List of Washburn University alumni
These are some of the more notable alumni of Washburn University
Arts and Entertainment
Business
- Nicholas J. Avey (bba '05; mba '06) - Vice President (2007 to Current) - U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management
- Greg Brenneman (bba '84; d comm '99) - Chief executive officer of Quiznos, Former chief executive officer of Burger King Corporation; former chief operating officer of Continental Airlines.
- Ken Calwell - Chief marketing officer of Wendy's International, former executive vice president for Domino's Pizza
- Richard K. Davidson (ba '66; d comm '94) - Chairman, Union Pacific Railroad formerly chief executive officer.
- Rich Davis - Founder of Kansas City Masterpiece ; former dean, North Dakota School of Medicine
- Ned N. Fleming - Chairman and CEO of Fleming Foods, once the largest supplier of packaged goods in the U.S.
- Brad Frederick - Vice President and CFO (2007 to Current) LeadingAge Kansas, Topeka, Kansas
- Lloyd L. Hughes - President and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospital (1973–1985)
- John F. Kilmartin, Jr. - Former chairman and CEO of Mervyns
- William P. McComas - Chairman and CEO (1998–2004), Full House Resorts (Amex: FFL) - Developer of hotels, resorts and casinos
- Ronald K. Richey - President and CEO (1985–1998) of the Torchmark Corporation
Journalism & Media
- David C. Breeder - Washington editor of the Omaha World Herald (1985-1997)
- Arthur J. Carruth, Jr - Co-owner and editor of the Topeka State Journal, chairman of the Washburn Board of Regents, Carruth Hall on Washburn's campus was named in his honor
Sports
- Joe Hastings - Professional Football Player, NFL, San Francisco 49ers (2011-)
- Ernest Bearg - WU football coach (1918–19, 1929–35), Nebraska football coach (1925–28), Nebraska football Hall of Fame (1988), Washburn Athletics Hall of Fame (1973–74)
- Kurt Budke - WU basketball and graduate assistant, head coach for Louisiana Tech (2002-2005) and Oklahoma State (2005-2011) women's programs
- Cassidy Doneff - professional football player, Canadian football league
- Morley Fraser - Coach, Albion College (1954-1968), led the school to 11 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships
- Trey Lewis - WU football, now playing in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons.
- Davey Lopes - (bed '69) - Former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. 16 year major league baseball career.
- Mike Racy - Vice president, National Collegiate Athletic Association, head of Division II athletics
- Jerry Schemmel (ba '82, jd '85) - Radio voice of the Denver Nuggets.
- Ed Schneider
- Troy Stedman
- Damian L. Strohmeyer - Sports Illustrated photographer whose work has been featured on the cover of the magazine more than 50 times [1]
- Cary Williams - WU football, now playing in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.
- Gary Woodland - current professional golfer on the PGA Tour, (transferred after freshman season)
- Wesley Joy - WU baseball player from 2007-2010. Last man in Washburn baseball history to hit .400 in a season hitting .401 his freshman season.
- Matt Ewald - WU golfer from 2005-2009. Was a three time All American during his career capped off by his senior season in which he was named to the All Nicklaus team which is compromised of the top 20 golfers in Division I, II, III, & NAIA. In his last tournament as an Ichabod, Matt had a hole in one on a 326 yard par 4.
Military service
- Colonel Harwood O. Benton - Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest military honor, for heroism during World War I; served as military governor of Pusan, South Korea from 1945–1948
- Brig Gen Arthur S. Champeny - Only man in U.S. history to receive the Distinguished Service Cross in three separate conflicts: World War I, World War II and Korea
- LTC William I. Davis - World War II fighter pilot and Ace
- Brigadier General Clarence T. "Curly" Edwinson - Flew 30 missions as a WWII fighter pilot; Commander, 42nd Air Division, U.S. Air Force; All conference halfback at Washburn
- Richard C. Glenn - Left Washburn in 1937 to attend the Naval Academy, survived the attack on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor; lost at sea in 1942
- Robert L. "Bob" Richmond - B-26 Marauder co-pilot in World War II, POW at end of the war, later an entertainer and then executive in radio and with Pizza Hut
- Brigadier General Howard Searle - Assistant Division Commander, 35th Infantry Division
- Colonel Leroy W. Stutz - U.S. Air Force pilot, shot down on his 85th mission in Vietnam spending 2,284 days as a prisoner of war including time at the "Hanoi Hilton" (attended WU in 1960, transferred to Air Force Academy)
Science, Technology and Medicine
- Karl M. Bowman, MD - Former chief of psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital in New York; Former director of the Langley Porter Psychiatric Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco (1954–1964), Superintendent of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (1964–1967)
- Karl Menninger, MD - Psychiatrist and co-founder of the Menninger Clinic
- Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr. (bs '37) - (1915–74) 1971 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology and Medicine.
