100 Notable alumni of
Purdue University
Updated:
Purdue University is 138th in the world, 59th in North America, and 57th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Purdue University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 2 individuals affiliated with Purdue University won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.
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Neil Armstrong
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1955 graduated with Bachelor of Science in aeronautics
- Occupations
- university teachertest pilotUnited States Naval Aviatormilitary flight engineerastronaut
- Biography
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Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, as the commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot and university professor.
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Dulquer Salmaan
- Occupations
- businesspersonactor
- Biography
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Dulquer Salmaan is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam films, besides few Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. One of the highest paid Malayalam actors, Salmaan is a recipient of several awards including five Filmfare Awards South, one Kerala State Film Award, one Kerala Film Critics Association Award and one Gaddar Telangana State Film Award.
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Drew Brees
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Drew Christopher Brees is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, he is second all-time in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, and career pass completions, and third in career completion percentage. Brees also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, with 54 games, breaking the record held by Johnny Unitas for fifty-two years. He is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. In 2026, Brees was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a first-ballot selection.
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George Peppard
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directortelevision actorfilm producerfilm actor
- Biography
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George Peppard was an American actor. He secured a major role as struggling writer Paul Varjak when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and later portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers (1964). On television, he played the title role of millionaire insurance investigator and sleuth Thomas Banacek in the early-1970s mystery series Banacek. He played Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-smoking leader of a renegade commando squad in the 1980s action television series The A-Team.
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Chesley Sullenberger
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1973 graduated with master's degree in industrial and organizational psychology
- Occupations
- military officerglider pilotauthorcommercial pilotexpert
- Biography
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Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is an American retired aircraft pilot, diplomat and aviation safety expert, who is best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when he ditched the plane on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike; all 155 people aboard survived. After the Hudson landing, Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and helped develop new protocols for flight safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.
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Jim Gaffigan
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorscreenwriterfilm actorvoice actor
- Biography
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James Christopher Gaffigan is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using little profanity in his routines, although he does use it from time to time. He has released several successful comedy specials, including Mr. Universe, Obsessed, Cinco, and Quality Time, all of which have received Grammy nominations.
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Gus Grissom
- Occupations
- writerflight instructortest pilotmechanical engineerastronaut
- Biography
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Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Force, as well as one of the original Mercury Seven selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Project Mercury, a program to train and launch astronauts into outer space. Grissom went on to be a Project Gemini and Apollo program astronaut for NASA. As a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps, Grissom was the second American to fly in space in 1961. He was also the second American to fly in space twice, preceded only by Joe Walker with his sub-orbital X-15 flights.
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Herman Cain
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- politicianwriterjournalistbusinesspersonradio personality
- Biography
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Herman Cain was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist in the Republican Party. Cain graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then earned a master's degree in computer science at Purdue University while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1977, he joined the Pillsbury Company where he later became vice president. During the 1980s, Cain's success as a business executive at Burger King prompted Pillsbury to appoint him as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, in which capacity he worked from 1986 to 1996.
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Zach Edey
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Studied in 2020
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Zachry Cheyne Edey is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers, leading the team to the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game in his final year. At the close of the 2023 season, Edey was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus National Player of the Year, repeating both in 2024. He was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft.
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Eugene Cernan
- Occupations
- autobiographermilitary flight engineerfighter pilotnaval officernaval aviator
- Biography
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Eugene Andrew Cernan was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot.
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John Wooden
- Occupations
- basketball playermilitary officerwriterbasketball coach
- Biography
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John Robert Wooden was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, including a record seven in a row. No other team has won more than four in a row in Division I college men's or women's basketball. Within this period, his teams won an NCAA men's basketball record 88 consecutive games. Wooden won the prestigious Henry Iba Award as national coach of the year a record seven times and won the Associated Press award five times.
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Stephen McKinley Henderson
- Occupations
- directorstage actortelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Stephen McKinley Henderson is an American actor. Henderson trained at Juilliard School for acting and later became a resident member of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis from 1976 to 1981. He came to prominence as a character actor often performing the plays of August Wilson. He has received nominations for two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2021, Vulture named Henderson as one of "The 32 Greatest Character Actors Working Today".
