32 Notable alumni of
Pittsburg State University
Updated:
Pittsburg State University is 1653rd in the world, 586th in North America, and 552nd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 32 notable alumni from Pittsburg State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Gary Busey
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actorfilm producercomposervoice actor
- Biography
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Gary Busey is an American actor. He portrayed Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor. His other starring roles include A Star is Born (1976), D.C. Cab (1983), Silver Bullet (1985), Eye of the Tiger (1986), Lethal Weapon (1987), Hider in the House (1989), Predator 2 (1990), Point Break (1991), Under Siege (1992), The Firm (1993), Drop Zone (1994), Black Sheep (1996) and Lost Highway (1997).
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Sam Pittman
- Occupations
- player of American footballAmerican football coach
- Biography
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Sam Pittman is an American football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Arkansas. Prior to being hired at Arkansas, he was the associate head coach and offensive line coach at the University of Georgia. Prior to his hiring at Arkansas, Pittman spent almost his entire career, going back to the mid-1990s, as an offensive line coach at various college football programs. He also became known as one of the country's top recruiters.
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Dennis Franchione
- Occupations
- coach
- Biography
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Dennis Wayne Franchione, also known as Coach Fran, is a retired American football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school was known as Southwest Texas State University, and resumed from 2011 to 2015. Franchione has also served as the head football coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas (1981–1982), Pittsburg State University (1985–1989), the University of New Mexico (1992–1997), Texas Christian University (1998–2000), the University of Alabama (2001–2002), and Texas A&M University (2003–2007). In his 27 seasons as a head coach in college football, Franchione won eight conference championships and one divisional crown.
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Willie Fritz
- Years
- 1960-.. (age 64)
- Occupations
- head coach
- Biography
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Willie Fritz is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Houston. Fritz served as the head football coach at University of Central Missouri from 1997 to 2009, Sam Houston State University from 2010 to 2013, Georgia Southern University from 2014 to 2015, and Tulane University from 2016 to 2023. From 1993 to 1996, he was the head football coach at Blinn College, a junior college in Brenham, Texas, where he led his teams to consecutive NJCAA National Football Championships, in 1995 and 1996.
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Jennifer Knapp
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Jennifer Lynn Knapp is an American-Australian folk rock, and contemporary Christian musician. She is best known for her first single "Undo Me" from her debut album, Kansas (1998), and the song "A Little More" from her Grammy Award-nominated album, Lay It Down (2000). The Way I Am (2001), was also nominated for a Grammy. In total, the three albums have sold approximately 1 million copies. After taking a seven-year hiatus, Knapp announced in September 2009 that she was returning to music. On May 11, 2010, she released Letting Go with the single "Dive In". The album debuted at No. 73 on the Billboard 200 chart. Knapp's memoir Facing the Music (Howard Books / Simon & Schuster) and new album Set Me Free (Righteous Babe Records) came out in October 2014.
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Jake LaTurner
- Enrolled in Pittsburg State University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in political science
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jacob Andrew Joseph LaTurner is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, LaTurner was the 40th Kansas State Treasurer from 2017 to 2021 and a state senator from the 13th district from 2013 to 2017.
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Brian Moorman
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Brian Donald Moorman is an American former football punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Pittsburg State University, and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 1999 and played for the Buffalo Bills from 2001 to 2012, to which he returned after a one-year absence in 2013. He also played for the Dallas Cowboys in 2012. Moorman is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and was voted into the Buffalo Bills' 50th Anniversary Team. He is the founder of the P.U.N.T. Foundation which supports children in Western New York who face life-threatening illnesses.
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James Tate
- Occupations
- poetwriteruniversity teacherschool teacher
- Biography
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James Vincent Tate was an American poet. His work earned him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He was a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Brian Agler
- Occupations
- basketball coachbasketball player
- Biography
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Brian Agler is an American college athletics administrator and former women'sbasketball 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 Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, each of whom he led to a WNBA championship, in 2010 and 2016, respectively. During his coaching career, Agler has guided young stars like Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Alana Beard, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tayler Hill, Liz Cambage, Megan Gustafson, and Arike Ogunbowale.
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Gavin Lin
- Occupations
- film director
- Biography
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Gavin Lin is a Taiwanese film director. He attended Pittsburg State University.
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Sherm Lollar
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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John Sherman Lollar Jr. was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1946 to 1963, most prominently as a member of the Chicago White Sox where he was a perennial All-Star player and was an integral member of the 1959 American League pennant-winning team.
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Bill Russell
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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William Ellis Russell is an American former shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Russell played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series championship team. He also served as the team's manager from 1996 to 1998.
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Tim Beck
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Timothy D. Beck is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt University. He was previously an offensive analyst for the TCU Horned Frogs football program for the 2021 season. Beck served as the head football coach at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas from 2010 to 2019, compiling a record of 82–35. He led the 2011 Pittsburg State Gorillas football team to the NCAA Division II Football Championship. Beck played college football at Pittsburg State from 1985 to 1986 and was an assistant coach with the program from 1987 to 2009.
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Edward Morris
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Edward Bernard Morris Jr. is a US-born Japanese professional basketball player for the Yokohama B-Corsairs in Japan. He played college basketball for the Pittsburg State University Gorillas.
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Vance Randolph
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Vance Randolph was a folklorist who studied the folklore of the Ozarks in particular. He wrote a number of books on the Ozarks, as well as Little Blue Books and juvenile fiction.
