100 Notable alumni of
University of Iowa
Updated:
The University of Iowa is 78th in the world, 39th in North America, and 37th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Iowa sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Ashton Kutcher
- Occupations
- actormodelfinanciercomediantelevision actor
- Biography
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Christopher Ashton Kutcher is an American actor, film producer and businessman. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
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Gene Wilder
- Occupations
- film directordirectortelevision actorfilm actorsinger
- Biography
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Gene Wilder was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his collaborations with Mel Brooks on the films The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (both 1974), and with Richard Pryor in the films Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991), as well as his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971).
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Jake Johnson
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorscreenwriterfilm actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger is an American actor. He has starred as Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom New Girl (2011–2018), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2013. He has also voiced a version of Spider-Man in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and its 2023 sequel.
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Caitlin Clark
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- 2020-2024 graduated with bachelor's degree in marketing
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Caitlin Elizabeth Clark is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was twice named national female college basketball player of the year while playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes; she remains the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer. She has helped popularize women's basketball, a phenomenon dubbed the "Caitlin Clark effect".
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Colby Covington
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- 2008-2009 studied sociology
- Occupations
- presenterprofessional wrestleramateur wrestlermixed martial arts fighter
- Biography
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Colby Ray Covington is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion. As of February 10, 2026, he is #14 in the UFC welterweight rankings.
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Brandon Routh
- Occupations
- actortelevision actormodelfilm actorassociation football player
- Biography
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Brandon Routh is an American actor. His portrayal of Superman in the 2006 film Superman Returns garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the title character of the film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. He also had a recurring role in the NBC series Chuck, as Daniel Shaw. Routh also played a supporting role in the film Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), and played Todd Ingram in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), reprising the role in the animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023).
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Jean Seberg
- Occupations
- film actoractorfilm director
- Biography
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Jean Dorothy Seberg was an American actress. She is considered an icon of the French New Wave as a result of her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film Breathless.
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Tennessee Williams
- Occupations
- screenwriternovelistwriterplaywrightpoet
- Biography
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Thomas Lanier Williams III, known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama.
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Chuck Grassley
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Studied in 1957-1958
- Occupations
- legislatorfarmeruniversity teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Charles Ernest Grassley is an American politician serving since 2025 as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate, a position he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Grassley is the senior U.S. senator from Iowa, serving since 1981.
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Kari Lake
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in journalism
- Occupations
- news presenterjournalistsports journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Kari Lake Halperin is an American political figure and former television news anchor who has served as the senior advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) since March 2025 and deputy CEO and acting CEO of USAGM since July 2025, under President Donald Trump. She was the unsuccessful Republican Party nominee in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election and in the 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona.
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Terry O'Quinn
- Occupations
- singerguitaristtelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Terrance Quinn, known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as John Locke on the TV series Lost (2004–2010). In film, he also played the title role in The Stepfather (1987) and Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer (1991) with roles in other films such as Heaven's Gate (1980), Silver Bullet (1985), Young Guns (1988), Blind Fury (1989), Tombstone (1993) and Primal Fear (1996).
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Tom Arnold
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision actorvoice actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Thomas Duane Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Arnie Thomas on Roseanne, which starred his ex-wife Roseanne Barr.
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Albert Bandura
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- In 1951 graduated with Master of Arts
- Occupations
- university teachereducatorpsychologist
- Biography
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Albert Bandura was a Canadian-American psychologist and professor of social science in psychology at Stanford University, who contributed to the fields of education and to the fields of psychology, e.g. social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and influenced the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. Bandura also is known as the originator of the social learning theory, the social cognitive theory, and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and was responsible for the theoretically influential Bobo doll experiment (1961), which demonstrated the conceptual validity of observational learning, wherein children would watch and observe an adult beat a doll, and, having learned through observation, the children then beat a Bobo doll.
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Al Jarreau
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- singersinger-songwritersocial workerjazz musicianpercussionist
- Biography
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Alwin Lopez Jarreau was an American singer. His 1981 album Breakin' Away spent two years on the Billboard 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the 1982 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In all, he won ten Grammy Awards and was nominated 19 other times during his career.
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Flannery O'Connor
- Occupations
- novelistessayistwriter
- Biography
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Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.