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Matt Mitrione
- Occupations
- karatekaAmerican football playermixed martial arts fighter
- Biography
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Matt Mitrione is an American retired mixed martial artist and former American football player, who competed for both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and most recently for Bellator MMA. Prior to embarking on an MMA career, Mitrione played college football at Purdue University, and he turned pro and played in the National Football League (NFL) with the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings. He was a featured fighter on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights. A former Heavyweight contender, he has several wins over notable MMA fighters, including Kimbo Slice, Derrick Lewis, Roy Nelson, Phil De Fries, and Fedor Emelianenko.
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Matt Hamill
- Occupations
- mixed martial arts fighteramateur wrestler
- Biography
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Matthew Hamill is an American former mixed martial artist and wrestler who competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the UFC. He is a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling (167 lb class in 1997, 190 lb class in 1998, and 197 lb class in 1999) while attending the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York.
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Stephan Bonnar
- Occupations
- taekwondo athleteprofessional wrestlermixed martial arts fighter
- Biography
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Stephan Patrick Bonnar was an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Bonnar competed as a Light Heavyweight in the UFC for most of his career. Bonnar was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 1; his TUF Ultimate Finale loss to Forrest Griffin is widely considered to be the most important fight in the history of the UFC.
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Ted Allen
- Occupations
- television presenterjournalistchefactorauthor
- Biography
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Edward Reese Allen is an American author and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the Bravo network's television program Queer Eye, and has been the host of the TV cooking competition series Chopped since its launch in 2009, as well as Chopped Junior, which began in mid-2015. On April 13, 2014, he became the host of another Food Network show, originally called America's Best Cook. A retooled version of that show, retitled All-Star Academy, debuted on March 1, 2015. In early 2015, he also hosted a four-part special, Best. Ever., which scoured America for its best burgers, pizza, breakfast, and barbecue. He is a longtime contributing writer to Esquire magazine, an author of two cookbooks, and regularly appears on the Food Network show Beat Bobby Flay and other television cooking shows.
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Sun Li-jen
- Occupations
- basketball playermilitary personnel
- Biography
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Sun Li-jen was a Chinese National Revolutionary Army general best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achievements earned him the laudatory nickname "Rommel of the East". Sun's commands were credited with effectively confronting Japanese troops in the 1937 Battle of Shanghai and in 1943–1944 during the Burma campaign; his New 1st Army was known as the "Best Army under heaven" (天下第一軍).
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Raheem Mostert
- Occupations
- athletics competitorAmerican football player
- Biography
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Dominique Raheem Mostert is an American professional football running back and kickoff returner for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers.
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Glenn Robinson
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dog" and "the Chosen One", he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs. Robinson attended Purdue University and was the first overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft. He is the father of Glenn Robinson III, who played college basketball at the University of Michigan and has also played in the NBA.
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Len Dawson
- Occupations
- sports commentatorAmerican football player
- Biography
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Leonard Ray Dawson was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. After playing college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, Dawson began his NFL career in 1957, spending three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two with the Cleveland Browns. He left the NFL in 1962 to sign with the AFL's Chiefs (then known as the Dallas Texans), where he spent the last 14 seasons of his career, and rejoined the NFL after the AFL–NFL merger.
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Roger Bruce Chaffee
- Occupations
- military flight engineerastronautmilitary officeraircraft pilot
- Biography
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Roger Bruce Chaffee was an American naval officer, aviator and aeronautical engineer who was a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program.
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Mike Alstott
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Michael Joseph Alstott is an American former professional fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he is regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks of all time.
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Kevin Sumlin
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Kevin Warren Sumlin is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Houston Gamblers of the United Football League (UFL). Sumlin served as the head football coach at the University of Houston from 2008 to 2011, Texas A&M University from 2012 to 2017, and at the University of Arizona from 2018 to 2020. Sumlin was formerly the associate head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and tight ends coach for the University of Maryland.
