This is a list of the notable alumni of Willamette University , a post-secondary school in Salem, Oregon in the United States. Founded in 1842 as the Oregon Institute, alumni have included those in Congress, the state government, and in the federal and state courts.
This includes alumni of the main school. Those who also attended one of the university's graduate schools are listed in those sections as well.
Name | Attended | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
James Albaugh (b. 1950) | Boeing executive | [1] | |
Bruce Anderson (b. 1944) | 1962–66 | Linebacker in the National Football League | [2] |
Thomas A. Bartlett (b. 1930) | 1947–49 | Educator, Chancellor of the State University of New York and the Oregon University System | [3] |
Charles B. Bellinger (1839–1905) | Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon | [4] | |
Douglas H. Bosco (b. 1946) | 1963–1968 | U.S. Representative from California; also attended the law school | [5] |
Bruce Botelho (b. 1948) | B.A. 1971 | Alaska Attorney General and mayor of Juneau, Alaska; also attended the law school | [6] |
George M. Brown (1864–1934) | Class of 1885 | Oregon Attorney General and justice on the Oregon Supreme Court | [7] |
James M. Brown (b. 1941) | Class of 1964 | Oregon Attorney General and county district attorney | [8] |
Winifred Byrd (1884–1970) | Concert pianist and educator | ||
J. R. Campbell (b. 1918) | B.A. 1940 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court and judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals; also attended the law school | [9] |
Daryl Chapin (1906-1995) | Physicist best known for co-inventing solar cells | [10] | |
Terry Cooney (b. 1933) | Former Major League Baseball umpire | ||
James Cuno (b. 1951) | Class of 1973 | Art historian and museum director | |
Robert Eakin (1848–1917) | Class of 1873 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court | [7] |
Sam Farr (b. 1941) | B.S. 1963 | U.S. Representative from California | [11] |
James Martin Fitzgerald (b. 1920) | B.A. 1950 | Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Alaska and the Alaska Supreme Court; also attended the law school | [12] |
Theodore Thurston Geer (1851–1924) | Governor of Oregon | [7] | |
Melvin Clark George (1849–1933) | U.S. Representative from Oregon | [7] | |
Alonzo Gesner (1842–1912) | Oregon State Senator | [13] | |
Joseph K. Gill (1841–1931) | 1864–1865 | Founder of J. K. Gill Company | [7] |
Edith Green (1910–1987) | 1927–1929 | U.S. Representative from Oregon | [14] |
Andrew Halcro (b. 1964) | Member of the Alaska House of Representatives | [15] | |
Bert E. Haney (1879–1943) | Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | [16] | |
Mark Hatfield (1922–2011) | 1940–1943 | Governor of Oregon, United States Senator, and state legislator | [17] |
Willis C. Hawley (1864–1941) | Class of 1888 | Congressman, president of Willamette; also attended the law school | [18] |
Liz Heaston (b. 1977) | Class of 1999 | First woman to score in a college football game | [19] |
Thomas Hemingway | Class of 1962 | Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force; also attended the law school | [20] |
Chauncey Hosford (1820–1911) | Minister and educator, attended the Oregon Institute | [21] | |
Charles A. Johns (1857–1932) | B.A. 1878 | Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and Supreme Court of the Philippines | [7] |
Daniel Jones (1830–1891) | Leader in the Methodist Episcopal church, first African American student at Willamette | [22] | |
Randall B. Kester (b. 1916) | Class of 1937 | Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court | [23] |
Jeff Kruse (b. 1951) | B.S. | Oregon State Senator | [24] |
Harry Lane (1855–1917) | Class of 1876 | Mayor of Portland, U.S. Senator; also attended the medical school | [25] |
Richard Laymon (1947–2001) | B.A. | Horror writer | [26] |
Cal Lee (b. 1946) | Football coach | [27] | |
Susan M. Leeson (b. 1946) | B.A. 1968 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court; also attended the law school | [28] |
