43 Notable alumni of Wittenberg University
Updated: June 13, 2026 EliteDegrees
Wittenberg University is ranked #2,507 in the world and #651 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 43 notable alumni from Wittenberg 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 Wittenberg University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Augustus N. Summers
1856-1927 (aged 71)
lawyer
judge
Augustus Neander Summers was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was on the Ohio Supreme Court 1904–1911.
2. Minnie Willis Baines
1845-1923 (aged 78)
writer
suffragist
Minnie Willis Baines was an American author. She favored temperance, morality, religion, and women's suffrage, writing innumerable short stories and poems in magazines and papers from the age of fourteen. Her most notable works were The Silent Land; His Cousin, The Doctor; The Pilgrim's Vision; and Mrs. Cherry's Sister. Baines-Miller died in 1923.
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3. Turner M. Marquett
1831-1894 (aged 63)
lawyer
politician
Turner Mastin Marquett was a Nebraska Republican politician best known for being the first House representative for the state.
4. Jay Alan Liotta
1959-. (aged 67)
civil servant
Jay Alan Liotta is an American senior official in the Department of Defense, in its Office of Detainee Policy.
5. James Granville Johnson
1855-1936 (aged 81)
lawyer
judge
James Granville Johnson Jr. was a Democratic lawyer who was Mayor of Springfield, Ohio, and a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
6. Martin L. Smyser
1851-1908 (aged 57)
lawyer
judge
politician
Martin Luther Smyser was an American lawyer and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio.
7. Jacob D. Leighty
1839-1912 (aged 73)
politician
Jacob D. Leighty was a U.S. representative from Indiana. He had previously served with the Union Army during the American Civil War.
8. Fernando C. Layton
1847-1926 (aged 79)
lawyer
judge
politician
Fernando Coello Layton was an American lawyer and politician who served three terms as a U.S. representative from Ohio for three terms from 1891 to 1897.
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9. Walter L. Weaver
1851-1909 (aged 58)
lawyer
judge
politician
Walter Lowrie Weaver was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1897 to 1901.
10. George W. Cromer
1856-1936 (aged 80)
lawyer
politician
George Washington Cromer was an American lawyer and politician who had four terms as a U.S. representative from Indiana from 1899 to 1907.
11. Peter Stenger Grosscup
1852-1921 (aged 69)
lawyer
judge
Peter Stenger Grosscup was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Seventh Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Grosscup is best remembered for having made use of the...
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12. Francis Seiberling
1870-1945 (aged 75)
lawyer
politician
Francis Seiberling was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1929 to 1933. He was a cousin of John F. Seiberling.
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13. Benjamin Kurtz
1795-1865 (aged 70)
editor
pastor
Benjamin Kurtz was a German-American Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was part of the revivalist movement of the Lutheran Church in the 19th century, ran the Lutheran faith-based newspaper Lutheran Observer, founded the Lutheran faith-based Missionary Institute (Susquehanna University) in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and assisted in the founding of the Gettysburg Seminary.
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14. ZeBarney Thorne Phillips
1875-1942 (aged 67)
priest
ZeBarney Thorne Phillips was an Episcopal clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate (1927–1942).
15. Gregory L. Frost
1949-. (aged 77)
lawyer
judge
Gregory Lynn Frost is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
16. George P. Larrick
1901-1968 (aged 67)
George P. Larrick was Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 1954–1965.
17. Robert J. Cindrich
1943-. (aged 83)
lawyer
judge
Robert James Cindrich is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and a former federal judicial nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
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18. James G. Polk
1896-1959 (aged 63)
assistant
school superintendent
head teacher
politician
James Gould Polk was a prominent U.S. politician of the Democratic Party during the middle of the 20th century.
19. Luther Alexander Gotwald
1833-1900 (aged 67)
Luther Alexander Gotwald, D.D. was a professor of theology in the Wittenberg Theological Seminary in the United States. He was tried for heresy by the board of directors at Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, on April 4 and 5, 1893, which put on trial many key issues that Lutherans still debate today.
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20. Bob Bescher
1884-1942 (aged 58)
baseball player
Robert Henry Bescher was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 11 seasons in the major leagues. Born in London, Ohio, he played his best seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, and was one of the National League's best base stealers during his time.
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21. David Ward King
1857-1920 (aged 63)
inventor
David Ward King was an American farmer and inventor of the King road drag. His invention, which was the horse-drawn forerunner of the modern road grader, influenced American life by improving the widespread dirt roads of his day to the extent that they could accommodate the advent of the automobile, rural mail delivery and mail order catalogues.
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22. Michael Dourson
toxicologist
Michael L. Dourson is an American toxicologist and Director of Science at the nonprofit organization, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment. He was formerly a senior advisor to the Administrator of EPA, and prior to that, a professor at the Risk Science Center at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati, he was founder...
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23. Adam Willis Wagnalls
1843-1924 (aged 81)
publisher
Adam Willis Wagnalls was an American publisher. He was the co-founder of the Funk & Wagnalls Company in 1877.
24. Samuel McChord Crothers
1857-1927 (aged 70)
Christian minister
essayist
writer
Samuel McChord Crothers was an American Unitarian minister with The First Parish in Cambridge. He was a popular essayist.
