35 Notable alumni of Oklahoma City University
Updated: June 13, 2026 EliteDegrees
Oklahoma City University is ranked #2,233 in the world and #578 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 35 notable alumni from Oklahoma City 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 Oklahoma City University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Arnold Short
1932-2014 (aged 82)
baseball player
basketball player
basketball coach
Arnold Short was an American basketball player. A 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) guard, he was an All-American college player at Oklahoma City University and a second round pick in the 1954 NBA draft.
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2. Eugene L. Tattini
1943-. (aged 83)
military officer
Eugene L. Tattini is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and served as deputy director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from July 2001 to September 2013.
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3. Carol Hansen
lawyer
judge
Carol M. Hansen was a judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, the intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma. Educated at the Oklahoma City University of Law after raising five children, she became a municipal judge in 1993. She was appointed marshal for the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1984, then appointed as a justice of the Oklahoma...
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4. Hal Hilpirt
1908-1998 (aged 90)
American football player
Hal Hilpirt was an American football end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Chicago Cardinals and the Cincinnati Football Reds. He played college football for the Oklahoma City Goldbugs. He was part of the beginnings of the modern era of American professional football.
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5. J.B. Adams
1954-. (aged 72)
actor
television actor
stage actor
J.B. Adams is an American character stage and film actor, director, and singer. He has credits in film, television and, most notably, musical theatre. Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he attended Oklahoma City University, where he studied voice, piano, opera, and musical theatre, after which he became a New York City-based Broadway actor. He is perhaps best known for his...
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6. Domingo DeGrazia
politician
Domingo DeGrazia is an attorney from the Southwest United States. He practices appellate law, is a guitarist and music composer, and former member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 10 from 2019 to 2023. DeGrazia was elected in 2018, defeating incumbent Republican State Representative Todd Clodfelter. DeGrazia is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians through...
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7. Joe Bisenius
1982-. (aged 44)
baseball player
Joseph Richard Bisenius is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current area scout for the Minnesota Twins. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals.
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8. Chris Schroder
1978-. (aged 48)
baseball player
Christopher Keith Schroder is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He attended Oklahoma City University. Bob Carpenter coined him one of the 'er boys' along with Chris Booker and Ryan Wagner.
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9. Robert J. Skinner
military leader
Robert J. Skinner is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general who served as the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency from 2021 to 2024. Before, he directed Command, Control, Communications, and Cyber of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. Prior to that, he was the commander of the Twenty-Fourth Air Force. He was promoted to lieutenant general and...
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10. Hugh Taylor
1923-1992 (aged 69)
American football coach
American football player
Hugh Wilson "Bones" Taylor was an American professional football player and coach. He played as an end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. Taylor attended Tulane University at the start of World War II where he was a Navy V-12 student. At Tulane he was an All-Southeastern Conference and All-American basketball player in 1943. After being...
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11. Hub Reed
1936-2024 (aged 88)
basketball player
Hubert F. Reed was an American professional basketball player born in Harrah, Oklahoma.
12. Dusty Deevers
politician
pastor
Dusty Deevers is an American politician and pastor who has served as a member of the Oklahoma Senate since December 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party.
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13. Richard Worley
police officer
Richard J. Worley Jr. is an American police officer who has served as the commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department since 2023. Born in Baltimore's Pigtown community, he graduated from Cardinal Gibbons School in 1983 and earned a degree in criminal justice from Oklahoma City University in 1987.
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14. Jane Anne Jayroe
1947-. (aged 79)
model
beauty pageant contestant
journalist
politician
Jane Anne Jayroe-Gamble is an American broadcaster, author, public official and former beauty queen from Laverne, Oklahoma, who was Miss Oklahoma in 1966 and Miss America in 1967. Jayroe worked as an anchor in TV news in Oklahoma City and Dallas-Fort Worth broadcast media markets for 16 years. Later, Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating appointed her to serve as his...
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15. Ernest Istook
1950-. (aged 76)
lawyer
journalist
director
politician
Ernest James "Ernie" Istook Jr. is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 5th congressional district. He held his congressional seat for 14 years, completing seven terms in the House. Currently, Istook is a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., and also a...
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16. Steven T. Kuykendall
1947-2021 (aged 74)
politician
Steven T. Kuykendall was an American politician and Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 36th congressional district from 1999 to 2001 in the 106th Congress. He defeated Democrat Janice Hahn in the 1998 election with 49% of the vote. He was narrowly defeated for re-election in 2000 by his predecessor Jane Harman, who had relinquished her...
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17. Johnston Murray
1902-1974 (aged 72)
lawyer
politician
Johnston Murray was an American lawyer, politician, and the 14th governor of Oklahoma from 1951 to 1955. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Murray was the first Native American to be elected as governor in the United States. He was an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation through his mother. His father, William H. Murray, was the ninth...