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Caleb Swanigan
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Caleb Sylvester Swanigan was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was ranked among the top prep players in the national class of 2015 by Rivals.com, Scout.com and ESPN. He completed his senior season in the 2014–15 academic year for Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who went on to win the first state championship in the school's history. Swanigan was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball and a McDonald's All-American.
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Sarah Jo Pender
- Years
- 1979-.. (age 47)
- Biography
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Sarah Jo Pender is an American woman convicted along with her former boyfriend, Richard Edward Hull, of murdering their roommates, Andrew Cataldi and Tricia Nordman, on October 24, 2000, in Indiana. She has claimed ever since that she is victim of a wrongful conviction. She came to national attention in August 2008 after she escaped from the Rockville Correctional Facility and was featured on America's Most Wanted. She was recaptured by police in December at a house in Chicago. Since spring of 2023, a team out of Georgetown University's "Making an Exoneree" program has been working to exonerate Pender.
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Bob Griese
- Occupations
- sports commentatorbasketball playerAmerican football player
- Biography
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Robert Allen Griese is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He earned All-American honors playing college football for the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the Dolphins of the AFL.
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Ryan Newman
- Occupations
- racing automobile driver
- Biography
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Ryan Joseph Newman, nicknamed "Rocket Man", is an American professional stock car racing driver that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000 to 2023. He claimed 18 official wins including the 2008 Daytona 500 and 2013 Brickyard 400, as well as 117 top-fives, 51 pole positions, and a non-points win at the 2002 Winston. Newman was runner-up in 2014, and ranked sixth in 2002, 2003, and 2005. Newman currently competes in the SMART Modified Tour for Coulter Motorsports.
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Carsen Edwards
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Carsen Cade Edwards is an American professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he was twice named an All-American.
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Darryl Stingley
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Darryl Floyd Stingley was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for five seasons with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). His career was ended at age 26 by an on-field spinal cord injury. He died from heart disease and pneumonia complicated by tetraplegia.
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Ian Murdock
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1996 graduated with bachelor's degree in computer science
- Occupations
- computer scientistprogrammerengineer
- Biography
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Ian Ashley Murdock was an American software engineer, known for being the founder of the Debian project and Progeny Linux Systems, a commercial Linux company.
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Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao
- Occupations
- chemistresearcherphysicist
- Biography
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Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 86 universities from around the world and has authored around 1,800 research publications and 58 books. He is described as a scientist who had won all possible awards in his field except the Nobel Prize.
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Orville Redenbacher
- Occupations
- entrepreneur
- Biography
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Orville Clarence Redenbacher was an American food scientist and businessman most often associated with the brand of popcorn that bears his name which is now owned by Conagra Brands. The New York Times described him as "the agricultural visionary who all but single-handedly revolutionized the American popcorn industry".
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Jon Fitch
- Occupations
- mixed martial arts fighter
- Biography
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Jon Fitch is an American retired mixed martial artist. He has competed in the Welterweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and most recently for Bellator MMA. In the UFC, Fitch compiled a record of 14–3–1 and once challenged for the UFC Welterweight Championship. In the PFL, Fitch achieved championship success when he won the WSOF Welterweight Championship, and he also once challenged for the Bellator MMA Welterweight World Championship.
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Jim Everett
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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James Samuel Everett III, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected third overall in the 1986 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers. Unable to work out a contract agreement with Everett, the Oilers traded his rights to the Rams, where played from 1986 to 1993. Everett then played with the New Orleans Saints from 1994 to 1996 and ended his career with a stint with the San Diego Chargers in 1997.
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Yitang Zhang
- Occupations
- mathematician
- Biography
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Yitang Zhang is a Chinese-American mathematician primarily working on number theory and a professor of mathematics at Sun Yat-sen University.
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Bob Peterson
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directoranimatorvoice actoractor
- Biography
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Robert Peterson is an American cartoonist, animator, director, screenwriter, storyboard supervisor, and voice actor at Pixar. He was hired at Pixar by Roger Gould in 1994 as an animator for commercials, before subsequently becoming an animator on Toy Story (1995). He was the co-director, co-star, co-head, and co-writer for Up (2009). He conceived the idea of The Good Dinosaur (2015), and was the film's original director before being dismissed from it. His work as a writer for the films Up and Finding Nemo (2003) earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He was also a co-writer on Cars 3 (2017) and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program for his work on Forky Asks A Question (2020).
