- List of University of Nebraska–Lincoln people
This page lists notable alumni and faculty of the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln .Alumni
Nobel laureates
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George Wells Beadle (1926, MS 1927) -Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( 1958) for the "discovery thatgene s act by regulating definite chemical events"; served on the faculty of theCalifornia Institute of Technology ,Harvard , and Stanford University; president of theUniversity of Chicago .
*Alan Heeger (BS 1956, honorary doctorate 1999) -Nobel Prize for Chemistry (2000 ) for the "discovery and development ofconductive polymers ."
*Donald Cram (1942) - Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1987) for the "development and use ofmolecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity."Pulitzer Prize
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Karen Blessen (1973) - first graphic artist to win a Pulitzer Prize (in explanatory journalism) for a 1989 a special section, created with two colleagues, for the "Dallas Morning News " called "Anatomy of An Air Crash"
*Willa Cather (1895) -Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for her wartime novel, "One of Ours "
*Marjie Lundstrom (1978) - Pulitzer Prize in 1991 as a national reporter for theGannett News service, for which she wrote a series on child-abuse deaths.
*Harvey Newbranch (1896) - Pulitzer Prize for a 1919 editorial condemning the lynching of aAfrican American man by a racist mob; editor of the "Omaha World-Herald " for 56 years
*James Risser (1959) - Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for exposing corruption in the U.S. grain exporting industry and another Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for a series of articles showing the destructive impact of modern agriculture on the environment (both asWashington D.C. bureau chief for the "Des Moines Register ")
*John J. Pershing (JD 1893) - 1932 Pulitzer Prize in history for his memoir; the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in theUnited States Army —General of the Armies (George Washington was granted this posthumously); led theAmerican Expeditionary Force inWorld War I and was regarded as a mentor by the generation of American generals who led the United States Army in Europe during World War II, includingGeorge C. Marshall ,Dwight D. Eisenhower ,Omar Bradley andGeorge S. Patton .Academia
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Edith Abbott (1901) - first woman dean of a graduate school in an American university and the dean of the first school of social work in the nation; led theUniversity of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and probed the problems of women in industry, child labor, police brutality and immigration legislation.
*Hartley Burr Alexander (1897) - professor of philosophy at the University of Nebraska; conducted the first study of ritual, symbolism and philosophy of the native peoples of the Americas between 1908 and 1929; wrote symbolism and inscriptions in theNebraska State Capitol
*Alvin Johnson (1897, MA 1898) - economist and educator, faculty member of the University of Nebraska from 1906-08; charter editor of "New Republic " magazine; in 1919, founded the New School for Social Research in New York City, a school dedicated to researching immediate social problems; in the late 1930s he led a movement to bring European artists and academics to the United States to escape theNazis , and developed a "University in Exile."
*Gene Budig (1962, MA 1963, EdD 1967) - former commissioner ofMajor League Baseball 'sAmerican League ; served 13 years as chancellor of theUniversity of Kansas (1980-1994); president ofWest Virginia University (1977-1980); president ofIllinois State University (1973-1977); faculty member and administrator of the University of Nebraska
*Harold 'Doc' Edgerton (1925) - member of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology faculty for 50 years, pioneer in high-speed photographic and stroboscopic techniques and his contributions to underwater exploration through design of watertight cameras; took the first photographs of theatomic bomb .
*Roscoe Pound (1888, MA 1889, PhD 1897) - faculty member of University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1892 to 1903; dean of theHarvard Law School ; devised the "theory of social interests" which influenced severalNew Deal programs.Art and entertainment
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Johnny Carson (1949) - host of the "Tonight Show " for more than 30 years (1958, 1962-1992); winner of 7Emmy Awards ; recipient of thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1992; recipient of the theKennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
*Aaron Douglas (1922) - "the father of African-American art" and leader of theHarlem Renaissance
*Barbara Hendricks (1969) - singer in opera, recital, jazz and popular music;Goodwill Ambassador for theUnited Nations High Commission for Refugees .
*Weldon Kees (1935) - poet, abstract expressionist painter,jazz pianist, composer, photographer and filmmaker; exhibited his works along with other abstract expressionists includingHans Hofmann andWillem de Kooning .Business
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Warren Buffett (1950) - billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in the world today (continuously listed amongForbes 400 starting in 1979); chairman of the board ofBerkshire Hathaway
*Vinod Gupta (MS 1969, MBA 1971) - founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of infoGROUP (previously known as infoUSA).
*Ted Hustead (1929) - businessman and pharmacist, known forWall Drug Government and public policy
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Grace Abbott (1906) - director of the Immigrants Protective League ofHull House in Chicago; chief of theUnited States Children's Bureau , where she administered the first federalchild labor law and theMaternity and Infancy Act ; early 20th centuryfeminist
*John R. Brown (1930) - federal judge who played a major role in desegregation cases that transformed the South from 1955 to 1979; wrote the 1962 order thatJames Meredith be enrolled in the all-whiteUniversity of Mississippi .
*Jesse Stearns Buscher (1929) - a member of theWhite House Press Corps for more than 40 years; first woman member of theVeterans of Foreign Wars ,
*Harry H. Culver (1901) - founder ofCulver City, California
*Maynard Nichols (1925) - captain in theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers , chief engineer and overseer of 125,000 Chinese farm workers for the construction (entirely by hand, without any heavy equipment) of anair base atKiunglai inChina , which Chinese Nationalist leaderChiang Kai-Shek described as the "largest construction job in China since theGreat Wall ."
