Notable Alumni

An asterisk (*) indicates attendance at UW–Madison without earning a degree.

Shirley Abrahamson (SJD 1962)
Chief justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Rita Braver (1970)
CBS News reporter
Dick Cheney (1968)*
U.S. vice president
Dale Chihuly (MS 1967)
Glass artist
Michael Feldman (1970)
Host of public radio’s “Whad’Ya Know?”
Lorraine Hansberry (1952)*
Playwright, author
bell hooks (MA 1976)
Author, poet
Robert M. La Follette (1879)
Former Wisconsin governor and congressman
Charles Lindbergh (1924)*
Trans-Atlantic aviator
Jim Lovell (1950)
Astronaut
Walter Mirisch (1942)
Film producer
John Muir (1863)*
Naturalist, father of national park system
Edwin Newman (1940)
Journalist
Arthur C. Nielsen Sr. (1918)
Founder of the Nielsen Company
Joyce Carol Oates (MA 1961)
Novelist
Allan “Bud” Selig (1956)
Commissioner, Major League Baseball
Charlie Trotter (1982)
Chef
Frederick Jackson Turner (1884, MA 1888)
Historian
Eudora Welty (1929)
Author
Frank Lloyd Wright (1890)*
Architect
David (1970) and Jerry (1972) Zucker
Movie producers