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Margaret Bourke-White
- Occupations
- war photographerartistwriterphotojournalistphotographer
- Biography
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Margaret Bourke-White was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist. She was known as an architectural and commercial photographer for the first half of her career, representing corporate clients and highlighting the success of industrial capitalism with black and white images of steel factories and skyscrapers. In 1930, she became the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of the Soviet Union. In 1933, NBC commissioned her to create a monumental photo mural about radio for its rotunda at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, then considered the largest photo mural in the world. The success of her corporate commissions led her to work at Fortune magazine in the 1930s. She took the photograph of the construction of Fort Peck Dam that became the cover of the first issue of Life magazine.
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Aidan O'Connell
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Studied management
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Aidan James O'Connell is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
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Matt Painter
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Matthew Curtis Painter is an American basketball coach and former player, who is the current and 19th head coach of the Purdue Boilermakers, serving in that role since 2005. He played college basketball at Purdue from 1989 to 1993. He was also the head coach of the Southern Illinois Salukis from 2003 to 2004.
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Jaden Ivey
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Jaden Edward Dhananjay Ivey is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers.
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Stephanie White
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Stephanie Joanne White is an American professional basketball coach, analyst, and former player who is the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was previously head coach of the WNBA Connecticut Sun in the 2023 and 2024 seasons and Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team from 2016 to 2021. Before Vanderbilt, she was the head coach of the WNBA Indiana Fever for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. As an intercollegiate athlete, she was named the winner of the Wade Trophy in 1999, which recognizes the top female basketball player in the nation.
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Maya Rockeymoore
- Occupations
- punditpolitician
- Biography
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Maya Michelle Rockeymoore Cummings is an American consultant, politician, and former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in the United States. Before her election as party chair, she briefly ran for Governor of Maryland. She owns a Washington, D.C.–based consulting firm.
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Marilyn Quayle
- Occupations
- novelistlawyerwriter
- Biography
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Marilyn Tucker Quayle is an American lawyer and novelist. She is married to the 44th vice president of the United States, Dan Quayle, and served as the second lady of the United States from 1989 until 1993.
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Brad Miller
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Bradley Alan Miller is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for six National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Miller played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers.
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Venu Srinivasan
- Occupations
- industrialist
- Biography
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Venu Srinivasan is an Indian industrialist, he is the chairman emeritus of two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company and auto components manufacturer TVS Holdings. In addition, he serves on the board of Tata Sons and as one of the vice-chairmen of Tata Trusts. He received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, in January 2020.
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Dick the Bruiser
- Occupations
- actorAmerican football playerprofessional wrestler
- Biography
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William Fritz Afflis Jr. was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and National Football League player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He was also a very successful professional wrestler: sixteen-time world champion, AWA World Heavyweight Champion once, WWA World Heavyweight Champion (Indianapolis version) thirteen times, World Heavyweight Champion (Omaha version) once, and WWA World Heavyweight Champion (Los Angeles version) once. He also excelled at tag-team wrestling, with 20 tag team championships in his career. Eleven of these championships were won alongside his long-time tag-team partner Crusher Lisowski.
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Mauricio Fernández Garza
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in industrial engineering
- Occupations
- businesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Mauricio Fernández Garza was a Mexican politician, businessman, and collector with direct ties to the wealthy and prominent Fernández Ruiloba family, owners of PYOSA (Pigmentos Y Oxidos SA). He served as mayor of San Pedro Garza García, a former senator, and a former member of the board of directors of Grupo Alfa, a Monterrey-based chemical, food, and auto-parts producer. He is well known for his art contributions to Nuevo León.
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Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu is an Indian politician who is serving as the 33rd Minister of Civil Aviation since June 2024. He represents the Srikakulam Lok Sabha constituency and has been elected in the 16th, 17th, and 18th Lok Sabha. He first won the seat in the 2014 Indian general election and was re-elected in 2019 and 2024 as a candidate of the Telugu Desam Party. He serves as the National General Secretary of the TDP and as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha.
