35 Notable alumni of
Youngstown State University
Updated:
Youngstown State University is 1452nd in the world, 507th in North America, and 475th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 35 notable alumni from Youngstown State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
-
Ed O'Neill
- Occupations
- comediantelevision actorAmerican football playerfilm actorteacher
- Biography
-
Edward Leonard O'Neill is an American actor, comedian, and former football player. Over his career, he has earned four Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
-
James Traficant
- Enrolled in Youngstown State University
- In 1976 graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- American football playersheriffradio personalitypolitician
- Biography
-
James Anthony Traficant Jr. was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. A staunch economic populist known for his flamboyant personality, he represented the 17th congressional district, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley.
-
Mark Mangino
- Occupations
- coachhead coachAmerican football coach
- Biography
-
Mark Thomas Mangino is a former American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2009. In 2007, Mangino received several national coach of the year honors after leading the Jayhawks to their only 12-win season in school history and an Orange Bowl victory. However, he resigned as coach at Kansas two seasons later following allegations of mistreatment of players. While at Kansas, Mangino coached in four bowl games with a 3–1 record, the lone loss coming in the 2003 Tangerine Bowl. Additionally, in five of his eight seasons at Kansas, the Jayhawks were Bowl eligible; they had been bowl eligible only five times in the previous thirty seasons. He held multiple assistant coaching jobs before becoming the head coach at Kansas, the longest being an eight season stint at Kansas State as their running game coordinator.
-
Pat Narduzzi
- Occupations
- head coach
- Biography
-
Patrick Regan Narduzzi is an American college football coach and former player. Since 2015, he has been the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh. He was formerly the defensive coordinator at Michigan State. He attended Youngstown State University and the University of Rhode Island. He earned his master's degree from Miami University.
-
Amy Acton
- Occupations
- researcherepidemiologistuniversity teacherpublic health physician
- Biography
-
Amy Stearns Acton is an American physician and researcher who is currently running for governor of Ohio. Acton previously served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health from 2019 to 2020. She led Ohio's COVID-19 pandemic response and accompanied Governor DeWine during his daily afternoon press conferences throughout the spring of 2020. Prior to and immediately after serving as director of the Ohio Department of Health, she worked at the Columbus Foundation. She left her position at the foundation upon announcing her candidacy for the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election.
-
Tim Hagan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Timothy Hagan is an American politician who served as Cuyahoga County Commissioner and other local offices from the 1980s through 2000s, and was his party's nominee for the governorship of Ohio in 2002.
-
Kris Pavone
- Enrolled in Youngstown State University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- teacherprofessional wrestler
- Biography
-
Kris Pavone is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he wrestled under the ring name Caylen Croft. He was one half of the DudeBusters tag team with Trent Barreta.
-
Marcus Keene
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Marcus Johnny Rashaan Keene is an American professional basketball player for SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A.
-
Thomas Bopp
- Occupations
- astronomer
- Biography
-
Thomas Joel Bopp was an American amateur astronomer. In 1995, he discovered comet Hale–Bopp; Alan Hale discovered it independently at almost the same time, and it was thus named after both of them. At the time of the comet discovery he was a manager at a construction materials factory and an amateur astronomer. On the night of July 22, Bopp was observing the sky with friends in the Arizona desert when he made the discovery. It was the first comet he had observed and he was using a borrowed, home-built telescope.
-
Riyad Mansour
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
Riyad H. Mansour is a Palestinian diplomat and since 2005 has been the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations. Previous to Mansour's appointment to Permanent Observer, Mansour served as the Deputy Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations from 1983 to 1994. In 2005, President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas appointed him to succeed Nasser al-Qudwa as Permanent Observer for Palestine to the UN. Under Mansour, the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations changed from being an "entity" to being a "non-Member Observer State" on 29 November 2012.
-
Phil Klein
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Phil William Klein is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies; and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
-
Hiral Tipirneni
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Hiral Vyas Tipirneni is an Indian-American politician and physician. She worked for a decade in Phoenix, Arizona, area emergency departments, is a cancer research advocate, and serves on the board of directors of the Maricopa Health Foundation. In 2018, she was the Democratic nominee for special election for Arizona's 8th congressional district, which was called to fill the congressional seat after former GOP Representative Trent Franks resigned following a sexual misconduct scandal.
-
Avery Moss
- Enrolled in Youngstown State University
- Studied marketing
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
-
Avery Moss is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Youngstown State Penguins, and was selected by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft.
-
Desiré Dubounet
- Occupations
- film directordrag queenperforming artisthomeopathphysician
- Biography
-
Desiré D. Dubounet was an American alternative medicine inventor, filmmaker and performer who lived in Budapest, Hungary. Dubounet developed the pseudoscientific Electro Physiological Feedback Xrroid, an energy medicine device that is considered to be dangerous to health and has been described as a scam.
