Notable Alumni of University of South Dakota [Sorted List]

1. G. Homer Harding

1925-. (aged 101)

Guy Homer Harding is an American former politician in the state of South Dakota. He was a member of the South Dakota State Senate from 1971 to 1988. Throughout his state senate term, he represented the 19th, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th districts. He was also Treasurer of South Dakota from 1991 to 1995. Harding, a Republican, is a veteran of...

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2. Homer Kandaras

1929-2017 (aged 88)

politician

Homer M. Kandaras was an American politician in the state of South Dakota. He was a member of the South Dakota State Senate from 1971 to 1976. Throughout his state senate term, he represented the 27th and 28th districts. He is an alumnus of University of South Dakota where he earned his law degree.

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3. Lowdon Heller

1924-2016 (aged 92)

politician

Lowdon B. Heller was an American politician in the state of South Dakota. He was a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1957 to 1960. He was an alumnus of the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University, and was later a businessman, teacher and farmer. He died aged 92 in 2016.

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4. Greg Stevens

1960-. (aged 66)

politician

Greg R. Stevens is an American politician in the state of Iowa.

5. Richard L. Gregg

Richard L. "Dick" Gregg is an official in the United States Department of the Treasury who served as Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from May 12, 2010 to June 30, 2014.

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6. Ron Jorgensen

1957-. (aged 69)

politician

Ron Jorgensen is the Iowa State Representative from the 6th District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2011. Smith was born in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. He has a B.S. in business administration from Morningside College and an M.B.A. from the University of South Dakota. Jorgensen works as Vice President for Business and...

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7. Roger Wendt

1933-2011 (aged 78)

politician

Roger F. Wendt was a Democratic member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing the 2nd District from 2003 until 2011, though he stepped down from the Iowa House in February 2010 due to serious illness. He died on March 30, 2011, from lung cancer.

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8. John A. Dubia

1943-. (aged 83)

military personnel

John Austin Dubia was a lieutenant general in the United States Army who last served as Director of the Army Staff from 1995 to 1999. He was also executive vice president of AFCEA International until September 2013.

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9. Dave Mulder

1939-. (aged 87)

politician

Dave W. Mulder is an American politician and educator who served as a member of the Iowa Senate for the 2nd District from 2005 to 2009.

10. Ellis Yarnal Berry

1902-1999 (aged 97)

editor politician lawyer judge journalist

Ellis Yarnal Berry was an American attorney, newspaper publisher and politician, who served in the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota. He served ten consecutive terms in office from 1951 to 1971.

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11. Byron Bullock

1987-. (aged 39)

Canadian football player

Byron Bullock is a former professional Canadian football linebacker.

12. Merrell Q. Sharpe

1888-1962 (aged 74)

lawyer politician

Merrell Quentin Sharpe was an American politician from Kennebec, South Dakota. Affiliated with the Republican Party, Sharpe was the attorney general of South Dakota from 1929 through 1933, and governor of South Dakota from 1943 through 1947.

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13. Harold Lovre

1904-1972 (aged 68)

lawyer politician

Harold Orrin Lovre was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Lovre represented South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1957.

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14. Joe Bottum

1903-1984 (aged 81)

lawyer judge politician

Joseph Henry Bottum was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician. He served as the 27th lieutenant governor of South Dakota and as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota.

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15. Sioux K. Grigsby

1873-1968 (aged 95)

lawyer politician

Sioux Kingsbury Grigsby was an attorney and politician in the United States state of South Dakota. Grigsby was born into a prominent pioneering family, Kingsbury family in South Dakota and set up a law practice which he would maintain for over 60 years. Grigsby served as state representative, state senator, and Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota from 1945 to 1949.

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16. Sam Kooiker

1974-. (aged 52)

politician

Sam Kooiker is an American politician who served as Mayor of Rapid City, South Dakota from 2011 to 2015.

17. John Bailey Jones

1927-2023 (aged 96)

lawyer judge politician

John Bailey Jones was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

18. Dave Knudson

1950-. (aged 76)

lawyer politician

David L. Knudson is an American lawyer, former Majority Leader of the South Dakota Senate, and a member of the Republican Party.