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Birch Bayh
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Science in agricultural science
- Occupations
- writerlawyerfarmerpolitician
- Biography
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Birch Evans Bayh Jr. was an American politician from Indiana who served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives representing Vigo County, Indiana from 1954 to 1962 and as a member of United States Senate for three terms from 1963 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the Indiana House of Representatives; in 1958, he was elected Speaker, the youngest person to hold that office in the state's history. In 1962, he ran for the U.S. Senate, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Homer E. Capehart. Shortly after entering the Senate, he became Chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, and in that role authored two constitutional amendments: the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution—which establishes procedures for an orderly transition of power in the case of the death, disability, or resignation of the President of the United States—and the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18 throughout the United States. He is the first person since James Madison and the only non–Founding Father to have authored more than one constitutional amendment to date. Bayh also led unsuccessful efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and eliminate the United States Electoral College.
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Ei-ichi Negishi
- Awards
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2010
- Years
- 1935-2021 (aged 86)
- Occupations
- chemistresearcherprofessor
- Biography
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Ei-ichi Negishi was a Japanese chemist who was best known for his discovery of the Negishi coupling. He spent most of his career at Purdue University in the United States, where he was the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor and the director of the Negishi-Brown Institute. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for palladium catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis" jointly with Richard F. Heck and Akira Suzuki.
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George Karlaftis
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Studied in 2019
- Occupations
- athletics competitorAmerican football player
- Biography
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George Matthew Karlaftis III is a Greek professional American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Athens and grew up as a multi-sport athlete playing football, track and field, basketball, and water polo, the latter of which he played with the Greek national team.
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Cuonzo Martin
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Cuonzo LaMar Martin is an American basketball coach and former player who is in his second tenure as the head men's basketball coach at Missouri State University. He had held that same position from 2008 to 2011. He is the former head coach at the University of Tennessee, University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Missouri.
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Joe Barton
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1973 graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- business executiveengineerpolitician
- Biography
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Joseph Linus Barton is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Texas's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 2019. The district included Arlington, part of Fort Worth, and several small towns and rural areas south of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. He was also a member of the Tea Party Caucus. In 2014, Barton became the longest-serving member of the Texas congressional delegation.
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Matt Light
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Matthew Charles Light is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 11-year career as an offensive tackle for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was picked by the Patriots in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft.
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Mike Winkelmann
- Occupations
- visual artistgraphic designerNFT artistvideo jockey
- Biography
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Michael Joseph Winkelmann, known professionally as Beeple, is an American digital artist, graphic designer, and animator known for selling NFTs. In his art, he uses various media to create comical, phantasmagoric works which make political and social commentary while using pop culture figures as references. British auction house Christie's said he is, "A visionary digital artist at the forefront of NFTs". Beeple was introduced to NFTs in October 2020 and credits Pak for providing his first "primer" on selling NFTs. The NFT associated with Everydays: the First 5000 Days, a collage of images from his "Everydays" series, was sold on March 12, 2021, for $69 million in cryptocurrency to an investor in NFTs. It is the first purely non-fungible token to be sold by Christie's. The auction house had previously sold Block 21, an NFT with accompanying physical painting for approximately $130,000 in October 2020.
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John W. Rose
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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John Williams Rose is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 6th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 33rd agriculture commissioner of Tennessee from 2002 to 2003.
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Robbie Hummel
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Robert John Hummel is an American professional basketball player and TV commentator. He played college basketball for Purdue University and for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. In 2019, Hummel was named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. He has served as an analyst for the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports, and is a regular contributor for Westwood One Sports and Sirius XM. Robbie Hummel also works as a college basketball and NBA analyst for NBC Sports and CBS Sports.