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Big E
- Occupations
- powerlifterAmerican football playerprofessional wrestler
- Biography
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Ettore Ewen, known professionally under the ring name Big E, is an American broadcaster, retired professional wrestler and former powerlifter. He is signed to WWE, where he primarily appears as a panelist and analysist as well as a media spokesperson for the company. He is best known for performing in the company as an in-ring competitor from 2009 to 2022, as well as being a member of the New Day stable alongside Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, with whom he became a six-time Smackdown Tag Team Champion and two-time Raw Tag Team Champion. After suffering a cervical fracture during a match in March 2022, Ewen moved away from in-ring competition and ultimately announced his retirement in 2025.
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Tom Brokaw
- Occupations
- news presenterwritertelevision journalistopinion journalistprogram host
- Biography
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Thomas John Brokaw is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of The Today Show from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News for 22 years (1982–2004). In the previous decade he served as a weekend anchor for the program from 1973 to 1976. He is the only person to have hosted all three major NBC News programs: The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, briefly, Meet the Press. He formerly held a special correspondent post for NBC News.
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John Irving
- Occupations
- novelistscreenwriterwriter
- Biography
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John Winslow Irving is an American and Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.
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D. B. Weiss
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- television directorshowrunnerauthordirectorwriter
- Biography
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Daniel Brett Weiss is an American screenwriter and television producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known for co-creating Game of Thrones (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin's series of books, A Song of Ice and Fire. He also wrote and produced the 2022 American teen comedy-drama Metal Lords.
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Colin Egglesfield
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Studied biology
- Occupations
- modeltelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Colin Egglesfield is an American actor. He played Josh Madden in the soap opera All My Children, Auggie Kirkpatrick on The CW's reboot of the drama series Melrose Place, and Dex in the film Something Borrowed.
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Alex Karras
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorAmerican football playerprofessional wrestlerfilm actor
- Biography
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Alexander George Karras was an American professional football player, professional wrestler, sportscaster, and actor. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection playing defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), where he played from 1958 to 1970. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Centennial class.
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David Eigenberg
- Occupations
- television actorvoice actorfilm produceractorfilm actor
- Biography
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David Eigenberg is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Steve Brady on the HBO series Sex and the City and its revival series And Just Like That... and as Firefighter/Lieutenant/Captain Christopher Herrmann on NBC's Chicago Fire.
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Paul Rust
- Occupations
- musicianscreenwritertelevision actorcomedianfilm actor
- Biography
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Paul Rust is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film I Love You, Beth Cooper and the Netflix series Love.
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Toby Huss
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision actorvoice actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Tobias Huss is an American actor. He portrayed Artie in the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993–1996), performed voice-over work on the animated series Beavis and Butt-Head (1994–1997, 2011, 2022–present) as well as its two animated films, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) and Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (2022), voicing various characters including the character Todd Ianuzzi, and King of the Hill (1997–2010, 2025–present), voicing the characters Kahn Souphanousinphone and Cotton Hill in the initial run of the series, and later replacing Johnny Hardwick as the voice of Dale Gribble in the revival series. He also portrayed Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss on HBO's Carnivàle (2003–2005). and John Bosworth on the AMC original period drama Halt and Catch Fire.
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Bob Stoops
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Robert Anthony Stoops is an American former football coach who was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma Sooners to a record of 191–48 over his career. His 2000 Oklahoma Sooners football team won the 2001 Orange Bowl, which served as the BCS National Championship Game, and earned a consensus national championship. Stoops also was a head coach with the XFL, coaching the Renegades in 2020, and from 2023 to 2025. Stoops' Renegades won the XFL Championship in 2023.
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Diablo Cody
- Occupations
- executive producerwritertelevision producerfilm producerblogger
- Biography
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Brook Maurio, known professionally by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American writer and producer. She gained recognition for her candid blog and subsequent memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper (2005). Cody received critical acclaim for her screenwriting debut film, Juno (2007), winning both the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay.
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James Tolkan
- Occupations
- television actortelevision directoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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James Stewart Tolkan is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as high school vice-principal in charge of discipline Mr. Strickland in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989), and as the character's ancestor, Marshal James Strickland, in Back to the Future Part III (1990). Other memorable film roles include Serpico (1973), Love and Death (1975), Prince of the City (1981), Top Gun (1986), Masters of the Universe (1987), Dick Tracy (1990), and Problem Child 2 (1991).
