99 Notable alumni of Kent State University at Kent

Peter Makuck was an American poet, short story writer, and critic. He was a distinguished professor emeritus of English at East Carolina University, where he was also the first distinguished professor of arts and sciences; he also served as visiting writer in residence at Brigham Young University, visiting distinguished professor at North Carolina State University, and visiting distinguished writer-in-residence at...

Donald V. DeRosa was the 23rd president of the University of the Pacific, serving from 1995 to 2009. In July 2009 he was named President Emeritus by the Board of Regents.

Troy Simons is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Polk State College, New Mexico and Kent State.

Hollis Douglas Sims is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the NBA for the Cincinnati Royals in four games at the beginning of the 1968–69 season. He recorded four points and four rebounds.

Kimberly "Kim" A. Kreiner is a female javelin thrower from the United States. Her personal best throw is 64.19 meters, achieved in May 2007 in Fortaleza.

Emma Johnson, is an American softball pitcher. She was the starting pitcher for Kent State University from 2012 to 2015, where she wore the #11. Johnson is currently a free agent.

Eric Vanderburg is an American cyber security, storage networking and information technology professional and writer living in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kevin-Mbeleza Zabo is a Canadian basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at Canisius University. He completed his college basketball career with Kent State.

Lisa Gralnick is an American contemporary metalsmith, studio jeweler and academic. She works in the field of craft and art jewelry. Gralnick says: "I have chosen to make jewelry, which is traditionally considered 'craft', and I do enjoy the processes and techniques that allow me to execute my work without technical faults. But 'craft' is only a means to an...

Antonio "Booman" Williams is an American professional basketball player for VfL AstroStars Bochum of the ProA. Prior to his professional career, he played college basketball for Indian Hills Community College and Kent State.

Arun Rai is an Indian-born American scientist. Arun Rai is a permanent Regent's Professor at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University and holds the Howard S. Starks Distinguished Chair at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.

John Balistreri is an American ceramic artist best known for his large-scale sculptures. He is currently a professor of Art and the head of the ceramic art program at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.

Robert Eugene Cook was an American attorney, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he is most notable for his service as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1963 and a judge of the Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals from 1969 to 1988

John Matsko is an American football offensive line coach who coached for several college football and National Football League (NFL) teams.

Carlton Guyton is an American professional basketball player for ZTE of the Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A (NB I/A). Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in), he plays at the shooting guard position. He played college basketball at Mineral Area College and Kent State.

Curtis Cacioppo is an American composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. He is of Sicilian ancestry on his father's side, and Anglo-Saxon ancestry on his mother's side. He is distantly related to the avant-garde composer George Cacioppo and the Dixieland trumpeter and bandleader Tony Almerico.

David D. Busch is a photographer and author and publisher of more than 300 books with a total of more than three million copies in print, and thousands of photography- and technology-related articles for Popular Photography, Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, Computer Shopper, and other magazines. He is best known for the classic imaging handbook Digital Photography All in One Desk Reference...

Dr. Yadav Pandit is a research scholar, working in the field of Experimental Nuclear Physics.

Domenic Michael Recchia Jr. is an American attorney and politician from New York City. A member of the Democratic Party, Recchia formerly represented the 47th district of the New York City Council, which included areas of Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and Gravesend in south Brooklyn.

Daniel Joseph Dorazio was an American professional football coach who coached for 26 years in the NCAA, 22 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and for one year in U Sports. He was a four-time Grey Cup champion after winning with the Calgary Stampeders in 1998 and 2001 and with the BC Lions in 2006 and 2011. Under his...

Danny Pippen is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kent State Golden Flashes.

Lee Young Hee is a South Korean physicist. He was a distinguished professor in physics and energy science at Sungkyunkwan University as a SKKU fellow and also director of the Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) until 2023, before going to Hubei University of Technology and Peking University. He has been a Clarivate Analytics...

Terrence O'Donnell is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio.

DeAndre Lamount Haynes is an American college basketball coach, currently assistant coach for the Marquette Golden Eagles of the Big East Conference. He is a former basketball player and played college basketball for the Kent State Golden Flashes.

Greg Beals is an American college baseball coach and former catcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Marshall Thundering Herd. Beals played college baseball at Kent State University from 1989 to 1991 for coach Danny Hall. He previously served as head coach at Ball State (2003–2010) and the Ohio State Buckeyes (2011–2022).