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David Boudia
- Occupations
- swimmercompetitive diver
- Biography
-
David Alasdair Boudia is an American diver. He won the gold medal in the 10 metre platform diving competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won a bronze medal with Nick McCrory in the men's synchronized 10 metre platform at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in the same event with Steele Johnson at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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Andrea Drews
- Occupations
- volleyball player
- Biography
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Andrea Carrie "Annie" Drews is an American professional volleyball player for the United States women's national volleyball team. Drews was elected as the Most Valuable Player of the 2019 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League in Nanjing, China, where Team USA won the gold medal and the Best Opposite of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup where the U.S. finished in second place. She won gold with the national team at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
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Mercedes Lackey
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writernovelistshort story writer
- Biography
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Mercedes Ritchie Lackey is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include interaction between human and non-human protagonists with many different cultures and social mores.
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E'Twaun Moore
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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E'Twaun Donte Moore is an American former professional basketball player who is a scout for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 2011 NBA draft after playing college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. In high school, he led East Chicago's Central High School to an IHSAA state championship.
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Rondale Moore
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- Studied in 2018
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Rondale DaSean Moore was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he was named a consensus All-American as a freshman. Moore was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round (49th overall) of the 2021 NFL draft and spent three seasons with the team. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings, though he did not appear in any regular-season games due to preseason injuries.
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Deng Jiaxian
- Occupations
- nuclear physicistphysicist
- Biography
-
Deng Jiaxian was a Chinese theoretical physicist, nuclear physicist, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and member of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society. Deng Jiaxian graduated from the National Southwestern Associated University of the Republic of China, then went to the United States to study, and received a doctorate in physics from Purdue University in 1950. Deng Jiaxian made significant contributions to the development of the atomic bomb of the People's Republic of China and was honored as the "Patriot of the Two Bombs". In 1999, he was named the "Patron of the Two Bombs and One Star" by the Chinese government.
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Booth Tarkington
- Occupations
- playwrightscreenwriterwriterchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Newton Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) and Alice Adams (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once, along with William Faulkner, John Updike, and Colson Whitehead. In the 1910s and 1920s he was considered the United States' greatest living author. Several of his stories were adapted to film.
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Martin “John” M. Atalla
- Occupations
- cryptologistengineerphysicist
- Biography
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Mohamed M. Atalla was an Egyptian-American engineer, physicist, cryptographer, inventor and entrepreneur. He was a semiconductor pioneer who made important contributions to modern electronics. He is best known for inventing, along with his colleague Dawon Kahng, the MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor, or MOS transistor) in 1959, which along with Atalla's earlier surface passivation processes, had a significant impact on the development of the electronics industry. He is also known as the founder of the data security company Atalla Corporation (now Utimaco Atalla), founded in 1972. He received the Stuart Ballantine Medal (now the Benjamin Franklin Medal in physics) and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his important contributions to semiconductor technology as well as data security.
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Mark Chen
- Years
- 1935-.. (age 91)
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- 1970-1972 graduated with doctorate
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
-
Chen Tan-sun, also known by his English name Mark Chen, is a Taiwanese politician and atmospheric scientist who served as Secretary-General of the Office of the President of Taiwan under former President Chen Shui-bian. He was also previously Foreign Minister of the ROC from 2004 to 2006 (the first Democratic Progressive Party member to occupy the position). Before returning to Taiwan, he worked for the United States Department of Commerce from 1973 to 1992, over 19 years.
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James Tour
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1986 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in organic chemistry
- Occupations
- university teacherchemist
- Biography
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James Mitchell Tour is an American chemist, nanotechnologist and intelligent design proponent. He is a professor of chemistry and materials science and nanoengineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
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David A. Bednar
- Occupations
- priestuniversity teacher
- Biography
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David Allan Bednar is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A former educator, Bednar was president of Brigham Young University–Idaho (BYU–Idaho) from 1997 to 2004.
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Akira Suzuki
- Occupations
- chemistprofessor
- Biography
-
Akira Suzuki is a Japanese chemist and Nobel Prize Laureate (2010), who first published the Suzuki reaction, the organic reaction of an aryl- or vinyl-boronic acid with an aryl- or vinyl-halide catalyzed by a palladium(0) complex, in 1979.
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Earl Butz
- Occupations
- writereconomistuniversity teacherpolitician
- Biography
-
Earl Lauer "Rusty" Butz was a United States government official who served as the secretary of agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. His policies favored large-scale corporate farming and an end to New Deal programs.