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Reza Aslan
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherreligious studies scholartelevision produceropinion journalist
- Biography
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Reza Aslan is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology, writer, and television host. A convert to evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam but continued to write about Christianity. He has written five books on religion: No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam; Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization; Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth; God: A Human History; and in 2022 An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville.
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Peter Craig
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directoractorwriternovelist
- Biography
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Peter Craig is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for co-writing the screenplays to The Town (2010), The Batman (2022), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), earning an Academy Award nomination for the last.
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Don Nelson
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Donald Arvid Nelson is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. Nelson is second all-time in regular season wins of any coach in NBA history, with 1,335 (he held the record for most wins for almost 12 years before he was surpassed by Gregg Popovich in 2022). He coached the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors. After an All-American career at the University of Iowa, Nelson won five NBA championships playing with the Boston Celtics, with his number 19 retired by the franchise in 1978.
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Bret Bielema
- Occupations
- head coach
- Biography
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Bret Arnold Bielema is an American football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a position he has held since the 2021 season. He served as the head coach at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2012, achieving a 68–24 record and taking them to three straight Rose Bowl Games and at Arkansas from 2013 to 2017, tallying a mark of 29–34. Bielema was an assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, in 2018 and 2019 with the New England Patriots and in 2020 with the New York Giants.
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Jim Yong Kim
- Occupations
- anthropologistphysicianuniversity teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Jim Yong Kim, also known as Kim Yong (Korean: 김용; Hanja: 金墉), is an American physician and anthropologist who served as the 12th president of the World Bank from 2012 to 2019.
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Luka Garza
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Studied in 2017
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Luka Hudson Garza is a Bosnian-American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
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Mary Beth Hurt
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Mary Beth Hurt is a retired American actress of stage and screen. She is a three-time Tony Award-nominated actress.
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Jock Mahoney
- Occupations
- military officertelevision actoractorstunt performerfilm actor
- Biography
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Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney, known professionally as Jock Mahoney, was an American actor and stuntman. He starred in two action/adventure television series, The Range Rider and Yancy Derringer. He played Tarzan in two feature films and was associated in various capacities with several other Tarzan productions. He was credited variously as Jacques O'Mahoney, Jock O'Mahoney, Jack Mahoney, and finally Jock Mahoney.
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Greg Morris
- Occupations
- television actor
- Biography
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Francis Gregory Alan Morris was an American actor. He was best known for portraying Barney Collier on the television series Mission: Impossible and Lieutenant David Nelson on Vega$.
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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
- Occupations
- literary criticuniversity teacherwriterphilosophertranslator
- Biography
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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak ( Bengali pronunciation: [ɡajotri t͡ʃɔkɾoborti spiβak]; FBA is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.
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John Getz
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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John William Getz is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films, most notably Blood Simple, The Fly, and The Social Network.
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David Sanborn
- Occupations
- wind instrument playersaxophonistcomposerjazz musicianrecording artist
- Biography
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David William Sanborn was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11 and released his first solo album, Taking Off, in 1975. He was active as a session musician and played on numerous albums by artists including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Sting, the Eagles, Rickie Lee Jones, James Brown, George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Ween, and The Rolling Stones. Sanborn released more than 20 albums and won six Grammy awards.
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C. J. Beathard
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Casey Jarrett "C. J." Beathard is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. Beathard has also been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins.
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Ann Patchett
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- 1985-1987 graduated with Master of Fine Arts in creative writing
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Ann Patchett is an American writer, born December 2, 1963. In 2002 she received the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), The Dutch House (2019), and Tom Lake (2023). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
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Joe Walsh
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- In 1985 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English
- Occupations
- radio personalitybusiness executivepolitician
- Biography
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William Joseph Walsh is an American politician, talk radio host, former social worker, and 2020 Republican Party presidential candidate who represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. He left the Republican Party and registered as a Democrat in 2025.
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Jackson Galaxy
- Occupations
- writertelevision presentercat behavioristmusician
- Biography
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Jackson Galaxy is an American cat behaviorist, YouTuber, and former host of the television show My Cat from Hell.
