74 Notable alumni of
University of Northern Iowa
Updated:
The University of Northern Iowa is 1110th in the world, 402nd in North America, and 375th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 74 notable alumni from the University of Northern 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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Chuck Grassley
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- In 1955 graduated with undergraduate degree
- In 1956 graduated with postgraduate degree
- Occupations
- legislatorpoliticianuniversity teacherfarmer
- Biography
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Charles Ernest Grassley is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. Grassley was first elected to the Senate in 1980 and has been reelected seven times. He is the longest-serving Republican in Congressional history and the sixth-longest-serving U.S. senator in history.
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Nick Nurse
- Occupations
- basketball coachbasketball player
- Biography
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Nicholas David Nurse is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as head coach for the Toronto Raptors, whom he led to an NBA championship in 2019 and with whom he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2020.
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David Johnson
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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David Jerome Johnson Sr. is an American football running back who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at Northern Iowa.
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Phyllis Somerville
- Occupations
- film actorstage actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Phyllis Jeanne Somerville was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her roles in Little Children (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Surviving Family (2012), The Big C (2010–2013), and Outsiders (2016–2017).
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Chris Klieman
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Christopher Paul Klieman is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at Kansas State University, a position he has held since the 2019 season. Klieman served as the head football coach at North Dakota State University from 2014 to 2018. He succeeded the retiring Bill Snyder at Kansas State after leading the North Dakota State Bison to four NCAA Division I Football Championship titles in five seasons.
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Mark Steines
- Occupations
- player of American footballbroadcast journalist
- Biography
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Mark Anthony Steines is an American broadcast journalist and actor who was host of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up program Entertainment Tonight from 2004 to 2012, joining the program on August 24, 1995. He left the show on July 27, 2012. From 2012 to 2018, he co-hosted Hallmark Channel's Home and Family.
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Greg McDermott
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Greg McDermott is an American basketball coach who has been the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach at Wayne State College, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and Iowa State. He is the father of NBA player Doug McDermott.
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Joan Larsen
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Joan Louise Larsen is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 2015 to 2017.
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Lisa Bluder
- Occupations
- basketball coachbasketball player
- Biography
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Lisa Marie Bluder is the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball program. Formerly, she served as coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs.
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Chris Pirillo
- Occupations
- writerbusinessperson
- Biography
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Chris Pirillo is an American entrepreneur and former television personality. He is the founder and former CEO of LockerGnome, Inc., a now-defunct network of blogs, web forums, mailing lists, and online communities which are now closed. He is best known as the former host of Call for Help, a call-in tech support show which, at the time, aired on TechTV. He hosted the show from 2001 to 2003.
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Krista Voda
- Occupations
- engineerjournalist
- Biography
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Krista Voda Kelley is an American sportscaster who covers auto racing as the play-by-play announcer for the ARCA Menards Series on MAVTV. She previously worked for NASCAR on Fox and NASCAR on Speed from 2003 to 2014 as the host of the pre-race show for the Truck Series and beginning in 2007 as a pit reporter for the NASCAR Cup Series. She also was a fill-in sideline reporter for Fox's NFL coverage. She then worked as the pre and post-race show host for the Cup Series for NBC from 2015 to 2020.
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Mike Furrey
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Michael Thomas Furrey is a former American football wide receiver and safety. He is the head football coach for Limestone University, a position he has held since 2022. This is Furrey's second stint as Limestone's head coach following his two seasons with the team in 2016. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He played college football at Northern Iowa and Ohio State University.
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Bill Stewart
- Occupations
- jazz musician
- Biography
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William Harris Stewart is an American jazz drummer.
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Ali Farokhmanesh
- Occupations
- basketball coachbasketball player
- Biography
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Ali Fredrick Farokhmanesh is an American former professional basketball player and current Colorado State Rams men's basketball assistant coach. Farokhmanesh gained nationwide fame in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as a member of the Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team, when he hit a crucial three-point shot to help UNI upset top-overall seed Kansas in the second round. He played a total of 69 college games in two years with this team and started for all of them. His heroics, which came two days after hitting the game-winning three-point shot against UNLV in the first round, led to an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
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Darian DeVries
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Darian Dale DeVries is the head men's basketball coach at Drake University.
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A.J. Green
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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A. J. Green is an American basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Northern Iowa Panthers.
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Joseph Otting
- Occupations
- international forum participantbusinessperson
- Biography
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Joseph M. Otting is an American businessman and government official. He served as the 31st Comptroller of the Currency from November 27, 2017 to May 29, 2020.
