Notable Alumni of University of Colorado Boulder [Sorted List]

1. Sarah Gillis

1994-. (aged 32)

astronaut military flight engineer

Sarah Levine "Cooper" Gillis is an American engineer who was employed by SpaceX as the senior space operations engineer and then by NASA as a senior advisor. She flew to space in September 2024 on Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission, operated by SpaceX on behalf of Jared Isaacman. During the mission, she completed the first commercial spacewalk with...

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2. Tyler Bey

1998-. (aged 28)

basketball player

Tyler Tarik Bey is an American professional basketball playing for Homenetmen Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League (FLB). He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes.

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3. Dathan Ritzenhein

1982-. (aged 44)

long-distance runner athletics competitor marathon runner

Dathan James Ritzenhein is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of the On Athletics Club (OAC). He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009 to 2010, until it was broken by Bernard Lagat. He is a three-time national cross country champion with wins at the USA Cross Country Championships in 2005, 2008 and...

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4. Mahnaz Afkhami

1941-. (aged 85)

politician human rights defender

Mahnaz Afkhami is an Iranian women's rights activist who served in the Cabinet of Iran from 1976 to 1978. She is founder and president of Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), executive director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies and former Minister of Women's Affairs in Iran's pre-Revolution government. She has lived in exile in the United States since 1979.

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5. John Mozeliak

1969-. (aged 57)

sports executive sports agent

John Mozeliak is an American professional baseball executive who served as general manager and president of baseball operations of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2025. Never a professional player, Mozeliak originally came to the Cardinals in 1995 as then-GM Walt Jocketty's assistant.

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6. Steven Montez

1997-. (aged 29)

American football player

Steven Montez is an American former professional football player who played quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and signed with the Washington Football Team as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

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7. Marilyn Van Derbur

1937-. (aged 89)

motivational speaker model beauty pageant contestant actor

Marilyn Elaine Van Derbur is an American author, motivational speaker, and beauty pageant titleholder.

8. Dave Logan

1954-. (aged 72)

basketball player American football player

David Russell Logan is an American radio personality, high school football coach and former professional player. Logan played as a wide receiver for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1976 to 1984, primarily for the Cleveland Browns. He has been the voice of Denver Broncos football for 23 years, serving as the team's color analyst for six...

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9. Ed Perlmutter

1953-. (aged 73)

lawyer politician

Edwin George Perlmutter is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 7th congressional district from 2007 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, his district was located in the northern and western suburbs of the Denver metropolitan area. He previously served as the Colorado state senator from the 20th district from 1995 to...

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10. Jabari Walker

2002-. (aged 24)

basketball player

Jabari Dominic Walker is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He is the son of Samaki Walker and brother of University of California basketball player Sakima Walker. He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes. He was...

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11. Tom Brookshier

1931-2010 (aged 79)

sports commentator American football player

Thomas Jefferson Brookshier was an American football player, coach, and sportscaster. He played as a cornerback with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, from 1953 to 1961. He later paired with Pat Summerall on the primary broadcast team for NFL games on CBS during the 1970s.

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12. Steve Hanke

1942-. (aged 84)

university teacher economist

Steve H. Hanke is an American economist and professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a senior fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise in Baltimore, Maryland.

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13. Eric Darnell

1961-. (aged 65)

film director actor animator television producer voice actor

Eric Darnell is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, screenwriter, songwriter and occasional voice actor best known for co-directing Antz with Tim Johnson, as well as co-directing and co-writing Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted with Tom McGrath, as well as the spin off Penguins of Madagascar (2014) with Simon J. Smith. Darnell now serves...

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14. Sidney Altman

1939-2022 (aged 83)

biologist chemist physicist biophysicist university teacher

Sidney Altman was a Canadian-American molecular biologist, who was the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. Cech for their work on the catalytic properties of RNA.