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Carl Landry
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Carl Christopher Landry is an American former professional basketball player. The 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m), all-conference power forward played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers from 2004 to 2007. He is the older brother of Marcus Landry.
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Edward Mills Purcell
- Occupations
- university teachernuclear physicistphysicist
- Biography
-
Edward Mills Purcell was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery (published 1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become widely used to study the molecular structure of pure materials and the composition of mixtures. Friends and colleagues knew him as Ed Purcell.
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Kevin Stallings
- Occupations
- basketball coachbasketball player
- Biography
-
Kevin Eugene Stallings is an American former basketball coach, who formerly served as the head coach at Illinois State University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh. He was an assistant coach at Purdue University and the University of Kansas.
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James Cayne
- Occupations
- bankerstockbrokerbridge player
- Biography
-
James E. "Jimmy" Cayne was an American businessman and CEO of Bear Stearns. In 2006, he became the first Wall Street chief to own a company stake worth more than $1 billion, but he lost most of that in the 2007–2008 collapse of Bear's stock and sold his entire stake in the company for $61 million.
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Akinwumi Adesina
- Occupations
- agricultural economistcivil servantpoliticianeconomistminister
- Biography
-
Akinwumi Adesinalisten CON CGH is a Nigerian economist, who served as the President of the African Development Bank from 2015 to 2025. He previously served as Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Until his appointment as Minister in 2010, he was Vice President of Policy and Partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. He was elected as the President of the African Development Bank in 2015 and re-elected for a second term in 2020. He is the first Nigerian to hold the position.
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Ray Ewry
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
-
Raymond Clarence Ewry was an American track and field athlete who won eight gold medals at the Olympic Games and two gold medals at the Intercalated Games (1906 in Athens). This puts him among the most successful Olympians of all time.
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JaJuan Johnson
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
JaJuan Markeis Johnson is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. During his sophomore season, he was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection. As a junior, he was named a second-team All-Big Ten selection. As a senior, a first-team consensus All-American as well as the Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
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Isaac Haas
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Isaac Haas is an ex American professional basketball player who last played for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers.
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Fahmi Fadzil
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Ahmad Fahmi bin Mohamed Fadzil is a Malaysian politician, former actor and writer serving as the Minister of Communications since December 2023. A member of People's Justice Party (PKR), he has been Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai since May 2018. Fahmi also serves as the government spokesperson for Anwar Ibrahim cabinet.
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Karen Marie Moning
- Occupations
- novelistscience fiction writerwriter
- Biography
-
Karen Marie Moning is an American author. Many of her novels have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list with Shadowfever reaching the number one position on multiple national best sellers lists. She is a winner of the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best Paranormal Romance and is a multiple RITA nominee.
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Rick Mount
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Richard Carl Mount is an American former professional basketball player who played for Purdue University from 1966 to 1970 as well as the American Basketball Association (ABA). Mount played basketball at Lebanon Senior High School in Lebanon, Indiana, during which time he became the first high school boy representing a team sport to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
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Gen Fukunaga
- Occupations
- entrepreneurengineer
- Biography
-
Gen Fukunaga is an American engineer and entrepreneur. He established Funimation (now Crunchyroll, LLC), a company that distributes anime in Canada and the United States. He was its president and chairman until he stepped down in 2019. As of October 2011, Fukunaga was chairman of online video game publisher GameSamba.
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Don West
- Occupations
- sports commentatormanager
- Biography
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Donald West was an American pitchman, television personality, and professional wrestling broadcaster.
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Brian Cardinal
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Brian Greg Cardinal is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Custodian" and "the Janitor", he played 456 games in the NBA between 2000 and 2012, and won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Before his NBA career, he played college basketball at Purdue University.
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Monte Blue
- Occupations
- film actoractorstage actor
- Biography
-
Gerard Montgomery Blue was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player in a wide range of motion pictures.
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Chris Schenkel
- Occupations
- announcersports commentator
- Biography
-
Christopher Eugene Schenkel was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice. In 1964, he did a final scene voiceover of Lyndon B. Johnson's controversial "Daisy" advertisement.