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Will Wilkinson
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Will Wilkinson is an American writer. He was born in Independence, Missouri, and grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1995, received an M.A. in philosophy from Northern Illinois University in 1998, and worked toward a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. In 2009 Wilkinson gained Canadian citizenship via his father, a Canadian immigrant in America, whose Canadian citizenship was reinstated following a change in Canadian emigration law.
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Benny Sapp
- Occupations
- player of American football
- Biography
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Benjamin Lee Sapp II is a former American football cornerback. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Northern Iowa.
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Roger Jepsen
- Occupations
- politicianfarmer
- Biography
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Roger William Jepsen was an American politician from the state of Iowa. A Republican, he served in the United States Senate and as Lieutenant Governor of Iowa.
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Gil Gutknecht
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- In 1973 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gilbert William Gutknecht Jr. is an American politician. Gutknecht was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives first elected in 1994 to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district. Gutknecht lost his 2006 reelection bid to DFL candidate Tim Walz, and his term ended in January 2007.
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Nancy Jo Powell
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Nancy Jo Powell was the United States Ambassador to India from April 2012 to May 2014.
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Mona Van Duyn
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- writereditorpoet
- Biography
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Mona Jane Van Duyn was an American poet. She was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1992.
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Seth Tuttle
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- Studied in 2011-2015
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Seth Tuttle is an American former basketball player and current assistant coach for the Northern Iowa Panthers. He had an All-American college career at Northern Iowa (UNI). Tuttle was considered one of the top college players in the country, and was a midseason finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year award.
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Michael Hogan
- Occupations
- historianuniversity president
- Biography
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Michael J. Hogan is an American historian who served as president of the University of Connecticut (2007–2010) and president of the University of Illinois System (2010–2012). He subsequently became a distinguished professor of history at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
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Ruth Watkins
- Occupations
- speech and language therapist
- Biography
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Ruth V. Watkins is an American scholar of child language and speech pathology. She was the 16th president of the University of Utah. She stepped down from the role on April 7, 2021, to enter the private sector.
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Raychelle Burks
- Occupations
- science communicatoranalytical chemistscientist
- Biography
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Raychelle Burks is an associate professor of analytical chemistry at American University in Washington, D.C., and science communicator, who has regularly appeared on the Science Channel. In 2020, the American Chemical Society awarded her the Grady-Stack award for her public engagement excellence.
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Eddie Watt
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Eddie Dean Watt is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed relief pitcher from 1966 through 1975, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won three consecutive American League pennants from 1969 to 1971 and, won the World Series in 1970. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs. In 2000, Watt was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
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Linda Upmeyer
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Linda L. Upmeyer is an American politician who served in the Iowa House of Representatives from the 54th district from 2003 to 2021 and as the Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020. She was the first female Speaker in Iowa's history. She received her BSN from the University of Iowa and her MSN from Drake University. On August 19, 2015, Upmeyer was elected by the members of the Iowa House of Representatives Republican majority to serve as the Speaker of the House. Upmeyer's father, Del Stromer, served as Speaker from 1981–82.
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Tom Pettit
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- In 1953 graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- screenwriterjournalist
- Biography
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William Thomas Pettit was an American journalist, who was a television news correspondent for NBC from the 1960s through 1995. During most of that period, he filed reports for NBC Nightly News (as well as the preceding Huntley-Brinkley Report) and served numerous times on the panel of Meet the Press. He served as one of NBC's floor reporters at the political conventions in 1972, 1976, and 1980.
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David Glawe
- Biography
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David J. Glawe was the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis from January 2017 to May 2020 and is currently the President and CEO of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
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Joy Corning
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Joy Corning was an American politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of Iowa. A Republican, she was a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
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David R. Nagle
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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David Ray Nagle is an American politician and lawyer from Iowa. He was a Representative in the United States House of Representatives, representing Iowa's 3rd congressional district from 1987 to 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
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Janet Petersen
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Janet Petersen is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Iowa Senate representing the 18th District since January 2013. She previously served as the Senate Minority Leader and has previously represented the 64th district in the Iowa House of Representatives between 2001 and 2013. She received her BA from the University of Northern Iowa and her MA from Drake University.
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Adam Koch
- Occupations
- stomatologistbasketball player
- Biography
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Adam Koch is an American former professional basketball player. He was an All-American player as a collegian at University of Northern Iowa and led the Panthers to a memorable upset of top-seeded Kansas in the 2010 NCAA tournament.
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Ras Smith
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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RasTafari I. "Ras" Smith is an American politician from Iowa. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, as a legislator from District 62.
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Chris Hagenow
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Chris Hagenow is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 2009 to 2021.
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Mark Costello
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mark Costello is the Iowa State Senator from the 8th District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa Senate since being elected in 2014. He had also previously served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2013–2014.