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15. Linda Chavez

1947-. (aged 79)

radio personality politician journalist

Linda Lou Chavez is an American author, commentator, and radio talk show host. She is also a Fox News analyst, Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, has a syndicated column that appears in newspapers nationwide each week, and sits on the board of directors of two Fortune 500 companies: Pilgrim's Pride and ABM Industries. Chavez was the highest-ranking woman...

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16. Dave Morin

1980-. (aged 46)

merchant businessperson inventor

Dave Morin is an American entrepreneur and angel investor. He is best known for founding Slow Ventures and the social network Path. A former manager at Facebook, he co-created the Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect.

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17. David J. Wineland

1944-. (aged 82)

university teacher academic physicist

David Jeffery Wineland is an American physicist at the Physical Measurement Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His most notable contributions include the laser cooling of trapped ions and the use of ions for quantum-computing operations. He received the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Serge Haroche, for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and...

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18. Caitlín R. Kiernan

1964-. (aged 62)

novelist comics writer writer science fiction writer paleontologist

Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is an Irish-born American paleontologist and writer of science fiction and dark fantasy works, including 10 novels, series of comic books, and more than 250 published short stories, novellas, and vignettes. Kiernan is a two-time recipient of both the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker awards.

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19. Vance D. Brand

1931-. (aged 95)

military officer test pilot military flight engineer aircraft pilot astronaut

Vance DeVoe Brand is a retired American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He served as command module pilot during the first U.S.-Soviet joint spaceflight in 1975, and as commander of three Space Shuttle missions.

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20. Carl Wieman

1951-. (aged 75)

academic physicist educational theorist university teacher

Carl Edwin Wieman is an American physicist and educationist at Stanford University, and currently the A. D. White Professor at Large at Cornell University. In 1995, while at the University of Colorado Boulder, he and Eric Allin Cornell produced the first true Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) an ultracold state of matter; and, in 2001, they and Wolfgang Ketterle (for further BEC...

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21. Esther Manheimer

1971-. (aged 55)

politician

Esther Elizabeth Manheimer is an American politician and attorney. She has served as the mayor of Asheville, North Carolina, since 2013.

22. Eric Stough

1972-. (aged 54)

television producer voice actor film director animator

Eric "Butters" Stough is an American animator and producer. He is best known as the animation director and a producer on the television series South Park. Born in Evergreen, Colorado, Stough attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated in 1995 with a degree in film. A longtime friend of Trey Parker, he has worked with him and Matt...

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23. Eric Allin Cornell

1961-. (aged 65)

physicist university teacher

Eric Allin Cornell is an American physicist who, along with Carl E. Wieman, was able to synthesize the first Bose–Einstein condensate in 1995. For their efforts, Cornell, Wieman, and Wolfgang Ketterle shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.

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24. Mike Coffman

1955-. (aged 71)

politician military officer

Michael Harold Coffman is an American politician, businessman, and veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps serving as Mayor of Aurora, Colorado since 2019. A Republican, Coffman served as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 6th congressional district for five terms, as well as Secretary of State of Colorado and Colorado State Treasurer.

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25. Barry Goldwater Jr

1938-. (aged 88)

politician stockbroker

Barry Morris Goldwater Jr. is an American politician. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California, serving from 1969 to 1983. He is the son of U.S. Senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater.

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26. Chris Copeland

1984-. (aged 42)

basketball player

Christopher Stephen Copeland nicknamed "The X-Factor" is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Colorado, Boulder.

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27. Theodore Maiman

1927-2007 (aged 80)

physicist

Theodore Harold Maiman was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser. Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers. The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960. In a July 7, 1960, press conference in Manhattan, Maiman and his employer, Hughes Aircraft Company, announced the laser...

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28. Nathaniel Motte

1984-. (aged 42)

singer-songwriter

Nathaniel Warren Seth Motte is an American recording artist, record producer, songwriter, and film composer from Boulder, Colorado. He is a member of the electropop duo 3OH!3 with Sean Foreman. He has also written and produced for artists such as Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Lindsey Stirling, Karmin and MAX, among many more.