19. Gordon Mydland

1922-2022 (aged 100)

politician judge

Gordon James Mydland was an American attorney and politician who served as the Attorney General of South Dakota. He was also a state senator, and a circuit court judge.

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20. Bryan Akipa

1957-. (aged 69)

flautist

Bryan Akipa is a Dakota flautist with five solo albums to date.

21. Leslie Jensen

1892-1964 (aged 72)

politician

Leslie Jensen was an American businessman and politician who served as the 15th Governor of South Dakota.

22. A. J. Schable

1984-. (aged 42)

American football player

Andrew Joel "A. J." Schable is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Dakota Coyotes and was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He is currently a firefighter in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

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23. Lawrence L. Piersol

1940-. (aged 86)

lawyer judge

Lawrence Leroy Piersol is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

24. Tyler Hagedorn

1996-. (aged 30)

basketball player

Tyler Joseph Hagedorn is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for South Dakota.

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25. Scott Heidepriem

1956-. (aged 70)

politician

Scott N. Heidepriem is an American attorney and former South Dakota state legislator.

26. Hannah Caroline Aase

1883-1980 (aged 97)

botanist botanical collector scientific collector

Hannah Caroline Aase was an American botanist and cytologist.

27. Royal C. Johnson

1882-1939 (aged 57)

military officer lawyer politician

Royal Cleaves Johnson was a U.S. Representative from South Dakota and a highly decorated veteran of World War I while he was still a member of Congress. Despite voting against United States declaration of war on Germany, he took a leave of absence from Congress to enlist. He became a highly decorated veteran receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from the...

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28. Nels H. Smith

1884-1976 (aged 92)

politician

Nels Hansen Smith was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Wyoming from 1939 to 1943. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1919 to 1920.

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29. Carl Gunderson

1864-1933 (aged 69)

politician

Carl Gunderson was an American politician who served as the 11th Governor of South Dakota. Gunderson, a Republican from Mitchell, South Dakota, served from 1925 to 1927.

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30. Dwight W. Burney

1892-1987 (aged 95)

politician

Dwight Willard Burney was an American politician from the state of Nebraska. A Republican, he served as the 30th governor of Nebraska from 1960 to 1961.

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31. Ryun Williams

1969-. (aged 57)

basketball coach

Ryun Thomas Williams is an American college basketball coach who is the current head women's basketball coach at Colorado State.

32. Jeffrey L. Viken

1952-. (aged 74)

lawyer judge

Jeffrey Lynn Viken is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

33. Jens Joneleit

1968-. (aged 58)

composer

Jens Gerd Joneleit is a German composer, known for his operas.

34. Frank E. Denholm

1923-2016 (aged 93)

university teacher lawyer politician

Franklin Edvard Denholm was a member of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota.

35. Loren Terveen

computer scientist university teacher

Loren Terveen is an American computer scientist and was the president of the Association for Computing Machinery's SIGCHI professional group from 2015 to 2018. Terveen is a professor of computer science and engineering and studies human-computer interaction at GroupLens Research at the University of Minnesota. Since 2025, he has served as the head of the Computer Science department.

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36. Arlo L. Olson

1918-1943 (aged 25)

military personnel

Arlo L. Olson was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

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37. John C. Miller Jr

1912-2000 (aged 88)

military leader

John Carroll Miller Jr. was a decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of Brigadier general. A veteran of the Pacific War, he was wounded twice and received decorations for valor on Saipan and Okinawa. He remained in the Marines and retired as Brigadier general and Commanding general, Landing Force Training Command, Atlantic.

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38. Jeremy Taylor

1978-. (aged 48)

politician

Jeremy J. Taylor is an American educator and Republican politician. He served a single term on the Iowa House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, and was a member of the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors between 2014 and 2020.

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39. Mark Mickelson

1966-. (aged 60)

politician

George Mark Mickelson is an American lawyer, accountant, and politician who served as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing District 13 from 2013 to 2019. He is a Republican and a member of the prominent Mickelson family of South Dakota.