Lesil McGuire (b. 1971) | B.A. 1993 | Member of the Alaska House of Representatives and the Alaska State Senate; also attended the law school | [29] |
Charles L. McNary (1874–1944) | United States Senator from Oregon and 1940 Republican Vice-Presidential nominee | [30] | |
John Hugh McNary (1867–1937) | Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon | [31] | |
Alex J. Mandl (b. 1943) | Businessman, former president of AT&T | [32] | |
Peter K. Manning (b. 1940) | B.A. 1961 | Academic, professor at Michigan State University | [33] |
Robert A. Miller (1854–1941) | Politician, member of the Oregon House of Representatives | [34] | |
Laurie Monnes Anderson (b. 1945) | B.A. 1968 | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives | [35] |
Charles S. Moore (1857–1915) | 1872–1874 | Oregon State Treasurer and county judge | [36] |
Charles B. Moores (1849–1930) | B.A. 1870 | Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives | [37] |
Merrill Moores (1856–1929) | U.S. Representative from Indiana | [38] | |
Dale T. Mortensen (b. 1939) | B.A. 1961 | Professor at Northwestern University; 2010 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics | [39] |
Bob Packwood (b. 1932) | Class of 1954 | United States Senator from Oregon | [40] |
Patricia Price | B.A., B. Mus. 2004 | Music producer | [41] |
Skip Priest | B.A. | Member of the Washington House of Representatives | [42] |
Tobias Read (b. 1975) | B.A. (1997) | Oregon State Treasurer, Member of the Oregon House of Representatives | [43] |
John W. Reynolds (b. 1875) | A.B (1895) A.M. (1897) | Dean of the law school | [44] |
Samuel T. Richardson (1857–1921) | B.A. 1892 | Educator and dean of the law school; also attended the law school | [45] |
Nancy Ryles (1937–1990) | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives, Senate, and Public Utility Commission | [46] | |
Ron Saxton (b. 1954) | Class of 1976 | Attorney, two-time candidate for Oregon Governor | [47] |
Herb Schmalenberger (1925–2006) | College football coach | [48] | |
Frederick Schwatka (1849–1892) | Explorer of the Arctic | [49] | |
Al Siebert (1934–2009) | B.S. | Psychology author and educator | [50] |
Otto Richard Skopil, Jr. (b. 1919) | B.A. 1941 | Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; also attended the law school | [51] |
Robert Freeman Smith (b. 1931) | B.A. 1953 | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 2nd district; Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives | [52] |
Vic Snyder (b. 1947) | B.A. 1975 | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 2nd district | [53] |
Winlock W. Steiwer (1852–1920) | Class of 1971 | Oregon state senator and county judge | [54] |
Nick Symmonds (b. 1983) | Class of 2006 | Distance runner, 2008 Olympian, seven NCAA Div. III titles | [55] |
Andy Tillman (b. 1952) | c. 1970 | A founder of the US llama industry | [56] |
Isaac Homer Van Winkle (1870–1943) | Class of 1898 | Oregon Attorney General and dean of the College of Law; also attended the law school | [57] |
John B. Waldo (1844–1907) | Class of 1866 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court | [58] |
William Waldo (1832–1911) | President of the Oregon State Senate | [58] | |
Kim Wallan | B.S. | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives; also attended the law school | [59] |
Marie Watt (b. 1967) | Class of 1990 | Artist | [60] |
Dick Weisgerber | Football player | [61] | |
Edward Curtis Wells (1910–1986) | Businessman, vice president at Boeing Company | [62] | |
Frank K. Wheaton (b. 1951) | Agent and actor | ||
Richard Williams (1836–1914) | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's At-large district | [63] | |
John N. Williamson (1855–1943) | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 2nd district | [64] | |
Parish L. Willis (1838–1917) | B.A. 1865 | Oregon State Senator | [65] |
Greg Zerzan | Federal government administrator; also attended the law school | [66] |
This includes alumni of the College of Law. Those who also attended one of the university's other schools are listed in those sections as well.