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29. Tristan da Silva

2001-. (aged 25)

basketball player

Tristan da Silva is a Brazilian-German professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes.

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30. Sean Foreman

1985-. (aged 41)

singer songwriter rapper

Sean Foreman is an American singer, songwriter and rapper from Boulder, Colorado. He is a member of the electronic pop duo 3OH!3 with Nathaniel Motte. He has also written and produced for artists such as Ariana Grande, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Summer Set, Karmin and Steve Aoki, among many more.

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31. Laviska Shenault Jr

1998-. (aged 28)

American football player

Laviska Terrell Shenault Jr. is an American professional football wide receiver and kickoff returner for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes.

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32. Felix L. Sparks

1917-2007 (aged 90)

army officer lawyer judge

Felix Laurence Sparks was an American attorney, government official, and military officer from Colorado. A veteran of World War II, he attained the rank of brigadier general in the Colorado Army National Guard and received the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. Sparks also served as District Attorney of Colorado's 7th Judicial District, an Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme...

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33. Kevin Corke

sports journalist

Kevin Corke is an American journalist and is presently a White House Correspondents' Association member for Fox News in Washington D.C. Corke has covered four U.S. administrations. Previously, he was a national news correspondent based in Washington, D.C. for NBC News from 2004 to 2008. While much of his work there involved coverage of the Bush administration as a member...

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34. Dian Bachar

1970-. (aged 56)

film actor

Dian Bachar is an American actor most notable for his roles in various films by or starring his friends Trey Parker and Matt Stone, such as Cannibal! The Musical (George Noon), Orgazmo (Ben Chapleski) and his most famous role as Kenny "Squeak" Scolari in 1998's BASEketball, as well as making the occasional appearance on South Park.

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35. Joe Kernen

1956-. (aged 70)

stockbroker

Joseph Richard Kernen is an American news anchor who is the co-host of Squawk Box on CNBC.

36. Cory Higgins

1989-. (aged 37)

basketball player

Courdon Dennard "Cory" Higgins is an American former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career playing for CSKA Moscow and FC Barcelona of the EuroLeague.

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37. Christopher B. Duncan

1970-. (aged 56)

film actor actor television actor

Christopher B. Duncan is an American actor. He is known for his television series regular roles like Braxton P. Hartnabrig on The Jamie Foxx Show, President William Johnson in The First Family, and his portrayal of Clarence Weidman on Veronica Mars.

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38. Anne Gorsuch Burford

1942-2004 (aged 62)

lawyer politician

Anne Irene McGill Gorsuch Burford, also known as Anne M. Gorsuch, was an American attorney and politician. Between 1981 and 1983, under President Ronald Reagan, she was the first woman to serve as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Her son is sitting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Neil Gorsuch.

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39. Helen E. Fisher

1945-2024 (aged 79)

anthropologist

Helen Elizabeth Fisher was an American anthropologist, human behaviour researcher, and self-help author. She was a biological anthropologist, a senior research fellow at The Kinsey Institute of Indiana University, and a member of the Center For Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University. Prior to Rutgers University, she was a research associate at the American Museum...

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40. Lydia Cornell

1953-. (aged 73)

television actor film director actor film actor

Lydia Cornell is an American actress, best known for her role as Sara Rush on the ABC situation comedy Too Close for Comfort.

41. Flora Duffy

1987-. (aged 39)

triathlete

Dame Flora Jane Duffy DBE is a Bermudian professional triathlete. She won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Bermuda's first gold medal. She also competed in the Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In 2018, she won gold in the women's triathlon at the XXI Commonwealth Games in Australia. She also won gold in the...

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42. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj

1963-. (aged 63)

writer environmentalist journalist politician

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, also referred to as Elbegdorj Tsakhia, is a Mongolian politician and journalist who served as the 4th President of Mongolia from 2009 to 2017. He previously served as prime minister in 1998 and again from 2004 to 2006.