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Steven Erikson
- Occupations
- archaeologistwriteranthropologist
- Biography
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Steve Rune Lundin, known by his pseudonym Steven Erikson, is a Canadian novelist who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist.
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T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Thomas Coraghessan Boyle is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published thirty one novels and more than 150 short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1988, for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York.
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Virgil
- Occupations
- teacherprofessional wrestler
- Biography
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Michael Charles Jones, better known by his ring name Virgil, was an American professional wrestler and an actor. He is best known for his tenures in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
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Ana Mendieta
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- 1969-1977 graduated with Master of Fine Arts in intermedia and art of painting
- Occupations
- film directorsculptorartistland artistphotographer
- Biography
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Ana Mendieta was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter, and video artist who is best known for her "earth-body" artwork. She is considered one of the most influential Cuban-American artists of the post–World War II era. Born in Havana, Cuba, Mendieta left for the United States in 1961.
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Mark Stoops
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Mark Thomas Stoops is an American college football coach and former player. He most recently served as the head football coach for the University of Kentucky from 2013 to 2025. Stoops is the all-time winningest head coach in the history of the Kentucky Wildcats football program, surpassing former coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.
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John Anderson
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm directorfilm actor
- Biography
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John Robert Anderson was an American character actor. He was best known for his more than 500 television roles.
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Terry Branstad
- Occupations
- academic administratorlawyerdiplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Terry Edward Branstad is a retired American politician and U.S. Army veteran who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Republican Party, Branstad is the longest-serving governor in United States history, with a total gubernatorial tenure of 22 years, 4 months, and 13 days.
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Sandra Cisneros
- Occupations
- arts administratorteachernovelistpoetessayist
- Biography
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Sandra Cisneros is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, The House on Mango Street (1984), and her subsequent short story collection, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991). Her work includes experimentation with emerging subject positions, which Cisneros attributes to growing up in a context of cultural hybridity and economic inequality that endowed her with unique stories to tell. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, was awarded one of 25 new Ford Foundation Art of Change fellowships in 2017, and is regarded as a key figure in Chicano literature.
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Marilynne Robinson
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writernovelistessayist
- Biography
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Marilynne Summers Robinson is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and the 2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. In 2016, Robinson was named in Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people. Robinson began teaching at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1991 and retired in the spring of 2016.
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Don DeFore
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Donald John DeFore was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom Hazel from 1961 to 1965, the former of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
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Micah Hyde
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Micah Richmond Hyde is an American former professional football safety who played in National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft. After four years in Green Bay, Hyde signed with the Bills, where he would form one half of an effective safety tandem with Jordan Poyer. Hyde received All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for his play in Buffalo.
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Yu Kwang-chung
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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Yu Kwang-chung, also romanised as Yu Guangzhong, was a Taiwanese writer, poet, educator and critic.
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Keegan Murray
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Keegan Mitchell Murray is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes before he was selected fourth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2022 NBA draft. He is the twin brother of Kris Murray.
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Jay Norvell
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- In 1986 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- American football coachAmerican football player
- Biography
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Merritt James Norvell III is an American college football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at Colorado State University from 2022 to 2025. Norvell served as the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Reno from 2017 to 2021. His father, Merritt Norvell, was the athletic director at Michigan State University from 1995 to 1998.
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Mo Mowlam
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet of Tony Blair as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
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Matthew Whitaker
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Graduated with Master of Business Administration
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- diplomatlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Matthew George Whitaker is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat serving as the 26th United States ambassador to NATO since 2025 in the second administration of President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in Trump's first administration as acting United States attorney general from November 2018 to February 2019, following the resignation of Jeff Sessions. Whitaker had previously served as Chief of Staff for Sessions from October 2017 to November 2018.
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John Boyd
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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John Richard Boyd was a United States Air Force fighter pilot and Pentagon consultant during the second half of the 20th century. His theories have been highly influential in military, business, and litigation strategies and planning.
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Anthony Swofford
- Occupations
- autobiographernovelistwriter
- Biography
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Anthony Swofford is an American writer and U.S. Marine veteran, best known for his 2003 book Jarhead, based heavily on his accounts of various situations encountered in the Persian Gulf War. This memoir was the basis of the 2005 film of the same name, directed by Sam Mendes.