*Debra Powell (1985) - became one of the nation's youngest mayors when she was elected to the post in her hometown ofEast St. Louis in April, 1999; fifth on the UNL all-time scoring list in basketball, once held the school scoring record;All-American in track.
*James Lee Rankin (1928, LLB 1930) -U.S. Solicitor General ; general counsel to theWarren Commission which investigated the assassination of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy ; argued the government's case for desegregation in "Brown v. Board of Education ".
*Theodore (Ted) Sorensen (1949, JD 1951) - special counsel and speechwriter to President John F. Kennedy; named as University of Nebraska-Lincon's Centennial Alumnus by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges
*Karlis A. Ulmanis (1909) - first prime minister of theRepublic of Latvia in 1918 and the last pre-World War II Latvian president in 1936; helped write the Latvian Declaration of Independence.Literature
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Mary Pipher (PhD 1977) - author, expert on culture and mental health; author of "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls", which was a best seller for over three years [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE3D7123EF932A35750C0A96E958260&scp=3&sq=Reviving%20Ophelia%20bestseller&st=cse|title=Q&A/Mary T. Alfinito; Early Treatment Can Aid a Troubled Child|author=Donna Greene|date=1998-03-01|publisher=New York Times ] ; author of the "New York Times " best seller [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02EEDD103DF936A25755C0A961958260|title=PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: June 15, 1997|publisher=New York Times |date=1997-06-15] "The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families to Enrich Our Lives"
*Mari Sandoz - a biographer, novelist, and historian whose work usually drew on the life of theGreat Plains . She became well known for non-fiction works such Old Jules (1935) and Crazy Horse (1942).
*Jim Thompson (attended 1929-1931) - wrote 29 books between 1942 and 1973, including books adapted to film such as "The Getaway " (produced twice) and "The Grifters "
*Lowry C. Wimberly (1916, MA 1920, PhD 1925) - founder and first editor of the university's literary journal, "Prairie Schooner ", his students (known as "Wimberly's boys") included writer/naturalistLoren Eiseley , novelistMari Sandoz , folkloristBen Botkin and poet/artistWeldon Kees .cience and technology
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Bion Joseph Arnold (1897) - "Father of the third rail"; inventor of the plan for electrification of New York'sGrand Central Terminal; winner of theWashington Award in 1929.
*Henry M. Beachell (1930) - rice breeder; developed IR8, a rice breed credited with improving the diets of billions of people at the International Rice Research Institute inLos Banos, Philippines ; he was co-winner of the 1996World Food Prize for contributions to the "Green Revolution "; awarded the 1987Japan Prize of the Science and Technology Foundation of Japan.
*Frederic Clements (1894, MA 1896, PhD 1898) - ecologist of the first half of the 20th century; with his wife, Edith Schwartz Clements (1898, PhD 1906)m collaborated on numerous scientific books.
*Gladys Rowena Henry Dick (1900)- microbiologist and physician; co-discoverer of theantitoxin forscarlet fever ; founder of the first professional organization for the adoption of children in the United States.
*Loren Eiseley (1933)- literarynaturalist
*Gene V Glass (1962) - Statistician; social scientist. Originator of the statistical techniqueMeta-analysis .
*Donald Othmer (1928) - inventor with over 150 U.S. and foreign patents; namesake of the laboratory device known as the "Othmer Still " used to make precise determinations of vapor-liquid equilibrium data; co-editor of the "Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology".
*Joseph McVicker Hunt (1929, MA 1930) - developmental psychologist; author of the 1961 landmark argument against the concept of fixed intelligence; instrumental in launching theHead Start program.
*Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1906) - first woman to scientifically research and challenge the "armchair dogmas" which alleged the inferiority of women; established the first school for "fast learners" - Speyer School in New York City; wrote the first major text on adolescent psychology and educating the gifted.
*A.A. Luebs (1915) - pioneered the field of air conditioning and is known for developing the procedure used for measuring winter temperatures that meteorologists call "degree day s".
*William A. Mueller (1922) - produced the sound technology for early motion pictures, and helped pioneer the first talking picture, "The Jazz Singer "
*Charles Purcell (1906) - civil engineer; an early pioneer of theinterstate highway system; chief designer and engineer of theSan Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge .
*Gerry Thomas (1948) - invented the three-compartment aluminum tray first marketed by his Omaha employer, C.A. Swanson & Sons, in 1954 as theTV dinner .ports
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Berlin Guy Chamberlin (1916) - won four championships as an NFL head coach; inducted into theProfessional Football Hall of Fame in 1965.
*George Flippin (1895) - the first black student athlete at Nebraska and one of only five in the United States at the time; also filed Nebraska's first civil rights lawsuit - against a York café where he was refused service.
*Louise Pound (1892, MA 1895) - first woman elected to the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame; in 1955 she became the first woman president of theModern Language Association ; sister ofRoscoe Pound .
* Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (2006) - winner of the bronze medal for Women's 100m Hurdles in the Beijing Olympics in 2008; she became the first Canadian to win a medal in 12 years.Faculty
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Charles Bessey - botanist; namesake of theBessey system
*Rachel A. Lloyd - first woman in the world to become a chemistry professor, hired as the second chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska in 1887; first woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry (University of Zurich, 1886), and the first woman to publish a research article in Organic Chemistry; with Hudson Nicholson, chair and only member of the chemistry faculty when it was founded in 1882, she carried out the first research program in chemistry west of the Mississippi.
*Karl Shapiro - Pulitizer Prize-winning poet; served as poet laureate at theLibrary of Congress ; taught in the English Department at the university from 1956 to 1966; served as editor of the "Prairie Schooner ".References
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