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43. Linda Moulton Howe

1942-. (aged 84)

film director beauty pageant contestant journalist essayist

Linda Moulton Howe is an American investigative journalist and Regional Emmy award-winning documentary film maker best known for her work as a ufologist and advocate of a variety of conspiracy theories, including her investigation of cattle mutilations and conclusion that they are performed by extraterrestrials. She is also noted for her speculations that the U.S. government is working with aliens.

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44. Joel Klatt

1982-. (aged 44)

baseball player American football player color commentator

Joel Klatt is an American college football color commentator and analyst for Fox Sports. Klatt played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes. He was the first three-year starter at quarterback for Colorado since Kordell Stewart. He also played in Minor League Baseball for two seasons.

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45. Derrick White

1994-. (aged 32)

basketball player

Derrick Richard White is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "The Buffalo" or “The Swiss Army Knife” by his Celtics teammate Neemias Queta, he played three years of college basketball in Division II for the Colorado–Colorado Springs Mountain Lions before transferring to Division I's Colorado Buffaloes for his final year.

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46. Bryan Fogel

screenwriter film director film producer actor

Bryan Fogel is an American film director, producer, author, playwright, speaker and human rights activist, best known for the 2017 documentary Icarus, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.

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47. Chris Fowler

1962-. (aged 64)

sports commentator presenter

Chris Fowler is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for Saturday Night Football on ABC and ESPN's tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on College GameDay, which he hosted between 1990 and 2014, and for college football.

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48. Alec Burks

1991-. (aged 35)

basketball player

Alec Burks is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Utah Jazz as the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. Burks primarily plays the shooting guard position.

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49. Phillip Lindsay

1994-. (aged 32)

American football player

Phillip Lindsay is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and attended South High School in Denver where he became the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,587 yards. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and set the...

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50. Joe Neguse

1984-. (aged 42)

politician

Joseph D. Neguse is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district is located in the northwest part of the state, based in Fort Collins, Longmont, and Boulder, and includes many rural communities and mountain towns, including Walden, Granby, Steamboat Springs, and Gypsum. A member of the Democratic Party,...

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51. Lisa Hoffman

1954-. (aged 72)

entrepreneur

Lisa Jo Gottsegen Hoffman is an American businesswoman. She is the founder and president of Lisa Hoffman Beauty.

52. Karen Duffy

1962-. (aged 64)

model television actor voice actor actor film actor

Karen "Duff" Duffy is an American writer, model, television personality, and actress. She is a certified hospital chaplain, a former Coney Island Mermaid Queen, and one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful Women" in 1993. In 1995, Duffy was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease sarcoidosis called neurosarcoidosis. Since then, she has written two books about her experience...

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53. Brian Dietzen

1977-. (aged 49)

film actor actor television actor

Brian Dietzen is an American television actor who has played the supporting role of Dr. Jimmy Palmer on NCIS since 2004. In 2012, he was promoted to a series regular at the beginning of the show's tenth season.

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54. Byron White

1917-2002 (aged 85)

military officer politician lawyer judge American football player

Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White was an American lawyer and professional football halfback who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 until 1993. By the time of his 1993 retirement, he was the Supreme Court's only sitting justice appointed by a Democrat and the last-living member of the progressive Warren Court.

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55. André Roberson

1991-. (aged 35)

basketball player

André Lee Roberson is an American professional basketball player for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes. As a junior in 2013, Roberson earned first-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 for the second time and was also named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was selected in the first...

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56. Spencer Dinwiddie

1993-. (aged 33)

basketball player

Spencer Gray Dinwiddie is an American professional basketball player who last played for FC Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes and earned first-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a sophomore in 2013. He missed most of his junior year after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

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57. Joan Van Ark

1943-. (aged 83)

actor television actor film actor voice actor stage actor

Joan Martha Van Ark is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing. A life member of The Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1966 in Barefoot in the Park. In 1971, she received a Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Tony Award for...