Name | Attended | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
William A. Barton | J.D. 1972 | Trial attorney | [67] |
Douglas H. Bosco (b. 1946) | J.D. 1971 | U.S. Representative from California; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [5] |
Bruce Botelho (b. 1948) | J.D. 1976 | Alaska Attorney General and mayor of Juneau, Alaska; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [6] |
Jay Bowerman (1876–1957) | 1893–1896 | Former Governor of Oregon | [7] |
J. R. Campbell (b. 1918) | J.D. 1942 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court and judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [9] |
Wallace P. Carson, Jr. (b. 1934) | J.D. 1962 | Former Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court | [68] |
Paul De Muniz | J.D. 1975 | Current Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court | [69] |
James Martin Fitzgerald (1920–2011) | LL.B. 1951 | Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Alaska and the Alaska Supreme Court; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [12] |
Jeffrey Grayson (1942–2009) | Co-founder of Capitol Consultants and convicted white collar criminal | [70] | |
Mark Hatfield (1922–2011) | Former Oregon Secretary of State, Governor, and longtime U.S. Senator; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [71] | |
Willis C. Hawley (1864–1941) | LL.B. 1888 | Congressman from Oregon and president of Willamette University; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [72] |
Thomas Hemingway | J.D. 1965 | Brigadier general in the United States Air Force; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [73] |
Fern Hobbs (1883–1964) | LL.B. 1913 | Implemented martial law in Copperfield, Oregon, while serving as private secretary to the Governor of Oregon | [74] |
Edward H. Howell (1915–1994) | LL.B. 1940 | Oregon Supreme Court justice | [75] |
Jay Inslee (b. 1951) | J.D. 1976 | Current Governor of Washington State, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington state | [76] |
Faith Ireland | J.D. 1969 | Justice on the Washington Supreme Court | [77] |
Jeffrey Ryan Jones | J.D./M.B.A. 2001 | General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, WEG | |
Joshua M. Kindred (b. 1977) | J.D. 2005 | Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Alaska | [78] |
Susan M. Leeson (b. 1946) | J.D. 1981 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [28] |
Berkeley Lent (1921–2007) | J.D. 1950 | Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and member of both chambers of the Oregon Legislative Assembly | [9] |
Virginia Linder | J.D. 1980 | Oregon Supreme Court justice | [79] |
Amanda Marshall | J.D. 1995 | United States Attorney | [80] |
William M. McAllister (1896–1986) | LL.B. 1928 | Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives | [81] |
John McCourt (1874–1924) | Class of 1896 | Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court | [82] |
Lesil McGuire (b. 1971) | J.D. 1998 | Member of the Alaska Senate and House; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [29] |
Conde McCullough (1887–1946) | LL.B. 1928 | Bridge designer and civil engineer | [83] |
Bob Mionske (b. 1962) | U.S. Olympic racing cyclist | ||
James W. Mott (1883–1945) | LL.B. 1917 | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon | [84] |
Lisa Murkowski (b. 1957) | J.D. 1985 | United States Senator from Alaska | [85] |
Albin W. Norblad (1939–2014) | Oregon state circuit court judge | [86] | |
E. M. Page (1893–1959) | Class of 1913 | Oregon Supreme Court justice | [87] |
Steven Powers | J.D. 2001 | Oregon Court of Appeals; first Filipino American male. | |
Benjamin Hale Settle (b. 1947) | J.D. 1972 | Federal judge in Washington state | [88] |
Norma Paulus (b. 1933) | LL.B. 1962 | Oregon Secretary of State and Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction | [89] |
Otto Richard Skopil, Jr. (b. 1919) | LL.B. 1946 | Federal judge in Oregon and for the Ninth Circuit | [90] |
John F. Steelhammer | Oregon Speaker of the House | ||
Kenneth S. Stern | J.D. | Defense lawyer | [91] |
Charles Swindells | Former American ambassador and businessman | ||
Isaac Homer Van Winkle (1870–1943) | Class of 1901 | Oregon Attorney General and dean of the College of Law; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [57] |
Kim Wallan | J.D. | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [59] |
Jennifer Williamson | J.D. 2001 | Democratic politician who represented Oregon's 36th District in the Oregon House of Representatives. She served as Majority Leader from 2015 to 2019. | |
Walter C. Winslow (1882–1962) | LL.B. 1908 | Justice pro tempore of the Oregon Supreme Court | [92] |
Stephen K. Yamashiro (1941–2011) | JD 1969 | Mayor of Hawaii County | [93] |
Leon Rene Yankwich (1888–1975) | LL.B. 1909 | Federal district court judge in California | [94] |
Greg Zerzan | Federal government administrator; also attended Willamette as an undergraduate | [66] |
This includes alumni of the Atkinson Graduate School of Management and the defunct College of Medicine. Those who also attended one of the university's other schools are listed in those sections as well.
