List of University of North Dakota people

This is a list of notable people associated with the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. This list includes both alumni and faculty members.

Alumni

National and international award winners

Pulitzer Prize winners

• Maxwell Anderson – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter, and lyricist
• Mel Ruder – editor of the Hungry Horse News in Columbia Falls, Montana; 1965 Pulitzer Prize winner in Journalism for spot news covering a 1964 flood in Montana

Rhodes scholars

• Thomas McGrath – distinguished poet and Rhodes scholar

Academia

• Twyla Baker (October 4, 1976-) – academic administrator and president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
• Tomi Kay Phillips – academic administrator and president of Sitting Bull College
• Laurel Vermillion – academic administrator and president of Sitting Bull College

Arts and entertainment

• Sam Anderson – actor
• Srinivas Avasarala – film director and actor
• Acacia Forgot - drag queen
• Nancy Friese – American visual artist, educator
• Michael Halstenson – musician and composer
• Nicole Linkletter – winner of reality show America's Next Top Model fifth season
• Shadoe Stevens – announcer on Hollywood Squares

Athletics

• Jean-Paul Afif – former ABA player and coach
• Murray Baron – former NHL defenseman
• Ryan Bayda – former player in the NHL Carolina Hurricanes
• Ed Belfour – former NHL goaltender and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
• Jason Blake – former NHL player
• Jackson Blake – NHL player with the Carolina Hurricanes
• Brock Boeser – current NHL player with the Vancouver Canucks
• Drake Caggiula – current NHL player with the Chicago Blackhawks
• Taylor Chorney – former NHL player
• Dave Christian – member of the 1980 Olympic ice hockey team that beat the USSR in the "Miracle on Ice" game
• Mike Commodore – former NHL player
• Geno Crandall – basketball player with Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Aaron Dell – current NHL player with the San Jose Sharks
• Ryan Duncan – winner of the 2007 Hobey Baker Award
• Derek Forbort – current NHL player with the Los Angeles Kings
• Rhett Gardner – current NHL player with the Dallas Stars
• Pablo Garza – basketball player; professional mixed martial artist; former UFC Featherweight ^[1]
• Matt Greene – former NHL player
• Rocco Grimaldi – current NHL player with the Nashville Predators
• Dave Hakstol – former head coach of the Seattle Kraken
• David Hale – former Phoenix Coyotes player in the NHL
• Quinton Hooker (born 1995) – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Tony Hrkac – former NHL player and 1987 Hobey Baker Award winner
• Phil Jackson – former NBA player and coach
• Ben Jacobson – head men's basketball coach at the University of Northern Iowa
• Greg Johnson – former player in the NHL
• Luke Johnson – current NHL player with the Chicago Blackhawks
• Ryan Johnson – former player in the NHL
• Milson Jones – former CFL running back
• Tyson Jost – current NHL player with the Colorado Avalanche
• Jim Kleinsasser – former Minnesota Vikings NFL player
• Tyler Kleven – current NHL player with the Ottawa Senators
• Chris Kuper – former Denver Broncos NFL player and current coach
• Paul LaDue – current NHL player with the Los Angeles Kings
• Jocelyne Lamoureux – women's hockey gold medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Monique Lamoureux – women's hockey gold medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Jim LeClair – former Cincinnati Bengals NFL player
• Brian Lee – former Ottawa Senators player in the NHL
• Brad Malone – current NHL player with the Edmonton Oilers
• Errol Mann – former Detroit Lions NFL player
• Gene Murphy – North Dakota football player and head coach
• Chad Mustard – former Denver Broncos NFL player
• Brock Nelson – current NHL player for the New York Islanders
• Travis O'Neel – UND football captain of 2001 National Championship Team
• Dave Osborn – former Minnesota Vikings NFL player
• T. J. Oshie – current Washington Capitals player in the NHL
• Zach Parise – former player in the NHL
• Shane Pinto – current NHL player with the Ottawa Senators
• Joe Polo – Olympic gold medalist in curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Tucker Poolman – current NHL player with the Winnipeg Jets
• Pete Retzlaff – former Philadelphia Eagles NFL player
• Nick Schmaltz – current NHL player with the Arizona Coyotes
• Lawrie Skolrood – former CFL player
• Craig Smith – men's basketball coach at Utah State Aggies men's basketball
• Monte Smith – former Denver Broncos NFL player
• Drew Stafford – current New Jersey Devils player in the NHL
• Troy Stecher – current NHL player with the Vancouver Canucks
• Dave Tippett – former NHL player; current head coach of the Arizona Coyotes
• Jonathan Toews – current free-agent in the NHL
• Landon Wilson – former Dallas Stars player in the NHL
• Travis Zajac – former New York Islanders player in the NHL
• Marlon Stewart – former NBA G League player