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58. Erinn Hayes

1976-. (aged 50)

film actor actor television actor

Erinn Hayes is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her role as Dr. Lola Spratt on the sitcom Childrens Hospital (2008–2016), which she later reprised in its spin-off series Medical Police (2020). For her role, Hayes received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series in 2016.

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59. Eric Bieniemy

1969-. (aged 57)

American football coach American football player

Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. is an American professional football coach and former running back who is the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and is their all-time leader in rushing yards (3,940) and touchdowns (42). Bieniemy was also named a unanimous All-American and finished third...

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60. Sheree J. Wilson

1958-. (aged 68)

manufacturer model television actor actor film actor

Sheree J. Wilson is an American actress, producer, businesswoman, and model. She is best known for her roles as April Stevens Ewing on the American primetime television series Dallas (1986–1991) and as Alex Cahill-Walker on the television series Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001).

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61. Larry Linville

1939-2000 (aged 61)

film actor television actor stage actor

Lawrence Lavon Linville was an American actor known for his portrayal of the surgeon Major Frank Burns on the television series M*A*S*H.

62. Ross Marquand

1981-. (aged 45)

television actor voice actor stage actor film actor

Roscoe Wayne Marquand is an American actor and impressionist. He has played Aaron on the television series The Walking Dead (2015–2022), Red Skull and Ultron in various projects connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and voices numerous characters in the animated television series Invincible (2021–present) and X-Men '97 (2024–present).

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63. Leon Allen White

1955-2018 (aged 63)

television actor American football player film actor actor professional wrestler

Leon Allen White, better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional football player. During his career, he performed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Catch Wrestling Association (CWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah during the 1990s and...

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64. Sheryl Lee

1967-. (aged 59)

television actor stage actor actor film actor

Sheryl Lee is an American actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks and in the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. After completing Twin Peaks, she returned to theater, appearing...

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65. Matt Stone

1971-. (aged 55)

television director film actor television producer lyricist voice actor

Matthew Richard Stone is an American animator, writer, producer, songwriter, filmmaker, and actor. He is best known for co-creating the animated television series South Park (since 1997) and the stage musical The Book of Mormon (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Intrigued by a career in entertainment at a young age, he studied film and mathematics at the University...

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66. Brendan Schaub

1983-. (aged 43)

stand-up comedian mixed martial arts fighter lacrosse player podcaster American football player

Brendan Peter Schaub is an American podcast host, former professional mixed martial artist, and stand-up comedian. He is the host of The Fighter and the Kid podcast, the Below the Belt with Brendan Schaub podcast, and co-host of the Golden Hour podcast, along with fellow comedians Chris D'Elia and Erik Griffin. After signing with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2009...

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67. Dalton Trumbo

1905-1976 (aged 71)

novelist film producer film director actor director

James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including Roman Holiday (1953), Exodus (1960), Spartacus (1960), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). One of the Hollywood Ten, he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry.

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68. Joey Diaz

1963-. (aged 63)

actor podcaster stand-up comedian

José Antonio Díaz, also known as Joey "CoCo" Diaz, is a Cuban American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, and author. After pursuing stand-up comedy full time in 1991 in Colorado and Seattle, he moved to Los Angeles in 1995, where he began acting, securing various film and television roles including BASEketball, Analyze That, Taxi, Rules Don't Apply, ER, and Maron.

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69. Carey Lowell

1961-. (aged 65)

model television actor voice actor actor film actor

Carey Lowell is an American actress and former model, best known as New York Assistant DA Jamie Ross on Law & Order (1996–2001, 2022) and as Bond girl Pam Bouvier in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989).

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70. Glenn Miller

1904-1944 (aged 40)

music arranger composer jazz musician conductor aircraft pilot

Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forces. His civilian band, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, was one of the most popular and successful bands of the 20th century and the big-band era.