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Anesa Kajtazovic
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Anesa Kajtazovic is a Bosnian-American politician who was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing the 61st District from 2011 to 2015. Kajtazovic was an unsuccessful candidate for Iowa's 1st congressional district in an open seat primary in June 2014.
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Jeff Danielson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jeff Danielson is a former Democratic Iowa State Senator. Having served the 30th Senate District between 2013 and 2019, he had also previously served the 10th Senate District up until redistricting, between 2005 and 2013.
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Curt Hanson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Curtis Dean "Curt" Hanson was an American politician. He was born and raised on a Kossuth County, Iowa farm near Swea City. He was also a resident of Fairfield for fifty-two years. Hanson received his B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa and his M.A. from the University of Iowa. He was a driver education teacher at Fairfield High School for forty-three years, where he received the Fairfield Jaycee Outstanding Young Education Award and was named Fairfield Teacher of the Year Award. Hanson also was president of the Iowa Association of Safety Education and a member of the National Education Society.
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Rick Bertrand
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rick Bertrand was the Iowa State Senator from the 7th District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa Senate between 2010 and 2019.
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Tony Bisignano
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Tony Bisignano is an American politician and state senator from the state of Iowa.
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Todd Taylor
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Todd Taylor is the Iowa State Senator from the 40th District. A Democrat, he has served in the Iowa Senate since 2019. Previously between 1995 and 2019 he had served in the Iowa House of Representatives from the 70th District. He received his BA from Graceland College and his BS from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Jean Ray Laury
- Occupations
- textile artistquilter
- Biography
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Jean Ray Laury was an American artist and designer. She was one of the first fine artists to move to quilting as a medium of choice in the late 1950s. Her quilts followed neither traditional method nor pattern; they were bold, modern, colorful collages, often laced with humor and satire. Penning over twenty books and teaching over 2,000 workshops, Laury helped women see the creative possibilities in everyday objects and awake their sense of inspiration. Laury has been called a "foremother of a quilt revival", and "one of the pioneers" of non-traditional quilts.
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Walt Rogers
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Walt Rogers was the Iowa State Representative from the 60th District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2011.
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Donald Avenson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Donald D. Avenson was an American politician in the state of Iowa.
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Chuck Hazama
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Charles K. Hazama was an American politician who served as mayor of Rochester, Minnesota for eight terms, from 1979 to 1995. Before he was Mayor, he served as the executive director of the Rochester YMCA. Hazama worked to promote Rochester, and his efforts were recognized when Money Magazine named Rochester the number one place to live in 1993. He also worked to create a citywide system for flood control following Rochester's flood of 1978. In 1995, Chuck Hazama didn't seek re-election and was succeeded by Chuck Canfield.
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Burton E. Sweet
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Burton Erwin Sweet was a four-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd congressional district, then a wide but short chain of counties in north-central and northeastern Iowa, in the shape of a monkey wrench.
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Brian Meyer
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Brian Meyer is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Iowa. A member of the Democratic Party, Meyer serves in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing the 29th district. He previously served on the Des Moines, Iowa City Council.
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Fred C. Gilchrist
- Occupations
- politicianlawyerteacher
- Biography
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Fred Cramer Gilchrist was an American educator who served as a seven-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa, from 1931 to 1945.
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Deborah Berry
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Deborah L. Berry is an American politician who was the Iowa State Representative from the 62nd District from 2012 to 2017. From 2003 to 2012 she represented the 22nd district, most of which is part of the current 62nd district.
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Edward Bechly
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- In 1901 graduated with Master of Didactics
- Occupations
- journalisteditorpublisher
- Biography
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Edward Bechly was an American editor, publisher, and proprietor of the Iroquois County Times-Democrat.
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Harvey Hess
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Harvey Hess was an American poet, librettist, educator, arts critic and theologian. His life and work are associated primarily with the states of Iowa and Hawaii.
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William Dotzler
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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William Anthony "Bill" Dotzler Jr. is the Iowa State Senator from the 31st District. A Democrat, he has served in the Iowa Senate since 2003 and previously served as assistant majority leader.
