100 Notable alumni of University of Utah

Neal Ash Maxwell was an American scholar, educator, and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1981 until his death in 2004.

John Ream Curtis is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Utah. A member of the Republican Party, Curtis served from 2017 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for Utah's 3rd congressional district and from 2010 to 2017 as the 44th mayor of Provo.

Bui Tuong Phong was a Vietnamese-born computer graphics researcher and pioneer. He invented the widely used Phong shading algorithm and Phong reflection model.

Allen Varley Astin was an American physicist who served as the fifth director of the United States National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) from 1951 until 1969. During the Second World War he worked on the proximity fuse. He was an advocate for introduction of metric weights and measures to the United States. He...

Michael Scott Doleac is an American former professional basketball player.

Robert William Bishop is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 1st congressional district from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he became the dean of Utah's congressional delegation after the retirement of Orrin Hatch from the U.S. Senate in 2019.

Jacob Lane Bentley is an American football coach and former player who is currently serving as the head coach at Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Bentley played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Utah Utes, and the South Alabama Jaguars.

Martha Maria "Mattie" Hughes Cannon was a Welsh-American politician, physician, Utah women's rights advocate, suffragist, and a polygamous wife. Her family immigrated to the United States as converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and traveled West to settle in the Utah Territory with other church members. She started working at the age of fourteen,...

Craig Richard Nelson was an American actor in theater, film and television.

Steven Sharp Nelson is an American cellist. He is best known as "The Cello Guy" of the classical new-age musical group The Piano Guys, with whom he has released eight number-one albums and dozens of music videos. He also has three solo albums to his credit. He is considered a pioneer in "cello-percussion", which enhances traditional cello playing with pizzicato...

Carolyn Carlson is an American born French nationalized contemporary dance choreographer, performer, and poet. She is of Finnish descent.

Justin Frankel is an American computer programmer best known for his work on the Winamp media player application and for inventing the Gnutella peer-to-peer network. Frankel is also the founder of Cockos Incorporated, which creates music production and development software such as the REAPER digital audio workstation, the NINJAM collaborative music tool and the Jesusonic expandable effects processor.

Paul Christian Kruger Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft. He played college football for the Utah Utes. He also played for the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints.

Ross Carl "Rocky" Anderson II is an American attorney, writer, activist, and civil and human rights advocate. He served two terms as the 33rd Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, from 2000 to 2008.

Byron Kay Foulger was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions.

Denali Foxx is the stage name of Cordero Matthew Zuckerman (born April 1, 1992), an American drag performer, figure skater, and choreographer best known for competing on the thirteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.

Pelle Gustav Gösta Larsson is a Swedish professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and the Arizona Wildcats.

Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä is a Finnish basketball coach and a former professional basketball player. He is currently working as an assistant coach of Canada national team. A power forward, Möttölä played for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first player from Finland to play in the NBA.

Alissa Katelina Pili is an American professional basketball player for the Geelong Venom of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She played college basketball for the Utah Utes and USC Trojans.

Shannon Hale is an American author primarily of young adult fantasy, including the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy and The Goose Girl. Her first novel for adults, Austenland, was adapted into a film in 2013. She is a graduate of the University of Utah and the University of Montana. She has also co-written with her husband, Dean.

Devin Eric Lloyd is an American professional football linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes and was selected by the Jaguars in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft.

Jon Schmidt is an American pianist and composer. Classically trained, he branched into New Age music in his 20s and has developed a classical crossover style that blends classical, contemporary, and rock and roll. He has released eight solo albums and seven piano books containing original scores. Since 2010 he has been a member of The Piano Guys musical group,...

Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Murphy also records audio commentary tracks with Michael J. Nelson and Bill Corbett for Nelson's RiffTrax website.

Bruce Redd McConkie was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1972 until his death. McConkie was a member of the LDS Church's First Council of the Seventy from 1946 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve.

Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. was an American professional football player and sports broadcaster. He was a tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) from 1968 through 1977. He was a two-time NFL Pro Bowler and two-time AFL All-Star.

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian specializing in early America and the history of women, and a professor at Harvard University. Her approach to history has been described as a tribute to "the silent work of ordinary people". Ulrich was a recipient of a grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program in 1992. Her most famous book, A...