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18. Chris Merritt
1952-. (aged 74)
performing artist
musician
opera singer
Chris Merritt is an American tenor.
19. Fred Tackett
1945-. (aged 81)
singer
mandolinist
songwriter
trumpeter
guitarist
Fredrick O. Tackett is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat.
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20. Mickey Edwards
1937-. (aged 89)
lawyer
politician
journalist
Marvin Henry "Mickey" Edwards is an American politician who was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Oklahoma's 5th congressional district from 1977 to 1993.
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21. Susan Powell
1959-. (aged 67)
model
beauty pageant contestant
Susan Carol Powell is an American actress, singer, and television personality. A native of Elk City, Oklahoma, Powell began her career as a successful beauty pageant contestant, winning the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 1980 and proceeded to the Miss America crown for the year 1981. A coloratura soprano, she has performed in musical theater and on opera stages around the...
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22. David L. Goldfein
1959-. (aged 67)
military officer
David Lee Goldfein is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who last served as the 21st Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He previously served as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and, prior to that, he served as the director of the Joint Staff, a position within the Joint Chiefs of...
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23. Mason Williams
1938-. (aged 88)
classical guitarist
actor
poet
guitarist
photographer
Mason Douglas Williams is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and Saturday Night Live.
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24. Gabrielle Ruiz
1984-. (aged 42)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
Gabrielle Ruiz is an American actress best known for playing the role of Valencia Perez on The CW musical comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Prior to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, she performed in several Broadway musicals.
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25. Cathy O'Donnell
1925-1970 (aged 45)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
Cathy O'Donnell was an American actress who appeared in The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur, and films noir such as Detective Story and They Live by Night.
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26. Kelli O'Hara
1976-. (aged 50)
television actor
stage actor
singer
actor
Kelli Christine O'Hara is an American actress and singer, most known for her work on the Broadway and opera stages.
27. Kristin Chenoweth
1968-. (aged 58)
film actor
voice actor
stage actor
actor
singer
Kristin Dawn Chenoweth is an American actress and singer, with credits in musical theatre, film, and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. In 2003, Chenoweth was nominated for a second Tony Award for originating the role...
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28. Lakshmi Manchu
1976-. (aged 50)
actor
television actor
model
television producer
film director
Manchu Lakshmi Prasanna is an Indian actress, film producer, and television presenter who works in Telugu cinema and worked in American television. The daughter of senior actor Mohan Babu, Manchu holds a bachelor's degree in theatre from Oklahoma City University. She has garnered two Filmfare Awards South and two Nandi Awards.
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29. Michael D. Brown
1954-. (aged 72)
lawyer
Michael DeWayne Brown is an American attorney, and former government official who served as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 2003 to 2005. He joined FEMA as general counsel in 2001 and became deputy director the same year. Appointed in January 2003 by President George W. Bush to lead FEMA, Brown resigned in September 2005 following...
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30. Shawntel Smith
1971-. (aged 55)
model
beauty pageant contestant
Shawntel Smith Wuerch is an American beauty pageant contestant, who was Miss America in 1996. She was born in Muldrow, Oklahoma. She attended Oklahoma City University.
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31. Enoch Kelly Haney
1940-2022 (aged 82)
Christian minister
painter
politician
Enoch Kelly Haney was an American politician and internationally recognized Seminole/Muscogee artist from Oklahoma, He served as principal chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma from 2005 until 2009 and previously served as a member of both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature. He created a bronze statue that sits atop the Oklahoma State Capitol, called The Guardian. Another statue he...
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32. Buzz Williams
1972-. (aged 54)
basketball coach
Brent Langdon "Buzz" Williams is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the University of Maryland. He previously served as head coach at Texas A&M from 2019 to 2025, Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marquette from 2008 to 2014, and New Orleans during the 2006–07 season, and as an assistant coach at Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M–Kingsville, Northwestern...
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33. Lin Hsin-i
1946-. (aged 80)
businessperson
politician
Lin Hsin-i is a Taiwanese businessman and politician. He served in the Democratic Progressive Party administration as Minister of Economic Affairs between 2000 and 2002, then as Vice Premier between 2002 and 2004.
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34. Arsyadjuliandi Rachman
1960-. (aged 66)
entrepreneur
politician
Arsyadjuliandi Rachman is an Indonesian politician. He was governor of Riau between 2016 and 2018 and was a member of the House of Representatives between 2019 and 2024. He was previously the province's vice-governor, although he acted in the governor's capacity following Annas Maamun's arrest in 2014.
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35. Chris Harrison
1971-. (aged 55)
television presenter
presenter
Chris Harrison is an English photographer known for his work which has explored ideas of home, histories and class.