A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
List of University of Kentucky alumni
...This is a list of notable people associated with the University of Kentucky in the United States.
Notable alumni (non-sports)
Academia and research
| Name | Years attended/ degree received | Notability | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Akers | PhD 1966 | Professor Emeritus of Criminology at the University of Florida | [1] |
| Diogenes Allen | BA 1954 | Professor of Philosophy at Princeton Theological Seminary; Rhodes Scholar | [2] |
| W. David Arnett | BS 1961 | Regents Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Arizona | [3] |
| Robert A. Baker | BA 1948, MA 1949 | Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky; UFO skeptic | [4] |
| William M. Bass | MS 1956 | Professor of Forensic Anthropology at the University of Tennessee | [5] |
| George Billman | PhD 1980 | Professor of physiology at The Ohio State University | [6] |
| Charles E. Bishop | MS 1948 | Chancellor of the University of Maryland, College Park, President of the University of Arkansas, Chancellor of the University of Houston System | [7] |
| Sarah Gibson Blanding | BA 1923 | First female president of Vassar College | [8] |
| Meir Bialer | post-doctoral studies 1979-80 | David H. Eisenberg Professor of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel | [9] |
| Amy L. Bondurant | BA 1973 | Former U.S. Ambassador to the OECD | [10] |
| M. Christopher Brown II | MS 1994 | President of Alcorn State University and Kentucky State University | [11] |
| Robert A. Bryan | MA 1951, PhD 1956 | President of the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, and University of South Florida | [12] |
| Francisco Xavier Castellanos | R 1991 | Director of Research at the New York University Child Research Center | [13] |
| Lois Mai Chan | PhD 1980 | Professor of Library Science at the University of Kentucky | [14] |
| Dale T. Chapman | BS | President of Lewis and Clark Community College | [15] |
| Philip B. Coulter | 1961–1962 (did not graduate) | Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former Dean at the University of New Orleans | [16] |
| Matt Cutts | BS 1995 | Software engineer | [17] |
| Paul W. Davenport | PhD 1980 | Professor of Physiology at the University of Florida | [18] |
| Mark E. Davis | BS 1977, MS 1978, PhD 1981 | Professor of Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology | [19] |
| Brady J. Deaton | BS 1966, MA 1968 | Chancellor of the University of Missouri | [20] |
| Peter Dendle | BA 1990, MA 1993 | Professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto | [21] |
| Robert Denhardt | PhD 1968 | Professor of Public Policy at the University of Southern California | [22] |
| Vijay K. Dhir | PhD 1972 | Former Dean of the University of California, Los Angeles Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science | [23] |
| Joseph T. DiPiro | PharmD 1981 | Dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy | [24] |
| C. Kenneth Dodd Jr. | BS 1971 | Herpetologist and conservationist | [25] |
| Charles M. Dollar | MA 1963, PhD 1966 | Electronic records program manager at the National Archives and Records Administration and Professor at the University of British Columbia | [26] |
| Herman Lee Donovan | BS 1914, LLD 1933 | Former President of the University of Kentucky | [27] |
| Michael Dorff | PhD 1997 | Mathematician at Brigham Young University, President of the Mathematical Association of America, and Founder of the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics | [28] |
| Ronald Enroth | MA 1963, PhD 1967 | Professor of Sociology at Westmont College | [29] |
| Lori Stewart Gonzalez | B.A. | 23rd President of Ohio University | [30] |
| Virginia Griffing | BS, 1937 | Physicist and chemist; first woman on the faculty of Catholic University of America's physics department | [31] |
| Bradlee L. Heckmann | BS 2009 | Neuroimmunologist and cell biologist | [32] |
| Edward H. Kass | AB 1939; MS 1941 | physician, medical school professor, medical researcher in infectious diseases, medical journal editor, and historian of medicine | [33] |