Rob Stanton Bowman is an American director. He grew up around film and television production, and developed an interest in the field because of the work of his father, director Chuck Bowman. Bowman is a prolific director for television, and has contributed to series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The X-Files, for which he received four consecutive...

Kim Tillie is a French professional basketball player who last played for Cholet Basket of the French LNB Pro A. He played college basketball at the University of Utah. He is a 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) tall power forward, who can also play as a small ball center.

Grover Sanders Krantz was an American anthropologist and cryptozoologist; he was one of the few scientists who have not only researched Bigfoot, but also expressed a belief in the animal's existence. Throughout his professional career, Krantz authored more than 60 academic articles and 10 books on human evolution, and conducted field research in Europe, China, and Java.

Erin Mendenhall is an American politician and activist who has been serving as the mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah since 2020. Upon taking office as Salt Lake City’s 36th mayor, Mendenhall became the city’s third and youngest woman in the role (after Deedee Corradini and Jackie Biskupski). Prior to assuming office, Mendenhall represented the city’s 5th district on the...

Robert Foster Bennett was an American politician and businessman who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Bennett held chairmanships and senior positions on various key Senate committees, including the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; Appropriations Committee; Rules and Administration Committee; Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Joint...

Sean Lee Smith is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders.

Mitchell Wishnowsky is an Australian professional American football punter for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Wishnowsky played college football for the Santa Barbara City Vaqueros and Utah Utes, where he won the Ray Guy Award and was a unanimous All-American in 2016. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the...

Marshall James Henderson is a former professional American basketball player. He last played for Pavia Basket in the Italian Serie C-Gold league. He played college basketball for the Ole Miss Rebels. Henderson is now an assistant coach at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas.

Edwin Jacob Garn is an American politician from the U.S. state of Utah. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-51-D in April...

Elwood Gordon Gee is an American academic administrator. From 2014 to 2025, he served his second term as president of West Virginia University; his first term there was from 1981 to 1985. Gee is said to have held more university presidencies (or their equivalent titles) than any other American. He was head of University of Colorado Boulder from 1985 to...

Robert Oldham Young is an American naturopathic practitioner and author of alternative medicine books promoting an alkaline diet. His most popular works are the "pH Miracle" series of books, which outline his beliefs about holistic healing and an "alkalarian" lifestyle. Young came to prominence after appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show featured his treatment of Kim Tinkham for breast cancer....

Jaylon Lawrence Johnson is an American professional football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes.

Lenore LaFount Romney was an American actress and political figure. The wife of businessman and politician George W. Romney, she was First Lady of Michigan from 1963 to 1969. She was the Republican Party nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1970 from Michigan. Her younger son, Mitt Romney, was a U.S. senator from Utah, a former governor of Massachusetts, and...

Whit Hertford is an American theatre director, writer, and actor.

Carlos Remigio Cardoen Cornejo is a Chilean arms dealer, metallurgical engineer, weapons scientist and agricultural businessman.

Judy Lynn Shelton is a former American economic advisor to President Donald Trump in his first term. She is known for her advocacy for a return to the gold standard and for her criticisms of the Federal Reserve (which she has compared to the Soviet Union's economic planning). Trump announced on July 2, 2019, that he would nominate Shelton to...

Thomas King CC is an American-born Canadian writer and broadcast presenter who most often writes about First Nations. Though he previously said that he was of partial Cherokee descent, King accepted findings by genealogists in 2025 that he has no Indigenous ancestry.

Howard Tracy Hall was an American physical chemist and one of the early pioneers in the research of synthetic diamonds, using a press of his own design.

George Ouzounian, known as Maddox, is an American blogger, YouTuber, and author. He gained fame on the internet in the early 2000s for his opinion-oriented website, The Best Page in the Universe, which he still maintains. His first book, The Alphabet of Manliness (2006), became a New York Times bestseller.

Mario Ramberg Capecchi is an Italian-born American molecular geneticist and a co-awardee of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering a method to create mice in which a specific gene is turned off, known as knockout mice. He shared the prize with Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology...

Balamurali Krishna "Bala" Ambati is an Indian-American ophthalmologist, educator, and researcher. On May 19, 1995, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's youngest doctor, at the age of 17 years, 294 days.

