Michael Hogan (2007-2010)
• Albert N. Jorgensen (1935-1962)