- Paul J. "Joe" Lovewell - Technology pioneer at Stanford Research Institute; recipient of an honorary doctorate of laws from Washburn Law School
Law
- Honorable Kenneth G. Gale -- Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the District of Kansas (2010-present)
- Honorable Eric F. Melgren -- District Judge, United States District Court for the District of Kansas (2008-present)
- Honorable J. Thomas Marten -- District Judge, United States District Court for the District of Kansas (1996-present)
- Honorable Sam A. Crow -- Senior Judge, United States District Court for the District of Kansas (1981-present)
- Justice Eric Rosen (jd '84) - Kansas Supreme Court Justice (2007-present)
- Justice Nancy Caplinger (jd '85) - Kansas Supreme Court Justice (2011-present)
- Justice Marla Luckert (jd '80) - Kansas Supreme Court Justice (2003-present)
- Justice Lee A. Johnson (jd '80) - Kansas Supreme Court Justice (2005-present)
- Judge Jules V. Doty, Jr. - Kansas district court judge (1983–1995), member of the Kansas Corporation Commission (1968–74), Candidate for Kansas Attorney General (1961)
- Judge David K. Fromme - Administrative law judge, Social Security Administration, Springfield, Missouri
- Wesley K. Griffin - Administrative law judge, Wyandotte County, Kansas
- Judge Charles Heilmann - Municipal court judge in El Dorado, Kansas for 40 years (1959–1989); served in the Navy during World War II, owned an insurance company and was a sociology professor at Wichita State University for 35 years
- Justice Harold S. Herd - Kansas Supreme Court (1979–1993), Kansas Senate Minority Leader (1969–1973), Mayor of Coldwater, Kansas (1950–1954), Served on the Kansas Supreme Court during the disbarment of Fred Phelps
- Judge William L. Huggins - Presiding judge of the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations; author of Kansas Industrial Act and the book Labor and Democracy (1922)
- Lee A. Johnson (jd '80) - Kansas Supreme Court Justice
- Judge John F. Kaster - Juvenile Court judge in Shawnee County, Kansas; served in both World War I and World War II rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel
- Captain Gale E. Krouse - Presiding judge on the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (1972–1974)
- Justice Tyler C. Lockett - Kansas Supreme Court (1983–2002); District court judge in Wichita (1977–1983); Judge, common pleas court (1971–1977)
- Judge Jan W. Luenberger - District Court Judge, Shawnee County, Kansas
- Judge James A. McClure - District Court Judge, Shawnee County, Kansas; member of the Topeka School Board (1929–1941); McClure Elementary in Topeka is named for him
- Kay McFarland (ba '57; jd '64) - First female chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.
- Paul J. Morrison (ba ; jd) - former Attorney General for the State of Kansas
- Judge Joseph W. Morris - Senior Partner, Gable & Gotwals (1984–Present); General counsel of Shell Oil (1978–1983); Chief Judge, Eastern District of Oklahoma (1974–1978); Dean, University of Tulsa College of Law (1972–1974)
- Fred Phelps (jd '62) - Disbarred civil rights attorney; Anti-American Anti-Canadian Anti-Military Anti-homosexual pastor of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka.
- Shirley Phelps-Roper (ba, jd) - Daughter of Fred Phelps, attorney and public spokesperson for the Anti-American Anti-Military Westboro Baptist Church.