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Connie Hawkins
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Studied in 1961
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins was an American professional basketball player. A New York City playground legend, "the Hawk" was to play basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes but was unjustly implicated in a point-shaving scandal that saw him kicked out of school as a freshman and essentially blackballed from the NBA. Hawkins found refuge with the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League, where he won the 1961 league MVP before the league folded. He played four years for the famed exhibition team Harlem Globetrotters before getting to play in the American Basketball Association with the Pittsburgh Pipers in 1967. He won the first league MVP award by averaging 26.8 points and led the team to the ABA championship. After a stellar second season, Hawkins was allowed to play in the NBA after a lawsuit filed on his behalf proved successful in stirring public opinion. Wracked with injuries, Hawkins would play seven seasons in the NBA for three different teams, most notably the Phoenix Suns before retiring in 1976 at the age of 34. In eleven seasons of professional basketball, Hawkins was an All-Star six times (four NBA, two ABA) while being named a First Team player in each of the three leagues he played in. Hawkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
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David Milch
- Occupations
- screenwriterwritertelevision producerfilm producertelevision writer
- Biography
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David Sanford Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's NYPD Blue (1993–2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's Deadwood (2004–2006, 2019).
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Sam LaPorta
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Studied business studies
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Samuel Joseph LaPorta is an American professional football tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was named the Big Ten Tight End of the Year in 2022. He was selected by the Lions in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft. As a rookie, LaPorta was named a second-team All-Pro and voted to the Pro Bowl. He also broke the NFL record for receptions by a rookie tight end (since broken by 2024 rookie Brock Bowers), along with setting Detroit franchise records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns by a tight end.
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Nicholas Meyer
- Occupations
- novelistfilm producerfilm directoractordirector
- Biography
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Nicholas Meyer is an American screenwriter, director and author known for his best-selling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature films, the 1983 television film The Day After, and the 1999 HBO original film Vendetta.
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Benny Johnson
- Occupations
- web editorcolumnistpolitical writerpolitical punditjournalist
- Biography
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Benny Johnson is an American right-wing political commentator and YouTuber. He has contributed to several conservative media outlets such as Breitbart News, TheBlaze, National Review, and The Daily Caller.
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Norm Coleman
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. First elected as a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Coleman became a Republican in 1996. Elected to the Senate in 2002, he was narrowly defeated in his 2008 reelection bid. To date, he is the last Republican to have represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate.
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Michael Cunningham
- Occupations
- poetscreenwriterwriterfilm screenwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Michael Cunningham is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is Professor in the Practice of Creative Writing at Yale University.
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Bill Perkins
- Occupations
- film actorbusinesspersonpoker player
- Biography
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William Osborne Perkins III is an American hedge fund manager and poker player. Perkins manages Skylar Capital, an energy trading hedge fund that had approximately $500 million in assets under management as of 2023.
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Denis Johnson
- Occupations
- musiciannovelistessayistscreenwriterplaywright
- Biography
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Denis Hale Johnson was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, Jesus' Son (1992). His most successful novel, Tree of Smoke (2007), won the National Book Award for Fiction. Johnson was twice shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Altogether, Johnson was the author of nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, three collections of poetry, two collections of plays, and one book of reportage. His final work, a book of short stories titled The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, was published posthumously in 2018. Ted Geltner's biography of the writer, Flagrant, Self-Destructive Gestures, appeared in late 2025.
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Tristan Wirfs
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Tristan Patrick Wirfs is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was selected in the first round by Tampa Bay in the 2020 NFL draft. He has been selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls.
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Dallas Clark
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Dallas Dean Clark is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Indianapolis Colts. He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, earning unanimous All-American honors and recognition as the top college tight end in the nation. He was selected by Indianapolis in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft and he was a member of their Super Bowl XLI championship team against the Chicago Bears. He also played in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Baltimore Ravens.
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Macdonald Carey
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Edward Macdonald Carey was an American actor. He first made his career starring in various B-movies from the 1940s through the 1960s, (with a few A-picture exceptions like Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt), and was known in many Hollywood circles as "King of the Bs". Beginning in 1965, he portrayed patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast member, winning two Daytime Emmy Awards.
