44 Notable alumni of Western Washington University
Updated: June 12, 2026 EliteDegrees
Western Washington University is ranked #982 in the world and #259 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 44 notable alumni from Western Washington University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Western Washington University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Karen Osborn
1974-. (aged 52)
marine biologist
annelidologist
scientific collector
curator
Karen Joyce Osborn is a marine scientist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Invertebrate Zoology department. She is known for her work in marine biology specializing in mid-water invertebrates.
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2. Don Eldridge
1919-2007 (aged 88)
politician
Don Delos Eldridge was an American politician.
3. Eugene Laughlin
1938-. (aged 88)
politician
Eugene L. "Gene" Laughlin is an American former politician in the state of Washington. He was in the Washington House of Representatives from 1973 to 1977, from the 17th district, which included Klickitat County, Skamania County, and part of Clark County.
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4. Daniel P. Beard
1943-. (aged 83)
writer
politician
Daniel P. Beard served as the Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, and as the fourth Chief Administrative Officer of the United States House of Representatives.
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5. Scott White
1970-2011 (aged 41)
politician
Scott Benton White was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Washington State Senate representing the 46th legislative district. His district included much of North Seattle, including the neighborhoods of Northgate, Greenwood, Bitter Lake, Broadview, Haller Lake, Pinehurst, Olympic Hills, Maple Leaf, Lake City, Wedgwood, View Ridge, Laurelhurst, and Windermere.
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6. Jason Moss
1969-. (aged 57)
musician
guitarist
Jason David Moss is an American musician, known for his work as the lead guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he was a member from 1992 to 2010, and 2024 to the present.
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7. Ben Dragavon
1983-. (aged 43)
association football player
association football coach
Ben Dragavon is an American former soccer player who is currently an assistant coach for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League.
8. Charles H. Leavy
1884-1952 (aged 68)
lawyer
judge
politician
Charles Henry Leavy was a United States representative from Washington and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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9. Omar Torrez
guitarist
Omar Torrez is an American guitarist from Los Angeles, California. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Torrez first received national attention as finalist in the National Jimi Hendrix Guitar Competition at the Bumbershoot Festival. He studied classical guitar at Western Washington University. He studied Flamenco guitar under Juan Serrano and studied with Miroslav Tadic for his MFA. He is a...
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10. Stephan Aarstol
1972-. (aged 54)
writer
Stephan Aarstol is an American internet entrepreneur and author of the book The Five Hour Workday.
11. Norm Bright
1910-1996 (aged 86)
athletics competitor
teacher
psychologist
Norman Bright was an American runner, mountaineer, and teacher. Bright once held the American record in the two-mile run.
12. Gary Hallgren
1945-. (aged 81)
comics artist
cartoonist
Gary Hallgren is an American illustrator and underground cartoonist. Illustrations by Hallgren have been "commissioned by publications such as The New York Times, Men's Health, The Wall Street Journal, Mad, and Entertainment Weekly, among others."
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13. Steven Hill
1958-. (aged 68)
political scientist
Steven John Hill is an American writer, columnist and political reformer. He has authored several books on American politics and political reform, as well as a book on the European political economy (Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age). Hill led the campaign to pass instant runoff voting in San Francisco in 2002,...
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14. Cheryl Chow
1946-2013 (aged 67)
teacher
politician
Cheryl Chow was an American educator and politician. She was a Seattle City Council member from 1990 to 1997.
15. Ralph Munro
1943-2025 (aged 82)
politician
Ralph Davies Munro was an American Republican politician who served as the 13th Secretary of State of Washington. First elected in 1980, he served five terms.
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16. Calvin McCarty
1984-. (aged 42)
Canadian football player
American football player
Calvin McCarty is an American former professional football fullback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played as a tailback until 2014, when he became the starting fullback for the Edmonton Eskimos. McCarty was known for being able to fill many roles at his position, with TSN sportscaster Chris Schultz noting in 2010 that he is a "multi-purpose...
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17. Brett Mitchell
1979-. (aged 47)
conductor
Brett Mitchell is an American conductor, composer, and pianist. He is currently Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony and Artistic Director & Conductor of the Sunriver Music Festival.
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18. Linda J. Bird
1951-. (aged 75)
military officer
Rear Admiral Linda Jeanne Bird, SC, USN, was the first woman in the United States Navy Supply Corps promoted to flag rank.
19. Debora Juarez
politician
Debora Juarez is an American lawyer and politician who served as the president of the Seattle City Council. She was first elected in 2015 to represent the 5th district. A member of the Blackfeet Nation, she was the first Native American person elected to the council.
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20. Art Chantry
1954-. (aged 72)
graphic designer
designer
Arthur Samuel Wilbur Chantry II is an American graphic designer. He is most known for posters and album cover designs for bands from the Pacific Northwest, such as Mudhoney, Mono Men, Soundgarden, and The Sonics.
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21. James E. Johnson
1926-1953 (aged 27)
military personnel
James Edmund Johnson was a United States Marine and a posthumous recipient of the United States' highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic lone fight on December 2, 1950, to cover the withdrawal of his platoon during the bitter Battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea. When last seen by his comrades Johnson was wounded, but still engaging the...
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22. Garrett Madison
1978-. (aged 48)
mountaineer
Garrett Madison is an American mountaineer and expedition leader. Madison began guiding professionally in 1999 on Mount Rainier and has climbed Mount Everest 15 times. His company, Madison Mountaineering, specializes in climbs on Mount Everest and other high altitude peaks, operates on the highest peaks on all seven continents, and also provides training programs and summit climbs in Washington State.