| A. D. Kirwan | AB 1926 | Former President of the University of Kentucky | [34] |
| William English Kirwan | AB 1960 | Chancellor of the University System of Maryland | [35] |
| John E. Leland | PhD 1994 | Director of the University of Dayton Research Institute | [36] |
| Helen Matthews Lewis | PhD 1970 | Sociologist, historian, and activist | [37] |
| William Lipscomb | BS 1941 | 1976 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry | [38] |
| Deanna B. Marcum | MLS 1971 | President of the Council on Library and Information Resources and Associate Librarian at the Library of Congress | [39] |
| Anne Hazen McFarland, M.D. | Physician and medical journal editor | [40] | |
| Thomas Hunt Morgan | BS 1886 | Natural scientist and winner of the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | [41] |
| Thomas Volney Munson | BS 1870, MS 1893, DSc 1906 | Horticulturalist | [42] |
| Lee T. Todd Jr. | BS 1968 | Former president of the University of Kentucky; inventor; entrepreneur | [43] |
| Nancy Tomes | BA 1974 | Author and eminent historian of public health; recipient of the Bancroft Prize in 2017; Distinguished Professor, Stony Brook University | [44] |
- Albert Balows (1921–2006), clinical microbiologist and the president of the American Society for Microbiology
- Irving Millman (1923–2012), virologist and microbiologist
Business
| Name | Years attended/ degree received | Notability | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don Ball | Received honorary degrees in 2016 | Founder of Ball Homes | [45] |
| Wendell Cherry | BA 1957, LLB 1959 | Founder of Humana | [46] |
| Joe Craft | BS 1972, JD 1976 | CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, a large coal producer, and philanthropist | [47] |
| Carol Martin "Bill" Gatton | BS 1954 | Businessman and major contributor to the university; namesake of College of Business and Economics | [48] |
| Rodney McMullen | BS 1981, MS 1982 | CEO of The Kroger Company | [49] |
| Sadiqa Reynolds | JD | CEO of the Perception Institute; former president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League | [50][51] |
| Chris T. Sullivan | BS 1972 | Founder of Outback Steakhouse | [52] |
| Paul C. Varga | Bachelor of Business Admin | Former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Brown–Forman | [53] |
Entertainment
| Name | Years attended/ degree received | Notability | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adunni Ade | BS 2008 | Actress and model | [54] |
| Sara Bradley | Chef | [55] | |
| Ramsey Carpenter | BA 2013 | Miss Kentucky 2014 | [56] |
| Leticia Cline | BS 2000 | Model | [57] |
| Wes Cowan | MA | Auctioneer and appraiser for Antiques Roadshow and History Detectives | [58] |
| Joseph David-Jones | (did not graduate) | Actor | [59] |
| Clark Janell Davis | BA 2018 | Miss Kentucky 2015 | [60] |
| Jenna Day | BA 2014 | Miss Kentucky 2013 | [61] |
| Jimmy Dunne | BA 1977 | Songwriter, recording artist, composer, film and television producer, and entrepreneur | [62][63] |
| Chris Easterly | BA 1998 | Screenwriter | [64] |
| Miss Elizabeth | BA | WWF and WCW professional wrestling manager, wife of Randy Savage | [65] |
| Richard Bunger Evans | (did not graduate) | Composer and pianist | [66] |
| Lyndsey Gough | 2015 | On-air TV sports anchor | [67] |
| Ashley Judd | BA 2007 | Actress; celebrity fan of the Wildcats (men's) basketball team | [68] |
| Glenn Kotche | BM 1994 | Percussionist and composer, best known as drummer for Chicago rock band Wilco; named the 41st greatest drummer of all time by Gigwise in 2008 | [69] |
| Jean Ritchie | AB 1946 | Folk musician, singer, and songwriter who plays the Appalachian dulcimer | [70] |
| Reshma Shetty | MM, 2003 | Singer, actress, Royal Pains | [71] |
| Harry Dean Stanton | Actor known for playing Roman Grant on Big Love | ||
| Kristine Sutherland | Actress, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids | ||
| Rudy Vaughn | BM 2003 | Musician, singer-songwriter | [72] |
| Sullivan Canaday White | BA 1988 | Theater producer, director, and educator | [73] |
Government, law, and public policy
- Note: Individuals who belong in multiple sections appear in the first relevant section.