Henry Waszczuk is a former all star offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. The six-time divisional All-Star played from 1975 to 1984 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He also pioneered catch and release techniques used by anglers today and was involved in multiple charities now and during both his professional football and fishing careers.

James Kirk Schuring was an American politician of the Republican Party from the state of Ohio. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1993 to 2002, and from 2011 to 2018. Schuring also served in the Ohio Senate from 2003 to 2010, before returning in 2018 and serving there until his death.

Earl Keith Miller is a cognitive neuroscientist whose research focuses on neural mechanisms of cognition Earl K. Miller is the Picower Professor of Neuroscience with the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the Chief Scientist and co-founder of SplitSage. He is a co-founder of Neuroblox.

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Deal Burrow, United States Marine Corps, is the first female Marine who selected for Naval aviation training in 1993, and subsequently became the Marine Corps' first female aviator in 1995.

Brian Bell is an American former football fullback and tight end. He is currently the assistant director of sports performance for the Tennessee Titans. He previously filled this role with the Nittany Lions and the Texans.

Kelu Chao is a Taiwanese-American journalist and the deputy CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). She was previously the acting interim CEO of USAGM from January 20, 2021, to December 29, 2022.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd, née Danniel Thomas, is a Jamaican athlete whose specialty is the shot put. She finished 4th in the shot put finals at London's 2017 World Championships in Athletics and the following year she won silver at the Indoor World Championships. In addition, she finished fifth at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Matthew Olson Guerrier is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.

Andrew Michael Sonnanstine is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays. Sonnanstine is a graduate of Wadsworth High School in Wadsworth, Ohio, and attended Kent State University. He also pitched for the Sanford Mainers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Emmanuel Allen Burriss is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies. He is a switch-hitter who throws right-handed. While primarily a second baseman, Burriss played a variety of positions during his career.

Usama Young is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kent State University. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of the 2007 NFL draft. He also played for the Cleveland Browns.

Scott Stricklin is an American college baseball coach. Stricklin was the head coach at Georgia from 2014–2023 and at Kent State from 2005–2013. Before serving as Kent State's head coach, Stricklin played for Kent State from 1991–1993 and played minor league baseball from 1993–1997. He began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant under former Kent State head coach Danny...

Michael G. Polk Jr. is an American comedian, actor, TV commentator, and newspaper columnist, known primarily for his sketch comedy and viral videos.

Nate James Reinking is a British-American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Thomas M. Reynolds is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York, formerly representing the state's 27th and 26th Congressional districts in the United States House of Representatives. Reynolds was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the official Republican House campaign organization, for the 2006 election cycle. He retired amid scandal at the end of the 110th...

Dustin Crum is an American professional football quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Kent State. Crum has also been a member of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL).

Paul Steigerwald is an American sportscaster, who through the 2016–17 NHL season first worked as the Pittsburgh Penguins' color commentator and then the TV play-by-play announcer on Root Sports Pittsburgh (now SportsNet Pittsburgh).

Lawrence Schick is an American game designer and writer associated with tabletop role-playing games and video games.

George William "Bill" Domhoff is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus and research professor of psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a founding faculty member of UCSC's Cowell College. He is best known as the author of several best-selling sociology books, including Who Rules America? and its seven subsequent editions (1967 through 2022).

Daniel Travanti Muir is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes. Muir was also a member of the Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams, New York...

Peter Kuper is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, best known for his autobiographical, political, and social observations.

Nancy Elizabeth Hollister is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. Hollister was the first and, to date, only female governor of Ohio, serving briefly from December 1998 to January 1999.

Taylor Pendrith is a Canadian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has one PGA Tour victory which came in the May 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Previously, he won twice on PGA Tour Canada in 2019.

Brad Warner is an American Sōtō Zen teacher, author, blogger, documentarian and punk rock bass guitarist.

Josh Kline is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Kent State Golden Flashes.

Samuel Bazawule, known professionally as Blitz Bazawule and Blitz the Ambassador, is a Ghanaian filmmaker, author, visual artist, rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer.

Joshua Seth Freedman is an American voice actor, comedian, motivational speaker, and author.

Andrew Gregory Chafin, nicknamed "Big Country" and "the Sheriff", is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, and Los Angeles Angels.