Business

• Thomas Barger – geologist and former CEO of Aramco
• Thomas D. Campbell – agriculturalist and corporate farmer
• Mark Chipman – NHL executive, owner of the Winnipeg Jets
• Elmer Ellis – former president of the University of Missouri (1955–63)
• Ralph Engelstad – former Las Vegas casino owner; UND philanthropist
• Dave Fennell – founder of Golden Star Resources
• Andrew Freeman – inventor of the block heater; former manager of Minnkota Power Cooperative
• Eric Hardmeyer – current president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota
• Hugo Magnuson – founder of Hugo's regional grocery store chain; former Grand Forks mayor
• William C. Marcil – current CEO of Forum Communications
• Peter Nygård – founder and chairman of Nygård International
• Gregory R. Page – current president and CEO of Cargill
• Sally J. Smith – former president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain
• Dave St. Peter – president of the Minnesota Twins
• Myron W. Wentz – founder, chairman and former CEO of USANA Health Sciences

Law, politics, and government

• Fred G. Aandahl – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Congressman ^[2]
• Ole Aarsvold – former member of North Dakota House of Representatives
• Dick Armey – former United States House of Representatives Majority Leader
• Vance Badawey – Member of the Canadian House of Commons
• Ken Clouston – member of the Wyoming House of Representatives
• Ronald Davies – former federal judge, ordered the integration of Little Rock Central High School
• John E. Davis – former governor of North Dakota
• Byron Dorgan – former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
• Lynn Frazier – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
• H. F. Gierke III – 71st National Commander of The American Legion; Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
• Heidi Heitkamp – former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
• Thomas Lawrence Higgins – Gay rights activist that coined the term "gay pride" and known for "pieing" Anita Bryant ^{[3] [4]}
• William Langer – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
• John Moses – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
• Ragnvald A. Nestos – former governor of North Dakota
• Allen I. Olson – former governor of North Dakota
• Rosanna M. Peterson – professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and current federal judicial nominee to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
• Mark Pfeifle – former Deputy National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, architect of the Surge strategic communications, and Communications Director for the 2004 Republican National Convention
• Earl Pomeroy – former U.S. Representative for North Dakota
• Michael Rustad – scholar on intellectual property; author; professor at Suffolk University Law School
• Brent Sanford – Lieutenant Governor-elect of North Dakota ^[5]
• Ed Schafer – former United States Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of North Dakota
• George F. Shafer – 17th Governor of North Dakota, serving from 1929 to 1933 ^[6]
• Charles Tighe – Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
• Kurt Zellers – current Minnesota State Representative and former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives

Literature and journalism

• Maxwell Anderson – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter, and lyricist
• Chandra K. Clarke – author, columnist, and business woman
• Jon Hassler – novelist
• Chuck Klosterman – author and journalist for Spin and Esquire magazines
• Irv Kupcinet – Chicago Sun-Times columnist; national syndicated talk show host; winner of 15 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award
• Thomas McGrath – distinguished poet and Rhodes scholar
• Edward W. Moser – linguistics teacher
• Edward K. Thompson – former editor of LIFE magazine
• Era Bell Thompson – former editor of Ebony magazine
• Larry Watson – Milkweed National Fiction Prize-winning author

Military

• David Charles Jones – former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former general in the United States Air Force
• Kevin B. Kuklok – former major general in the United States Marine Corps
• Joane Mathews – brigadier general in the National Guard of the United States
• Homer N. Wallin – former vice admiral in the United States Navy

Science

• Cora Smith Eaton – physician, suffragist and mountaineer
• Carl Eielson – pioneer aviator
• Judith Kaur – physician and advocate for Native American health equity
• Karen L. Nyberg – NASA astronaut
• Harry Nyquist – important contributor to information theory; recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor (1960)
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson – Arctic explorer
• Esther Tailfeathers, physician ^[7]

Faculty

• Robert B. Ammons – founder of Psychological Reports and Perceptual and Motor Skills journals
• Rich Davis – former Dean of the UND School of Medicine; founder of KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce
• Michael James Gaffey – planetary scientist
• Robert L. Henry, Jr. – former Dean of the UND School of Law
• Meyer Jacobstein – professor of economics U.S. Representative from New York
• Philip Manuel – pianist, organist, harpsichordist
• Peter A. Munch – professor of sociology
• Mary Elizabeth Perley — French language
• Rodney K. Smith – current President of Southern Virginia University
• Albert H. Taylor – electrical engineer who made important early contributions to the development of radar
• Jack Russell Weinstein – professor of philosophy

See also

• List of presidents of the University of North Dakota

References

1. "Pablo Garza UFC Bio" . Retrieved August 8, 2014.
2. "AANDAHL, Fred George (1897–1966)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
3. "Years before he was a gay rights leader, he was thrown out of UND. Whatever happened to Thom Higgins?". June 26, 2024.
4. "'Gay Pride was invented here': The origins of Pride in the Twin Cities".
5. "Doug Burgum elected Governor; speech upcoming on WDAY". WDAY / WDAZ. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
6. "North Dakota Governor George Frederick Shafer". National Governors Association. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
7. "Medical doctor and changemaker, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, to receive University of Lethbridge honorary degree | UNews". University of Lethbridge . Archived from the original on June 5, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.