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40. Sigurd Anderson

1904-1990 (aged 86)

lawyer judge politician

Sigurd Anderson was the 19th governor of South Dakota. Anderson, a Republican from Webster, South Dakota, served in that office from 1951 to 1955.

41. Todd Lee

basketball coach

Todd Walter Lee is an American college basketball coach who is the former head coach of the South Dakota Coyotes men's basketball team.

42. Nick Estes

historian

Nick Estes is a Sicangu American community organizer, journalist, and historian at the University of Minnesota. He has cofounded The Red Nation and Red Media. In 2019, he was awarded the Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for nonfiction. In 2020, he was honored as the Marguerite Casey Foundation's freedom scholar.

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43. William L. Harding

1877-1934 (aged 57)

lawyer politician

William Lloyd Harding was an American politician who served as the 22nd Governor of Iowa, from 1917 to 1921.

44. Herbert J. Davenport

1861-1931 (aged 70)

university teacher economist

Herbert Joseph Davenport was an American economist, educator and author. He was a member of the American Psychological School alongside Frank A. Fetter and Thorstein Veblen.

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45. Harvey Wollman

1935-2022 (aged 87)

politician

Harvey Lowell Wollman was an American politician who served as the 26th Governor of South Dakota from 1978 to 1979. He was the first Lieutenant Governor in the history of South Dakota to succeed to the governorship. To date, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as South Dakota's governor.

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46. Roberto Lange

1963-. (aged 63)

lawyer judge

Roberto Antonio Lange is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

47. Rick Weiland

1958-. (aged 68)

politician

Richard Paul Weiland is an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party from the state of South Dakota. Weiland was the chief executive officer of the International Code Council, was appointed by Bill Clinton to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and served as senior advisor to former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle.

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48. Matt Michels

1960-. (aged 66)

lawyer politician

Matthew Michels is an American politician who served as the 38th lieutenant governor of South Dakota from 2011 to 2019.

49. Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler

1883-1966 (aged 83)

mathematician university teacher

Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler was an American mathematician. She is best known for early work on linear algebra in infinite dimensions, which has later become a part of functional analysis.

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50. John Behring

television producer cinematographer television director

John Behring is an American television director, cinematographer, and producer.

51. Arch Hall, Sr

1908-1978 (aged 70)

screenwriter film director film producer actor film actor

Archibald Williams Hall, known as Arch, was an American actor and filmmaker, best known for making a series of B-movies in the early 1960s starring his son, Arch Hall Jr. Hall used various names throughout his career including Nicholas Merriwether, William Waters, and Archie Hall.

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52. Gabor Boritt

1940-. (aged 86)

historian university teacher

Gabor Szappanos Boritt was a Hungarian-born American historian. He was the Robert Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. Born and raised in Hungary, he participated as a teenager in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 before escaping to America, where he received his higher education and became a scholar of Abraham...

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53. Brendan Johnson

1975-. (aged 51)

lawyer

Brendan Van Johnson is an American attorney who served as the 40th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota. He is the son of former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson and currently is a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, where he serves as the Chair of the Firm's National Business Litigation Group and Member of the Firm's Executive Board....

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54. Dan O'Brien

1947-. (aged 79)

novelist husbandry worker autobiographer

Daniel Hosler O'Brien is an American author, wildlife biologist, and rancher.

55. Kevin Locke

1954-2022 (aged 68)

teacher musician

Kevin Edward Locke was of Lakota descent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Anishinaabe of White Earth. He was a preeminent player of the North American Indigenous Flute, a traditional storyteller, cultural ambassador, recording artist and educator. He was best-known for his hoop dance, The Hoop of Life.

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56. Tyler Cain

1988-. (aged 38)

basketball player

Tyler Cain is an American basketball player who last played for Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the University of South Dakota (USD). He is best known for being the inaugural winner of the Great West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year award in 2009–10, the conference's first as a...

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57. Andrea Thompson

1966-. (aged 60)

military officer official

Andrea Lee Thompson is an American government official and former military officer. She is the former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. Prior to this, she was the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. Before entering government service, she was a career intelligence officer in the United States Army.

