13 Notable alumni of Buena Vista University
Updated: June 14, 2026 EliteDegrees
Buena Vista University is ranked #4,932 in the world and #1,304 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 13 notable alumni from Buena Vista University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Buena Vista University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Royd Chambers
1961-. (aged 65)
politician
Royd E. Chambers was the Iowa State Representative from the 5th District. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003 through 2013.
2. Russell Eddie
1938-. (aged 88)
politician
Russell J. Eddie was an American politician in the state of Iowa.
3. Steve Kettering
1943-. (aged 83)
politician
Steve Kettering is the former Iowa State Senator from the 26th District. A Republican, he served in the Iowa Senate since 2003, when he won a special election to fill the vacancy left after Steve King was elected to Iowa's 5th congressional district. He got his B.A. from Buena Vista College and his master's degree from California State University, Long...
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4. Stewart Iverson
1950-. (aged 76)
politician
Stewart E. Iverson Jr. is a former Republican party member of the Iowa House of Representatives. He previously served in the Iowa State Senate from the 5th District, where he was majority leader from 1998 until 2006.
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5. Dan Huseman
1952-. (aged 74)
politician
Daniel Adair Huseman is an American politician. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 1995. He was born in Cherokee and received his BA from Buena Vista College. Huseman announced in January 2020 that he would retire from the state house upon the conclusion of his thirteenth term in office.
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6. Jesse Schmidt
1983-. (aged 43)
American football player
Jesse Schmidt is an American former professional football wide receiver.
7. Nancy Boettger
1943-. (aged 83)
politician
Nancy Jane Boettger was the Iowa State Senator from the 9th District. A Republican, she served in the Iowa Senate since 1995. She received a B.A. in Sociology from Iowa State University in 1965 and a B.A. from Buena Vista College in Education in 1982.
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8. Greg Heartsill
1971-. (aged 55)
politician
Greg T. Heartsill is an American politician who served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for the 28th district from 2013 to 2019.
9. Jim Fanning
1927-2015 (aged 88)
baseball player
William James Fanning was an American-Canadian catcher, manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. Often called "Gentleman Jim", Fanning was the first general manager of the Montreal Expos of the National League (appointed in August 1968), and served the Expos in a number of capacities for almost 25 years. As their field manager in 1981, he guided Montreal...
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10. Jim Doran
1927-1994 (aged 67)
American football player
James Robert Doran was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions (1951–1959) and Dallas Cowboys (1960–1961). He played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones. He was a two-way player, playing both on offense and defense. He played 94 games as a defensive lineman, usually defensive end, and 115 games as a...
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11. Mike Naig
1978-. (aged 48)
politician
Mike Naig is an American politician in the state of Iowa. A Republican, he is the current Iowa secretary of agriculture. He became the deputy secretary of agriculture in September 2013. After the resignation of Bill Northey, Kim Reynolds appointed Naig to succeed him in March 2018. Naig defeated Tim Gannon in the November 2018 election.
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12. Nate Bjorkgren
1975-. (aged 51)
basketball coach
basketball player
Nathan Robert Bjorkgren is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of South Dakota and Buena Vista University. He was previously an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns from 2015 to 2017 and the Toronto Raptors from 2018 to...
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13. Lindsay Peoples Wagner
editor
Lindsay Peoples is an American editor serving as editor-in-chief of New York magazine's The Cut since 2021. She is the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, and was the youngest editor-in-chief of any Condé Nast magazine.
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