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71. Steve Wozniak

1950-. (aged 76)

actor businessperson programmer teacher inventor

Stephen Gary Wozniak, also known by his nickname Woz, is an American technology entrepreneur, electrical engineer, computer programmer, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Computer with his early business partner Steve Jobs. Through his work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he is widely recognized as one of the most prominent pioneers of the personal computer revolution.

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72. Christopher Meloni

1961-. (aged 65)

voice actor television actor actor film actor

Christopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is known for portraying NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2011, 2021–present) and its spin-off Organized Crime (2021–present), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. He also played Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz (1998–2003), and starred...

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73. Angus T. Jones

1993-. (aged 33)

film actor actor television actor

Angus Turner Jones is an American former actor. Jones made his film debut in Simpatico (1999) at the age of six and followed with roles in the films See Spot Run (2001), The Rookie (2002) and Bringing Down the House (2003). He gained mainstream recognition in the 2000s for playing Jake Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half...

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74. Roy Romer

1928-. (aged 98)

military officer lawyer politician

Roy Rudolf Romer is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Colorado from 1987 to 1999, and subsequently as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2000 to 2006. Romer was a member of the Democratic Party. He is the father of Paul Romer, a recipient of the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

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75. Bill Ritter

1956-. (aged 70)

lawyer politician

August William Ritter Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his election to the governorship in 2006.

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76. Cory Gardner

1974-. (aged 52)

politician

Cory Scott Gardner is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2015 and a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011. As of 2025, he is the last Republican to...

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77. Chauncey Billups

1976-. (aged 50)

basketball player basketball coach

Chauncey Ray Billups is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the suspended head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball with the Colorado Buffaloes, he was selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Billups spent the majority of his 17-year basketball career...

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78. Charles Hoskinson

1987-. (aged 39)

entrepreneur mathematician

Charles Hoskinson is an American entrepreneur who is a co-founder of the blockchain engineering company IOHK, and the Cardano blockchain platform, and was a co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform.

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79. Jim Gray

1959-. (aged 67)

sports commentator

James P. Gray II is an American politician who is the Kentucky secretary of transportation in the administration of Governor Andy Beshear. He is the former two-term mayor of Lexington, Kentucky. Gray served as the city's vice mayor from 2006 to 2010 before being elected mayor in November 2010. Gray won re-election to another four-year term on November 4, 2014....

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80. Bill Browder

1964-. (aged 62)

entrepreneur economist financier human rights defender investor

Sir William Felix Browder, KCMG is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which was formerly the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. The Hermitage Fund was founded in partnership with Republic National Bank, with $25 million in seed capital. The fund, and...

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81. Judy Collins

1939-. (aged 87)

singer pianist singer-songwriter recording artist guitarist

Judith Marjorie Collins is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records (which has included folk music, country, show tunes, pop music, rock and roll and standards), for her social activism, and for...

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82. Thomas Cech

1947-. (aged 79)

university teacher biochemist chemist

Thomas Robert Cech is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA.

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83. Scott Carpenter

1925-2013 (aged 88)

autobiographer military flight engineer test pilot hydronaut aircraft pilot

Malcolm Scott Carpenter was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, and aquanaut. He was one of the Mercury Seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury in April 1959. Carpenter was the second American (after John Glenn) to orbit the Earth and the fourth American in space, after Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and Glenn.

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84. Amy Cuddy

1972-. (aged 54)

university teacher psychologist

Amy Joy Casselberry Cuddy is an American social psychologist, author and speaker. She is a proponent of "power posing", a self-improvement technique whose scientific validity has been questioned. She has served as a faculty member at Rutgers University, Kellogg School of Management and Harvard Business School. Cuddy's most cited academic work involves using the stereotype content model that she helped...

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85. Trey Parker

1969-. (aged 57)

film producer screenwriter theatrical director voice actor showrunner

Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III is an American animator, writer, producer, director, actor, and songwriter. He is best known for co-creating the animated television series South Park (since 1997) and the stage musical The Book of Mormon (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. Parker was interested in film and music as a child and at high school, and attended...

