12 Notable alumni of
Wilkes University
Updated:
Wilkes University is 3073rd in the world, 1053rd in North America, and 999th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 12 notable alumni from Wilkes University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Frank Zane
- Enrolled in Wilkes University
- In 1964 graduated with Bachelor of Science in education
- Occupations
- high-school teacherbodybuilder
- Biography
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Frank Zane is a retired American professional bodybuilder and author. Known as "The Chemist", Zane is a three-time Mr. Olympia winner, having won the competition every year from 1977 to 1979. He previously reigned as Mr. Universe in 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1972, and Mr. America in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Typically competing at a bodyweight of less than 200lbs, he regularly placed higher than people much bigger than him. His physique is considered one of the greatest in the history of bodybuilding due to his meticulous focus on symmetry and proportion. With one of the smallest, tightest waists in bodybuilding, he was renowned for his vacuum pose.
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Marlon James
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Marlon James is a Jamaican writer. He is the author of five novels: John Crow's Devil (2005), The Book of Night Women (2009), A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), which won him the 2015 Man Booker Prize, Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019), and Moon Witch, Spider King (2022).
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Bo Ryan
- Occupations
- teacherbasketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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William Francis "Bo" Ryan Jr. is an American former college basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 2001 to December 2015. Ryan served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville from 1984 to 1999 and at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1999 to 2001. His overall collegiate coaching record was 747–233. Ryan was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
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Lawrence Hilton Jacobs
- Occupations
- television directorcomposerfilm producerfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Lawrence Hilton Jacobs, also credited as Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, is an American actor and singer. Best known for playing Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington in Welcome Back Kotter (1975–1979), he has also appeared in a number of films and television shows, including Claudine (1974), Cooley High (1975), Roots (1977), Bangers and Mash (1983), Alien Nation (1989–1990), The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), and 31 (2016).
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William Evanina
- Occupations
- manager
- Biography
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William R. Evanina is an American national security official who served as director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) until his January 2021 resignation. As director of the NCSC he was the head of national counterintelligence for the U.S. Government. Evanina previously served as director of the Office of the national counterintelligence executive (ONCIX) before it transitioned into the NCSC. Prior to his service as national counterintelligence executive, he was the chief of the Counterespionage Group for the Central Intelligence Agency. He gained his initial law enforcement experience as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Ed Weber
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Edward Ford Weber was an American politician from Ohio. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1981 to 1983.
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Eddie Day Pashinski
- Years
- 1945-.. (age 80)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Edwin A. "Eddie Day" Pashinski is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 121st District who was first elected in 2006. His district includes Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes-Barre Township, Ashley, Plains Township and two wards in Hanover Township, all in Luzerne County.
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Catherine Chandler
- Years
- 1950-.. (age 75)
- Occupations
- translator
- Biography
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Catherine M. Chandler is a Canadian poet and translator, born in Queens, New York City and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, emigrating to Canada in 1971. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Spanish from Wilkes University and a Master of Arts in Education (Culture and Values in Education) from McGill University. She and her husband currently divide their time between their homes in Saint-Lazare-de-Vaudreuil, Québec, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.
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Donora Hillard Hare
- Years
- 1982-.. (age 43)
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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Donora Shaw is an American writer and editor. She was first made notable in the fields of institutional critique and trauma studies, specifically for her first full-length collection of poetry published when she was 27 years old. Her projects have appeared on CNN, WBEZ Chicago, and MSNBC.
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Steve Poleskie
- Occupations
- aircraft pilotartistdesigner
- Biography
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Stephen 'Steve' Poleskie was an artist and writer. The son of a high school teacher, Poleskie graduated from Wilkes University in 1959 with a degree in Economics. A self-taught artist, Poleskie had his first one-person show at the Everhart Museum, Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1958, while still in college. These works were largely abstract expressionistic in nature.
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Daniel Klem
- Occupations
- university teacherornithologist
- Biography
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Daniel Klem Jr. is an American ornithologist, known for his pioneering research into the mortality of birds due to glass windows. He is the Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College. He has been teaching there since 1979.
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Ann Bartuska
- Occupations
- ecologistbiologist
- Biography
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Ann M. Bartuska is an ecologist and biologist. She is a senior advisor at Resources for the Future and a former Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE) at the United States Department of Agriculture and former USDA Chief Scientist.