David Oman McKay was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordained an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, McKay was an active general authority for nearly 64 years, longer than...

Paul McCarthy is an American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Benjamin Michael McAdams is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. During that time, he was the only Democratic member of Utah's congressional delegation and was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. was an American businessman and religious leader who served as the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 2018 until his death in 2023. He had been a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since 1985. As a member...

William Dalen Clyburn is an American professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Clyburn attended three colleges, from 2008 to 2013: Marshalltown Community College, University of Utah, and Iowa State University before playing professionally in Germany, Israel, Turkey, and Russia. He was the top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League in 2015–16. Clyburn...

Michael Patrick McCoy is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the assistant head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He has spent time as the quarterbacks coach for the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals, a senior offensive assistant and the...

John Willard "Bill" Marriott Jr. is an American billionaire businessman who is the executive chairman of Marriott International, of which he owns 11.28%.

Shelby Steele is an American author, columnist, documentary film maker, and a Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action.

John Edward Warnock was an American computer scientist, inventor, technology businessman, and philanthropist best known for co-founding Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company, with Charles Geschke in 1982. Warnock was President of Adobe for his first two years and chairman and CEO for his remaining sixteen years at the company. Although he retired as CEO in 2001,...

Joseph Sherrard Kearns was an American actor, who is best remembered for his role as George Wilson ("Mr. Wilson") on the CBS television series Dennis the Menace from 1959 until his death in 1962. He was also a prolific radio actor, and provided the voice of the Doorknob in the 1951 animated Disney film, Alice in Wonderland.

Henry Bennion Eyring is an American religious leader and former educational administrator. He is the first counselor to Dallin H. Oaks in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was also a counselor in the First Presidency to three other church presidents prior to their death: second counselor to Russell M. Nelson...

Keith Adam Van Horn is an American former professional basketball player. A forward, Van Horn played for five teams in a National Basketball Association (NBA) career that spanned from 1997 to 2006.

Doug Spencer Bowser is an American businessman, and former president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, the North American branch of the Japanese video game company Nintendo, from 2019 to 2025.

Farhang Holakouee–Naeinee, simply known as Doctor Holakouee, is an Iranian-born American radio personality, sociologist, and economist. His radio program—hosted in the past by 670 KIRN, and currently by "Radio Hamrah"—offers relationship advice to callers in Persian. Holakouee was born in Shiraz, Iran, and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 1995 until his death in January 2008 at age 97. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its...

James Henry Clark is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in computer graphics led to the development of systems for the fast rendering of three-dimensional computer images.

Delon Reginald Wright is an American professional basketball player who last played for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the CC of San Francisco Rams and the Utah Utes, being a first-team all-conference player in the Pac-12 in 2014 and 2015. He also earned the Bob Cousy Award in 2015.

Thomas Doane Chambers is an American former professional basketball player. From 1981 to 1997, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as internationally. A power forward, Chambers was selected to four NBA All-Star Games and was a two-time All-NBA Second Team member during his career. In December 2021, he was nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall...

Andre Lloyd Miller is an American former professional basketball player who most recently served as the head coach for the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. Miller has played professional basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, and San Antonio Spurs. Currently, he ranks...

Lee Isaac Chung is an American filmmaker. His debut feature Munyurangabo (2007) was an official selection at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the first narrative feature film in the Kinyarwanda language.

Holly Rowe is an American sports telecaster for the ESPN sports television network, as a sideline reporter for college football and basketball games. Rowe made Utah Jazz history on October 22, 2021 as the team's first female commentator in a game against the Sacramento Kings.

Edwin Earl Catmull is an American computer scientist and animator who is the co-founder of Pixar and was the president of Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has been recognized for his contributions to 3-D computer graphics, including the 2019 ACM Turing Award.

Martha Raddatz is an American reporter with ABC News. She is the network's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent reporting for ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir, Nightline, and other network broadcasts. In addition to her work for ABC News, Raddatz has written for The New Republic and is a frequent guest on PBS's Washington Week. Raddatz is the co-anchor and...

David Gary Neeleman is a Brazilian-American businessman and entrepreneur. He has founded five commercial airlines: Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue Airways, Azul Brazilian Airlines, and Breeze Airways. Along with Humberto Pedrosa and Aigle Azur, he owned 45% of TAP Air Portugal. In 2017 he became a citizen of Cyprus.