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Bob Beatty
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Robert Beatty is a football coach and the former head football coach for the Trinity Shamrocks, a high school American football team located at Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the most successful High School Football coach in Kentucky state history by championships won, with 15 state championship titles and one national championship during his nearly forty-year-long career.
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Don Gutteridge
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Donald Joseph Gutteridge was an American infielder, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball. Primarily a second baseman and third baseman, he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates over 12 seasons between 1936 and 1948, and later managed the Chicago White Sox in 1969–1970. He was the regular second baseman of the 1944 Browns, the only St. Louis entry to win an American League pennant.
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Sally Murphy
- Occupations
- aircraft pilot
- Biography
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Sally D. Murphy is a retired colonel who served as a United States Army Aviator. She was the first female U.S. Army helicopter pilot to graduate from flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama on June 4, 1974. She served as a leader for units within the 330th Army Security Agency Company, 1st Infantry Division, the 62nd Aviation Company, and the 78th Aviation Battalion. In 2009, Murphy received the U.S. Army Freedom Team Salute Veteran Commendation to commemorate her 27 years of service and her place in military history.
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Michael Shonrock
- Occupations
- educational psychologist
- Biography
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Michael D. Shonrock is an American academic and former administrator. He was the president of Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, June 2015 to February 2019. Shonrock previously served as Emporia State University's 16th president from January 3, 2012 to May 28, 2015, and before that as Texas Tech University's vice president for student affairs and enrollment management in Lubbock, Texas.
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Duane D. Thiessen
- Enrolled in Pittsburg State University
- Graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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Duane D. Thiessen is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps, and is the past commander of the United States Marine Corps Forces Pacific, serving from September 2, 2010, until his retirement on August 7, 2012. Lt. General Thiessen is currently serving as president and CEO of the National Naval Aviation Museum Foundation located on Naval Air Station Pensacola.
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Lee Tafanelli
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Lee E. Tafanelli is an American National Guardsman who, serving as the Adjutant General of Kansas from 2011 to 2020. He is a former Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 47th district.
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Chris Brown
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Christopher J. Brown is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Fort Hays State University, a position he has held since 2011. He played for Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1992 to 1995. He became the head coach at Fort Hays State in 2011.
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Steven A. Scott
- Biography
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Steven A. Scott, is an American educator and the ninth president of Pittsburg State University. Scott served as the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Pittsburg State University, and before that, various positions at Pitt State prior to being president.
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Fernando J. Gaitan Jr
- Occupations
- journalistjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Fernando Joe Gaitan Jr. is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
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Carole M. Watson
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Carole McAlpine Watson is an American academic who served twice as acting Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, first in 2009 and again in 2013 to 2014. Watson studied African American literature and authored Her Prologue, a scholarly bibliography of novels by African American women published between 1859 and 1965.
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William Browning
- Years
- 1924-1997 (aged 73)
- Occupations
- pianist
- Biography
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William James Browning was an American concert pianist, vocal coach and piano pedagogue.
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Jacqueline Vietti
- Enrolled in Pittsburg State University
- In 1982 graduated with Master of Science in higher education
- Occupations
- academic administrator
- Biography
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Jacqueline A. Vietti is an American retired educator, most notably serving as Butler Community College's president in El Dorado, Kansas, for nearly two decades. Besides serving as president of Butler, Vietti served as Dean of Instruction at Labette Community College in Kansas, Emporia State University's interim president from June to December 2015, and was Kansas City Kansas Community College's acting president from July 2017 to June 2018.
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James Dean Pruner
- Occupations
- painterpoet
- Biography
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James Dean Pruner was an American painter, printmaker, draftsman, zinemaker, sculptor, and poet. Born in Lyons, Kansas, he also lived in Hays, Ellinwood, St. John, and in rural Stafford County, Kansas, where he farmed and maintained a studio. His works include a diverse range of subjects and styles, but with several consistent themes, including human relationships, animals and the land, and problems he associated with modern life, nuclear warfare, and technology. He produced more than 300 paintings, thousands of ink drawings, prints and etchings, silk-screened cards and posters, and more than 50 sculpture and assemblage pieces during his lifetime. Pruner's works can be found in the collection of the Spencer Museum of Art at The University of Kansas, at The Stone Gallery in Hays, KS, and in numerous private collections.
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Mark Johnson
- Born in
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United States - Occupations
- basketball coach
- Biography
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Mark A. Johnson is an American men's basketball coach, currently coaching at Fort Hays State University. Prior to his position, Johnson served as the assistant coach for the program from 1996 to 2001, as well as interim head coach leading up to the 1997–98 season. Prior to becoming an assistant coach at Fort Hays State, Johnson was an assistant at Phillips University, Labette Community College, and served as a graduate assistant for Pittsburg State University. Mark has 3 children.
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Monica Murnan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Monica Murnan is an American politician and early childhood advocate who served as a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives. Murnan represented the 3rd district, covering the city of Pittsburg, Kansas, from 2017 to 2020. She served as the Ranking Minority member on the Health and Human Services committee.
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Melvin J. Binford
- Years
- 1903-1984 (aged 81)
- Occupations
- basketball coach
- Biography
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Melvin J. Binford was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator.
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John E. Jacobs
- Biography
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John Earl Jacobs was an American educator most notably for serving as an administrator at what is now known as Emporia State University. Before serving as the Kansas State Teachers College (KSTC) interim president of, Jacobs was the Supervisor of Secondary Education at KSTC and served as principal of a couple of high schools before coming to Emporia.