Brenda Sue Frese is an American women's basketball head coach and former player. Since 2002, she has served as the head coach of the University of Maryland women's basketball team. In her fourth year as head coach, she won the 2006 Women's National Championship. She won the 2009 ACC Regular Season and Tournament Championships – the women's first ACC Championship...

Emilia Strong Sykes is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 13th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly represented the 34th district of the Ohio House of Representatives, which consists of portions of the Akron area. From 2019 until 2021, she also served as minority leader of that chamber.

Irwin Keyes was an American actor and comedian, best known for his recurring role as Hugo on The Jeffersons. He appeared in several films and several television series.

Paul Dryden Warfield is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1977 for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, except for a year in the World Football League (WFL) with the Memphis Southmen in 1975. He was known for his speed, fluid moves, grace, and jumping ability....

Gary Robin Pinkel is an American former college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Toledo from 1991 to 2000 and the University of Missouri from 2001 to 2015, compiling career record of 191–110–3. Pinkel has the second most wins of any head coach in the history of the Toledo Rockets football program and...

Andrew Franklin Puzder is an American attorney, author, and businessman who has served as United States Ambassador to the European Union since 2025.

Gerald Vincent Casale is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It". Casale is the main lyricist and one of the primary composers of Devo's music, as well as the director...

Steven Michael Stone is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and current sportscaster and author.

Darrell Edward Issa is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congressional district. He represented the 50th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2019, representing two districts primarily covering North County in the San Diego...

David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. is an American comic book writer, author, and illustrator of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series Captain Underpants and its spin-off children's graphic novel series Dog Man, the latter published under the respective writer and illustrator pen names of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, which...

Kaitlin Marie Bennett is an American gun rights activist and conservative social media personality. She received media attention in 2018 for open-carrying an AR-10 rifle at Kent State University after graduating. Bennett is the face of the YouTube channel Liberty Hangout, founded by her husband that promotes the Austrian school of economics.

Thurman Lee Munson was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star, Munson had a career batting average of.292 with 113 home runs and 701 runs batted in (RBIs). Known for his outstanding fielding, he won the Gold Glove...

Mark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose "Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US in 1980, peaking at No. 14, and which has since maintained a cult following. Mothersbaugh was one of the primary...

John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. is an American actor.

Jeffrey Wayne Richmond is an American composer, comedian, producer, and director. He composed the music for, and directed multiple episodes of 30 Rock, a sitcom created by and starring his wife, Tina Fey. He also executive produced and composed the music for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, another sitcom created by Fey.

Bruno Kirby was an American actor. He was best known for his roles in City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally..., Good Morning, Vietnam, The Godfather Part II, The Freshman, Sleepers, Donnie Brasco, and This Is Spinal Tap. He voiced Reginald Stout in Stuart Little.

Raymond Herbert Wise is an American actor best known for his role as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017) and its prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). He has appeared in films such as Swamp Thing (1982), The Journey of Natty Gann (1985), RoboCop (1987), Bob Roberts (1992), Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003), Dead End (2003), Good...

Louis Leo Holtz is an American former college football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina...

Christine Ellen Hynde is an American-British singer, songwriter and musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter; she is the band's only original member and is the only continuous member of the Pretenders, having appeared on every studio album released by the band.

Nicholas Theodore Nemeth is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under his real name, stylized as Nic Nemeth. He is best known for his tenure in WWE from 2004 to 2023, where he primarily performed under the ring name Dolph Ziggler. Known for his athleticism and in-ring ability, he is...

David Raymond Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries". He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000...

Joseph Fidler Walsh is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other bands: the James Gang, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, and New Zealand's Herbs. He was part of the supergroup The Best and had success as a solo artist and...

Julian Francis Edelman is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes as a quarterback and was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Patriots, where he transitioned to a...

Drew Allison Carey is an American comedian, game show host, and actor. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey gained stardom in his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and as host of the American version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, both of which aired...

Michael John Douglas, known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. In 2016, Keaton received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named Officer of Order of Arts and Letters in France.

Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. is an American sportscaster and former football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a television program covering college football. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest football coaches of all time. Saban served as head coach of the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins and at four universities: the...