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James E. Hansen
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicistastrophysicistenvironmentalistclimatologist
- Biography
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James Edward Hansen is an American climatologist. He is an adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best known for his research in climatology, his 1988 Congressional testimony on climate change that helped raise broad awareness of global warming, and his advocacy of action to avoid dangerous climate change. In recent years, he has become a climate activist to mitigate the effects of global warming, on a few occasions leading to his arrest.
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Ricky Davis
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Tyree Ricardo Davis is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
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Thomas G. Waites
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directortelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Thomas G. Waites is an American actor and acting instructor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Waites runs an eponymous acting studio in New York City. He has been a member of the Actors Studio since 1984.
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Cap Anson
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Adrian Constantine Anson, nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain"), "Pop", and "Baby" (early in his career) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 consecutive seasons. Anson was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era and one of the first superstars of the game. He spent most of his career with the Chicago White Stockings/Colts franchise (now known as the Cubs), serving as the club's manager, first baseman and, later in his tenure, minority owner. He led the team to six National League pennants from 1876 to 1886. Anson was one of baseball's first great hitters, and probably the first to tally over 3,000 career hits. In addition to being a star player, he innovated managerial tactics such as signals between players and the rotation of pitchers.
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Marshal Yanda
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Marshal John Yanda is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 13-year career as a guard for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was selected by Baltimore in the third round of the 2007 NFL draft.
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Facundo Manes
- Occupations
- physicianresearcherneuroscientist
- Biography
-
Facundo Manes is an Argentine neurologist and politician. Since 2021, he has been a National Deputy of Argentina elected in Buenos Aires Province. He is a member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR).
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Brooks Wheelan
- Occupations
- comediantelevision actorpodcaster
- Biography
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Brooks Wheelan is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and podcaster. First breaking through as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during the 2013–2014 season, Wheelan currently hosts the podcast Entry Level. He has also released a half-hour special for Comedy Central, acted in various movies and shows including Big Hero 6: The Series, and opened for John Oliver at numerous sets.
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Howard R. Hughes Sr
- Occupations
- businesspersoninventorentrepreneur
- Biography
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Howard Robard Hughes Sr. was an American businessman and inventor who founded the Hughes Tool Company. He invented the "Sharp–Hughes" two-cone rotary drill bit during the Texas Oil Boom. Hughes was the father and namesake of Howard Hughes (Howard Robard Hughes Jr.), the American business tycoon and founder of Hughes Aircraft.
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Joy Harjo
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- In 1978 graduated with Master of Fine Arts in creative writing
- Occupations
- musicianchildren's writerteacherclimate activistpoet
- Biography
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Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to have served three terms (after Robert Pinsky). Harjo is a seventh-generation Monahwee daughter (also known as "Menawa"). Additionally, Harjo is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation (Este Mvskokvlke) and belongs to Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground). She is an important figure in the second wave of the literary Native American Renaissance of the late 20th century. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, completed her undergraduate degree at University of New Mexico in 1976, and earned an MFA degree at the University of Iowa in its creative writing program.
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Mark Johnson
- Occupations
- television producerfilm produceractorproducer
- Biography
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Mark Johnson is an American film and television producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the 1988 film Rain Man.
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Yiyun Li
- Occupations
- screenwriterwriteruniversity teachernovelistshort story writer
- Biography
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Yiyun Li is a Chinese-born writer and professor who has lived and worked in the United States since entering graduate school. She writes exclusively in English. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Where Reasons End, and the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose. Her short story collection Wednesday's Child was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is an editor of the Brooklyn-based literary magazine A Public Space.
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Joe Haldeman
- Occupations
- screenwriternovelistscience fiction writerwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author and former college professor. He is best known for his novel The Forever War (1974), which was inspired by his experiences as a combat soldier in the Vietnam War. That novel and other works, including The Hemingway Hoax (1991) and Forever Peace (1997), have won science fiction awards, including the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. He received the SFWA Grand Master for career achievements. In 2012, he was inducted as a member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. From 1983 to 2014, he was a professor teaching writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Brandon Scherff
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Brandon Scherff is an American former professional football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, earning unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft, where he played for seven seasons and earned five Pro Bowls and one All-Pro selection. He also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Kenneth Nichols
- Occupations
- military engineerarmy officercivil engineer
- Biography
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Kenneth David Nichols CBE was an officer in the United States Army, and a civil engineer who worked on the secret Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb during World War II. He served as Deputy District Engineer to James C. Marshall, and from 13 August 1943 as the District Engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District. Nichols led both the uranium production facility at the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the plutonium production facility at Hanford Engineer Works in Washington state.