25. Sandra Postel
1956-. (aged 70)
earth scientist
Sandra Postel is the founding director of the Global Water Policy Project. She is a world expert on fresh water and related ecosystems. From 2009-2015, she served as Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society. She is the author of scores of articles and several books on global freshwater issues, including Last Oasis, which appears in eight languages, and most...
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26. Elwood V. Jensen
1920-2012 (aged 92)
university teacher
chemist
biologist
Elwood Vernon Jensen was the Distinguished University Professor, George and Elizabeth Wile Chair in Cancer Research at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. In 2004 he received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his research on estrogen receptors. He is considered the father of the field of hormone action.
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27. Benjamin Thurman Hacker
1935-2003 (aged 68)
military officer
Rear Admiral Benjamin Thurman Hacker was a U.S. Naval officer, who became the first Naval Flight Officer (NFO) to achieve Flag rank.
28. Beth McCann
1949-. (aged 77)
lawyer
politician
Beth McCann is an American politician who served as Denver District Attorney from 2017 to 2025. She was the first woman to hold the office. A Democrat, McCann beat her opponent, independent Helen Morgan, winning 74% of the vote in the November, 2016 general election. Before serving as Denver's DA, McCann served from 2008 to 2017 as a Colorado State...
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29. Peter Tomsen
1940-. (aged 86)
diplomat
Peter Tomsen is an American retired diplomat and educator, serving as U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, United States Ambassador to Armenia between 1995 and 1998, and was Deputy Ambassador at the United States Embassy in Beijing from 1986 to 1989. Tomsen’s thirty-two year diplomatic career emphasized South and Central Asia, Northeast Asia and the former Soviet...
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30. Isaac K. Funk
1839-1912 (aged 73)
theologian
publisher
lexicographer
Isaac Kaufmann Funk was an American Lutheran minister, editor, lexicographer, publisher, and spelling reformer. He was the co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company, the father of author Wilfred J. Funk (who founded his own publishing company, Wilfred Funk, Inc., and wrote the Word Power feature in Reader's Digest from 1945 to 1962), and the grandfather of author Peter Funk, who...
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31. Brian Agler
1958-. (aged 68)
basketball player
basketball coach
Brian Agler is an American college athletics administrator and former women's basketball coach. He is the athletic director at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, a position he has held since 2021. Agler served as head coach of the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 2019 to 2020. He had previously been head coach of the Seattle...
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32. Sheila Simon
1961-. (aged 65)
lawyer
politician
Sheila J. Simon is an American politician who served as the 46th lieutenant governor of Illinois, from 2011 to 2015. In 2014, she was the Democratic nominee for Illinois State Comptroller, losing to Republican incumbent Judy Baar Topinka. Simon is the daughter of former U.S. Senator Paul Simon, who had previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (1969–1973), and his...
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33. Pierre Lhomme
1930-2019 (aged 89)
screenwriter
cinematographer
director
photographer
Pierre Lhomme was a French cinematographer and filmmaker.
34. Jennette Bradley
1952-. (aged 74)
politician
Jennette B. Bradley is an American politician of the Republican party and served as the 62nd lieutenant governor of Ohio from 2003 to 2005 and Ohio State Treasurer from 2005 to 2007. Bradley was the first African American woman elected to statewide office in Ohio.
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35. John Chowning
1934-. (aged 92)
computer scientist
physicist
university teacher
composer
John M. Chowning is an American composer, musician, discoverer, and professor best known for his work at Stanford University, the founding of CCRMA – Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in 1975 and his development of the digital implementation of FM synthesis and the digital sound spatialization while there.
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36. Margo Smith
1942-2024 (aged 82)
singer
songwriter
Margo Smith was an American country and Christian music singer–songwriter. She had several years of country success during the 1970s, which included two number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In the 1990s, she transitioned towards the Christian market and released two successful albums. She is also known for her yodeling vocal skills and is often referred...
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37. Ron Lancaster
1938-2008 (aged 70)
sports commentator
American football player
Canadian football player
Ronald Lancaster was an American-Canadian professional football player and coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 16 seasons, he led the team to its first Grey Cup championship in 1966 and is the franchise's all-time leader in passing yards, attempts, completions, touchdowns, and interceptions. At the time of his retirement, he...
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38. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
1978-. (aged 48)
screenwriter
television producer
Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich is an American television producer and screenwriter. She is the show runner for The Witcher.
39. John E. McLaughlin
1942-. (aged 84)
spy
intelligence officer
John Edward McLaughlin is a retired American intelligence official who was Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and briefly acting Director of Central Intelligence.
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40. Marietje Schaake
1978-. (aged 48)
executive
politician
Maria Renske "Marietje" Schaake is a Dutch politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands between 2009 and 2019. She is a member of Democrats 66, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
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41. Sherwood Anderson
1876-1941 (aged 65)
novelist
short story writer
writer
journalist
poet
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and Elyria, Ohio. In 1912, Anderson had a nervous breakdown that led him to abandon his business and family to become a writer.
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42. James Rebhorn
1948-2014 (aged 66)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
James Robert Rebhorn was an American character actor. Rebhorn appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays.
43. Albert Bryan Jr
1968-. (aged 58)
politician
Albert Bryan Jr. is an American politician and former businessman, serving since 2019 as the ninth governor of the United States Virgin Islands. His tenure has been marked by significant scrutiny over his administration's handling of litigation involving Jeffrey Epstein, including the termination of three successive Attorneys General during the height of related federal proceedings.
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