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23. Terrence Deacon
1950-. (aged 76)
university teacher
philosopher
anthropologist
linguist
neuroscientist
Terrence William Deacon is an American neuroanthropologist (Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology, Harvard University 1984). He taught at Harvard for eight years, relocated to Boston University in 1992, and is currently Professor of Anthropology and member of the Cognitive Science Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.
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24. Penelope Houston
1958-. (aged 68)
composer
singer-songwriter
singer
musician
Penelope Houston is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based punk rock band the Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington. In 1977, Houston moved to San Francisco, attended the San Francisco Art Institute, and shortly after became the lead singer and songwriter for the Avengers....
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25. Douglas Massey
1952-. (aged 74)
university teacher
sociologist
Douglas Steven Massey is an American sociologist. Massey is currently a professor of sociology at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and is an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
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26. Julie Larson-Green
1962-. (aged 64)
computer scientist
Julie Larson-Green is the former chief experience officer (CXO) of the Office Experience Organization at Microsoft, where she worked 1993 through 2017. She subsequently joined Qualtrics as their CXO.
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27. Byron Mallott
1943-2020 (aged 77)
businessperson
politician
Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician, elder, tribal activist, and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash Ké Kwaan clan. He was the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16, 2018. He also previously served as the...
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28. Breezy Johnson
1996-. (aged 30)
alpine skier
Breezy Noble Johnson is an American World Cup alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team. She competes in the speed events of downhill and super-G. A two-time Olympian, she won a gold medal at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
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29. Michael Farris
1951-. (aged 75)
lawyer
Michael P. Farris is an American lawyer. He is a founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and Patrick Henry College, which share a campus in Purcellville, Virginia. From 2017 through 2022, he was CEO of and general counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom.
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30. Daulton Hommes
1996-. (aged 30)
basketball player
Daulton Hommes is an American professional basketball player for Paris Basketball of the LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. After graduating high school, he played college basketball for Point Loma Nazarene University, where he was named the NABC Division II National Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season.
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31. Dan Erickson
1984-. (aged 42)
screenwriter
Daniel Earling Erickson is an American television screenwriter, showrunner, and producer. He is best known for creating the psychological thriller television series Severance, which premiered on the Apple TV+ streaming service in February 2022.
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32. Elizabeth Peratrovich
1911-1958 (aged 47)
civil rights advocate
Elizabeth Peratrovich was an American civil rights activist, Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, and a Tlingit who worked for equality on behalf of Alaska Natives. In the 1940s, her advocacy was credited as being instrumental in the passing of Alaska's Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, the first state or territorial anti-discrimination law enacted in the United States.
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33. Barrett Martin
1967-. (aged 59)
drummer
jazz musician
Barrett Harrington Martin is an American drummer and record producer from Washington. He is perhaps best known for his work with the alternative rock bands Screaming Trees and Mad Season. He was also a member of Skin Yard, Tuatara, and Walking Papers, and has performed as a session musician for many artists in a variety of genres. As a producer,...
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34. Laurence J. Peter
1919-1990 (aged 71)
university teacher
pedagogue
psychologist
Laurence Johnston Peter was a Canadian educator and "hierarchiologist" who is best known to the general public for the formulation of the Peter principle.
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35. Chris Walla
1975-. (aged 51)
composer
DJ producer
record producer
guitarist
singer
Christopher Ryan Walla is an American musician, record producer, and film music composer, best known for being a former guitarist and songwriter for the band Death Cab for Cutie.
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36. Mike Duncan
1951-. (aged 75)
banker
lobbyist
politician
Michael William Duncan is an American political history podcaster and author. After not finding any Roman history podcasts in 2007, Duncan began The History of Rome, a narrative podcast chronicling events from the founding of Rome until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The podcast concluded in 2012. A year later he began Revolutions, which ran for ten seasons...
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37. Agnes Martin
1912-2004 (aged 92)
painter
draftsperson
printmaker
Agnes Bernice Martin RCA was a Canadian-American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Saskatchewan, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education and became a U.S. citizen in 1950. Martin's artistic journey began in New York City, where she immersed herself in modern art and developed a deep interest...
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38. Ben Gibbard
1976-. (aged 50)
singer
guitarist
singer-songwriter
composer
film actor
Benjamin Gibbard is an American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a member of the indie pop supergroup The Postal Service. Gibbard released his debut solo album, Former Lives (2012), and a collaborative studio album, One...
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39. Hiro Yamamoto
1961-. (aged 65)
musician
Hiro D. Yamamoto is an American bassist who was a founding member of grunge band Soundgarden, along with Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell, in 1984. He left the band in 1989; two years later, Yamamoto started the independent rock band Truly together with Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel and Robert Roth from The Storybook Krooks. In 2016, Yamamoto co-founded the...
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40. Wendy J. Fox
1979-. (aged 47)
writer
Wendy J. Fox is an American author born in Washington. She is most known as a writer of fiction and has thrice been a finalist for the Colorado Book Awards. In 2015, she was nominated for her collection "The Seven Stages of Anger and Other Stories" and in 2020, she was a finalist in literary fiction for "If the Ice...
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41. Bruce Barnum
1964-. (aged 62)
head coach
Bruce Eugene Barnum is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Portland State University from 2015 until 2025.
42. Carrie Brownstein
1974-. (aged 52)
film director
writer
screenwriter
actor
film actor
Carrie Rachel Brownstein is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney.
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43. Randy Tate
1952-2021 (aged 69)
baseball player
Randall John "Randy" Tate is an American politician and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Washington.
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44. Larry Nickel
1952-. (aged 74)
composer
Larry Nickel is a Canadian composer, conductor, music publisher and singer who devotes much of his focus to choral music. He is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre. He has composed for a wide spectrum of genres; electronic and computer music, string quartet, woodwind and brass quintet, symphony orchestra, symphonic wind ensemble and choral ensembles, including both secular...
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