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58. Frank Farrar

1929-2021 (aged 92)

lawyer judge

Frank Leroy Farrar was an American politician who was the 24th Governor of South Dakota. A Republican from Britton, he served as the state's attorney general from 1963 to 1969, and as governor from 1969 to 1971. After leaving office, he chaired several holding companies and became the owner of numerous banks.

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59. John H. Lawrence

1904-1991 (aged 87)

university teacher physician physicist

John Hundale Lawrence was an American physicist and physician best known for pioneering the field of nuclear medicine.

60. George S. Mickelson

1941-1993 (aged 52)

lawyer politician

George Speaker Mickelson was an American politician and Vietnam War veteran who served as the 28th governor of South Dakota from 1987 until his death in 1993 in a plane crash near Zwingle, Iowa.

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61. Peter Norbeck

1870-1936 (aged 66)

politician general contractor

Peter Norbeck was an American politician from South Dakota. After serving two terms as the ninth governor of South Dakota, he was elected to three consecutive terms as a United States senator.

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62. Chen Shu-hui

1957-. (aged 69)

politician

Chen Shu-hui is a member of the Kuomintang and a former member of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan.

63. Stanley Umude

1999-. (aged 27)

basketball player

Stanley Umude is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Dakota Coyotes.

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64. Jason Ravnsborg

1976-. (aged 50)

lawyer

Jason Richard Ravnsborg is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as Attorney General of South Dakota from 2019 until his removal in 2022. Ravnsborg ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing in the Republican primary to former Governor Mike Rounds, who won the general election.

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65. David Rumelhart

1942-2011 (aged 69)

computer scientist psychologist university teacher

David Everett Rumelhart was an American psychologist who made many contributions to the formal analysis of human cognition, working primarily within the frameworks of mathematical psychology, symbolic artificial intelligence, and parallel distributed processing. He also admired formal linguistic approaches to cognition, and explored the possibility of formulating a formal grammar to capture the structure of stories.

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66. Al Neuharth

1924-2013 (aged 89)

author journalist businessperson columnist

Allen Harold "Al" Neuharth was an American businessman, author, and columnist born in Eureka, South Dakota. He was the founder of USA Today, The Freedom Forum, and its Newseum.

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67. Tyler Starr

1991-. (aged 35)

American football player

Tyler Starr is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Dakota Coyotes. He was selected by the Falcons in the seventh round (255th overall) of the 2014 NFL draft.

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68. Larry Pressler

1942-. (aged 84)

lawyer entrepreneur university teacher politician

Larry Lee Pressler is an American lawyer and politician from South Dakota who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1979, and United States Senate from 1979 to 1997, as a Republican. He briefly ran for the Republican nomination for President in 1980. He remained active in politics following his failed reelection campaign in 1996 and...

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69. Tim Johnson

1946-2024 (aged 78)

adviser lawyer politician

Timothy Peter Johnson was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district from 1987 to 1997 and in the South Dakota Legislature from 1979 to 1987. Johnson is the last...

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70. Dennis Daugaard

1953-. (aged 73)

lawyer businessperson politician

Dennis Martin Daugaard is an American attorney and politician who served as the 32nd governor of South Dakota from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the first chief executive of a U.S. state to be the child of deaf parents. Before being elected governor, he was a lawyer, banker, development director for a nonprofit organization;...

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71. Bill Janklow

1939-2012 (aged 73)

lawyer lobbyist politician

William John Janklow was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party. He holds the record for the longest tenure as the governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.

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72. Bud Day

1925-2013 (aged 88)

military officer lawyer aircraft pilot

George Everette "Bud" Day was a United States Air Force officer, aviator, and veteran of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. He was also a prisoner of war, and recipient of the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross. As of 2025, he is the only person to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and Air Force...

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73. Scott DesJarlais

1964-. (aged 62)

politician physician

Scott Eugene DesJarlais is an American politician and physician serving as the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 4th congressional district since 2011. The district stretches across East and Middle Tennessee. He is a member of the Republican Party and a conservative.