- Judge James T. Pringle, Jr. - District Attorney of Cowley County; District Court Judge, Cowley County, Kansas
- Commissioner William N. Shepherd - Family court judge, Sacramento, California
- Gordon Sloan (JD 1935) - former judge on the Oregon Supreme Court
- Robert Stone (BA 1889) - founder of Washburn Law School in 1903, Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives (1915)
- Judge Raymond A. Trapp - District Court Judge, Kay County, Oklahoma
- Judge Ozell M. Trask - Appointed by President Nixon as a Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1969–1984)
Government and Politics
- Henry Justin Allen - 21st governor of the State of Kansas
- Robert A. Anderson - Kansas State Representative (1953–1960)
- Richard E. Buck - City Council, Placentia, California
- Charles L. Davis, Jr. - Kansas State Representative (1957–1958)
- Bob Dole (jd '52; lld '69) - former U.S. Senator from Kansas, Republican candidate for President (1996).
- Brian P. Duncan (ba'99; jd '05) - Served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Kansas.
- Grover L. Dunn - Four term Kansas State Representative from Arkansas City (1943–1949)
- John Edward Erickson (1890) - Governor of Montana
- Joan Finney (ba '82; dps '95) - (1925–2001) First female to serve as governor of Kansas (1991–95); Kansas State Treasurer, 1972-86.
- Art Fletcher (ba '50; dhl '90) - (1924–2005) Served as chairman of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, as director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and as executive director of the United Negro College Fund.
- Lawrence "Larry" L. Gish - Oklahoma State Representative (1983–1991)
- Georgia Neese Clark Gray (ba '21; dba '66) - (1900–95) First female Treasurer of the United States
- Lloyd W. Grothusen - Kansas State Representative (1969–1970)
- Denver David Hargis' U.S. Representatives from Kansas
- John F. Hayes, Kansas House of Representatives
- Ralph M. Hope - Kansas State Represenyative (1945–1946)
- Harold P. Lowe - Shawnee County Treasurer
- Michael G. Harper - Chief of staff to Senator Nancy Kassebaum; Senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Japan
- Lewis A. Hasty - Kansas State Representative (1921–1923)
- Donald R. Heath - U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia (1952), Vietnam (1952–1955), Lebanon (1955–1957) and Saudi Arabia (1958–1961)
- Harold S. Herd - Kansas State Senate (1965–1972), Senate Minority Leader; Mayor of Coldwater, Kansas (1950–1954)
- Ronald R. Hein - Kansas State Senator (1977–1984), Kansas State Representative (1975–1977)
- Richard C. Kline - Assistant Commissioner, Kansas Juvenile Authority; Deputy Secretary, Kansas Department of Corrections; Director, Shawnee County Department of Corrections (1983–1986); Deputy Director, Shawnee County Department of Corrections (1980–1983)
- Delano Lewis (jd '63; lld '00) - Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa and former president of National Public Radio.
- Charles D. McAtee - Director of Kansas penal institutions during the last executions held in Kansas; candidate for Congress and attorney general (Republican)
- John McCuish '25 - 34th Governor of the state of Kansas
- Dennis Moore (jd '70) - US House of Representatives from Overland Park.
- Paul J. Morrison - Kansas Attorney General (2007–08), District Attorney of Johnson County, Kansas (1990–2007)
- Howard B. Myers, PhD - Director, Division of Social Research, Works Progress Administration during FDR's New Deal
- Roger Noriega (ba '82) - Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
- Richard E. Pringle - Kansas Securities Commissioner
- Warren W. Shaw - Kansas State Representative (1951–1957); Candidate for Kansas Governor (1956); member of the Washburn Athletic Hall of Fame
- Jim Slattery - Kansas House of Representatives (1973–1979); U.S. Representative from 2nd District of Kansas (1983–95); Candidate for Kansas Governor (1994), Candidate for U.S. Senate (2008)
- Jeff Stone - Wisconsin State Assembly
- Robert Stone - Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives (1915), Member of the Kansas House of Representatives (1905–1917)
- Bob W. Storey - Chairman Washburn Board of Regents (2007–2009), Kansas State Senate (1968–1976)
- Vernon A. Stroberg - Kansas State Senate (1953–1960), Member of the Kansas Corporation Commission (1970–1974)
- Ron Thornburgh - Kansas Secretary of State (1995–present)
- Togiola Tulafono (JD 1975) - Governor of American Samoa, 2004–present
- Jason Ward - Tonganoxie City Council (2005–Present); president of the Council for two years
- Douglas S. Wright - Mayor of Topeka, Kansas (1983–89)
References