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Suwat Liptapanlop
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 71)
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
-
Suwat Liptapanlop is a Thai entrepreneur, politician and sports official based in Nakhon Ratchasima. He has held different cabinet posts in several governments since 1988, including deputy prime minister, and is the de facto leader of the Chart Pattana Party while his brother Tewan Liptapallop serves as its official leader.
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Brian Lamb
- Occupations
- journalistmilitary officer
- Biography
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Brian Patrick Lamb is an American journalist. He is the founder, executive chairman, and the now-retired CEO of C-SPAN, an American cable network that provides coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate as well as other public affairs events. In 2007, Lamb was awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush and received the National Humanities Medal the following year.
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Herbert C. Brown
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistwriter
- Biography
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Herbert Charles Brown was an American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes.
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Jerry L. Ross
- Occupations
- military officeraircraft pilotastronaut
- Biography
-
Jerry Lynn Ross is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. Ross is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the joint record holder for most spaceflights (a record he shares with Franklin Chang-Díaz).
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Loral O'Hara
- Occupations
- astronautengineer
- Biography
-
Loral Ashley O'Hara is an American engineer and NASA astronaut.
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A. J. Hammons
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Aaron Jarrell Hammons is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Purdue before being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 46th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.
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David McKinley
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1969 graduated with Bachelor of Engineering in civil engineering
- Occupations
- business executiveengineercivil engineerpolitician
- Biography
-
David Bennett McKinley is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for West Virginia's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1980 to 1994, and chaired the West Virginia Republican Party from 1990 to 1994.
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Suzanne Crouch
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Suzanne Crouch is an American politician who served as the 52nd lieutenant governor of Indiana, from 2017 to 2025. She previously served as the 56th state auditor of Indiana from 2014 to 2017. In 2024 she ran for governor of Indiana, losing the primary election to U.S. Senator Mike Braun.
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Essam Sharaf
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
-
Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf is an Egyptian academic who was the 50th prime minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as minister of transportation from 2004 to 2005.
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Andrew J. Feustel
- Occupations
- geophysicistastronautphysicist
- Biography
-
Andrew Jay Feustel is an American/Canadian former NASA astronaut and geophysicist. Following several years working as a geophysicist, Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000. He is the veteran of 3 space flights with NASA. His first spaceflight in May 2009, STS-125, lasted just under 13 days. This mission was the fifth and final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. Feustel performed three spacewalks during the mission. His second spaceflight was STS-134, which launched on May 16, 2011 to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station (ISS) and was the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour and was the penultimate flight of the Space Shuttle program. Feustel returned to the ISS on March 21, 2018 aboard Soyuz MS-08, to serve as a member of Expedition 55 and was the ISS Commander during Expedition 56. After returning to Earth, he became the Deputy Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office in 2020, and served as acting Chief Astronaut starting in November 2022. Feustel retired from NASA in July 2023.
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Wolfgang Smith
- Enrolled in Purdue University
- In 1950 graduated with Master of Science in physics
- Occupations
- mathematicianphysicistphilosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Wolfgang Smith was an Austrian mathematician, physicist, philosopher of science, metaphysician, and member of the Traditionalist School. He wrote extensively in the field of differential geometry, as a critic of scientism and as a proponent of a new interpretation of quantum mechanics that draws heavily from premodern ontology and realism.
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Bill Skowron
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
William Joseph Skowron, nicknamed "Moose", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 to 1967 for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels. He was an eight-time All-Star and a five-time World Series champion.
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Terry Dischinger
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
-
Terry Gilbert Dischinger was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dischinger was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1963 NBA Rookie of the Year, after averaging 28 points per game in his three seasons at Purdue University.
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Lebbeus Woods
- Occupations
- sculptorarchitectartistdesign engineerpainter
- Biography
-
Lebbeus Woods was an American architect known for experimental and innovative architectural designs, his projects often theorizing architecture in areas experiencing crisis. Woods was the founder of the Research Institute for Experimental Architecture (RIEA). He also served as a professor of architecture at the Cooper Union School of Architecture, and later, as a professor of Visionary Architecture at the European Graduate School (EGS).