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Yaa Gyasi
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Yaa Gyasi is a Ghanaian-American novelist. Her work, most notably her 2016 debut novel Homegoing and her 2020 novel Transcendent Kingdom, features themes of lineage, generational trauma, and Black and African identities. At the age of 26, Gyasi won the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 honors for 2016 and the 2017 American Book Award. She was awarded a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature in 2020. As of 2019, Gyasi lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Nile Kinnick
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Nile Clarke Kinnick Jr. was an American naval aviator, law student, and college football player for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and was a consensus All-American. He died during a training flight while serving as a United States Navy aviator in World War II. Kinnick was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, and the University of Iowa renamed its football stadium Kinnick Stadium in his honor in 1972.
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Jarrod Uthoff
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Jarrod Reed Uthoff is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Trieste of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played three seasons of college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
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Bryan Bulaga
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Bryan Joseph Bulaga is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, winning Super Bowl XLV that season. He also played for the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Mike Daniels
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Michael Wayne Daniels Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft.
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Conor Dwyer
- Occupations
- swimmer
- Biography
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Conor James Dwyer is a former American competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He competed in freestyle and medley events, and won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In total, he has won seventeen medals in major international competitions: nine gold, six silver, and two bronze spanning the Summer Olympics, the FINA World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Pan American Games. Dwyer placed second at the 2016 US Olympic Swimming Trials in the 400m freestyle.
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Clair Cameron Patterson
- Occupations
- geochemistgeologistchemist
- Biography
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Clair Cameron Patterson was an American geochemist. Born in Mitchellville, Iowa, Patterson graduated from Grinnell College. He later received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and spent his entire professional career at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
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Mark Shapiro
- Occupations
- film producertelevision producereditor
- Biography
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Mark Shapiro is an American television and media executive. In 2018, he was promoted to become the president of Endeavor, after working as the co-president of WME-IMG since 2016. He was executive vice president for programming and production at ESPN until 2005, before becoming CEO and president of Six Flags, Inc. Shapiro has also been the CEO and executive producer of Dick Clark Productions.
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Robert Gallery
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
-
Robert J. Gallery is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa and received unanimous All-American recognition. He was selected with the second overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL draft. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks. Since retiring from professional football, Gallery has become a mental health advocate and is the co-founder and president of Athletes for Care, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on athlete mental health, traumatic brain injury research, and psychedelic-assisted therapy advocacy.. He played college football for the University of Iowa and received unanimous All-American recognition. He was selected with the second overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL draft. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks.
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Liang Chow
- Occupations
- artistic gymnastcoach
- Biography
-
Liang Chow is a Chinese-American former artistic gymnast. He is the founder, owner, and head coach of Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa. He is notable for being the coach of 2008 Olympic balance beam champion Shawn Johnson and 2012 Olympic individual all-around champion Gabby Douglas. He coached senior US gymnasts Norah Flatley and Rachel Gowey and junior US gymnast Victoria Nguyen.
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Lin Hwai-min
- Occupations
- dancerchoreographerwriter
- Biography
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Lin Hwai-min is a Taiwanese dancer, writer, choreographer, and founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan.
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Max Allan Collins
- Occupations
- writernovelistfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Max Allan Collins is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic literature, screenplays and comics. His best known work includes the Ms. Tree and Road to Perdition comics (the latter being the basis for an acclaimed film of the same name), and his long-running literary series characters such as steely hitman Quarry, hardened thief Nolan, and antiheroic private investigator Nate Heller. He wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for many years and has produced numerous novels featuring the character as well.
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James Cartwright
- Enrolled in the University of Iowa
- Graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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James Edward "Hoss" Cartwright is a retired United States Marine Corps general who last served as the eighth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from August 31, 2007, to August 3, 2011. He previously served as the Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, from September 1, 2004, to August 10, 2007, and as Acting Commander, U.S. Strategic Command from July 9, 2004, to September 1, 2004. He retired from the Marine Corps on August 3, 2011, after nearly 40 years of service.