-
Abdul Wadud
- Occupations
- jazz musiciancellist
- Biography
-
Abdul Wadud was an American cellist known for his work in jazz and classical settings. Jazz musician and fellow composer Tomeka Reid hailed Abdul Wadud's "Camille" in a 2020 feature in the New York Times on music that one could play to make friends fall in love with the cello.
-
Nathaniel R. Jones
- Occupations
- lawyerjudgejournalist
- Biography
-
Nathaniel Raphael Jones was an American attorney, judge, and law professor. As general counsel of the NAACP, Jones fought to end school segregation, including in the northern United States. From 1979 until 1995, he served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit before assuming senior status, and in 2002 retired to resume a private legal practice.
-
Jay Williams
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Roy Kojo Jawara "Jay" Williams is a United States politician who served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development from 2014 to 2017. Previously, he served as the executive director of the federal Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers and as Mayor of Youngstown, Ohio. Since July 17, 2017, he has served as the President and CEO of the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation, formerly the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
-
Ronald A. Parise
- Occupations
- astronaut
- Biography
-
Ronald Anthony Parise was an Italian American scientist who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions as a payload specialist.
-
Sam Bahour
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
-
Sam Bahour is an American businessman and entrepreneur of Palestinian descent.
-
Robert M. Nemkovich
- Occupations
- presbyter
- Biography
-
Robert M. Nemkovich is an American prelate and was the sixth Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, elected by the twenty-first General Synod of this denomination in 2002 and serving until 2010.
-
Vytautas Šulskis
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Vytautas Šulskis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player.
-
Harry Meshel
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Harry Meshel was an American Democratic politician. He served as the president of the Ohio State Senate and chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. Meshel is noted for his legislative efforts on behalf of the disabled, economic development, and solid and hazardous waste disposal.
-
Patricia Haynes Smith
- Occupations
- businesspersonpolitician
- Biography
-
Patricia Haynes Smith is an American politician who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2008 to 2020, representing District 67. Smith is affiliated with the Democratic party. Her platform focused on promoting access to healthcare and other resources for underprivileged communities and improving education in public schools.
-
Chris Sainato
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Christopher Sainato is an American politician who represented the 9th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1995 to 2022. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
-
Charles J. Carney
- Occupations
- trade unionistpolitician
- Biography
-
Charles Joseph Carney was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio from 1970 to 1979.
-
Peter C. Economus
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
-
Peter Constantine Economus is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
-
Hassan Niknafs
- Occupations
- academic administratormechanical engineer
- Biography
-
Hassan Niknafs is an Iranian Azerbaijani mechanical engineer and academic administrator. He became president of Khazar University in 2015. Niknafs was dean of the school of engineering and applied sciences at Khazar University from 2013 to 2015.
-
Paula Brooks
- Years
- 1953-.. (age 73)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Paula L. Brooks is an American politician who is a former member of the Franklin County, Ohio Board of Commissioners.
-
Steven R. Little
- Years
- 1977-.. (age 49)
- Occupations
- chemical engineer
- Biography
-
Steven R. Little is an American chemical engineer and pharmaceutical scientist. He currently holds the title of department chair, distinguished professor, and George M. and Eva M. Bevier Endowed Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. He also holds secondary appointments in bioengineering, pharmaceutical sciences, immunology, ophthalmology and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.
-
Margarita Prentice
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Margarita López Prentice was a Washington state legislator. A Democrat, she represented the 11th District, which includes Seattle's Beacon Hill, South Park and portions of Renton, Kent, Tukwila, Burien, and SeaTac.
-
George Cappuzzello
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
George Angelo Cappuzzello is an American former baseball player who pitched for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. He played with two different teams over two seasons and ended his playing career in 1982.
-
Dov Nisman
- Occupations
- swimmer
- Biography
-
Dov Nisman is an Israeli former Olympic swimmer who competed for Youngstown State University.
-
John L. Volakis
- Occupations
- engineerelectrical engineer
- Biography
-
John Leonidas Volakis is a Greek-American electrical engineer and academic specializing in computational electromagnetics, antenna design, and RF materials. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors, and a recipient of the URSI Booker Gold Medal. He served as President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society in 2004.
-
Mikko Niemi
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Mikko Otto Petteri Niemi is a Finnish retired basketball player. 185 cm tall point guard Niemi played in Korisliiga for his foster club Tampereen Pyrintö (Pyrbasket) for three seasons before departing to Youngstown State University, where he stayed between 2005 and 2009. After that he played for one more season in Korisliiga, this time in Lappeenrannan NMKY.
-
Alverna Bennett
- Occupations
- aircraft pilot
- Biography
-
Alverna Babbs Williams was the first American pilot with disabilities to earn a pilot's license.