Haraz N. Ghanbari is an American Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 75th district. Having previously sought appointment in 2016, he was successfully appointed to the post in March 2019 to replace Theresa Gavarone, who was appointed state senator for the 2nd District of the Ohio Senate.

Quinton Flynn is an American voice actor and comedian, who has provided the English voices of video game characters such as Raiden in the Metal Gear series, Marcus Damon in Digimon Data Squad, and Axel and his original self Lea in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Gayle Manning is a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, serving since 2019. Formerly, she was a member of the Ohio Senate, serving the 13th district from 2011 to 2018. Manning also taught elementary school students in North Olmsted City Schools for 37 years, winning numerous awards and citations for her accomplishments in education. She was named Educator of...

Dan Horrigan is an American politician and educator who served as the 62nd mayor of Akron, Ohio from November 3, 2015 to January 1, 2024. Horrigan previously served eight years as the Clerk of Summit County's Common Pleas Courts.

Betty Sue Sutton is an American politician who currently serves as a Judge of Ohio's 9th District Court of Appeals. She previously served as a U.S. representative for Ohio's 13th congressional district from 2007 to 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Sutton lost her 2012 re-election campaign after she was redistricted to the 16th district, losing to...

Connie Brown is an American writer, journalist, and educator. Brown has been a columnist for several publications. After several years as a freelance writer, Brown became a columnist at Cleveland's daily newspaper, The Plain Dealer, a role she held from 1993 to 2011, winning the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for "her pungent columns that provided a voice for the...

Patricia Haynes Smith is an American politician who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2008 to 2020, representing District 67. Smith is affiliated with the Democratic party. Her platform focused on promoting access to healthcare and other resources for underprivileged communities and improving education in public schools.

Stephen Reeder Donaldson is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist, most famous for The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, his ten-novel fantasy series. His work is characterized by psychological complexity, conceptual abstractness, moral bleakness, and the use of an arcane vocabulary, and has attracted critical praise for its "imagination, vivid characterizations, and fast pace". Donaldson earned his bachelor's degree...

Mary Ann Scherr was an American designer, metalsmith and educator. She was known for her jewellery design and industrial design, but she also worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, game designer, fashion and costume designer and silversmith.

Donald Erb was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and Ritual Observances.

Adam Christopher Earnheardt is an American academic and author, sports and communication researcher, and social media critic. He is professor and former chair of the Department of Communication at Youngstown State University, located in Youngstown, Ohio. He researches the effects of communication devices and social media on society, and studies the media uses and psychology of sports fans and families....

Jack M. Wilson is an American educator, entrepreneur and the President-Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, Emerging Technologies, and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. During his career, he has served various institutions as professor of physics, department chair, research center director, dean, provost, vice president, and president, and has served with multiple professional societies and government committees.

Cecelia Carolina Bell is an American author, cartoonist, and illustrator. Most well known for her graphic novel El Deafo, Bell's work has appeared in The Atlantic, Vegetarian Times, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Working Woman, Esquire and many other publications.

Broderick Stephen Harvey is an American comedian, radio and television host, actor, writer, and producer. He hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, Family Feud Africa, and the arbitration-based court comedy Judge Steve Harvey, and formerly hosted the Miss Universe competition. His accomplishments include seven Daytime Emmy Awards, two Marconi Awards, and fourteen NAACP Image Awards.

Jang Mi-ran is a South Korean Olympic weightlifter. She is currently based in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, competing for the Goyang City Government Sports Club.

Umang Gupta was an Indian-American entrepreneur and Silicon Valley, California, executive credited with writing the first business plan for Oracle Corporation. He was also the founder of enterprise software company Gupta Technologies and was later the CEO of Keynote Systems.

Mohammad Saleh Uddin, "Badal" is a Bangladeshi architect, professor, author and artist.

Shahd Alshammari is a Kuwaiti writer, academic scholar and assistant professor of the English language. She is well known for her researches that focus on human and women's rights, disability issues and, recently, illness narrative. She published six books, in total, three of which she was the author, and the other three co-author. Additionally, she participated in over 15 conference,...

Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau CFR GSS, psc, ndc, fwc is a retired Nigerian army general and politician who served as Chief of Army Staff from 2008 to 2010 and in President Muhammadu Buhari's Cabinet as Minister of the Interior from 2015 to 2019. Dambazau is a renowned strategist, especially In National and regional security issues. He is a skillful writer with...