List of Whitman College alumni

Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. Following are some of its notable alumni.

Academia

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Roland Bainton	1914		Protestant church historian and professor of ecclesiastical history at Yale Divinity School	[1]
Robert Clodius	1942		Educator and acting President of University of Wisconsin–Madison	[1]
Paula England	1971	Sociology and psychology	Award-winning sociologist, professor at New York University	[2] [1]
Reginald Green	1955		Development economist and academic	[1]
Torey Hayden	1973	Biology and chemistry	Child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer, and author	[3]
Stephen A. Hayner	1970	English literature	President of Columbia Theological Seminary	[4]
Dan Fenno Henderson	1944		Founder of the University of Washington Asian Law program	[5] [1]
Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg	2001	Politics	Executive in Residence at Schmidt Futures rme and former professor at the University of San Francisco.	[6]
Ben Kerkvliet	1965		Author and educator in comparative politics, Southeast Asia, and Asian studies.	[7]
Frances Penrose Owen	1919	Greek	First woman Regent of Washington State University	[8] [1]
Gordon Wright	1933	BA	History professor at the University of Oregon and Stanford University,
Robert W. Young	1955		Linguist known for his work on the Navajo language and professor at the University of New Mexico	[1]

Art and museums

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Marcus Amerman	1981	Art	Artist
Douglas Cole	1960	Art history	Historian and professor specializing in art and Pacific Northwest cultural history
David Crockett Graham	1908	BA	Curator of the Museum of Art, Archaeology, and Ethnology at the West China Union University and field collector for the Smithsonian	[1]

Business

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Ralph Cordiner	1922	Economics and political science	CEO and chairman, General Electric, Corp.(1958–1963); President (1950–1958)	[9]
Stephanie Dorgan	1977	Economics	Founder and owner of Seattle music venue The Crocodile
Ashifi Gogo	2005	Mathematics and physics	Co-founder of Sproxil	[1]
Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg	2001	Politics	Executive in Residence at Schmidt Futures	[1]
John W. Stanton	1977	Political science	Founder and CEO, Western Wireless, majority owner of the Seattle Mariners	[1]
Colleen Willoughby	1955		Founder of the Washington Women's Foundation and the director of Global Women Partners in Philanthropy	[10] [1]

Entertainment

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Anomie Belle	2002	Sociology	Professional musician and artivist
Dirk Benedict	1967	Dramatic art	Actor known for Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team .
Chastity Belt (band)	2010		Indie-rock band formed by Whitman students
Otto Harbach	c. 1900	MA	Lyricist and librettist of about fifty musical comedies, including The Desert Song
Cullen Hoback	2003		Filmmaker, Monster Camp Terms and Conditions May Apply , What Lies Upstream, Q Into the Storm
Shane Johnson	1998		Actor, Saving Private Ryan , Black Cadillac
Morten Lauridsen	1965		Composer and professor emeritus of composition at the USC Thornton School of Music	[1]
Lela Loren	2002	Theatre	Television actress
John Moe	1990	Dramatic art	NPR host and author
Lance Norris	1985	Dramatic art	Actor known for Mystic River
Patrick Page	1985		Actor and playwright
Kathryn Shaw	1971	Dramatic art	Artistic director of Studio 58 at Langara College i
Rick Stevenson	1977	History	Film writer, director, and producer
Adam West	1951	English	Actor known for Batman and Family Guy

Government and military

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Alan K. Campbell	1947		First director of the United States Office of Personnel Management	[1]
Alan W. Jones	1917	non-degreed	U.S. Army Major general	[11] [12]
Neil Kornze	2000	Politics	former Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Law

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Kenneth Culp Davis	1931		Legal scholar remembered as "the father of administrative law."	[1]
William O. Douglas	1920	English and economics	U.S. Supreme Court Justice	[1]
James Alger Fee	1910		Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit	[1]
W. Michael Gillette	1963	BA	Oregon Supreme Court Justice
Meda Chesney-Lind	1969		Criminologist and advocate for girls and women who come in contact with the criminal justice system in Hawaii.	[1]
Lucile Lomen	1941		First woman to serve as a law clerk for a Supreme Court justice
James L. Robart	1969		Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington	[1]
Charles F. Stafford	1940		Justice of the Washington Supreme Court	[1]

Literature and journalism

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Nate Cohn	2010	BA	Journalist for The New York Times
Craig Lesley	1967		Novelist who has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize	[1]
John Markoff	1971	Sociology	The New York Times journalist and co-author of Takedown
Edward P. Morgan	1932		Journalist and writer who reported for newspapers, radio, and television media services including ABC, CBS, and PBS	[1]