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Cindy Winckler
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Cindy Winckler is an American politician and member of the Iowa Senate for the 49th District. Previously, she served in the Iowa House of Representatives for the 90th District. She served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. She received her MA from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Polly Granzow
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Polly Granzow is a former Iowa State Representative from the 44th District. She served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009. She received her BA from the University of Iowa and her MA from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Paul Bell
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Paul A. Bell was an American politician who served as Iowa State Representative from the 57th and 41st Districts. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from the 57th District (1993 - 2003) and the 41st District from 2003 and until his death in June 2010. He received his BA from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Larry McKibben
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Larry E. McKibben was the Iowa State Senator from the 22nd District. He had served in the Iowa Senate since 1997 and was an assistant minority leader until he retired in 2008. He received his B.A. (1970) from the University of Northern Iowa and his J.D. (1972) from the University of Iowa College of Law. He was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1973. McKibben served on several committees in the Iowa Senate - the Commerce committee; the State Government committee; the Veterans Affairs committee; the Judiciary committee, where he was ranking member; and the Ways and Means committee, where he was ranking member. He also served on the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee. McKibben was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, District 3, in 1998. McKibben was re-elected in 2004 with 14,185 votes (51%), defeating Democratic opponent Wayne Sawtelle. He did not rerun in the 2008 Iowa Senate elections. From 2013 to 2019, McKibben served as a member of the Iowa Board of Regents. In 2017, he considered running for the board presidency, as Bruce Rastetter decided to step down. Michael Richards was elected to succeed Rastetter as board president.
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Christian William Ramseyer
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Christian William Ramseyer was a nine-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th congressional district.
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Brian Best
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Brian Best is an American businessman and politician currently serving in the Iowa House of Representatives from the 11th District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2015.
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Hasina Jalal
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- activist
- Biography
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Hasina Jalal is an advocate for women's human rights and democracy in Afghanistan. In 2014, Jalal was elected by public vote to receive the "N-Peace Award" from the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Office and the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor on the University for Peace. Since 2012, she is the co-founder and managing director of the National Association of Afghanistan Civil Society and she has also co-founded the first alliance of South Asian women on women's economic, social, and cultural rights in Sri Lanka. Jalal has served in the government of Afghanistan as a Research Team Lead and Policy and Research Expert at the Presidential Palace/Office of the President of Afghanistan and as a Policy Advisor and Director of Program Design and Donor Coordination Directorate at the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum of Afghanistan.
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Craig Johnson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Craig Paul Johnson is an American politician currently serving as the representative of the 67th District in the Iowa House of Representatives. He was previously elected as a Republican member of the Iowa State Senate's 32nd district in 2016. He defeated Democratic incumbent Brian Schoenjahn. He previously ran for election to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2014 for the 64th district. Johnson, born and raised in Independence, Iowa, is a financial planner and former sales and engineer manager.
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Brian Schoenjahn
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Brian H. Schoenjahn is a politician and a former Iowa State Senator from the 12th District. A Democrat, he has served in the Iowa Senate from 2005 until 2017. He received his B.A. in Social Science and his M.A. in Political Science from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Andrew Wenthe
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Andrew Wenthe was the Iowa State Representative from the 18th District. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013. He received his BA from the University of Northern Iowa.
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Jeanne Elizabeth Wier
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- In 1893 graduated with Bachelor of Didactics
- Occupations
- suffragisthistorian
- Biography
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Jeanne Elizabeth Wier was a teacher, historian, and founder of the Nevada Historical Society.
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Gene Ficken
- Occupations
- politicianteacher
- Biography
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Gene Ficken is a Democratic politician, representing the 23rd District in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2008.
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Jodi Tymeson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jodi Tymeson is a former Iowa State Representative from the 77th and 73rd Districts. She served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2001, representing the 77th District until it was redrawn in 2003 and representing the 73rd District until 2011. She received her BA from the University of Northern Iowa and her MPA from Drake University.
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Vanessa McNeal
- Occupations
- documentary filmmakeroratorsocial activist
- Biography
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Vanessa McNeal-Atadoga is an American social activist, public speaker, and documentary filmmaker. She directed the documentary that features stories of five male survivors of sexual violence titled The Voiceless, and We Are Survivors, a documentary that examines the experiences of eight victims of sexual abuse.
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Marcella Frevert
- Years
- 1937-.. (age 87)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Marcella R. Frevert was the Iowa State Representative from the 7th District. She served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1996 through 2011. She received her AA from Emmetsburg Junior College, her BS from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and her MA from the University of Northern Iowa.
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David Jacoby
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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David Jacoby is the Iowa State Representative from the 86th District. A Democrat, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2003, when he was elected in a special election following the resignation of Dick Myers.
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Michael J. O'Brien
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Michael J. O'Brien is an American politician in the state of Iowa.
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Marti Anderson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Marti Anderson is an American politician. A Democrat, she has served in as the representative from the 36th District in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2013.
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Bill Hager
- Enrolled in the University of Northern Iowa
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Bill Hager was an American politician from Florida. He served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives as a Republican, representing parts of coastal Palm Beach County from 2010 to 2018.