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74. Dusty Johnson

1976-. (aged 50)

politician

Dustin Michael Johnson is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner from 2005 to 2011, when he was appointed chief of staff to Governor Dennis Daugaard, a position he held until 2014. Between his state political career...

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75. Ernest Lawrence

1901-1958 (aged 57)

university teacher nuclear physicist physicist

Ernest Orlando Lawrence was an American accelerator physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. He is known for his work on uranium-isotope separation for the Manhattan Project, as well as for founding the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

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76. Greg Mortenson

1957-. (aged 69)

writer mountaineer philanthropist nurse

Greg Mortenson is an American professional speaker, writer, veteran, and former mountaineer. He is a co-founder and former executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute and the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace.

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77. Andrew Van Ginkel

1995-. (aged 31)

American football player

Andrew Van Ginkel is an American professional football linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Dakota Coyotes before transferring to the Wisconsin Badgers. Van Ginkel was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.

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78. Kevin Brady

1955-. (aged 71)

politician

Kevin Patrick Brady is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes northern Houston, including The Woodlands. He retired after the 2022 election cycle.

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79. Tom Brokaw

1940-. (aged 86)

news presenter writer television journalist opinion journalist program host

Thomas John Brokaw is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of The Today Show from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News for 22 years (1982–2004). In the previous decade he served as a weekend anchor for the program from 1973 to...

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80. John Thune

1961-. (aged 65)

railway executive businessperson politician

John Randolph Thune is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005. From 1997 to 2003, he was the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district. A Republican, Thune has been the Senate majority leader and Senate Republican leader since January 2025.

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81. Richard Barrett Lowe

1902-1972 (aged 70)

politician military officer

Richard Barrett Lowe was the governor (and fifth appointed civil governor) of American Samoa (October 1, 1953 – October 15, 1956) and the eighth American governor (and third civilian governor) of Guam (October 15, 1956 – November 14, 1959). He was also a prominent educator and United Nations observer.

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82. Joe Foss

1915-2003 (aged 88)

writer military officer aircraft pilot politician

Joseph Jacob Foss was a United States Marine Corps Major and a leading Marine fighter ace in World War II. He received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his role in air combat during the Guadalcanal campaign. In postwar years, he was an Air National Guard Brigadier General, served as the 20th Governor of South Dakota (1955–1959), president of...

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83. Raymond W. Carpenter

1948-. (aged 78)

military personnel

Raymond W. Carpenter is a retired United States Army major general who served as acting Director of the Army National Guard.

84. Faith Spotted Eagle

1948-. (aged 78)

political activist teacher politician

Faith Spotted Eagle is an American activist and politician. She is a citizen of the Yankton Sioux Tribe who attempted to block development of the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

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85. Kay Schallenkamp

1949-. (aged 77)

Kay Schallenkamp is an American education administrator, most recently serving as Black Hills State University's ninth president in Spearfish, South Dakota. Before her job at Black Hills State, Schallenkamp also served as the fourteenth president at Emporia State University, provost and vice-chancellor at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, Chadron State College, and multiple positions at Northern State University.

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86. Joe Robbie

1916-1990 (aged 74)

lawyer entrepreneur lobbyist politician

Joseph Robbie was an American attorney, politician, and the principal founder of the Miami Dolphins.

87. Rodney Hall

1928-. (aged 98)

politician

Rodney Maple Hall is an American former politician in the state of South Dakota. He was a member of the South Dakota Senate from 1971 to 1976. He attended Dakota Wesleyan University and the University of South Dakota where he earned a master's degree in education. He is a veteran of the Korean War and later worked as an educator...

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88. Matt Mooney

1995-. (aged 31)

basketball player

Matthew Marren Mooney is an American professional basketball player who last played for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and South Dakota having transferred after his freshman year at Air Force.

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89. Tom Laughlin

1931-2013 (aged 82)

television actor film director actor writer film producer

Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr. was an American actor, filmmaker, educator, activist, and perennial candidate. He was best known as the star and director of the Billy Jack tetralogy of action drama films, produced between 1969 and 1977. His unique promotion of the 1974's The Trial of Billy Jack (TV trailers during national news and an "opening day" nationwide release) was...

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