Name | Attended | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Jason Atkinson (b. 1970) | Atkinson (1997) | Member of the Oregon Senate and House of Representatives | [95] |
Sandy Baruah | Atkinson | Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development in the United States Commerce Department | [96] |
David Gomberg | Atkinson (1981) | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives | [97] |
Augustus C. Kinney (1845–1908) | Medicine (1869) | Research on tuberculosis | [7] |
Harry Lane (1855–1917) | Medicine (1878) | Mayor of Portland and U.S. Senator | [98] |
Patricia Price | Atkinson (2009) | Music producer | [41] |
Punit Renjen (b. 1961) | Atkinson (1986) | Businessperson | [99] |
Levi L. Rowland (1831–1908) | Medicine (1872) | Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction and Superintendent of Oregon State Insane Asylum | [100] |
Loyal B. Stearns (1853–1936) | Medicine | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives and judge | [7] |
Benjamin Stark was an American merchant and politician in Oregon. A native of Louisiana, he purchased some of the original tracts of land for the city of Portland. He later served in the Oregon House of Representatives before appointment to the United States Senate in 1860 after the death of Edward D. Baker. A Democrat, Stark served in the Senate from 1861 to 1862. He later served in the Connecticut House of Representatives.
George Wycliffe McBride was an American politician and businessman from the U.S. state of Oregon. An Oregon native, he served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly as Speaker of the House and as Oregon Secretary of State for two terms before election as United States Senator from Oregon. A Republican, he was the first native Oregonian to serve in the Senate. His father and two of his brothers were also politicians.
Richard Williams was an American lawyer and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Ohio, he moved to Oregon in 1851 where he became an attorney. A Republican, he was the United States Congressman representing Oregon's at large congressional district for one term from 1877 to 1879.
The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, on the corner of 15th and Agate streets, overlooking Hayward Field.
The Mark O. Hatfield Library is the main library at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1986, it is a member of the Orbis Cascade Alliance along with several library lending networks, and is a designated Federal depository library. Willamette's original library was established in 1844, two years after the school was founded. The library was housed in Waller Hall before moving to its own building in 1938.
Robert Sharp Bean was the 16th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving as Chief Justice three different times. He later served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. An Oregon native, he was part of the first graduating class of the University of Oregon.
Charles Edwin Wolverton was an American state and federal judge in the state of Oregon. He was the 18th Chief Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court. He served as the chief twice during his eleven years on Oregon's highest court, followed by 21 years as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.
Abraham Walter Lafferty was a U.S. Representative from the state of Oregon. Lafferty spent the majority of his career both as a legislator and as an attorney attempting to have millions of acres of land previously owned by the Oregon and California Railroad come under Oregon state control, rather than the control of the U.S. federal government.
Otto Richard Skopil Jr. was an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. The native Oregonian was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1979 to 1986. Previously, he was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon from 1972 to 1979, and was the chief judge of that court from 1976 to 1979. Of German ancestry, he was a veteran of World War II and received both his undergraduate education and law degree from Willamette University.
Michael Wise Mosman is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. He served as Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon from February 1, 2016, to December 23, 2019. He also served a 7-year term on the FISA Court from May 4, 2013, to May 3, 2020. He previously served as the United States attorney for the same district.
Portland University was a private, Methodist post-secondary school in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1891 in a split from Willamette University, the school closed in 1900. The campus was located in what is now the University Park neighborhood and later became home of the University of Portland. The original campus building, West Hall, still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Marco Antonio Hernandez is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.