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...

Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a search team looking for the remains of the British climber who was last seen in 1924.

Jakob Pöltl is an Austrian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes.

George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and 3rd secretary of housing and urban development from 1969 to 1973. He was the father of Mitt Romney, who served as...

Eric Steven Weddle is an American former professional football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning consensus All-American honors, and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft. During his nine seasons with the Chargers, Weddle received three...

Andrew Michael Bogut is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Russell Marion Nelson Sr. was an American religious leader and surgeon who was the seventeenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 2018 until his death in 2025. Before becoming church president, Nelson was a member of its Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for nearly thirty-four years and was the quorum president from 2015...

Stevonne Latrall Smith Sr., better known as Steve Smith, is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers. He played college football for the Utah Utes and was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2001 NFL draft. Smith spent 13 seasons...

Alexander Douglas Smith is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Smith played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American honors and winning MW Offensive Player of the Year in 2004. He was selected first overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL draft.

Kyle Alexander Kuzma is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and was named first-team all-conference in the Pac-12 as a junior in 2016–17. Kuzma was selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft with the 27th overall pick, and he was...

Maggie May Baird is an American actress, activist, and singer-songwriter. She grew up in Colorado performing music, and studied theater and dance at the University of Utah, before moving to New York City, where she performed on Broadway. She made her television debut in 1981 in the soap opera Another World and her film debut in the 1989 feature An...

Matthew Wadsworth Davis is an American actor. He is mostly known for his roles as Warner Huntington III in Legally Blonde, Adam Hillman on the ABC comedy-drama What About Brian (2006–2007) and Alaric Saltzman on The CW fantasy drama The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017) as well as the spin-off series Legacies (2018–2022).

Reed Smoot was an American politician, businessman, and apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A Republican who was first elected to the U.S. Senate by the Utah State Legislature in 1902, he served from 1903 to 1933. Smoot is primarily remembered as the co-sponsor of the 1930 Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which increased almost 900...

George Albert Smith Sr. was an American religious leader who served as the eighth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Norman Yew Heen Chow is an American football coach and former player who is an offensive analyst for the Vienna Vikings of the European League of Football (ELF). He was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a position he held from December 2011 until November 2015 and previously held the offensive coordinator position for the...

Ryan Gary Raddon, better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, singer, songwriter, music producer and remixer. DJ Times voted Kaskade as "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. DJ Mag named Kaskade fifty-first on its 2009 list of Top 100 DJs.

Thomas Spencer Monson was an American religious leader, author, and the 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). As president, he was considered by adherents of the religion to be a prophet, seer, and revelator. Monson's early career was as a manager at the Deseret News, a Utah newspaper owned by the LDS Church....

Stephen Richards Covey was an American educator, author, businessman, and speaker. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. His other books include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit, and The Leader In Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at...

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. As of 2024, he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which...

Nolan Kay Bushnell is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc., and the Chuck E. Cheese chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame, received the BAFTA Fellowship and the Nations Restaurant News "Innovator of the Year" award and was named one of Newsweek's "50...

Moroni Olsen was an American actor.

John Willard Marriott Sr. was an American entrepreneur and businessman. He was the founder of the Marriott Corporation (which became Marriott International in 1993), the parent company of the world's largest hospitality, hotel chains, and food services companies. The Marriott company rose from a small root beer stand in Washington, D.C., in 1927 to a chain of family restaurants by...

Claybourne Elder is an American actor, singer, and writer who is best known for his work on television and on Broadway.

Joshua Ray Burkman is a retired American professional mixed martial artist formerly competing in the Welterweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the World Series of Fighting, the XFC, and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2.

Karl Christian Rove is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 31, 2007. He has also headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. Rove was one...

Brian Norton Baird is an American psychologist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative for Washington's 3rd congressional district from 1999 to 2011.

Pierre Lassonde OC GOQ is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.

Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as the 16th governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. Huntsman is a member of the Republican Party. Huntsman has served three times as an ambassador of the United States: 1992-1993 as ambassador to Singapore, 2009-2011 as ambassador to China, and 2017-2019 as ambassador to Russia.