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86. Shedeur Sanders

2002-. (aged 24)

American football player

Shedeur Deion Sanders is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Jerry Rice Award, Deacon Jones Trophy, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award before being selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft....

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87. Travis Hunter

2003-. (aged 23)

American football player

Travis Hunter Jr. is an American professional football cornerback and wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Heisman Trophy with the latter in 2024. Known for his two-way playing ability, Hunter is the only player in college football history to win...

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88. Ryan Walters

1985-. (aged 41)

American football coach American football player

Ryan Walters is a retired American professional ice hockey forward. He most recently played for the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL.

89. Jack Williamson

1908-2006 (aged 98)

novelist science fiction writer writer

John Stewart Williamson was an American science fiction writer, one of several called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term genetic engineering. Early in his career he sometimes used the pseudonyms Will Stewart and Nils O. Sonderlund.

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90. Jack Swigert

1931-1982 (aged 51)

military officer politician military flight engineer aircraft pilot astronaut

John Leonard Swigert Jr. was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo 13, he became one of 24 astronauts who flew to the Moon. Due to the "slingshot" route around the Moon they chose to safely return to Earth, the Apollo...

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91. Jonah Hill

1983-. (aged 43)

voice actor actor comedian television actor writer

Jonah Hill is an American actor and filmmaker. Hill ranked 28th on Forbes's list of highest-paid actors from June 2014 to June 2015, at $16 million. Among his accolades are nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

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92. Robert Redford

1936-2025 (aged 89)

stage actor film director actor executive producer voice actor

Charles Robert Redford Jr. was an American actor, director and producer, celebrated for his magnetic presence as a leading man during the American New Wave. Across a career spanning more than six decades, Redford earned widespread recognition and numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and five Golden Globe Awards, (including a Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994)....

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93. Kate Brown

1960-. (aged 66)

lawyer politician

Katherine Brown is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997, three terms as the state senator from the 21st district of the...

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94. Townes Van Zandt

1944-1997 (aged 53)

singer songwriter singer-songwriter recording artist guitarist

John Townes Van Zandt was an American singer-songwriter. He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "If I Needed You", "Snake Mountain Blues", "Our Mother the Mountain", "Waitin' Round to Die", and "To Live's to Fly". His musical style has often been described as melancholic and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for...

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95. Alan Kay

1940-. (aged 86)

jazz musician university teacher computer scientist jazz guitarist programmer

Alan Curtis Kay is an American computer scientist who pioneered work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface (GUI) design. At Xerox PARC he led the design and development of the first modern windowed computer desktop interface. There he also led the development of the influential object-oriented programming language Smalltalk, both personally designing most of the early versions of...

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96. Lynne Cheney

1941-. (aged 85)

novelist politician non-fiction writer

Lynne Ann Cheney is an American author, scholar, former talk show host, and the widow of Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States. She served as the second lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 when her husband was vice president.

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97. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

1938-. (aged 88)

writer economist entrepreneur politician

Ellen Eugenia Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa.

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98. Drew Goddard

1975-. (aged 51)

film producer screenwriter writer television producer executive producer

Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard is an American screenwriter, director, and producer most closely associated with the horror genre. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Alias, and Lost. After moving into screenwriting in film, he wrote Cloverfield (2008), World War Z (2013), and The Martian (2015), the last of these earning him...

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99. Purnomo Yusgiantoro

1951-. (aged 75)

civil servant academic head commissioner commissioner

Purnomo Yusgiantoro is an Indonesian politician. He served as Minister of Defense in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet from 2009 to 2014. Previously, he served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources from 2000 to 2009. He also served as secretary-general of OPEC in 2004.

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100. Kalpana Chawla

1962-2003 (aged 41)

military flight engineer astronaut amateur radio operator

Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-American astronaut and aerospace engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space. Chawla expressed an interest in aerospace engineering from an early age and took engineering classes at Dayal Singh College and Punjab Engineering College in India. She then traveled to the United States, where she earned her MSc and PhD,...

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