Politics

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Jack Burtch	1951	Political science	Washington State Representative
Ryan Crocker	1971	English	U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, and Pakistan	[1]
Jena Griswold	2006	Politics	Secretary of State of Colorado
Hal Holmes	1923		United States House of Representatives	[1]
Walt Minnick	1964		former Idaho Congressman
Pat Thibaudeau	1960	Psychology	former Washington State Senator
Al Ullman	1935		United States House of Representatives for 24 years	[1]
Ben Westlund	1971	Education and history	former Oregon State Treasurer

Science and medicine

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Alexander Barnes	2003	Chemistry	chemist, professor, and recipient of the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
J. Bruce Beckwith	1954		Pediatric pathologist known for helping to identify Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome	[1]
Gerard van Belle	1990	Physics and astronomy	Astronomer.
Bernard Berelson	1934	English	Behavioral scientist known for work on communication and mass media
Walker Bleakney	1924	Physics	Inventor of mass spectrometer, chair of department of physics at Princeton University	[1]
Robert Brattain	1931	Physics	Physicist
Walter Brattain	1924	Physics	Nobel Prize winner, physicist, and co-inventor of the transistor	[1]
Robert Brode	1921		Physicist and leader at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory	[1]
Wallace R. Brode	1921	BA	Chemist, specializing in the absorption spectra of dyes	[1]
William M. Fairbank	1939		Physicist known in particular for his work on liquid helium	[1]
Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger	1997	Geology	NASA astronaut
Webb Miller	1965	BA	Computational biology pioneer
David R. Nygren	1960		Particle physicist, inventor of the Time projection chamber.
Edith Quimby	1912	Mathematics and physics	Medical researcher and physicist	[1]
Vladimir Rojansky	1924	BS	Physicist, one of the earliest researchers of quantum mechanics	[1]
E. J. Workman	1924	BS	Atmospheric physicist	[1]

Sports

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Mara Abbott	2008	Economics	Professional cyclist	[13]
Ingrid Backstrom	2000	Geology	Professional skier	[14]
Holly Brooks	2004	Sociology and environmental studies	Winter Olympian in Nordic skiing	[15]
Derrike Cope	1980		NASCAR driver, 1990 Daytona 500 winner	[16]
Ben Eisenhardt	2014		Professional player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League	[17]
Tommy Lloyd	1998	Biology	Head basketball coach at the University of Arizona	[18]

Technology

Name	Class	Major	Notability	References
Marlin Eller	1974	Mathematics	Programmer and software developer, co-author of Barbarians Led by Bill Gates	[19]
Steve McConnell	1985	Philosophy, mathematics, and computer science	Software engineer and author of Code Complete	[20] [21]

References

1. "Honorary Degrees". Whitman College. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
2. "Paula England". New York University Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
3. "Biography". Torey Hayden. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
4. "Steve Hayner". InterVarsity Press. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
5. Sanders, Eli. "Dan Henderson, UW program founder, dies." Seattle Times . March 18, 2001. Retrieved on May 5, 2012.
6. "Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg '01 counsels Whitman graduates to do good". Whitman College. May 21, 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
7. "Ben Kerkvliet". The Department of Political and Social Change. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
8. Johnson, Tracy (March 17, 2002). "Schools leader Frances Owen dies at 102". Seattle Post-Intelligences Reporter. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
9. "Biography: Ralph J. Cordiner". GE Past leaders, GE website
10. Brauhn, David. "Trustee emerita Colleen Willoughby '55 urges women students to "step up, step out and engage" in this year's Women in Leadership Symposium". Whitman Magazine. Whitman College. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
11. "Alan W. Jones is Promoted" . The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, WA. August 28, 1918. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Morelock, J. D. (1994). Generals of the Ardennes: American Leadership in the Battle of the Bulge. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press. p.  279. ISBN   978-0-16-042069-6 – via Internet Archive.
13. Weinman, Edward (December 2013). "Easy Rider". Whitman College. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
14. "Out of bounds". Whitman College. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
15. Wohlforth, Charles (2016-08-12). "A Conversation with Holly Brooks". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
16. Bonkowski, Jerry (2015-02-18). "25 years ago, Derrike Cope pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Daytona 500 history". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
17. "Ben Eisenhardt - 2013-2014 - Men's Basketball". Whitman College Athletics. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
18. "Basketball Alumnus Assists at Gonzaga". Whitman College. 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
19. "About Us - Staff - UW Language Learning Center". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
20. Rich, Whitney (2020-09-29). "Just the Facts: Alum Creates No-Spin COVID-19 Data Center". Whitman College. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
21. "Steve McConnell". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-09-17.

External links

• Official website